Page 214 - Records of Bahrain (5) (i)_Neat

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thoir present conditions. Even the politically minded Bahama
of Manemah, who are a very small group and have no real juoii-
fication for assuming the position of ropreoentativeo of the
Shia Community, have made no demand for a Council.

(iv) " There remain tho 'Holis' who are in fact Poraiana
but Bahrain aubjecta reaidont over a generation in Bahrain.
They are politically unreliable and are closoly connected
with Persia. They muat boar much of tho responsibility for
the recent trouble. They are not Arabs and have no real
sympathy for tho Arabs. Theso are the only people who would

like a Council.
(v) " The need for a Council would imply an unsatisfactory
existing state of Government. As I have so much to do with
the Administration it is a little difficult for me to sing
its praises, but I know that the Arabs in Bahrain and in
other parts of the Gulf have for many years regarded Bahrain
aa the most progressive and successful of the Gulf Statos.
(vi) " Is the suggestion of a Council being made a3 a
remedy for maladministration ? If so the defocts in tho

Administration should be- pointed out before such drastic
medicine is inflicted. Is it being suggested because Councils
have been set up in Kuwait and Dubai ? There can be no com­
parison between conditions there and here. In Bahrain for
years there has been an ordered Government, regular administra­
tive organisation, law and order and financial stability. The
country is ruled by the Shaikh though mbst of the business of

the State is entrusted by him to his brothers, his son and
myself who form, in fact, the Ruler'6 unofficial Council.
The Shaikh is accessible to everybody os arc his relatives
and myself. None of the important uxk reforms and developments
in Bahrain have been carried out without the knowledge and
approval/-

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