Page 114 - PERSIAN 9 1931_1940

18
The year in general was a disappointing one in the province of Fars. Crops
wero wcli’below average, prices for external exports were low, while the cost of
local comnlodities rose. The poorer people became more and more ragged ns
the year went on ; the competition of foreign goods was much restricted. There
was undoubtedly a great deal of want and suffering, all of which seems to have
been borne with surprising patience and fortitude. Rain and snow in the month
of December aroused the hope that 1933 would be a better year than the last. It.
is possible that there may be considerable local improvement in the next year, but
less probability that commerce will improve unless the conditions of foreign trade
are modified and the tax on opium exports reduced.
There is no reason to suppose that the general attitude of somewhat grudging
submission to the present regime will be modified in any more active direction ;
and it is indisputable that a certain section of the population is definitely in favour
of the new order.