Page 41 - PERSIAN 9 1931_1940

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CHAPTER V.
Administration Retort of His Majesty’s Consulate, Kerman, for the
year 1931.
A.—British Interests.

1. His Majesty's Consulate—personnel.—Lieutenant-Colonel E. W. C.
Noel, C.I.E., D.S.O., held charge of the Consulate till the 25th April when he was
transferred to India. Mr. G. A. Richardson, O.B.E., His Majesty’s Consul and
Assistant Resident, Bandar Abhas, held additional charge of the Kerman Consulate,
with headquarters at Kerman, from the 26th April till the end of the year.
Khan Bahadur Abdul Alim, L. K., held the post of Indian Attache to His
Majesty’s Consul, throughout the year.
2. Consulate Work.—(a) 54 British subjects were registered during the year.
(b) During the month of April it was discovered for the first time that the
Consulate was being constantly watched by 2 men of the C. I. D., especially
deputed by the local police for the purpose.
At the official reception held at the Consulate on His Majesty the King’s
Birthday in June the only local officials who attended were the Governor-General,
the Officer Commanding, and the Chiefs of Police and Municipality. Several
messages were, however, received from a number of Persian officials and notables
expressing regret at being precluded from continuing their friendly relations with
the Consulate. In July intercourse between Persian officials and the British
Consulate had practically ceased.
In the month of August, at the suggestion of the Governor-General, the manage­
ment of the Zirisf Qanat, which had been under this Consulate since the summer
of 1929 and by which arrangement, thanks to the zealous endeavours of
Lieutenant-Colonel Noel, the water supply had increased nearly four-fold, was
transferred by the land-owners to a Persian agent.
During the latter part of the year the campaign of espionage on the Consulate
increased in vigour. Most people visiting the Consulate, or the Indian Attache’s
house, on business, were stopped and interrogated by the secret police on the
watch.
3. Political Fines.—It will be remembered that Brigadier-General Sir Percy
Sykes, on re-establishing the Kerman Consulate in 1916, fined a number of Ker-
manis for having had dealings with German agents. Amongst the former
were the two leading Parsi traders, Surushiyan and Kayanian, who were fined
heavily for buying from M. Bruggmann a quantity of yarn, etc., the property
of the Oriental Carpet Manufacturers, Limited, a British firm. In the month of
July 1931 these two local traders forwarded notices through the Adlich Courts
to Sir Percy Sykes, and. the Petag Company trading in the North of Persia, as it
was on behalf of this Company, whom he represented at the time, that
M. Bruggmann had sold the yam to the above traders. The notice on Sir Percy
Sykes was to be served through the Persian Legation in London and the amount
of damages claimed was; said to be more than 10 times the actual fines paid. It
may be mentioned that, as the result of the transaction referred to above, the
two Parsi claimant firms were placed on the Black List.
4. Indo-European Telegraph Department.—The Persian Government took
over the telegraph offices and lines in the Kerman Province from the Indo-
European Telegraph Department on the 28th February, and Mr. A. Robertson,
the officiating Superintendent of the Department in Kerman, and other members
of the European staff left for England in batches during the next month.
5. The Imperial Bank of Persia and Trade in General.—Mr. C. A. Gardner
continued as Manager till the beginning of June when he was recalled to Tehran.
Mr. Sheahan acted till the beginning of August, as Manager, and was then relieved
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