Page 10 - 5 Persian Trade rep BUSHIRE I_Neat

4 BU SHIRE,

The Hamal Bashi or landing contractor was another disturbing
clement to the even course of trade. Many disputes occurred
between the merchants and the steamship agents and between both
of these and the contractor, who in his turn complained j of the
treatment he received from both parties, especially the steamship
agents. This dispute continued well on to the end of the year,
when in October a working arrangement was arrived at, which
tended to relieve the situation.
In December another hitch occurred, when the Shiraz merchants,
as a protest against the Governor of that province, instructed their
Bushire agents not to clear from the custom-house or forward to
them any merchandise whatever, but this only lasted a few weeks.
Exchange. In March exchange began to fluctuate, running up from 63 J krans
per If. on the 1st to 64 krans on the 20th, and with slight
fluctuations to 64 j loans on May 1, when it steadily fell to 551 krans
in the middle of June, rising again to 61 krans in the middle of July,
at which figure it kept steady till the end of the year, with the excep­
tion of a drop to 58 krans in September for a few days. These
fluctuations were due to rumours of Persian loans, Japanese-
Russian war and price of silver, which but for its heavy rise in the
latter part of the year the If., it is estimated, would have stood
nearer 70 than 60 loans.
This great rise and fall in exchange had a certain effect on the
purchasing of grain for export, as it was just when the harvesting
was over that the If. fell to its lowest, and, leaving other considera­
tions against purchasing grain out of the question, the merchant
who had prepared funds when the If. stood at 64J loans found that
he could make a surer and quicker profit by remitting home again.
8ilrcr. The heavy rise in silver at the end of the year not only
affected the value of the If., but it was found profitable by the
merchant of the south to export the Persian kran to India, where it
was melted down and sold as bullion, and in some instances minted
and brought back into the country agam in the form of rupees.
This export of krans to India also took place to a certain extent
in the early part of the year and some 2,500,000 krans had to be
brought from the north to meet the demands, but notwithstanding
this cash was fairly plentiful throughout the year and about 60,000
krans over and above what was remitted from the north in the early
part of the year were sent up country. No bar silver wasjmported
during the year.
Freight*. Freight rates to the United Kingdom have kept steady through­
out the year at If. 10*. and to India at 10 is.
Public No epidemic of any kind visited the district during the year.
health. From the beginning of the year until the middle of March trans­
Transport to
fihiraz. port rates to Shiraz remained steady at 85 krans per 100 maunds,
they then went to 95 krans, but dropped by degrees to 75 krans at
the end of April; the harvesting season brought transport to a
standstill for a few weeks, when it started again at 95 krans, rising to
100 krans in October and November and 110 krans in December.