Page 114 - PERSIAN 5 1905_1911

12 ADMINISTRATION REPORT OF THE PERSIAN OT7LF

Throughout the second half of the period the daily life of Bushire was con­
stantly racked by the petty local dissen-
Local Polit ic* and Majlis.
sions -which, aB in most other townships of
Persia, have resulted from the introduction of the Constitution and the institution
of local branches of the Majlis-i-Miih or “ National Assembly ” of Tehran.
It was on the 7th October 1906 that His Majesty Muzuffer-ud-din Shah
inaugurated the National Assembly at the capital in the presence of the grand
dignitaries of the Court and Foreign representatives, but it was not until 29th
November that the Darya Begi held a Meeting at Government House, Bushire,
before which was read the Royal Firman constituting that august institution, with
branches in provincial towns. His Excellency informed his hearers that it was
proposed to select three members from the Gulf Ports who would each receive an
allowance of 1,000 Tomans per annum. He further stated that a local committee of
“ class” representatives should be formed and should meet once a week at Govern­
ment House to advise on local claims and complaints and he added that it would
be incumbent upon him to act in harmony with their views.
As the result of this pronouncement the Local Committee seemed to have
imbibed the idea that their functions were intended to supersede those of the
Governor in all local matters and the Governor took advantage of their vagaries to
do nothing. The result was that innumerable petty routine cases usual in a large
town like Bushire accumulated to a serious extent; no one got relief, and Bushire
may be said to have existed without Government. Matters were further compli­
cated by the attitude of the Mullahs ; realising that the effect of the existence of a
local assembly, ii it performed the functions expected of it. would take away half
the custom and perquisites on which their livelihood depended, they demanded to
be made members. The position was still further confounded by the unsettled
state of affairs at the capital resulting from the lingering illness of Mozuffer-ud-din
Shah. The news of His Majesty’s demise however when it did come, on 9th January,
had been so long expected and so often wrongly reported, that it was received veiy
calmly by the public and was .accompanied by none of those disturbances peculiar
to such occasions. Fortunately His Majesty died at a time when the Nomad Tribes
were settled in their winter quarters far away from the Bushire-Shiraz Road and
though the long illness of His Majesty anil the chaotic state of the Government
for months past had inevitably resulted in a good deal of turbulence throughout
the province generally, no special manifestations of it now ensued. What there
was. was chiefly focussed at the head-quarters of the Fare Government and is
fully dealt with in Mr. Grahame’s account of Shiraz history for the year.
Soon after the proclamation of constitutional Government the question of the
formation of a National Bank was mooted
National Bank.
and keenly taken up for the time by the
Bushire public, on paper at all events. The leading Persian merchants appeared
to vie with each other in giving circulation to exaggerated reports of the munificent
extent to which their patriotism had prompted them to promise contribution for
the maintenance of the national credit, but by the end of the year the popularity
of the idea with the Bushiris had considerably waned.
In spite of the enormous amount of smuggling which the heavy tariff has
generated the trade of Bushire has flourished
Commerce.
during the past year and fortunately there
have been no epidemics to exercise any damaging effect upon it.
The Arms Traffic continues to give the Customs authorities an immense
amount of anxiety, it being found impossible to check the illicit import through
the small ports of the Persian littoral.
Four of the sea-going launches built at the Royal Indian Marine Dockyard
for the Persian Government were delivered during the year, but owing to the general
chaos and dearth of funds little use has as yet been made of them.
The period hfl-q witnessed a considerable decline in the operations of the Rus­
sian Line of steamers, only able to continue
Russian Line. its sailings at all owing to its heavy subsidy.
On the other hand the German “ Hamburg-Amerika ” Line
regular sailings in August 1906, which b
Hamburg-Amerika Line. since been maintained, and as far as can be
gauged the Company is making good headway.