Page 13 - PERSIAN 5 1905_1911

RESIDENCY FOR THE YEAR 1006-1008. 8

Last, but not least, I may allude to tho work clone for the Persian Gulf
Gazotteer, the preparation of which has
reraian Oulf Gazetteer.
boon for the last two years in the able and
sympathetic bands of Mr. J. G. Lorimer, C.I.E. Apart’frora the use which
his resulting volumes will undoubtedly prove to future generations of Political
Officers in the Persian Gulf, the work of assisting in the collection of material
has in itself been an education to all officers now serving within the field
covered by it.
The Commercial Mission beaded by Mr. A. Gleadowe Newcomen finished
its labours at Bushire in May 1905 and
The Commercial Mission.
has resulted during the current year in the
issue of a very interesting and suggestive report from the pen of the President.
REVIEW OF SEPARATE REPORTS.
So far as business relations between the Residency and the personnel of I.—Bush ire
the Customs Administration are con- ttnd Fars'
Cuatoro*.
cerned, the year has been marked by an
entire absence of friction, probably resulting in part from the salutary example
furnished by the sudden translation, at the end of last year of a troublesome
Director, Monsieur E. Wnffelaert, but also clue to the friendly and reasonable
attitude of the present incumbent, Monsieur J. Heynssens.
The Belgian Administration, however, is still intensely unpopular, aq a
whole, with the peasant and sea-faring population of the Gulf littoral both Arab
and Persian ; and, on the other band, the result of the high tariff and rigid
enforcement of regulations has given an enormous impetus to smuggling and
has largely increased the difficulties of the Resident in dealing with the
Trucial and other allied Chiefs on the Arab shore.
Nothing is likely to cure this state of things, short of a return to an all­
round 5 per cent. duty.
Both the precise nature and limits of our occupancy of the Cable Station
at Henjam, and the status of the Beni
nctijam.
Yas Arab tribesmen domiciled on the
Islands were a source of much local difficulty and of troublesome negotiation at
Tehran, and are still not finally determined.
Progress has certainly been made in regard to the settlement of outstand­
ing claims, thanks to tho unremitting
S<tOrbi< Dl of Claim*.
exertions of His Majesty’s Cbargl
d’Affaires; but certain of those which have beea the most fruitful source of
worry, the Persian Government still persistently neglects to settle. Chief
among these latter is the case of the murder of Abu Thabi subjects by
inhabitants of Taona, for which compensation has been vainly demanded and
in regard to which the long delay in settlement has had a most prejudicial
effect on the attitude of Sheikh Zaeed bin Khalifah, in his dealings with
the Residency.
In the commercial case of Dixon and Company versu8 Haji Naair for
sums due on accepted bills; it is a matter for much regret, and likely to have
a discouraging effect on British trading enterprise in Persia (which is mostly
on the long credit system) that His Majesty’s Legation has been compelled to
strive at the unpleasant conclusion that under the present conditions of
Government in Persia, the universal commercial principle providing that
"accepted bills must be met without question ” cannot be regarded as an
axiom of commerce in this country, and that British traders should conse­
quently exercise caution in choosing their constituents and in giving credit.
This subject and the anarchical conditions prevailing in 8hiraz have been
dealt with elsewhere. But for the taot-
Thc *uto of Fan. fui an(j re80iufce attitude maintained by
Mr. Consul Grahame towards tho rioters through several anxious months
excesses would in all probability have been resorted to in which all foreigners
alike would have been in grave danger.
B 2