Page 192 - PERSIAN 5 1905_1911

8 ADMINISTRATION REPORT OF THE PERSIAN GULF POLITICAL
RESIDENCY
Belgian Customs Administration generally and our interests have suffered
accordingly.
From the first the attitude of the popular partv was most hostile to
Monsieur Naus and his Belgian staff, and, as timo went on, the position of tho
latter became gradually more difficult and precarious. For instance, whereas
local Directors had hitherto been allowed to employ Baghdadi, Chaldee and
Armenian clerks, who served them hotter th in Persians, t hey were now ordered
to replace these, wherever possible, by Persians. Persians also begin to be
employed even in the higher grades. These men, necessarily recruited from
the more or less educated section of tho community upon which tho preaching
of nationalist propaganda has had most effect, showed a disposition to work
against the European staff, and while, under the old regime, if they wanted a
reasonably peaceful time tho Belgian iJireetors found it prolitablo to cultivate
either the Russia us or ourselves, thoy now had rather to propitiate the parlia­
mentary element and the Persian vernacular press, which otherwise lost no
opportunity of making things uncomfortable for them.
They also had to put up with much annoyance from the Local Majlis and
Anjumans, which, ignorant of their proper functions, hesitated not to interfore
in all branches of executive Government.
Another of their difficulties has lain in the fact that, owing to tho great
financial straits to which the Central Government has found itself reduced,
Customs Directors have, under the Constitution, continually been pressed to
send more copious remittances to the capital, and, iu order to meet such
demands, have been obliged to have recourse to the strict application of many
items of tho Itegleraent which had before beea allowed to become a dead letter,
or had been interpreted liberally on being proved unsuited to the difficult
harbour conditions of the Gulf Ports.
Thus it is that, though Belgian officials may' have every personal wish to
be friendly and to maintain cordial relations with members of the Residency,
the conditions above explained have inevitably tended to upset the modus
vivendi, born of mutual concession, which had been gradually achieved in our
business relations, and to revive the friction which existed in the early days of
the Tariff of 1903. At present the British trader has not only had ti contend
with every conceivable disability which the insecurity of the trade routos and
tho uncontrolled license of the so-called road guards can provide, hut is being
too frequently harassed at the ports by some oppressive decision or the revival
or strict interpretation of one of tho many catchpenny clauses in which the
RSglement abounds.
The smuggling industry both in regard to arms and luxuries has continued
to flourish, but there is some reason to think that the five Customs launches built
for the Administration by the Government of India, though not used nearly as
effectively as thoy might he, have done something towards reducing the
volume of contraband traffic. I baso this observation on the fact that the
trade returns show a considerable increase in the quantity of tea legitimately
imported—tea being one of the chief articles habitually smuggled into the
country.
Commerce. The arms that are introduced through the small ports under Bus.nre are
at present all absorbed by the local Persian demand and do not find their way
to destinations inconvenient to us. On his way to Shiraz by the now desertc
Firozabad route the Resident learnt of several village dephts in the Inn tenant
for the distribution of arms, and the advantages or disadvantages of the ia s
patterns in vogue seemed to be almost the sole topic of interest among 1
peasants met with.
This subject is fully dealt with in tho Shiraz report. Tho Firozaba
communications above mentioned, which a few years ago was regularly uS.c.(1, f P^^fally
between camei caravans, as an alternative route between Bushiro aud Shiraz, esfw u j
gSSmr a° at times when the Kotals on tho main route were in bad condition °n account
of snow, or when fighting was going on among the headmen along
has quife fallen out of use owing to tho insecurity and absence of
which has prevailed for the past three years.