Page 613 - PERSIAN 5 1905_1911

POLITICAL RESIDENCY FOR 1911. 18

pursued by the other gunners, with the intention of taking sanctuary in the
Residency; finding the gates closed (the day being an office dies non), however,
he hurried to the Turkish Consulate where only a Persian gendarme was
present at the time as caretaker. The crowd forcibly entered the premises
and shot the Deputy Chief of Police down. The gendarme, who had appar­
ently tried to save the refugee, was found to be mortally wounded as also was
an onlooker among the crowd.
The Turkish Consul, Nabil Zia, naturally made much of this “ violation
of the Consulate ” and took advantage of it to ask his Government to furnish
him with a proper Consular Guard. This result was, however, averted by
the conciliatory action of the Persian Government in offering a full apology
and paying the sum of Tomans 1,500 demanded as compensation by the
Turkish Consulate for the family of the gendarme who lost his life. Nabil
Zia was removed from his post soon after this as the result of our complaints
regarding his extraordinary action in giving to all and sundry at Lingah
certificates of Turkish nationality. His successor complained bitterly to the
Resident of Nabil Zia having taken unto himself the whole of the compensa­
tion above referred to!
Monsieur A. Constant held the post of Provincial Director of Customs
throughout the year. Smuggling was
Customs.
as rife as ever, and it is now quite beyond
the resources of the Department to cope with it seriously. A repetition of
the murders of Customs Mudirs in 1910 occurred at Shivu in August, when
the Mudir at that place was killed by his tufangchis.
Captain C. B. McConaghy, I.M.S., held the post of Chief Quarantine
Medical Omcer in the Persian Gulf
Quarantine and Residency nccpiwL
throughout the year. Memoranda on
the working of the Quarantine Administration in the Gulf and of the Resi­
dency Hospital are attached (Appendix I).
Bushire Anjuman.—The local Anjuman or Town Council remained in
a state of suspended animation through­
LocrJ Government.
out the year, its abolition being officially;
decreed in November by a circular telegram from the Central Government
addressed to all Persian Governors directing the abolition of all Anjumans
and entrusting Governors with power to inflict punishments on their own
authorit)\
A njuman-i-Baladiych.—This body, which constitutes the Municipal
Council of Bushire, displayed great activity at the beginning of they ear m
levying various taxes, some of which were disallowed by the Central G overn-
ment. Others, such as a tax on horses, donkeys and beasts of burden gene­
rally, were much resented locally by the donkey-pedlars who supply Bushire
bazaar with local produce, and* they protested against the imposition with
6ome success by striking.
The Anjuman was suppressed in April as a result of the disturbances at
the Turkish Consulate referred to above, but was reconstituted in July on
the initiative of the Governor. It was again abolished, in common with
other Anjumans, at the close of the year.
.. ,,Thf '/dliveh.—The Governor organised a special court known as the
Adliyeh during the year for the disposal of civil cases, court-fees being met
by an advance payment of 10 per cent, on the amount of the claim. &
Local Police.—The: experiment, referred to in last year’s Report, of placing
the local police under the Rais-i-hazmieh, an official appointed by the Central

night, an armed policeman was caught climbing over the wall of §
Consulate. Both incidents were believed to be due to the desire of one nartv
to embroil the other with foreigners. But the most serious outcome oftS