Page 205 - PERSIAN 8 1912_1920_Neat

FOR TUB YBAJt 1913. 63
ut pr0Pcr authority by private persons. The agitation which arose
(lie jNawaqil, and the part played in it by the Amir Mufakliam, have
J-P11 already dealt with. After the Amir’s departure the portion of the N awaqii
Elation8 relating to the registration of animals and vehicles owned in the
brought into force without any trouble. Bis Majesty’s Consul received
f0". actions from His Majesty’s Minister that British subjects and protfafa
c n0t to pay th ise taxes. Mr. Lecoffro was informed accordingly, and no
f liand has been made on Europeans. It may bo remarked that the Nawaqil
dcn ^voro supposed to have been instituted and in operation before Mr.
^offrc’3 arrival
jVsrogards the order for the resumption of State lands, no very drastic
ciion appears to have been taken on it as there has been no general outcry on
the* object.
Mr. Lecoffrc, in the autumn, received from Tehran copies of very stringont
Rations for the examination of carpets with a view to suppressing the use of
.inline dyes. He has very wisely not attempted to put them in force. Little
3DilitiC is used in the manufacture of the “ Kerman carpet ” of export, and the
jnforcenicnt of the regulations would demaud the services of an export chemist
Mtli a considerable staff. Aniline, probably imported via Ears, is largely used
w the Afshar nomads in the rugs which they weave and which are now be­
coming an article of export to America and-Europe.
Mr. Lccoffre, who has a fertile and daring mind, produced during the year
j number of schemes for the better administration of the proviuco, e.g., Gov­
ernment by a cabinet consisting principally of himself and other selected
Europeans with a figure head Governor; the rcconquest and reorganisation of
jjaluchistan under bis own supervision as Chief Political Officer; a tribal coun­
cil for managing the affairs of the tribes; and the placing of the City Police
under European control.
Before their arrival he counted on extracting much service from the gen­
darmerie, but in this he has been disappointed.
Be said at the end of the year that he bad obtained orders from Tehran for
ihe City Police to bo placed under the supervision of the Swedish Gendarme
Officers, but the latter did not quite support this statement.
The institution of a force of Persian Gendarmerie under Swedish Officers,
was the second great innovation of the
Tbo Gendarmerie.
year.
In view of the long-continued insecurity of the trade routes in the Kerman
Province, the India Office, in the month of May, proposed that a force for the
protection of the Bandar Abbas road should be organised under British Officers.
The proposal was acquiesced in by the Poreign Office. Strong objection to it
was however raised by His Majesty’s Minister at Tehran on the grounds that it
would bo resented by the Persian Government, and shortly afterwards it was
announced that the Persian Government was prepared to extend the system of
gendarmerie to Kerman. Upon this His Majesty’s Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs decided not to press the proposal for the employment of British
Officers further for the time being. Prom the purely local Kerman point of
view it is much to bo regretted that the original proposal was not adhered to.
It would have been regarded by the population as the natural and reasonable
thing for us to do. And the proof that we are actually prepared to take effect­
ive action in the defence of our rights and interests would nave raised our pres­
tige immensely throughout the whole province and so have rendered easier in
t^ny ways the protection of these rights and interests. British Officers would
have been more efficient and personally popular than the Swedes who have
hcen deputed here appear ever likely to become. It is to be remembered that,
while the pick of tho officers of the Indian Army, with experience on the right
lines, would have been available, only a few of the officers of the Swedish Army
lre likely to find service under tho Persian Government attractive. It will do
Ihem no good in their own home service. Tho result is that, in general, wo
^ only hope to got an inferior type of Swedish Officer, who in no case can
had any useful experience. This is likely seriously to handicap the effi-
Clency and popularity of the force raised while adding largely to the difficulties