Page 308 - PERSIAN 8 1912_1920_Neat

24 PERSIAN GULF ADMINISTRATION REPORT

General out of his garden did not help them to restore it. At the instigation
of 3tr. LecofTrc, the .Financial Agent, Colonel Glimstedt, formed ideas of ab­
sorbing the Local Police force and abolishing the Local Military force and road-
guards and so leaving the Gendarmorio as the only force in the district. 'With
this, of course, Mr. Lccoffro and Colonel Glimstedt would have ruled the dis­
trict. Tho idea though fascinating was unrcalisablc and was not seriously
pushed. Their methods of recruiting brought them into conflict again with
the Govcrnor-Gciioral and elicited complaints from villages that tho recruiting
parties were using press-gang methods. Though they made no actual prepara­
tion for getting out on to the road they at any rate realised that it was tho
primary object to protect which they had been sent here and Captain do Mare
and Colonel Gliuistodt took parties of their men down to Bandar Abbas and
back to reconnoitre the different routes and get some idea of how to organise
their protection. They did not get beyond a general opinicu that the Baft
route was the best and so far they lmvo not even got a paper scheme rf postsand
patrols for any route. At the end of the year orders arrived for a detachment
to bo sent to Shiraz and for the remainder of the force, except a small barrack-
guard, to return to Tehran, and early in. tho new year they departed from
Kerman. Whetner they will ever return or not we can only “ wait and see.**
The working of this Department was very far from satisfactory. The
extortion and frauds of the subordinates
TLo Devon .io Department.
exceeded all reasonable limits and no leal
effort was made by their chief to check them. Mr. Lccoffro, the Head of the
Department, sat inaccessibly in his office and required all complaints to be
made in writing on stamped paper and these, of course, were Le.er allowed to
reach him. lie himself accepted presents oE carpets, a watch, ring, etc., and
was naturally giveu the credit of taking money as well. Under the circum­
stances it was only to be expected that the subordinates should think that they
had a free hand. Tho outcry against the worst offender the Amin-i-Maliya,
Mirza Ibrahim Khan, was so Joud that the Treasurer-General had to be moved
to dismiss him and even then the greatest pressure had to be brought to bear
on Mr. Lecoffrc before he would cany out the order. The people of the
Kerman district arc not high-spirited, and, in spite of illegal exactions, the
revenue is easily enough collected and, in the absence of all public works or
improvements of any sort, the expenses of the district are not great. So Mr.
Lecoffre was able to announce that the district would be seir-supportiug after
September. This is, of course, very comforting to Tehran, who are only too
pleased to know' that they need not send down any more money and do not
care how this happy result has been brought about, but is not a source of much
self-congratulation to the Kerman district itself. Mr. LecofFre made full use
of his advantage as holder of the purse and as self-constituted Agent-Gene al of
the Gendarmerie to obstruct and worry the Governor-General as much as
possible. He remained as autocratic as ever accepting orders as subject to
his own approval even, as mentioned above, those from bis own chief. His
unfortunate temper causes His Majesty’s Consul much unnecessary trouble,
and his personal reputation docs not euhanco British prestige.
The Moham-ul-Mulk was appointed Karguzar in January, but did pot
arrive in Kerman until April. He is a
Tho Korguzari.
North-Persian Turk who has spent a num­
ber of years in Constantinople, where lie apparently picked up Young Turk
ideas and a strong anti-European bias. He showed it plainly from tho first but
it did not become serious until the outbreak of the War. All the European
firms were much affected by the dislocation of the money-markets and were
obliged to economise as fur as possible. It was a matter which required care­
ful handling and co-operat.ion between all concerned to effect this without p01**
xnanenfc detriment to tho whole Carpet industry. Instead of helping to make
things easy the Karguzar encouraged those of the weavers who wore unreason­
able and obstructive and openly showed such animus against tho European
Firms that Ill’s Majesty’s Consul was obliged to ask for his dismissal. Ho,
however, possessed strong influence in Tehran and his dismissal had not been
achieved when the year ended.
Dr. Chiriaieff continued in charge of tho Russian Consulate through00*
the year. He retained friendly re^a,1?i”
T ho Russian Consulate.
all round and adequately protected