Page 500 - PERSIAN 8 1912_1920_Neat

70 PERSIAN GULP ADMINISTRATION REPORT
November and part of December. lie called at the Mission House on several
occasions, the last time being on November 21st, when bo brought ljjn
Saud and the Shaikh of Mnliaramerah out to sec the mission buildings and
equipment That the hospital is appreciated by at least some of tho Shaikh’s
family is evidenced by tho fact that one of the Shaikhs was an in-patient ou
two occasions during the year.
One hundred and twenty visits of a professional nature were made to well,
to-do families, while with reference to the dispensary, as is truo all over
the world, most of the patients were from middle and poorer classes. The
popularity of the medical work as a whole is undoubtedly growing.
The school lias attracted people of the middle class chiefly, a working
knowledge of English being the main attraction. The total number of pupi?8
enrolled was 39 of which 30 were Moslems.
The number of boats proceeding to the pearl hanks was 500. The catch
was an unusually good one and the mid-
Tfce pearl (thtrj.
season prices favourable. The Bombay
pearl market, however, fell towards the ebso of the season and, up to date,
a largearaouut of pearls are still being held in hopes of a rise. One result
of this stato of affairs is the dearth of drafts referred to abovo and another
is an intense desire on the part of the pearlers for peace, which they imagine
will at once restore the pearl market.
Political events of far-reaching importance to the future of Arabia, in
which Kuwait played a prominent part,
Arab affair*.
occurred in the latter half of 1916.
The rebellion of the Sharif and capture by him of Mecca, in July, opened
the eyes of the Arab world to the realization of the long-wished-for independ­
ence of their nation Henceforward, the idea of an independent Arabia
under provincial rulers, looking to Great Britian for guidance and preservation
from foreign interference, began to gain ground among the more thought­
ful of the Arabs and became at the same time the avowed aim of our
diplomacy. Owing to rivalries and age-long feuds among the tribes, it was
difficult to secure unanimity or any sort of cohesion among them, but the
Shaikhs of Kuwait, whose interests, chiefly commercial, have always consti­
tuted them the peace-makers of this part of the Peninsula, lent then-selves
readily to the furtherance of this policy. It teemed quite appropriate, there­
fore, that Kuwait should take its olace as the meeting-ground of the leading
Princes of North-East Arabia, assembled to proclaim their sympathy with
the cause of ibe Sharif and their adhesion to Great Biitaiu and the Allies.
It would not be possible to give a short and concise account of recent
political moves as they affected, and were affected by Kuwait; and yet, on
the other hand, a Kuwait Administration Report for the year 1910, which
omitted to give a comprehensive account of them, would be incomplete. In
these circumstances, I have thought it best to append a verbatim extract of
Memorandum No 2, dated 12th January 1917, from the Chief Political Officer,
to the Director, Arab Bureau, Cairo, which gives this information as concisely
as it is possible to state it The Memorandum is primarily a prdcis, regarding
the relations of the British Government with Bin Saud, but it shows the
connection of Kuwait with the politics of the Peninsula (and as a link with
Mohammcrah and the Sbatt-el-Arab) more clearly perhaps, and in truer
perspective, than if the narrative were given the narrower point of view of
Kuwait. _________
Extract of memorandum So. 2, dated 12th January 1917, from the ChieJ
Political Officer, Indian Expeditionary Force “D,” to the Director, Arab
Bureau, Cairo,
u The Chief Political Officer dealt at length with the Hijaz question in
letter to Ibn Saud, dated October 19th. He pointed out how important it was to
the Arab cause, which it was tho policy
Arab Barra a, 24 tb October JilS. tho British Government topupport, that an
the great Arab chiefs should vrerk together and in co-opcration with us in l*1®