Page 790 - PERSIAN 8 1912_1920_Neat

66 administration report of tee
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(3) would return and not protect fugitives.from the Sultan’s justice ;
(’4) would hear the claims of traders and others against Omanis
according <0 the Shara.
All the Sheiks at Sib signed in the presence of the Political Agent, four
prisoners relations of Sheikh Isa who had been held by the Sultan for two
years were released, and they then departed to obtain the signature of the Imam
and several other prnminent Sheikhs. The documont signed by tho Imam,
the chiefs of the Ilinawi and Ghafiri confederations, and all the most promi­
nent sheikhs of Oman was received back on tho 7th October. In the meantime
a similar document had been obtained from the Sultan’s Government. On
tho 8th October peace was proclaimed and tho penal zakat was lifted.
The eight years rebellion of the Oman tribes is therefore for the moment
at an end, though I10 would be an unwise man who asserted that the last
chapter had been written. The Omanis have attained iu their own eyes
complete independence, and praotically they are correct, though the Sultan may
assert that they only have home rule. The Sultan is relieved of the trouble of
having even a thoreotical sway over the interior, and he no longer need fear
attacks on tho coast.
The remainder of the year saw the agreement working satisfactorily.
Apain after a lapse of years there is normal intercourse between the coast and
the interior, Omanis throng Muttrah and trade is brisk.
In the interior itself the Omanis seem to be making an effort at govern men*.
Walis, In several case men famed for their wisdom and political acumen, have
been appointed in the more important towns, while the aggressive puritanisa of
the late Imam has given way to a wise tolerance. The stability of this rule
however depends on tho personal factors and on the strength and jealousies of
the tribal confederations. But tho Sultan’s Government have little to fear as.
the power of the Omanis should it be directed against them, will automatically
become less as the reform of the Sultan’s administration progresses and its
strength increases.

(2) Reform and progress of the Sultan's administration in the territories’
controlled by him.
The end of 1919 had seen the Sultan’s debts paid off by a loan of six and
and a half lakhs of rupees, a radical change iu the customs administration
under the control of Egyptian officers, and the rough fixing of tho monthly
State expenditure and of the Sultan’s privy purse. The three months working
of the new system from October to the end of December 1919 has so far justi­
fied itself in that the State treasury after meeting all expenses showed a balance
of Us. 43,321.
Much however remained to bo done, and the appointment of a British
adviser to the Sultan had been sanctioned as an experimental measure, in the
hope that he would be able to inaugurate the reforms and to impart such momen­
tum to the wheels of the administration, that tho machine would be able
in a short space of time to function by itself without outside assistance. This
officer Captain D. V. McCollum, I. A.' It. 0., arrived iu the middle of
February.
(a) Finances.
The actual finance of the State was clearly the most important matter, as
on this depended the security of'our loan, and the ability of the State to
provide personnel and to pay a levy, without which things it could never hope
to standby itself and so to relieve us of our heavy expenditure and dispropor­
tionate responsibilities. The British adviser at once undertook a complete
overhaul of the salaries and establishments throughout the State. A new aud
reasonable civil list was prepared, surplus and useless personnel was ruthlessly
abolished, and absurd contracts which had existed unchallenged for years were
replaced by businesslike arrangements. New sources of revenue were explo­
red. The quarantine and landing arrangements were put on a sound footing
and pro\ ed a lucrative source of income. At the same time old and useless