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CONFIDENTIAL. 26

CHAPTER V.

ADMINISTRATION REPORT OF THE KUWAIT POLITICAL AGENCY
FOR THE YEAR 1938.

I. THE POLITICAL AGENCY.
Personnel.—(a) Captain G. S. do Gaury, M.C„ held chargo of the Agency
throughout the year.
(b) Assistant Surgeon A. L. Greenway, M.R.C. S., L.R.C.P. (Lond.),
I.M.D,, was in medical chargo of the Charitable Dispensary and performed the
duties of the Quarantine Officer throughout the year.
II. THE RULING FAMILY.
(a) His Highness the Shaikh Sir Ahmad Ibn Jabir as Sabah has continued
to be the Ruler of Kuwait, and administered the State during the year under
review.
(b) Shaikh Abdullah Salim as Sabah, President of the Majliss, proceeded
to Basrah and Fao on a short visit during August in connection with the
administration of the Sabah Family’s date gardens.
(c) The obligation of His Majesty’s Government towards the Shaikh of
Kuwait, contracted in 1914, in guaranteeing freedom from taxation for his
date gardens in Iraq still remains undischarged. It is, however, hoped that
a satisfactory settlement will be reached before long.
The validity of title to a date garden in Iraq belonging to His Highness
and his co-heirs was challenged in March by the lawyer of a relative of the man
from whom the Shaikh’s grand-father bought the Estate in 1909 for 42,000
Turkish Liras by a deed of sale which is not, as far as is known, disputed.
The case was still unsettled at the end of the year.
(d) Shaikh Hamad bin Mubarak as Sabah, eldest son of the former Ruler
of Kuwait (1896-1915), aged 43, suddenly expired on the 31st May. The
funeral was attended by most of the male population including the Political
Agent and the Assistant Surgeon.

III. THE POLITICAL AGENT’S RELATIONS WITH THE SHAIKH,
In spite of evil propaganda from many sources (Iraq, Palestine etc.),
relations of the Shaikh and the people of Kuwait with the Agency have
remained noticeably excellent.

IV. LOCAL INTERESTS.
(a) Customs.—A full report on the imports and exports for the year will
be found in the Kuwait Trade Report, a non-confidential publication. The
customs duty remained at 5 per cent,, except for imports by British subjects
which stays at 4 per cent.
(6) Improvements.—In May, the Ruler has ordered for the building, at
his expenses, of stone and cement arched bazaars to replace the booths of the
Bedouin market which stood on his property. Work was completed on some
150 shops,
(c) Politics.—During the year under review, Kuwait was suffering from
an attack of infantile democracy due partly to better communications, the
radio and the advent of the Oil Company.
The year under review was a troubled one for Kuwait in regard to internal
agitation. Though the Shaikh at his accession had promised the people of
Kuwait that he would rule with the aid of a Council, as had his ancestor the
great Shaikh Mubarak, he did not form one, and, on the contrary, ruled
entirely autocratically without even consulting his own family.