Page 113 - PERSIAN 8 1912_1920

FOR TOE YEAR 1012. 103
. gomctinics even against his better judgment, to tho influences of personal
r'endship- It is to be regretted in some ways that the pre-occupations of the
political Agent in Bahrain and the largely judicial position he holds, make it
rflicult for him to go out of his way to cultivate the acquaintance of the Arabs
"nally- It is difficult for him to see much of them except in relation to
f isincss when their interests are often at stake.
The constant necessity also of guarding the interest of a large alien
pulation, who are not popular, tends naturally to produce some sense of
,position between the Political Agent and the Arabs.
On the whole, however, the relationship existing between them, is to be
r(led as decidedly satisfactory.
rcg»
In all places circumstanced as Bahrain is, difficulty must necessarily arise
in particular cases in deciding to grant' or
flood Ofljcts to Babiain Sabjcc'stnd otben.
withhold our good offices.
The right to British protection is highly prized, and when once acquire!
every effort is made to give it a hereditary character. Thus the descendants of
a Bahrain subject who has become a Naturalised British subject in India,
cling to the privileges of their forebear; and those persons who have for one
pcjson or another been made Honorary Munskis regard the protection of
themselves and their offspring as the legitimate price of their services whether
these are real or imaginary. The ideal position aimed at, of course, by all
such individuals and families is to have a foot firmly planted in each camp and
to be able to appeal to the Agency when in extremis or when their case
is bad.
Legally it is evident they have no standing ground, but they have public
feeling on their side, and rejecting their claims we have to face a certain
depreciation in public opinion. The question of protecting such persons may
at auy moment come to the front, and in such a case the temptation is always
to carry our prerogatives to the extreme or beyond the extreme point. That
is what is always expected of the Political Agent, not only by his staff but by
the general public. In the case of Bahrain, our position seems sufficiently
stroug to warrant oar throwing considerations of prestige in such cases to the
winds and keeping within the strict limits of legality.
This principle has been acted on during the year, and the “ good offices'*
of the Agency have on more than one occasion been refused to persons presum­
ing on a lapsed or defective right.
After an interval of six years another regrettable intanc of punishment by
mutilation has been recorded. The Political
Primitive Justice.
Agent approached Shaikh Isa tentatively
on the subject, but found him strongly entrenched behind the sanction of the
Stars. The case was referred to Bushire, but a letter from the Political
Resident suggesting that the Shaikh should undertake not to sanction such
punishments in the future, received only an uncompromising wow possumte*
answer.
No necessity or excuse for barbarous punishments exists in Bahrain, and
tfe occupy such a stroug and prominent position that our moral responsibility,
which is fully recognised by the public, is very great if we permit their
employment to be continued. The last case of mutilation occurred in 1906.
The matter was therefore referred to Government with the suggestion
that Shaikh Isa should be warned that such punishments cannot be permitted
in Manama, and it has been decided that a warning will be given to tie Shaikh
tfhen the Bahrain Order in Council is introduced.
As the result of a great friction which occurred between him and his
__ ._T , „ . brothers who were jealous of his position,
K.tr Loci GoveniBwnt. Shaikh Abdullah bin Jasim A1 Thani re-
S1gued his governorship of Doha and has since persistently refused to resume the
governorship without an explicit undertaking from the members of the “ A1
Ihani ” family that his orders would be obeyed.
Shaikh Jasim bin Muhammad A1 Thani used every effort to patch up the
quarrel between his sons, but was not successful. The "Wali of Basrah inter­
ested himself in this affair and communicated to Shaikh Jasim that the Turkish