Page 154 - PERSIAN 8 1912_1920

14 PERSIAN GULP ADMINISTRATION REPORT
Some exposition was at first shown to tho transfer by the Mul-u.
Sultanoh but no eventually desf atobed a telegmm to the Muwaggar-ed }>„*•.
entrusting tho government to him. This reform had bcc:i for *omo thn©
by this Residency, as a glance at therrap will suffice to show that thc?e d*'!r^
can be easiest controlled by tho Governor of tho Gu. f Ports who has 3 ^
to them both by land and sea. * acc<*i
Relations between the Governor-General of Fars and tho Governor 0f
Gulf Ports wore rot altog thor ns cordial as they might have been.
once in the course of the jear, the Governor-General pressed for the Gove • ***?
dismissal and his replacement by the Darya Bogi. This attempt at the con*°ri
of the Gulf Ports by tbo bars Administration was happily frustrated, hm ,r°*
attempts are most objectionable as detrimental to British intexests aud sucSU^
ful administration. °CS3*
Mbnsieur A. Constant held the post of Provincial Director of Cuslr
until Monsieur Zwinne a rived at tlle
Cu»!omi.
of March to takeover charge. Mons;e
Constant left Bushiro for Europe at the end of April. Monsieur Zwinn1
remained in charge jf the post of Customs Director until the end of the year
Monsieur Constant continued to maintain the satisfactory attitude so favou!
ab!y commented on in Ja>.t years icport and Monsieur Zui.ine a’so seems to
have turned over a new leaf and, beyond occasional attempts at double dealing
which he appears unable to resist, showed no signs of reverting to his BamLu
Abbas “vagaries” during 1913.
On the 8th March, as Monsieur Constant, Belgian Director of Customs,
and Madame Constant were diiving home
J* Constant *’ outrego.
from an entertainment in Bushire Town,
they were stopped and fired at at close quarters by an unknown Persian, armed
with a revolver. The assassin was alone and ran alongside the trap while fce
fired four times. Madamo Constant was shot dead immediately and her
busbar.d was severely wounded.
The funeral of Madame Constant took place on the 9th March at the
Roman Catholic cemetery at Bushire and n as attended by His Excellency the
Governor, the European community and other friends.
Oa the 13th March, Monsieur Mornavd, the Treasurer-General requested
His Majesty’s Minister at Tehran to express to the Resident “in his own name
and in that 0* the Belgian Customs Service his deepest thanks for all that you
have done for Constant to assist his recovery and for your kindness in seeing
that the funeral of his unfortunate wife was beGlling the sad occasion.”
Monsieu: Constant’s own theory of this cowardly and treacherous act wai
that he was attacked as representative cf tho Treasurer-General. He was
always opposed to the performance of Treasury duties by the Customs
officials.
His Excellency the Governor came to the conclusion that one, Shaikh
8hahab, a dismissed employ6 of the Customs Department, had imtigated the
murder out of j eve Lge lor his dismissal; this man hud been enlisted in the
gendarmerie and appear to have been a prime mover in tbo mutiny of the
gendarmerie (vide infra) winch followed close on tho “Constant” murder.
He absconded, on the 10th April, and was never arrested in spito of the man/
attempts made to effect bis capture.
Another individual, Mirza Ali Khan, another dismissed employd of the
Customs, who was also subsequently enlisted in the gendarmerie, was a* rested
on suspicion of beiug the actual murderer. He was heavily indebted to tb®
Customs department, had been sold up and imprisoned by them for severa*
months on account of a deficit of 300 t:mans in his accounts but, though b®
remained in confinement until tho end of tho year, no satisfactory evidcnce
came to light against either this man or Shaikh 8hahab, and tho actual pcfp6*
trators of the outrage are still unknown.
In April 1913, an official application was made by the Belgian
for an indemnity of 1,25,000 francs. This application received tho supp0^j *
His Majesty’s Legation at Tehran, who, on tho 7th May, informed tho lie side
that the Persian Government had consented to the payment of tho indem1111/*