Page 94 - 6 Persian Trade rep BUSHIRE 2_Neat

2
comparative jop'ilarity of the Bushirc-Sluraz- only once exceeded imports during the P^SSif
Isfahan road, despite anarchy, blackmail and high century and that was in the year 1914-15.
rates of transport: hitherto Bu.shirc unlike Bandar
Abbas hat not been the scene of much military Comparison of Trade.
activity, so that the few mules which have been
left to ts by the brigand* and the local forwarding According to Customs statistics, Great Brit*,
agency (Naqlieh) have not been diverted from India, and the Empire generally (including tj,?
their unal commercial employment: and rates of year Mesopotamia and Egypt), h:ul the follow^
hire on the Buihire road, however appalling (say j percentage of the total trade since 1000 :— *
£100 to Isfahan at the close of the year under
review), still compare favourably with £140 and
more per ton ria Ahwaz- At Bandar Abbas the Per ccnt- Pfr
number of transport animals available is reported
to have been considerably curtailed by the require­ 1901 . 66 1910-11 ;o
ments of the South Persia Rifles.
1902 . 03 1911-12 C5
It is perhaps not too much to say that military
or gendarmerie operations on any considerable 1903 . 49 1912-13 CS
scale in this region would in all probability result 1904 . 55 1913-14
\ in serious dislocation of trade by the historic
Bushire route ; on the other hand, of course, such 1905 . 59 1914-15
i
opera*, ic ns, if successful, would mean a real open­
ing of the road and resto ration of security .along 1906-07 . 62 1915-16 9/3
it which might lead to the normalisation of the . 77 1916-17
Kran Exchange and other blessings. If more­ 1907-08 S>J
over the light railway from Bushire to Daliki, 1003-09 . 70 1937-18 9-75
which Las been recommended by this Consulate-
General since 1913, could be introduced and 1909-10 . 68
utilised for commercial purposes, this would solve
the transport difEculty over 3 out of the 10 stages
from here to Shiraz: the dredging of the outer But imports from Japan, which are believed !
bar so as to allow all merchant steamers visiting have been considerable, are included id the abotf
the port to coroe to the inner instead of the outer figure of 9G'25 per cent, owing to declarationsd
anchorage (2| miles instead of 8) would be origin supplied to the.Castoms giving India—tl-
another and a priceless boon. country of transhipment or intermediate conntn
Exports. — As stated above, went from 3,001 of supply—as the country of origin. Japan?;-
tons valued at £443,434 to 2,7-46 tons valued at matches, piece-goods, glassware, loaf sup*,
£820,951. Increased export was principally haberdashery, and now beer, continue to arrive
noticeable in almonds, gum tmgacanth, raw cotton Their quantity cannot be estimated as there a.*:
and opium (£286,338 to £622,488-84 to 164 no Japanese agents in Bushire, hut Perris:
tons);.on the other hand no wheat and barley merchants receive Japanese goods ordered a:i
were exported—there being an embargo - and shipped by Persian friends in Bombay. X<-
there was a decline in gum insoluble, spices, carpets competition is feared in piece-goods owing to tb
and a few other articles. low quality of the Japanese article, and matches,
etc., although inferior, are welcomed in tte
Exports for the past 5 years have been: — absence of similar goods from Europe in war
time.
Ton*. £ Of the total imports India is shown as hariu?
provided 92\ per cent., United Kingdom 5 p£
1923- 14 . 6,600 (601,765) cent, as compared with 79J per cent, and 1G P=:
1924- 15 . . 6,723 (719,171) cent, respectively, last year (1916-17 >. Of tie
1916-16 . . 3,863 (683,056) total exports India took 1869 percent aa-j
1916- 17 . . 3,001 (443,434) United Kingdom 34*67 per cent, as against
1917- 18 . , . 2,746 (820,951) per cent, and 35*78 per cent, last year; 30S3f*’
cent, went to Singapore (Opium). . ;I
It will be coted that imports again largely Of the 92 J percent, shown as "from Indi*f
exceeded exports, which is generally supposed to a goodly proportion would probably be gG-od* 1‘
be economically unsound; in fact exports have , British manufacture.