Page 200 - Records of Bahrain (4) (i)_Neat

180 Records oj Bahrain

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(4) Land Revenue.—After the completion of the record of rights it
would ordinarily be necessary to assess the land revenue. But in view of
the fact that by far the greater portion of the cultivable land belongs to
tiio Al Khalifa family who have never paid revenue, and of the danger
that the collection of rovenuo from Bahraini owners by the Shaikh’s officials
would simply givp t;ho latter an opportunity for oppression or squeezing,
it is a matter for consideration whether it would not bo better to forego
land rovenuo for tho present, at all event until the reforms have been intro­
duced and arc working smoothly.
Mr. Bower who has gone into tho question of the probable receipts
from land revenue, is of opinion that if the Customs duty oq imports could
bo raised to GJ per cent., the resulting increase of receipts would more
than cover any probable receipts from land revenue. Ho says that GJ per
cent, is not a sufficiently high duty to encourage smuggling, that to collect
it would not cost the state a penny extra or cause any difficulty—in fact
tho collection of GJ- per cent, ad valorem is actually easier than 5 per cent.,
as the former amounts to one anna in tho rupee.
This schemo has the merit of simplicity and obviates the chances- of
oppression which would bo offered by the levy of land revenue. I think
it is a vory good idea. Tho Shaikh’s Treaty with us is the only thing which
bi.uda him to levy only 5 per cent. Customs duty, and I presume thcro would
be no difficulty in altcVing this.
(5) Reform of the Pearling System.—This reform presents the greatest
difficulty of any, as any change introduced will be deeply resented by the
Nakhudas or pearling masters, who under existing conditions have matters
absolutely their own way. Besides this abuses in the pearling system are
rife throughout the Gull, and Nakhudas will consider reforms at Bahrain
invidious. As far ns I can judge abuses are worst at Qatar or on the
Trucial Coast, while Bahrain comes second; conditions at Kuwait arc much
bettor. In these circumstances it might be argued that it is not advisable
to. take up the reformation of the Bahrain Pearling System independently
of the other pearling centres, and that if reform is necessary the reform
of the whole industry throughout the Gulf should be taken in hand. Against
this however it may be said that Bahrain is the hub of the whole industry,
that we exercise much more jurisdiction in Bahrain than in any other
pearling centre and therefore incur more responsibility for abuses at that
place, that if reforms are successfully introduced at Bahrain an improve­
ment will slowly but surely result in the whole industry on the divers
realizing that the hardships of their lot can be so greatly ameliorated, and
finally that wo arc not in a position to reform the whole industry at once
as we have no authority at all to interfere at Lingah or on Bin Saud’s
Coast and vory little at Qatar. In the circumstances, as we arc introducing
reforms at Bahrain we must, in my opinion, do something for the Pearling
industry on which tho welfare of the Islands depends.
I would not suggest the slightest change in the general rules and usages
of the Pearling system which have been in force from time immemorial;
what is necessary is to enforce these rules with more regard to tho interests
of the divers and haulers, these of the Nakhudas being almost exclusively
considered at present. The first essential is that the Nakhudas should keep
accurate and intelligible accounts, the second is that each diver should be
given a copy of his account each season by his Nakhuda, and tho third
that the " Salifah ” (Pearling usa^c) Court should bo composed of men
of position and integrity capable or understanding such accounts. There
docs not at first appear to be any difficulty about settling these points, but
the matter is complicated by the fact that a largo proportion of the
Nakhudas of Bahrain—quito two-thirds we estimate—arc absolutely illiter­
ate and quito incapable of keeping an intelligible account and in
addition men of integrity who arc acquainted with pearling usages
to sit on tho ~Snlifah Court are very few and far between. The
Political Agent is of opinion that tho best way to get ovor these two
difficulties is to create a small Pearling Department of the Bahrain Govern­
ment which will supervise the industry generally and become particularly
h XI—333