Page 255 - 7 Persian Trade rep Muscat 1_Neat

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to \jC expected. Arn-.s in large quantities wcro openly Shares of Trade.
*aportta and wcro snuggled out again. Their value
nurcared in the return of import**, but not amongst Tho following (able shows the portion of the total
the experts. This year, however, arms and ammuni­ trado of Muscat takon by different countries. As-
tion have altogether vanished from the returns. So usual, tho lion's sharo has fallen to India. This pre­
tl;e rc<uon must bo sought elsewhere. It is true that ponderance ia partly genuine and natural, and partly
llic Sultan's Customs imposes nu import duty and unreal. Tho' statistics of trade with India are more
keeps record of imports, whilo, in the absence of any • carefully kept than those of trade with some other
expert duty, it docs not take the fame account of ex­ ! countries, such as Persia, a good deal of which
ports. But in Muscat one agency, M of Era. To well and escapes unregistered. On the other hand the Indian
Co, rejresenta all the steamer lincH vrLich call, and figures include all goods which Muscat receives or
this firm is good enough to give full information to despatches ciu an Indian port. For example, there
the Coi6ulato. So far then ns goods conveyed by aro seven brands of matches now on salo in Muscat.
steamer arc concerned, there is no ground for believ­ Three of these are of Austrian origin (exported pre­
ing the export figures to be more incomplete than the sumably before the war), two Japanese, one Swedish
imports. For it is only from Muscat that goods arc and one Norwegian. All alike, having been received
shipped by steamer. It ia now six jeara winco the here from Bombay, arc shown under tho figures of
practice was introduced .of recording steamer-borne Indian trade.
ImfSc separately frera wares conveyed by sailing
vessel. In every year save one—ll) 11-12—during
this period the deficiency of steamcr-lomo exports,
as compared with steamer-borne imports, has been as Table.
large as, or larger than, the gross deficiency. From Percent-
this it would seem, either that the experts and im­ Couct-j. Imports. Export*. Total. age of tie
ports do not balance, which is unlikely, or that the whole.
explanation of the dis-craj ancy murl be sought in the Ra. P.t. R«.
incumpleteccss of the record of the ailing vcsscl-
bc-rae trade. And chi* is in itself intrinsically pro­ Aden . 7,24,993 1,24,991 193
bable. For, as we lmve seen, the Custems docs n-d Arab Coa-t 41,300 1,71,S32 2.1G.1S2 334
record this export traffic, and only so much of it is
fhown as is earned on dhows owned by British sub­ France . 1,052 1,052 002
jects, vho-c articles are deposited in ;he Consulate. Germany .
Moreover. Muscat is a distributing centre from which India •
much that comes in by steamer would naturally go . 20,95,462 21,18,519 52.14.0S1 80 63
out a gun by boat. Lastly, the data which are on Persia . • 4-1.053 72.S31 1,16, SSI 1-78
record about the sail nag vessel trade Kent to imply
incompleteness. For example, practically the whole Sweden . 46.500 4 ’,509 0-72
of this traffic is shown as to or from India. But as • Shalt-al-Arab . 425 13,103 13,913 0-23
a matur of fact there is a very considerable wird- United Kingdom. 87,913 87,9 i» 1*36
berne commerce between Muscat on the ono hand, j
and thi ports of Mc-kran, the Persian Gulf, and United States of
Zanzibar on the other. The whole of this apparent­ America. . ... 2.62,000 2.62,900 4-07
ly goes unrecorded. Zanzibar 1,65,350 1,65,350 2 56
Trade went from bsd to worse this year. The Other Countries . 2,03,187 14,75* 2,17,941 3 37
total volume of registered traffic shrank from
Rs- 90.38,270 in 1914-15 to Rs. 64,67,741 this year, a
decline of nearly 29 per cent. Owing to the war Total Rs. . 36,44.912 2S^2,S29 64,67,741 1QOO0
and the consequent shortage of shipping and high Figures for last
freights the steamer-torae trade diminished even year . 49,14,177 41.24,093 90.38,270
more markedly than b the previous year, while,
although wind-borne traffic nearly doubled, the total • Sub-tituted fur Turkey ia Asia.
amount of this still falls a good deal short of the
steamer trade. A comparison of figures of quantity
*i«h those of value shows that fluctuation of prices What has been said abore shows how misleading
had sono effect on the totals. All the chief articles these figures a re, and explains why Japan does not
°f import, except coffee, declined in price. AraoDgst appear at all, while Great Britain and the United
exports, dateB fell, while Muscat fabrics showed & States have by no mein* their proper place. The
Urge increase. But, eTen when allowance has been decline in steamer-borne trade with Persia is very
m^de for these variations, the falling off in trade, marked. This is the very trade most likely to suffer
U)th export and import, remains serious. The chief from a shortage of steamers in the Galf, but,
caaws ire the effects of the European war on ship­ no doubt, an unrecorded increase in the sailing
ping and markets And the disturbances in the interior vessel traffic has to come extent compensated for the
of Omaa. falling-off.