Page 83 - 7 Persian Trade rep Muscat 1_Neat

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Figures here ng.ria conflict with the Customs
rj.V, ani colours,—-There is a slight full under
' » yellow ochre. Tho other paints and returns. For instance, tho Customs do not admit
', ‘ ^own for tho first timo separately «crc that any arms an-1 ammunition arc exported at all,
° bably included under “ Miscellaneous ” in previous though our fig ires of manifested cargo show an
export of R38.735 and it ia known that large and
J»n»’ returns. valuable consignments of arms went out of Maskat
J r* nl;ts.—The trade has apparently doubled, and in sailing vessels apart from this. Smuggling
. would appear that tho Indian middleman still
ratunlly tool: pla^c on a larger scale than the mnni-
holds his own. foitcd cargo and cargo, but no attempt has been made
Coffee—Shows a fair incrcaso duo to low prices to frame an estimate.
*hich encouraged imports. Again, no note whatever is taken in the Customs
Oilman's stores.—Tho enormous incrcaso nndcr rcturnB of the Arab coast, whereas we know for
th:s heading is due to imports for the use of His a fact that the Arab coast which is, after India and
\NvstVs ship*. It is probable that a rirailar the United States, Maskat’a best customer (specie
remark applies to " fruit” nnd “vegetables” not included • took R7,52,S10 woith of specie, pre­
which admit of no comparison with previous figures sumably to help to finance tho pearl trade. There
^ these two articles were included in the “ Alis- was not much room for speculation in dollar-? during
ctHancoas * figures of previous years. tho year under report, so this fruitful cause of specie
Wines and spirits—Show a very large increase. It remittances must be ruled out- If it were not for
Is not suggested that consumption in Maskat itself this large item of specie, which is no new thing and
is increasing in tho same proportion, hut Maskat is must have been omitted in error, the export trade of
fiit becoming a distributing ccntro for the rest of the Maskat sho\'6 a re rarkable decline. All countries
Gclf. Neiiher the manifests nor Customs export have suffered rxcept negligible rntrios fer Germany
returns show any export of inportaace, but ships* and tho United Kingdom and Zanzibar.
stewards and others, buying at Maskat, retail at other How far the general decline is due to the tempo­
s -al’.er ports to 3 largo extent. The increase in this rary paralysis of the arms tTr.de and I ot far to
,v-ort is especially large from tho United Kingdom exaggerated figures in the past it is impossible to say.
oi'Ir.e to unprecedented consignments of whisky. For purposes of comparis-n, cutting out the two
T:r silver.—This large item and, from a statisti­ large items of specie already mentioned ar.d a cotton
cs] point of view, the saving of our import returns is and silk trade to Zanzibar valued at roughly tllakbs
sltnoit eutiiely new. If this item were ruled out, of rupees, the total exrort trade La3 fallen from 41 to
aid it has really nothing to do with Maskat trade, 31 lakhs or roughly 25 percent.
inpjrts would show a decline for the year of nearly As tho date crop, our main export, was a bumpier
40 per cent instead of 26 per cent. Very little one, there is no very good reason to account for this
of this bar silver is used by the local silvermiths. serious fall. Sailing vessel returns are not included
It is destined for re-export to the Cutch ports with and they may alter these figures considerably.
a view to avoiding tho heavy 15 per cent. Indian Dates to a lakh and a half of rupees and other
duty on imported silver. articles about half a lakh would probably cover the
Perfumery—Included Eau do Cologne and Florida legitimate coasting trade.
water which, it is said, are largely re-exported to the Towards the e? d of the year, however, a large
Kathiawar ports and are said to be drunk there or expert of bar silver to the Kutch ports—a new
perhaps used for perfuming intoxicating drinks. departure—set in. Exact figures are not procurable,
It maybe noted here that a rough estimate of the hut an estimate shows that at least 7 lakhs worth
Post Office trade in costly scents is said to be must have been thus exported.
R&. 12,000. About 150 parcels of *Ud’ (al-o wood) To examine exports ia detail, only two artiolee
valicd at R13.500 are imported through the Post show an increase, dates and cotton goods.
Office from India. Dates—Show a total of R19,76,115, or an increase
Miscellaneous.—With regard to the remaining of R2,55,485 or 14*85 pxr cent. This was only to be
^nicies, no comparison is possible with the retaras expected and a close examination of the figures of
of previous yeai-8, as they were all included under previous years in Tuble Xo. 2-C, coupled wiih Major
the head of “Miscellaneous.” Some atte mpt has Trevor’s remark under date export of last year,
made this year to differentiate between the would seem to show that the rise should be very
various classes of goods with a view to obtaining much larger. The reason for the fall in the export
0019 generally accurate figures ard to enable to the United States of 1 lakh is not clear.
fluctuations to be observed in future yoarB. It will
he teen throughout that India holds her own. Cotton Goods—The rise in cotton goods from the
R&. 28,696 of last y»-ar to this year s figure of
Exports*—-1The total value of expoita for the year Rs. *2,49.855, showing an increase of Ka. 2,21,159 or
ueder review amounted to Rs. 40,65,512 and show a 770 69 per cent., is purely fictitious. Probably the
ecrc&se of Ra. 98,195 or 2 37 per cent., compared trade has as a fact fallen. The Customs returns
J1,, 'he figures for 1909-10 which stood at show that this year’s export was only Ra. 35,252.
fi«A707.
The reason is that undoubtedly in past years’ returns
». D,