Page 374 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (III)_Neat

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became on a cash basis as it was impossible to allow shopkeepers to give credit when at the end of
each month they had to pay the Government for the rationed goods which they sold. It was
surprising that there were no complaints on this score but as the war went on the people became
more prosperous and they had no difficulty in finding ready money.
In 1362 (1943) stocks of rice were exhausted and for some time none was available in Bahrain,
when wheat first became an unpopular substitute for rice many people did not know how to prepare
and cook it and this change in diet was responsible for aggravating dysentery in many parts of Bahrain.
Later the Arabs became accustomed to wheat and some even professed to prefer it to rice which in
olden days was not the universal food which it became in later times.

In 1363 (1944) the Government spent 84 lacs on grain, sugar, dates, tea and piecegoods. There
were few complaints about the rationing system which by this time was running very smoothly.
Though 20 lbs. per head per month was a small ration of cereals it appeared to be adequate in house­
holds of four or five persons. The proportion of the 20 lbs. varied according to the stocks that were
available, it was made up, at different tines, of wheat, millet, barley and flour and later, when it once
more became available, of rice. The sugar ration also varied from 3 lbs. to 2 lbs. in the towns and
from i lb. to 1 lb. in the village, meat was never rationed but tea and coffee were rationed occasionally
when supplies were low. From 1363 cotton piecegoods were rationed and for some time the Govern­
ment bought from the importers one third of all the piecegoods in general use which were issued for
sale on ration cards to the public.

Among the people who behaved most badly during the war were the Bahrain butchers, a close
knit group of town Bahama who have a reputation that extends over forty years for independence and
stubborn obstinacy. The butchers strongly resented the price of meat being controlled when they
saw in the war an unrivalled chance of profiteering. In the past they had held a rather particular
position as the meat markets were owned by and were a monopoly of members of the Ruling Family.
They threatened to go on stike, not for the first time, and when they refused to comply with regula­
tions their duties were taken over by the Municipality which bought the imported livestock and sold
meat to the public for some months. Eventually the butchers, who could practice no other trade,
were allowed to return to their work and from then they gave no further trouble.

which toS'the o^'goo wT'• ^Vemment sPent 118 ,acs on food and essentiaIs
grazing this year was exrmtin 11 T * and arSe <*uantlties of sheeP» 6oats and cattle. The

died ^e end 'nt “ “Med 8rcat casualti« a™ng them, on one day alone 400 animals
price controls and rat*^ 6 ^ *°°d position no easier and was necessary to continue enforcing
bed r^k prices * CnSUre thC faiF distribution of food supplies and clothing materials at

In 1365 the Government spent 106 lacs, £7,95,000 in purchasing rice, wheat, mixe £rains^ ^
Persia, sugar and tea which was sold in rations to the public. * The cereal ration remaine a
per head but throughout the year it included from 4 to 8 lbs. of rice, according to the quanti ^ ^
the Government was able to obtain from Persia. The prices of rice and wheat fluctuate acco ^ ^
to the price which the Government had to pay and varied during the year between Rs. 2 an ^
i
per roba (4 lbs.) for rice and from annas 12 to annas 13 per roba for wheat. Both rice an^ ^ ^
. were subsidised by the Government in order to keep down the cost of living. The sugar ra ^ a
towns was 3 lbs. per head at the beginning of the year but later it was reduced to 2$ lbs^owi^
cut in Bahrain’s sugar quota from India. The village sugar ration was maintained at 1 • Per

Throughout the year there was a steady flow of imports from Persia into Bahrain wh’
eluded livestock, potatoes, onions, fresh and dried fruits, rice and milled grain all resu 1 ^
the barter system, a sufficient quantity of dates was also imported, encouraged by barter,