'File 35/134 III (A 54) Sur: Ja`alan- Amirs of.' [‎179r] (375/426)

question of the political and financial future of the State. As
you will see from my report on the financial condition of the
.State, my letter No.£»a«3of /c^ecember ls»31, its future prospects,
if reasonable conditions prevail, are fair, and provided that
the Bani Bu Ali problem is solved successfully I thinJc we may
say that it - the State - is convalescent. If the problem is
not solved successfully then the State will undoubtedly suffer
a relapse, and we shall have a "sick man 1 * on our hands for many
years to come*
o. The most important factor in the problem is of course
neither the State nor the Bani Bu Ali but His Majesty's Govern-
ment, as it is only they who can give us the '‘Doctor’s mandate*
to deal with the situation. They will I imagine be more ready
to give this if the Bani Bu Ail commit some act of definite
aggression. It will presumably be our object therefore to get
Sheijch All into a position in which he’will either have to accept
the Gate's terms, or commit an act of aggression against it. Any
sort of indefinite 'draw', even in the State's favour, would not
I think meet the case.
i
•«ifh regard to terms. Without in any way committing you
I have discussed this point with Saiyid Said. He only wants
three things from the Sheikh:-
(a) That Customs dues should be paid in Aiqa.
(b) That for this purpose a Customs post should be established
there.
(c) That Aiqa (i.e* Bani Bu All) dhows should be registered.
These are all perfectly reasonable and simple requests.
5. on the other hand Saiyid Said is quite prepared to allow
the Sheikh the special privileges,and some^thing over, which he
has enjoyed in tne past. Tne Sheikh has the concession, for
instance, of importing 100 bags of rice per annum free of dues:
the value of this is about # 80 per annum. In order to enforce
the principle of collecting Customs dues at Aiqa the simplest
plan would perhaps be for the State to compound with the Sheikh
for the value of his concession in cash, and Saiyid Said is