'Administration Report of the Persian Gulf Political Residency for the Years 1915-1919' [‎49r] (104/396)

FOE THE TEAK 1916.
19
chapter iv.
ADMINISTRATION REPORT FOR THE KERMAN CONSULATE FOR
THE YEAR 1916.
The post of Consul was vacant until the arrival of Major D. L. R. Lorimer,
Hia Majesty's Consulate. 011 JuI y 24ih ' when he Proceeded to take
over the Consular and political work
which had been initiated and carried on by General Sykes and his staff dur
ing the preceding six weeks.
In September it was decided to revive and maintain, till at least six
months after the conclusion of the war, the appointment of Vice-Consul and
Assistant, and Mr. C. P. Skrine, I.C.S., then Assistant Political Officer, Sibi,
was nominated to the post. He arrived in Kerman on 10th November.
As it was not intended to continue to employ Mirza Nasrullah Khan,
Clerical Estabiisbment. Honorary Vice-Consul, in the Consulate,
sanction was obtained for the appoint
ment of an Indian Head Clerk on a relatively high rate of pay and of an
Indian Accountant on a lower rate. Khan Sahib Abdul Alim was appointed
to the former post and accompanied Major Lorimer on the journey up to
Kerman.
It was arranged that Mirza Nasrullah Khan should be taken into
the service of General Sykes, or the South Persia Hifles, and that on the
departure of the Column for Yezd he should remain temporarily in Kerman.
.By General Sykes' courtesy His Majesty's Consul was granted a share of hia
services, and, as no other Mirza could be procured in Kerman at the time,
this arrangement was a very fortunate one.
Mirza Nasrullah Khan eventually left for Yezd and Shiraz in the begin
ning of November and a temporary Mirza with no knowledge of English was
wdth some difficulty engaged. The arrangement is for many reasons unsatis
factory An East India Company trading post. , but it has been impossible as yet to improve on it.
The question of clerks' salaries has been rendered very difficult by the
fall in the exchange value of the kran aggravated by a rise in the kran
prices of all necessaries. The rupee, which in 1913-15 averaged about 3*65
krans, stood, in august 1916, at 2*60 and continued to fall till, at the end
of the year, it reached I'TO kracs. The increase in kran prices of local and
imported necessaries of life varied from 20 to 100 per cent. Living, at any rate
in recent years, was never particularly cheap, and it is now some two to four
times more expensive than it was in 1914, reckoning in rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. . Repeated
references were made on the subject, and it is understood to be now under the
consideration of the Government of India, but no relief has yet l)een afforded.
In the meantime the Accountant has found it necessary to resign. The contract
between the treatment of members of the South Persia Eifies and of other
services is very marked. The South Persia Rifles have all the privileges of
Field Service and are allowed to convert their Rupee salaries at a fixed rate of
3*65 krans to the rupee.
The Indian Jlscort. —On his appointment His Majesty's Consul proposed
that, instead of an Indian Escort, he should be furnished with a Persian one
by the South Persia Rifles, or should be allowed to raise a local one. The
South Persia Rifles were not however yet in a position to furnish one, and
eventually it was decided to attach to the Consulate a detachment of 1 Native
Officer and 25 Non-Commissioned Officers and men of the 39th Central India
Horse who had accompanied General Sykes to Kerman.
Political IListory. —After the departure of the British and Russian
.... communities from Kerman, on 17th
vennan sans es ng am. December 1915, which has been related
in last year's report, the control of affairs both in the town and province
d 2