'Administration Reports 1925-1930' [‎135r] (274/418)

S ection 6.
Arrivals.
Sir Robert Clive, K.C.M.G., His Britannic Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary
and Minister Plempotentiarv at the Court of Persia, accompanied by his Secre
tary, Sir Charles Hartopp, Kt., arrived at Bushire by Air from Tehran, on the
23rd October and left next evening on board H. M. S. " Triad " on a visit to
Bandar Abbas, Henjam, Kuweit and Mohammerah. He returned to Tehran via
Khuzistan.
S ection 7.
Political Situation.
The Government measures. —The new Dress Regulations,—Compulsory
Conscription, and Disarming are bitterly resented and opposed by the^ tribal
elements. There was a general revolt among the tribes of Southern Persia, and
throughout the year the Persian army was busily engaged in trying to put it
down. Imam Quli Khan, leader of the Rustam clan of Memasani, had hardly
ended his campaign by practically dictating terms to Government in January,
when the Qashqais and Qawam's tribes of the eastern Fars rose, cut off com
munications and beseiged Shiraz. There was also trouble in Khuzistan, and in
the Bakhtiari country. Although beyond a little trouble in Borazjun, there
was no rebellion in the Bushire District, and the Tangistanis were fighting among
themselves, there was a danger that active disaffection might spread to Tang-
istan and Dashti, and to save the situation the Governor and the Officer Com
manding were frequently on the move in the district. The Persian troops failed
to gain a victory over the Qashqais, and the Government had to make a com
promise granting most of the terms of All Khan. The operations did not in
crease the prestige of the military, but the tribes seem to have realized that
Reza Shah is determined to enforce his will upon them.
On the whole it may be said that the Government was partially successful,
and at the end of the vear disturbances elsewhere had been suppressed to such
an extent that it could' send about 2,000 troops to disarm Tangistan and Dashti.
The people generally are suffering from economic pressure. While modern
ways of life have raised the cost of living, there are no new sources of income,
and poverty, therefore, is on the increase amongst the masses, and with it some
discontent with the present regime. Reza Shah is feared but he is certainly not
popular and is criticised in private for being a Dictator who has usurped the
powers of the Constitution.
Owing to Passport and other difficulties arising out of the Persia's claim to
the Arab Coast, traffic between the Persian and Arab Coasts has been reduced
to a minimum.
S ection 8.
Trade and Trade Facilities.
1 Trade. —From a commercial point of view the year 1929 must be reckoned
a black one in the annals of Southern Persia. Despite a comparatively good
harvest and a subsequent fall in the price of _ grain, the bazars remained dnll
and inactive throughout the period. This evil state of affairs was pnmai ily
due to the closing of the Shiraz road in late spring and throughout the summer
owino- to the Qashgai revolt. Bushire was thereby isolated from Upper Persia
and her merchants suffered from the locking up of their capital in goods "which
they could no longer forward to Shiraz or Isfahan for sale. But the root of
the malady lav deeper as the latter months were to show. Increasing taxation
(characterised in 1929 by the imposition of a Tobacco Monopoly Tax anxi an
enhanced dutv on exported opium) still further affected the purchasing power
of the country and money was even tighter than in 1928. > Meanwhile extensive
Government expenditure abroad, together with the failure to return tne
A. P. 0. C. Rovalties into circulation was already affecting the Kran Exchange
in the summer' In the Autumn months came the fall in the price of silver and
the New York Stock Exchange crisis with its repercussions on Persian Exports
of carpets, gums, and guts. As a result the Kran sterling late, o3 m Maich,
soared up to 62.2 in the latter part of November and great damage was done
to trade. Merchants either refused to accept their bills or were compelled to
foresro their profits. Complaints became loud against the economic policy ot
the Government, and especially the project of the Trans-Persian Railna},
which is of necessity unpopular in Bushire, whose decline it presupposes. Ine
general feeling of the Bushiri is that the Pahlevi regime would do well to leave
LclUFD