'Administration Reports 1925-1930' [‎181v] (367/418)

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The fall in the Kran should have assisted the carpet industry but the ill-advised
action of the Government in fixing an arbitrary exchange only made matters worse
as the carpet firms, with their higher standards and tradition, could not, like the
general merchants, sell their exchange, in the open market. Buyers in America
are demanding a reduction in price consonant with the depreciation of the Kran not
realizing perhaps that what is spent on weaving and dying a carpet in Kerman is
but 20 per cent, of its retail selling price in the States.
8. Communications and Security—{a) Communications. —No new roads have
been made during the year under report, and little has been done to improve exist-
ing routes. The Bandar Abbas motor road has proved unreliable as the Southern
Section which can boast scarcely a single bridge or even culvert is subject to serious
wash-outs in the winter. Moreover the Tang-i-Zagh which had been reported
against as an alignment in 1920 by British Engineers is subject to interruption by
land slides.
As the result of the Shah's visit in November the question of a settled road
policy and programme came to the fore. Kerman was made the centre for road
administration in South-East Persia which includes Lingah, Yezd and Birjand.
The programme so far put forward is to build a Coast road to the vicinity of the
frontier of British Baluchistan and to construct two arterial lines of communi
cation from Bandar Abbas, one to Tehran and the other via Jiruft to Khurasan,
The Army, however, is in favour of the development of Charbar as a port and the
construction of a strategic road to Bampur. This alignment has been surveyed and
the estimate worked out at T. 800,000.
(6) Security. —Law and order has on the whole been well maintained with the
exception of the South-West corner of the Province where robbers from Ears and
Lar have continually been robbing traffic on the Bandar Abbas motor route. To
wards the end of the year there was a recruidescence of Baluch raiding in the
western fringe of theLut but in the majority of cases the Amnieh intercepted the
robbers and forced them to abandon their spoils. It would not seem that this
flare up of former activities has any real significance.
(c) Posts. —Owing to the unsettled condition of the Bandar Abbas-Kerman
motor road the mails on this section have been irregular, but no actual robbery of
mails took place. The post which is supposed to take 46 hours for the journey
has, in many cases, taken over three weeks in transit. During September the mails
from Bandar Abbas travelled via Bushire and Ispahan for 3 weeks.
The Duzdab mail has been working satisfactorily. Owing however to the
bi-weekly service of trains having been made into a weekly one, the letters take
more time in transit than before.
(d) Wireless. —The wireless station, which had never been in operation since
its erection by the Russians in 1926, started functioning before the arrival of
H. M. the Shah in November. Since then it has been in working order, but as
each operation cost the Telegraph Department T. 6 and there is hardly any work,
the station remains to all intents and purposes closed.
(e) Aviation.—Three flights from Tehran to Kerman of Junker's planes
carrying passengers, took place during the year under review. No improvement
has been made to the aerodrome to the North-West of the town.
B.—L ocal G overnment and P olitics.
9. Condition of Country. —The good order and security introduced by Reza
Shah is undoubtedly appreciated especially by the villagers and those who suffered
at the hands of raiders such as the Baluchis. On the other hand the Shah's popu
larity on this score is to a great extent discounted r and especially in the towns, by
the heavy taxation and the depreciation of the Kran both of which are placed to
his account.
10. Commission of Enquiry. —The Persian Government in its campaign to raise
the standard of their public service frequently sent commissions from the Capital
to investigate the work of Local Officials on specific complaints made against them.
Undoubtedly the policy must, through the element of fear, produce results, but they
tend to be superficial.