'File 19/176 VI Bahrain Finances' [‎121r] (242/253)

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CONFIDENTIAL ,
D.O. No. C/277.
POLITICAL AGENCY An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
BAHRAIN.
The 17th MarcU> 1948,
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Enclosed is a copy of Belgrave^ letter^
No.758-22/9A dated the 12th February, 1948, which
is the result of my speaking to him about the
Bahrain Civil List increases as you asked me to do
in your demi-official letter N0.I86 -S dated the
20th January, 1948.
2. My comments on His Highness^ "arguments' 1
are as follows;- ? 6^
I have no record of the Shaikh having refer
red to Galloway, and presumably you have none. The
letter written by Smith to which Belgrave refers was
presumably the enclosure to Jackson 1 s demi-official
letter No.C/989 dated the 1st October, 1947, to
Galloway. The letter was far from clear on the
question of the incidence of the increases sanctioned
by the Shaikh, and it would have needed a clairvoynt
to discover that, as well as sanctioning cost of Ifving
allowance the Shaikh was going to charge a lac One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees to the
State budget which he formerly paid himself.
3. The argument^ at (b) contradict^ by implication^
that at (a), i.e. if the arrangement about oil royalties
was as stated by the Shaikh then there was no necessity
to refer to the political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. . I don't want to add
to the considerable noting and correspondence on this
point, but Weightman f s view of it as late as 1940 (vide
his demi-official letter No.C/285-4/1 dated the 6th
April, 1940, to prior - paragraph 4) Is interesting.
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4. As to argument (c) the point,\I think, is as
made in paragraph 2 of my letter No.C/1191 dated the
14th December, 1947. We have been consulted in the
past and past precedent in the matter should be acted
upon. The correspondence about the allowance for Shaikh
Da ! ij ( Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. 's letter No.C/415-4/1 dated the
21st April, 1934, to the Hon'ble the political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency.
refers) is a remarkable instance of the extent to which
we were consulted.
6. I propose, if you agree, to discuss the Shaikh's
action with him ; to counter his arguments in the manner
/indicated,
The Hon'ble Lt-Col. Sir Rupert Hay,
K.C.I.E., C.S.I.,
political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ,
Bahrain .
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