'File 19/176 VI Bahrain Finances' [‎125r] (250/253)

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COMFIDENTIAL .
D.O.No.C/350.
POLITICAL AGENCY An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. ,
BAHRAIN,
Dated 6th April, 194§^
Ml
I took up the/sratter of the Civil List referred to
in your d.o. N0.638-S, dated the 23rd March, 1948, with
the Shaikh yesterday.
2. I tried to make the point that it is not the
Shaikh's expenditure on his family that we are questioning,
but the incidence of that expenditure on the State Budget.
As usual, the Shaikh avoided the real issue by saying that
he had to increase the allowances because prices have gone
much higher - a proposition which it was impossible to
contradict. He went over (for about an hour) more or less
the points he made to Belgrave, though he did not say that
the increases were made with the knowledge of Galloway.
When he mentioned Kuwait, I said that Kuwait ought to take
Bahrain as an example, and he should not argue that Bahrain
should follow Kuwait's example - he avoided this argument.
I then told him that the light of publicity^shone upon
Bahrain and there was bound to be public criticism if a dis
proportionate amount ofthe State's income is spent on the
Al -Khalifah. He said that he only disposed of one-third
of the royalties and that the other two-thirds are devoted
to State purposes. This is important. He did not argue
that one-third of the royalties should be paid to the Ruler
and one-third to the Ruling Family. I hope that if he
contemplates a further move of this kind that he will refer
to us in future; and at this late stage that is all we
can hope for. ,
The Hon'ble Sir Rupert Hay, KCIE, CSI,
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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