'File 8/7 I Jidda Intelligence Reports' [‎58r] (115/536)

deferring to the views of a liberal entourage, had not prohibited the game, but
that it was uncertain whether those who persisted in playing it might not be
arrested. 1 he sportsmen’s dilemma is the more difficult for having not quite
visible horns.
158. Some little importance may attach to suggestions that all is not well
between the Amir Feisal and the King. It has been suggested that the Amir
will be detained in Riyadh on his return from his tour. He himself spoke to
Sir A. Ryan in London in May of the possibility of his being delayed there. One
story is that the Amir has made the removal of Sheikh Abdullah Suleiman from
office a condition of his continuing to serve as Viceroy; another, that he has come
under the influence of a strong-minded new wife of half-Turkish parentage, who
has determined to make a man of him. The interest of such reports, unauthen
ticated as they are, lies in the fact that the Amir, with his local experience, his
European experiences, and his penchant for modern-minded Syrians, might well
aspire to a dominant role in a distressful Hejaz.
159. The very youthful Amir Muhammad, who was appointed to act for
the Amir Feisal as President of the Council, &c., left for Riyadh after a short
incumbency, and was replaced by his still more youthful brother the Amir Khalid.
Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
160. Sheikh Tusuf Yasin continued to act as Minister throughout May
and June in the absence of the Amir Feisal and Fuad Bey Hamza. He visited
Jedda from the 30th x\pril to the 7th May, the 25th May to the 27th May, the
2 nd June to the 6th June, the 10th to the 14th and the 21st to the 27th. The
Ministry now maintains a permanent branch in Jedda to the extent of having on
duty Sheikh Ali Taha, who was formerly assistant to the Governor of Jedda. He
was ineffective in that capacity, and is a complete nonentity in the Foreign Affairs
Department. He is, however, a useful postman, especially as he takes. d_elivery
of notes on which the Legation formerly had to pay postage to Mecca and he has
been the medium for the transmission of cypher messages both ways by telephone
in connexion with the Ibn Rifada affair (see belowh
Hejazi Constitution.
161. Mr. Hope Gill completed in May a compilation from all available
sources of all known regulations affecting the Constitution of the Hejaz since
1926. Despite the incoherent manner in which constitutional changes have been
effected, this collection is of great importance and it is therefore worth recording
that it was sent to the Foreign Office in Legation despatch No. 213 of the
18th May, 1932.
Finance.
162. There was no material change in the current financial situation. The
Dutch financial adviser worked busily on reports. He appears to enjoy life, being
happily not dependent on his salary and having no intention of outstaying the
year of his contract. He is very discreet as to what he is doing, but makes no
secret of the difficulty of dealing with a Minister who resides in Mecca, and pays
only short and infrequent visits to Jedda.
165. On the 17th June the Hejazi Government published a decree insti
tuting revised arrangements for settling old debts. It began by saying that those
which were the subject of agreements would be paid according to these agreements.
Arrears due to soldiers, policemen and chauffeurs would be paid by issuing
supplies in kind monthly in addition to current wages; rents in accordance with
the special regulations on the delayed payment of rents (see paragraph 173).
Twenty-five per cent, of the customs revenue would be assigned to the payment
of all other debts, for which drafts on customs would be issued in cases where
this had not already been done. Government employees and other persons not in
the import trade would arrange with a named importing merchant in whose name
the drafts would be issued. The wording of these clauses is obscure, but the effect
appears to be that all debts not dealt with otherwise must be converted into d'rafts
on customs to be accepted in payment of one-fourth of the duty on newly-imported
goods. The discount market for such drafts is extremely poor, as might be
expected. Otherwise, it is too soon to appreciate the practical effect of the new
regulation.
[542 c—3] B 2