File 8/9 Annual Report on the State of Bahrain for the year AH 1351 [‎77r] (158/200)

own territority has been vindicated, and the evasive^
tactfeof the 'ie jdy merchants have been properly checker;
considerable assistance to the 3.I.S.a.Co. has been
rendered; and although this Company has at last red 1
its freight rates to a figure reasonably consistent
with the"value of the imports having regard to the
current degression, it is yet to be seen if this Con
nany will reciprocate the assistance given them by 1
Bahrain government especially in the matter ox onn^
their steamers to a more convenient anchorage.
The transhinments at sea within the port limits
of cargo intended for the mainland proceed steadily
and the merchants concerned pay their dues without i
demur, and the local employment of native craft is
ensured. I therefore consider myself justnied m
reporting that the mainland trade will proceed ^te&<
as lon^ as there is any such trade to be done, the i
est factor in its favour being the regular weekly
calling here of the upmail steamers, tnus enabling
merchants concerned to replenish tneir stocks regul
at a saving of considerable^sums in interest payabl
on over due accounts in India if such consignments
to come forward irregularly by sailing craft; anot
factor is the local feeling of security m dealing witn
the Bahrain customs. Thus, during the past year the
2f Q duty so collected has amounted to tts ld,bhd/-.
The saving point is; how long will such transit
trade continuer This is dpubtful. for pne pi the
main reasons for the transhipment trade in rice, ana
especially in piecegoods, was that the rates o: Import
Duty levied on the mainland were very much less than
the rates of Import Duty levied at Jeddah, the greatest
port in the Kingdom of Saudia. It appears tp be .
cheaper to bring goods from India to ^rabia via Bahrain
than to import them via Jeddah; and this fact has creal
a falling-off in the imparts into Jeddah with a corres
ponding outcry from the interested merchants there.
I understand now that H. M. King ikbdulaziz ibn
ViQc« thp» rates oi Import Duty on the
to the mainland.
I During the difficulty of the above described
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