File 3852/1912 Pt 2 'Persia. Conditions in South Persia. German Documents' [‎237r] (105/280)

to the words of the Russian charge d’affaires 1 ). Russian officers
were in command of these troops!
This edifying comedy only came to an end in the autumn of
1913. Salar-ed-Dowleh, who had taken refuge in the Russian Con
sulate of Kermanshah was conducted to Russia and thence de
parted to Switzerland, with a yearly pension extorted from Persia.
^ While Russia, with the help of jealous agents and complai
sant governors like Shuja-ed-Dowleh, who about the end of
1913 suppressed by approved Russian methods the parlia
mentary elections in Azerbaijan claimed by the Bakhtiars,
got ready to swallow the fat North Persian morsel and fur
thered the peaceful penetration “by purchase” of North Persian
villages and settlement of Russian families 2 ), England thought
to have won in the person of Mukhber-es-Sultaneh a Governor
General for Ears who through his system of government should
make good the “prejudice” to English commercial interests
in the South about which England had complained for years.
“A man possessed of sound ideas and theories” he was called
by Major O’Connor, the British Consul at Shiraz 3 ) and the
English minister attributed to his quiet and unobtrusive work
the reconciliation of the most divergent groups of interests and
the furtherance of general welfare in the Ears province 4 ).
Months passed of course before Mukhber could enter upon
his position. In consequence of the miserable finance of the
Treasurer General, Mornard, there were not even funds for the
instalment of the Governor General of Ears. England helped
by making him a direct advance, which was naturally to be
deducted from future loans and to be refunded from receipt
of taxes in the province 5 ). The expenses were checked by
1 ) English Blue Books Persia No. 1 (1914) No. 131 M. Sabline says
on April 3rd, 1917, to Sir W. Townley: More use should be made of the
Cossack Brigade which costs the Persian Government a large sum of money
and is of small practical value. And he adds ingenuously: It is generally
recognised that Russia is behind the Cossack Brigade.
2 ) In the spring of 1913 the Russians bought the villages Shirenk,
Marakalateh, Bagharabad, Fazilabad, and Nukan and settled 360 families
there. English Blue Books Persia No. 1 (1914) No. 143.
3 ) English Blue Books Persia No. 1 (1913) No. 512.
4 ) English Blue Books Persia No. 1 (i9 I 4) No. 234.
*) English Blue Books Persia No. x (1913) No. 416.