File 600/1905 Pt 2 'Aden Hinterland: Future Policy' [‎347r] (181/226)

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13. The various detai s of Major Jacob's proposals I do not propose
to here enter into. These will be remarked upon later, if desired, ibr^the
present I would only invite consideration of the general su»<mstion that at,
various posts along the roads Native Levies should be posted and charged with
casual "offenders. 01131 " 11 ^ t0 GoyemmeHt of ^feguaJding travellers’ against
refe ? his Proposal as «an embryonic form of tribal
levy. It will be observed that he leaves certain fixed responsibilities for
portions of the roads to some of the Chiefs whose territories are traversed and
that it is only at certain places upon the Aden-Dthala road that he suffffests
small garrisons and occasional patrols of Native Levies. I am inclined to think
that it would prove feasible to, in due course,. extend the levy scheme so as to
embrace that portion of the community which at present earns fees from passing
caravans by acting as “ Mukadams ” or guardians on the roads.
15. Such a levy could occasionally be made use of to administer correc
tion as well as to maintain order, and their use for such purposes should prove
generally a more simple and less costly undertaking than the use of more
regular forces. This would apply particularly in the Subeki country where
water is scarce and wells are distant from each other. The operations of such
a body would perhaps in some cases be somewhat of the nature indicated in
paragraph 13 of my letter No. ^>56, dated the 28th ultimo, and assume the
form of a sharp counter raid upon marauding parties. There would at any rate
be available a mixed body of different tribes and clans in the actual service and
pay of Government and ready to act promptly upon emergencies such as those
under immediate reference.
36. I take this opportunity to submit these proposals for the consideration
of Government, but in doing so I would not recommend that either the
Abdali or the Amir of Lthala or the Haushabi Sultan or any other of the
regular and more important Chiefs of the Protectorate should be freed of
responsibility for the safety of the roads lying within the limits of their own
territories.
17. I would, however, recommend that these Chiefs’ responsibilities
should be limited to their own territories and that in the Subehi country and
in various other portions of the Protectorate where the rule of no single Chief
is at present effective, measures should now be taken to more firmly establish
our own influence rather than to establish that of individual Chiefs who have
in the past consistently displayed their inability to maintain the requisite order.
I would urge that where the Abdali Sultan now periodically engages Yafai
and Aulaki mercenaries from the East with a view to his own ends and for
general purposes of correction or retaliation, a regular levy in our own employ,
more or less on the lines suggested by Major Jacob, would be preferable and
more consistent with our position as the Paramount Power.
18. Meanwhile I would solicit the favour of early orders as to the precise
nature of the reply which should be made to the Abdali Sultan’s claim to
assistance under the terms of the old treaty of 1839.
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