Coll 30/70 'Bahrain: Amendment of contracts of Capt Parke, Commandant of Police, & Mr Belgrave, Adviser to the Sheikh of Bahrain: leave of Mr Belgrave, etc.' [‎30r] (59/379)

" ^ 2
No. 39 8-3.
Conf idential.
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. ,
Bush ire,
5 th April, 19 4 6 .
From
- The
Hon’ble Sir Geoffrey Prior, K.C.I.F.,
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. , Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
To
- The
Secretary to the Government of India
in the External Affairs Department,
NEW D E L H I.
S ir,
I have the honour to refer to Government of India
letter No. D.9680-ME/45 dated the 2nd August 1945 regard
ing the Bahrain State budget 1364.
2. I regret that it has not been found possible to
make much progress with the recommendations of the
Government of India. In the first place tVie above mentioned
letter was received in my absence and Mr. Belgrave proceed
ed on leave almost immediately afterwards, and it was not
possible to take up the matter with him until my recent
visit to Bahrain. There had of course been an abundance
of correspondence between myself and the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. ,
but in the absence of the financial Adviser to the State
it was difficult to come to any tangible conclusions.
3. In the first place I feel that I should comment
on the statement in paragraph 4 that Mr. Belgrave M had
done so mych in recent years to put the finances of the
State on a sound footing". The fact is that Mr. Belgrave
is at present the main obstacle to any administrative
improvement in Bahrain. It is not merely the question of
the budget, though that could be ccriticised from almost
every angle, but the general administration of the State
which requires overhauling from top to bottom. During
the war this Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. was kept so short of officers that
it was impossible to attend to matters that were not urgent
and until recently the Bahrain State were unable to obtain
personnel or plant according to their requirements.
Consequently it was impossible either to make plans for
the future or to oblige the Adviser to conform to a higher
standard of efficiency. I have, in fact, begun to doubt
whether it will be possible to make much improvement during
Mr. Belgrave’s tenure of this post.
4. As regards the points mentioned in paragraph 6,
Mr. Belgrave has not apparently felt able to give effect
to the suggestions. I must confess that I myself am
doubtful of their value in so small a budget, and they will
have the drawback that it would render comparison with past
budgets more difficult. Further, it must be remembered
that Mr. Belgrave is obliged to submit his budgets to His
Highness Shaikh Salman whose grasp of financial matters is
somewhat limited. In this connection it is relevant to
/ mention...