Coll 6/9 'Jeddah Reports Jany 1931–' [‎15v] (31/802)

III.— Relations with Powers outside Arabia.
399. The Dutch Charge d 5 Affaires. M. C. Adriaanse, arrived back at Jedda
on the 4th October. He was accompanied by a Dutch bacteriologist, named
Van der Hoog.
400. M. Kerim Khakimoff, the Soviet Minister, left Jedda for long leave
in Russia on the 13th October. He left M. Fattahov in charge of the Soviet
Legation. >
401. The Saudi Charge d'Affaires in F,gypt, Sheikh Fauzan-al-Sahiq,
arrived at Jedda on the 26th September and left for Taif and Riyadh to see
the King.
402. The Tripoli newspapers in mid-October arrived at the Italian Legation
by bag. Any visitors to that Legation, who appear likely to be interested, received
these newspapers gratis. In this way the local employee of the telephone office,
who calls at the Legation every month to collect the telephone bill, brings away
a few copies of such papers as the Adi of Tripoli. He recently received No. 506
of that paper, dated the 16th September; it contained a long article entitled :
“ The methods of European colonisation.” which set forth in some detail the
manifest advantages of the Fascist system over the bad methods of colonisation
practised by the British and the French. The British, says the paper, are
embezzling the wealth of their colonies to supply their own luxurious needs.
Hence demands for secession from Ireland. Canada, India and South Africa.
403. Towards the end of October the Italian Legation was again receiving
Tripoli papers through the local post, and its Abyssinian servant, named Bata or
Batha, has been to Mecca armed with a large batch of the Adi and Shard-Libyd
newspapers. The paper the Rac/ib-ul-Atid has not recently arrived; its editor
and proprietor having died, it appears to be defunct too.
404. An Italian sloop named Panthera arrived on the 21st and left on the
26th October bound for Massawa and Jibuti.
405. A local pilot, named Ibrahim, complained that he was owed
nine sovereigns for pilotage, and that when he applied to the Italian Legation he
got nothing.
406. The pilot also said that the Italian ratings had one or two brawls
in the bazaar, taking goods without paying for them; and that one shopkeeper
actually hit one of the ratings for stealing a cigarette lighter from his stall. It
appears that certain ratings were allowed shore leave all night; and that they
were greatly incensed at the absence of places of entertainment in Jedda suitable
for seamen.
407. M. Bachir, a Tripoli Arab who has had previous experience of Jedda,
returned hither on the 12th October to take the place of M. Bellini at the Italian
Legation, who will not return from Rome.
408. Colonel Ciancio, the Italian aviation adviser, left Jedda, to his own
great relief, on the 20th October. He handed over his duties as instructor and
supervisor of the Italian mechanics to Brevet-Major Ciccu, who has been in
Jedda in similar employment before.
IV .—M iscellaneous.
409. Haj propaganda continues to dominate the local press. Sheikh
Ibrahim-Us-Shoora, a member of the Haj propaganda bureau, came from Egypt
at the end of September. Optimistic estimates of bumper pilgrimages from Tunis,
Algeria, Morocco and Java are given by the Umm-ul-Qura, while its rival the
Saut-ul-Hijaz estimates the Javanese pilgrimage this year as likely to reach
20.000, and to include “ the Prime Minister, Raja King Ahmed,” with his family.
410. Pilgrims from the Netherlands East Indies have begun to arrive, the
first steamer being steamship Polyphemus, which left Java on the 28th August.
Twelve vessels have been chartered for this traffic, as compared with four last
year; this remarkable increase reflects economic revival and the improved
purchasing power of the native population of Java, particularly in the outer
islands. The number of pilgrims last year was about 4,000; this year many
more are expected. On the other hand fears that the Chinese war will spread
to Java and the fall in the price of rubber have tended in the opposite direction.