Coll 28/8 ‘Persia; Diaries; Sistan & Kain, April 1927 – 1933’ [‎197v] (405/434)

2
Expoet op Ghi.
66. Reference paragraph 58.
With the approval of the Central Gov
ernment, orders prohibiting the export
of ghi (clarified butter) were issued on
21st September The exp rt by traders
of ghi already in stock is, however, per
mitted on license.
The object of the prohibition is to
reduce prices for the benefit of Nasratabad
town, and it will hit Indian traders hard,
as ghi is one of the few commodities
which it pays to export from Sistan. It
will probably hit the Persian cattle-
owners, who form an important element
in the population, still harder. But the
gang of officials who sit in JSasratabad
from year-end to year-end can hardly be
expected to see beyond the ends of their
noses, or to realize that by cutting off the
market for local produce they curtail
production and impoverish the district as
a whole.
Land Revenue and Taxation.
67. Reference paragraph 53.
His Majesty's Consul had a long and
interesting talk at Meshed with Mr.
Loomis, the American Einancial Director,
on the subject of the Sistan revenue sys
tem. According to His Majesty’s Consul
General, Meshed, Mr. Loomis has not in
the past been at all communicative about
his work and has shown sings of resent
ing the interest taken by the British
in the welfare of Sistan. The resignation
of Dr. Millspaugh and the uncertainty
of his own future have however, brought
about a remarkable change in Mr.
Loomis’s attitude. He not only unburd
ened himself to His Majesty’s Consul at
great length on the subject of Sistan,
which he visited last winter, but pre
sented him with specially-typed copy of
his report on that district.
68. A copy of this report, with com
ments, will be submitted to Government
during the forthcoming cold weather,
when His Majesty’s Consul has had an
opportunity to study conditions on the
spot. It may be mentioned, however,
that Mr. Loomis has little use for the
report compiled by his predecessors Major
Hall in 1924 in virtual collaboration with
Mr. B. J. Gould. He does not ascribe
the present state of affairs in Sistan to the
iniquitous system of short-term leases sold
by the Revenue Department to the high
est bidder. He regards the big lease
holders (musta'-jirin) as the villains of the
piece.^ There are only 140 lease-holders
in aU Sistan, and the most important
among them are members of the two or
three leading families, including the
Governor himself. According to Mr.
Loomis, these big leaseholders cheat the
Government with one hand and the cul
tivators with the other; by dint
elaborate intriguing they avoid the pa^ -
ment of huge arears of revenue, at the
same time grasping more than their fair
share at the division of produce on the
threshing-floor. If about a dozen of the
more powerful leaseholders could be
eliminated, he says, the Sistan revenue
system could be put on a proper footing;
then, and not till then, would it pay
Government to undertake the big capital
works which would double the cultivable
area of Sistan, e.g., a permanent dam
on the Heltnand at Band-i-Kuhak and
a Canal draining the surplus waters
of the Hamun into the Gaud-i-Zirreh via
the Shela riverbed.
It is permissible to guess that Mr..
Loomis, as a hundred-per-cent democratic
American, is not altogether unprejudiced
on the subject of old ruling families and
of landed aristocracies in general. The
picture of Sistan handed over to the tender
mercies of a host of Revenue officials from
Tehran or Meshed, without the counter
vailing power and influence of the said
ruling families to restrain them, is not one
which appeals to the thoughtful observer.
Duzdap.
69. M. Hunin, Inspector of Customs in
South Persia, left Duzdap for his head
quarters in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. on 14th
September.
70. Persian Visa Arrangements .—
Reference Legation Circular No. 40.
As a result of the orders recently issued
by the Central Government on the subject
of Persian visas on the passports of
foreigners entering Persia, the practice
whereby the Customs authorities at
Duzdap have in the past affixed visas to
the passport of travellers who have come
without them is to be discontinued. In
consequence, a number of Indians bound
for Meshed, who were unable to obtain
visas at Karachi owing to the sudden
resignation of the Persian Consul there,
are reported to be held up at Quetta.
Pending the result of a reference by His
Majesty’s Consul to Tehran, arrangements
have been made by His Majesty’s Vice
Consul, Duzdap with the local authorities
to visa the passports of these persons at
the frontier as before.
Biejand.
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Garhwali motor driver named Sob ha Ram
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