'File No. II/12 Foreign Dept Memoranda of Information re: affairs in Persia and Arabian shore of the Persian Gulf. Jan '09 --' [‎17v] (34/178)

4
Frenohmen to the posts of Treasurer-General
and Financial Inspector, as the Shah had
consented to the establishment of these posts,
which were considered both by the Russian
Financial Agent and the French Financial
Adviser to be very necessary if financial
reform was to be carried out effectively.
M. Isvolsky informed Sir A. Nicolson
that he had no objection to the appointment
of a French Treasurer-General and a
Financial Inspector. He (Sir A. Nicolson)
replied that, as the position of those who
controlled finances in a country such
as Persia would be a very strong one, he
presumed that the functions of those two
officers would be strictly defined, and that,
in dealing with the affairs of Persia, no third
party, not even France, would be admitted on
equal terms with Russia and England. M.
Isvolsky replied that he regarded the two
officers merely as M. Bizut’s assistants.
The question of a joint Anglo-Russian
loan to Persia seems likely to take practical
shape in the near future. The Russian propo
sal [videparagraph 1, supra) to give an imme
diate advance of £200,000 to the Shah is due
in part to the fear that the Persian Govern
ment may turn to Germany to afford them
financial assistance. His Majesty’s Govern
ment are not, however, disposed to make
any loan until a constitutional Government
is actually established, and until definite
guarantees can be obtained as to the
objects to which the loan will be devoted. In
any case they pref< r, before taking the question
into consideration, to await the report on
Persian finances which M. Bizot is preparing.
It seems clear that any loan now advanced
would be repudiated by the Nationalist party
bo soon as they came into power.
(Vide paragraph 43 of Memorandum
for July 1908.) In connection with the
question of the transfer of the lien of the
Imperial Bank of Persia from the Customs
receipts of Kermanshah to those of Bushire,
Sir G- Barclay reported on the 28th January
that he had received a note from the
Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs pledging
the customs of Bushire from the 21st March
for the interest on the Bank’s advances to the
Persian Government, to be paid in monthly
instalments of 18,000 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. . Sir G.
Barclay enquired whether, if the interest for
last year and this year on the Anglo India
loan was not paid by April next, His Majesty’s
Government would like him to press for pay
ment from what remained of the Bushire
receip's. In that case the 13,000 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
a month for the reduction of the Persian
Government’s debt to the Bank would h ive
to be obtained from some other port in the
south*