Coll 28/21 ‘Persia; Azerbaijan; Persia-Russian & Persia-Turkish Frontier.’ [‎93r] (185/845)

Extract trom Tabr i z Diary lor 19U6. No. 1 . JANUARY.
5* 2r--4e Iryigotgy. Wholesale trade oo*ie to a full et/p*
‘^The embargo jn the export of goods to T>hr ?n eontlnueo. It has
been lifted in f vour o one or t©o eonalpn^ontn, but only after
adequate security had been obtained for the return of the proceeds*
not only to Tabriz- but to the eoffer© of the lovem-ient in pfiyraent
for taxes due. othnr nex^h^nt’? h vn net rlth a fl t refusal even
nhon off' rlnn undert Kinr-e to bring bitek the proceeds. Ttie
Govemr.'ient Is as ro f houovcr t of the ncooselty fbr tumin the
province*o products to aooount, and Is now revolving: two projects:
one, the nogotl ting of trade KTooraents direct with
f neighbouring Foreign atrlte9* , ; the other* the fom tlon of a
Ooverment Trading Organization ^*>lch could undertake all the
ira^>ort and export bu inear. of the province. The first ocherie*
which eome to indicate that the National Ocvemaent is thinlilng
of coraluoting its own foreign relations* onn operate ohly in f vo up
of Russia. The second ech ?ne envis »goo the creation of a com any
with 5 million tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. c ipitsl* o © fifth to be oubaoribed by the
Qoverment* the rent by the pdblio with torn,© of eosy payroent for
peasant f nd worker nubscriberG. \a at first advertised the sohe^ie
boiled for 2 r ill ion tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. c pital* butt it seems that nor © of the
merchants invited to subscribe riJiouled the idea of ouch a sua
(which woula* in fact, represent nothing like the vtlue of the
trade of Tabriz alone"* ond so it was nut^oented. The Oovcmrjent*s
idea seems to be to purchase nt pre»wiir prices all goods for
export and sell the in the rest of Persia or abroad at the
present market prices. It is a simple and attractive ocherc* but so
far not a single merchant of Tnbriz has come in. "’he avonnent
may in the oni force them to put up the money by continuin ; the
embargo and by other sens of intimidation at its disposal* but
for the scheme to work there will be need of nen with more
experience of the export business than are to be found in the
procent Oovemment. If it eucoeode it will mean the end of all
private trade here and for that reason will be stubbornly opposed
by the rierchanto.
The noverr aent hove decreed that all goods entering Azerbaijan
must pay cub tons duty* regprdleas of whether they hove paid on their
first entry into Xr n, e.g* at ^Cherrasirtiabr. In practice, also*
dues seem to be levied on good© allowed to be exported. Towards
the middle of the month it wan reported that 50 tons of roghon mre
despatched to Tohr n and that the Tower icnt collected 1*000
tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. per ton on it. But this may h ve been security for the
return of the sale price.
The factories ar^ puff or in^ both from the embargo on export
and from the lack of re dy money. Ho far* bp some yat Tious means
they have man aged to scrape up the rials necessary each pay day*
but these obscure sources munt aoonor or later dry t$p. The
Pashmineh Textile Factory An East India Company trading post. which hao Ion; been bttnijpuupt. hoc been
reo enel by the Qevsmment who have paid to it one million rials
on account of 60,000 metre of cloth to be supplied for the rny
and Police. Thors is no competent technical manager however, ana
the place is not likely to run long without a mechanical breakdown.
Tha Iran Leather Factory An East India Company trading post. ie also being ope rated <>y the Government*
but. so far a© is know* it has not yet begun to produce a^ain.
There ie a rumour that the ncremmsnt arc to open a factory An East India Company trading post. for
knitted woollen ooln ihloh will employ 40 workero.
machinery ie soil to have been* or 1e oeing ? b’t .ned frara xusola.
Thero io yet no reliable conflm tion of this.
The/