Ext 5001/41 'PERSIA – INTERNAL (Miscellaneous despatches).' [‎108r] (215/248)

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the Ministry of Food, puts his faith in one rogue after another, while
Colonel Schwarzkopf (gendarmerie) and Mr. Timmerman (police) have n<p
contracts and therefore no power. The most urgently needed advisers,
Dr. Millspaugh and his eight assistants, who are to work for the Ministry of
Finance, are still awaited. It is a fairly safe prophecy that the Americans will
be tolerated during the war, as a bait for lease-lend and a defence against Russia
'"■'^d Great Britain, but that after the war their struggle with the vanity, jealousy
x -Ad corruption of Persian officialdom will be very fierce.
30. General Ridley, of the United States Army, who has been engaged on
drawing up a scheme for the reorganisation of the Persian army, has his
proposals now ready for presentation to the Shah. As far as they are known to
me they are sound and reasonable. They entail the provision of certain
equipment, notably transport and means of communication, and a considerable
increase in the military budget to cover essential increases in pay and improve
ments in conditions for officers and men. Such an increase is an inevitable first
step in any reform, since the present rates of pay of officers make dishonesty a
necessity. It is moral reform more than reorganisation that is required in the
Persian army.
31. It lacks an ideal and an incentive; it is rent by political intrigue and
rotten with corruption. Schemes of reorganisation will effect little unless an
adequately staffed American mission has the executive authority to ensure the
moral reform. A mission with such powers will find both support and opposition
in the Persian army. The Shah, anxious that his control of and influence in the
army should be in no way restricted and shutting his eyes to the prevalent abuses,
is, according to my present information, averse from giving to the officers of
an American mission the wide powers without which they can achieve little. 1
shall miss no opportunity of endeavouring to persuade him to do so, as it is
presumably in our interests that endeavours should be made to render the Persian
army capable at least of maintaining internal security, of protecting our lines
of communication and of giving that physical support which is essential to any
Government in Persia. The main cause of its present inefficiency is its lack of
the right spirit.
94
Road Transport.
32. There is now operating in Persia a system of Allied control of all kinds
of road transport and, in particular, of motor transport. For the last two
months an informal committee, consisting of Persian, British and American
members, has been working on the compilation of regulations governing road
transport and on preparing the ground for the constitution of a more formal road
transport board with full x\llied representation. Having formulated the text of
the regulations considered necessary, the English text of which was sent to the
Foreign Office under cover of my despatch No. 421 E. of the 10th December, this
committee dissolved itself to make way for a new board, which has now been set
up by the Governments concerned, with a Persian chairman, two American repre
sentatives (one a member of the American Legation and the other the Lease-Lend
representative), one British representative and one Russian representative. In
addition, the board has the right to co-opt as required other persons connected
with civilian road transport.
33. The Road 1 ransport Board has already held a number of meetings and
is considering certain important matters requiring more or less immediate settle
ment. It is now in a position, it is hoped, to exert effective control of existing
civil transport facilities in Persia. It is too early to say whether this control
will be completely effective, but it should, in any case, bring about an improvement
in the situation. The Road Transport Board has direct control over the activities
of the Persian Government Road Transport Department (Edareh Barbari Rah),
which is a section of the Ministry of Supply. This department is directly
responsible for operating the vehicles contracted to the Persian Government, and
will also be responsible for the vehicles to be allocated to Persia under the Middle
East civilian quota. It also controls the distribution of Persian Government tyres
and of certain motor vehicle spare parts in short supply, such as batteries,
sparking plugs and electric wiring.
34. The Edareh Barbari Rah has a British director, who attends the
weekly meetings of the Road Transport Board. The latter thus indirectly
controls already a large part of the transport working for the Persian Govern
ment, and this control will apply soon to all transport in the possession of the
Persian Government and to all lorries in private ownership.
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