File 1283/1913 Pt 5 'MESOPOTAMIA TRADE Issue of new Trade Report' [‎67r] (129/270)

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good government, security of tenure and a settled political
atmosphere^ it is probable that it will be found that many Arabs
who at present live in the Desert will lose their contempt for
the settler and will tahe up land ana cultivate it^to the
financial advantage of tuemselves and those who manufacture
and handle the increased imports that t&ey will require. The
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necessities of war condition^have raised the mtes of wages
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all roundjWith the result that clerics who would not be able to
earn a living (as clerics) in ordinary times are at present
earning the equivalent of fifteen pounds a month or more,
Indian clerics^ content with thirty or forty rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. in India^ are
able to command here practically a minimum of one hundred and
fifty, with rations and quarters or an equivalent, The capacity
for woric of these men is not up to that of Europeans^, the level
of whose wages they are approaching^and it therefore seems to
.me that they must either increase their capacity by education
and application (a goal at which the Educational Department
is aiming) or they must revert to a lower level. T't is hoped
| that the former result will be attained; out meanwhile^ there
is at least one firm here considering the advisability, of
relying almost entirely on European subordinates.
As already stated^one of the principal factors in
the restriction of trade developments is tnat of finance. In
tne first place, there are certainly large stocks of goods in
tiie country which were purchased with a 1/6: rupee. The rupee
■* ^
at the time of writing is worth 2/2 with the result that there
is a tendency for merchants taking up documents at the current
rate to undersell those who imported a few months ago. The
local ercnants are very inclined to retain their stocks ins-
A
tead of selling and cutting their losses^ with the result that
the Banhs are reluctant to deal with the paper of those mer
chants known to hold large stocks purchased at the old rate
of exchange.