File 1283/1913 Pt 5 'MESOPOTAMIA TRADE Issue of new Trade Report' [‎73r] (141/270)

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these facilities should be furnished so soon as possible,unless
the completion of the railway to Kermanshah is a prospect of
the immediate future. Hoads in Persia are reported to have been
improved by military forces passing through and are now suit
able in many cases for mechanical transport^which will cheapen
freight and shorten the period occupied in transport, Steps
have already been taken to import lorries^ and there is no doubt
that their introduction on the central roads will be in favour
of the Mesopotamia route and consequently of Mesopotamia trade.
The effect^ of rates of transport in Persia on the trade of this
country is indicated to some extent by the facts that a short
time ago the rates of freight from Ahwaz to Isphahan were
reduced from thirty krans to seven krans per Shah maund^ a no. the
value of the exports from masrah to Kahomerah has risen from
two lacs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees of rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. in August to nine lacs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees in November (of course
to a large extent a probable cause which reduced the rate also
increased the exports , i.e. greater security oi the roads).
As in many other countries^there will be ior some time
a shortage of houses both for Europeans and those natives ol
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the country who^either g-roVi a recent acquisition oi comparative
wealth or'a recent realization of the extent to wnich they can
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with the means at their disposal improve their surroundings#and
to supply this shortage it will be necessary to import building
materials ana machinery a process which is handicapped by the
high prime cost as well as by the freight and incidental charged.
The future of Mesopotamia appears to lie in increased
production t chiefly of agricultural products, ana the development
of transport facilities both in the country and also in fersia
along those routes that are served by Mesopotamiaj.fending
greater production, the country is not likely to absorb goods at
any greater rate than at present., though the power of Persia to
taxe goods may not yet have been exhausted. Increased production
necessitates more labour and until it is shown that that extra