Coll 28/41 ‘Persia. Trade Reports. Kerman 1924–’ [‎122v] (244/313)

be used again. As no Jstatistics are kept, figures
can only be guess work. On the basis of the figures
given in the report referred to above, which were
checked and scrutinised as carefully as possible,
the value of the opium crop to the cultivator may
be estimated at from one to three million krans,
according as the year is a bad or a good one.
On the other hand, the financial advantage ac
cruing from the cultivation of opium are more than
offset by its disastrous physical and moral effects
upon consumers. It is estimated that from 20
per cent, to 25 per cent, of the adult urban population
are opium addicts and all educated Persians agree
in attributing largely to opium the inefficiency of
labour and the general poverty of the masses of
the inhabitants of this province.
As I have attempted to shew in the report re
ferred to above, I believe that, if the problem were
approached carefully along the right lines, the culti
vation and consumption of opium in this province
could be largely reduced without causing any real
hardship. ✓
6. Industry.
(a) Carpet 'industry. —Figures regarding the carpet
industry, the only industry of any importance, are
given in Appendix II. An unusual feature this
year was the appearance of six or seven Jew's, with
a small amount of capital, who bought up old car
pets at almost any price for export to London,
which seems to have superseded Constantinople
as the distributing centre for Europe. Had it not
been for this development Kerman would have
suffered considerably this year from a slump in the
carpet trade. Excluding exports by the Jews
the exports of the Kerman carpet firms fell below
ten million krans for the first time for many years.
The reason for this decline w r as a slump in the
American market, (nearly 3 million krans less than
last year) due to increased competition from China,
Greece and India, and to the threat of a prohibi
tive increase in the tariff to protect the home carpet
industry. The loss of a considerable proportion of
the American business was, to some extent, set
off by an improvement in the London, Paris and
Swiss markets.
The total export of carpets, including the exports
of the Jewish buyers, w'as 12,045,807 krans. The
activities of the Jewish buyers were for the moment
beneficial to the industrial population, as house
holders, finding that they could dispose of their
old carpets and replace them by new goods, often
of a finer quality and sometimes with an actual cash
profit, freely placed orders for new carpets. These
local purchasers, and certain other petty retail buyers
for the London trade, were prepared to pay a higher
rate for early delivery. As the total value of these
individual purchases reached a considerable sum,
the rates for the large contracts of the bigger firms
were upset, and they found difficulty in doing busi
ness. Such disturbances are bad for trade in the
long run, and the effect will no doubt still be felt
in next year’s trading.
There has been some talk of Government inter
ference with, or assistance for, the carpet industry
but nothing definite has been done.
( 6 ) Electricity .—There is only one small private
electric installation in the province.
(c) Mines .—In the latter part of the year several
geologists visited the province. At the time of
writing two German geologists are just completing
a .comprehensive tour on behalf of the Persian Go\«
ernment. They report the discovery of iron and
coal in fair quantities, but authentic information
is not yet available. A separate report will be sub
mitted on this subject in due course.
7. Roads.
(a) Maintenance and new construction .—Nothing
has been done to the Kerman-Duzdap road which
,*fill remains passable for motors and nothing more.
Repairs have been effected to the Karman-\ezd-
Ispahan road, the road being taken along an entirely
new alignment in certain sections. The road is
tolerably satisfactory in fair weather, but some
parts of it are almost impassable after rain. Work
on the Kerman-Bunder Abbas road was begun in
November 1927, but was stopped after a few weeks.
In the spring of 1928 work was begun again, this
time, apparently, in earnest. The portion Kerman-
Sirjan (or Saidabad) has been improved, and a
motor can already go to within 100 miles of Bunder
Abbas. The first forty miles out of Bunder Abbas
have been repaired, but the intervening 60 miles
include the formidable Tang-i-Zagh. The Engineer-
in-charge estimates that the funds at his disposal
are sufficient to complete the road and he hopes
it will be open for traffic by next spring. No resort
is had to forced labour or forced levies for road-
making.
(fe) Motor trafjic .—It is evident from the above
that the motor roads in this province have not yet
developed sufficiently to have any appreciable effect
on trade. No trade is carried by motors on the
two most important routes (Duzdap and Bunder
Abbas) and on the Yezd-Ispahan route the volume
of motor traffic is not large enough to have had any
permanent effect on rates or turnover.
(c) Rates .—Appendix IV shews the comparative
rates of transport on the main routes this year and
last year.
(d) Security .—Security has on the whole been good.
A military detachment has been stationed in Bam
for Narmashir and Jiruft and almost all the robbers
who infested these districts early in the year have
since been captured and dealt with. Setting aside
Baluchistan, ’which remains as hitherto semi-inde
pendent under Dost Mohamed Khan, security has
now been established throughout the province,
except for the southern portion of the Kerma«i-