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eone so far as to publish in the Saut-al-Hejaz newspaper an appeal to Moslems
written in 1U spelt English, and to advertise forrnlgnms
to take home as “ A Present from Medina . Other objects tor which subs-
oriptions are invited are the sacred well of Zamzam the Wazmya water
scheme for Jedda, the First Aid Society, the Charitable Society, the Asylum
for Orphans and the Aged, and so on. The pilgrim guides are required to
press these schemes upon the attention of their pilgrims, and for the Aviation
Society the guides are under moral compulsion to buy books of 1 nyal tickets
proportioned to the number and supposed wealth of their pilgrims, and are
left to pass them on to the pilgrims if they can or to bear the loss themselves.
Pilgrims have been subjected to pressure on behalf of these various schemes,
but no complaints have been received from British pilgrims. . It is accepted
that a pilgrim should distribute what he can in charity while he is in the
Hejaz, and if there were no societies appealing for his money, it might go to
individual beneficiaries or be extorted under various pretexts by the guides,
3. It is easy to deride the thirst for money which underlies these appeals,
and the latest Jedda report contrasts the requests for charity with Ibn Baud’s
alleged expenditure of over £600 for walnuts and pistachio nuts for his last
hunting trip. But it is impossible not to feel some sympathy for him. His
personal expenditure is doubtless wasteful in some ways, and it seems hard
on a poor country to have to support a royal family, which includes twenty-
five princes and a corresponding number of princesses and queens, but there
is no reason to think that any economy that would be compatible with the
King’s position and oriental methods of accountancy would make a great
difference to the
budget.
4. The word “ budget ” is only used by convention, for it is porbable tha
the Saudi budget exists largely in the head of the able Nejdi, who is Ibn Saud’
Minister of Finance. Income is irregular and incalculable, and expenditur
spasmodic. If the King wants money suddenly for some purpose the Ministe
of Finance must produce it somehow, and there are demands from the Amir
Sand and Faisal also to be met, and the simplest way to meet essential expen
diture is to leave for some future time the payment for services rendered o
goods supplied. All Saudi officials, except those who are in position to loo!
after themselves, are permanently in arrears with their pay for periods ex
ending at times to half a year. Many foreign chauffeurs, employed for th
State cars, have been glad to recover, before leaving, a third or a quarte
oi arrears of pay extending back sometimes for two or three years. Th
are ® tll \ tr f in g’ apparently with no hope of success, to recove
prodncts t to . the value of about £30,000, which they supplie.
auantiW of bl 0 r r fT e « r p 930 ' A Polish firm sup P lied a cohiderabl
efforts’thev to r! Saudl T overwnent in 1930 > and ^ is believed that th
The difficulties whieli ?° Ver , le * econd half of the price were not successful
sunnlied bv the tv. lave e ®^t our attempt to recover the cost of arm
1929, are only too weThnown^o^Ma* t ! le , t ™ e of the Ne i d rebellion
siderable sums b^vp hppr, n +. n ^ 1S ^ a J. es ty s Government. Although con
there are the usual signs 0^071^11 pi . !gnms dur ing the last two months
to appeal to the good offices of the’nenT 8 ^ 1 — T r 6 Le g ation eTen hai
payment of the balanop Hup + +1 G ^ e P u ty Minister for Foreign Affairs fo
for the period ending the 31 1° 16 ® as *f rn Telegraph Company (Limited
and leftover £2,000 B outstanding nUary ; the Saudi Government paid £1,001
ment IbnSaudTs stUHenmldem' 1 =1'" S ? ite * of his P? Iic y of economic develop
on the pilgrimage as a source of revenue en T t , lr . ely ’ ei< . her directly or indirectly
seemed to be ground for hone thnt rUi * ij S I J eai “ly a J e ar now since then
m commercial quantities but thA h shortly be discovered in Has;
true that it has not been abandoned ^Tf 1 "^ 0 *, been fulfilled ’ though it k
rave discovered a gold mine or redism -^ audl Arabian Mining Syndicat
would ordinarily be paying quantitips olcl one ’ wittl g° 1( i in wlia
possible to work the mine on an ppn’ y a ^ er which would make i
ie Petroleum Development (Westpr^A 1111 ?• \ as ^ s ^ as n °f yet been found
to prospect for oil alo^ thfcST^fth?’^^^)’ " hich has be 8“
the Bed Sea has no good news b