Coll 28/111 ‘Persia. Kermanshah – Political diaries.’ [‎13r] (26/751)

quantities, as a result chiefly of the increased demand in the places where the
textiles were manufactured and also because of the difficulty in securing lorries
for transporting merchandise to this part of Persia.
Stocks of imported woollen goods are rapidly nearing exhaustion and prices
^jjiave risen by several hundred per cent., as further supplies may not reach Persia
until after the end of war. Imported cotton goods (e.g., white shirtings, mulls,
“ Italians ” (for linings), prints, &c., which are much in demand here) are quite
unobtainable. Although a few bales of Russian cotton goods have appeared in
shops here, the quantity has been quite negligible and it has not affected local
market prices.
(e) Other Commodities.
18. In general supplies are short, but not so short as to justify fears that
within a few months the public will not have enough to eat or will not be able
to get materials for its clothes. The price of fuel (wood) has, of course, risen
steadily in recent weeks and is now at a record winter level, but, as it is normal
for wood and charcoal to cost more in winter than at any other time of the year,
complaints concerning this price increase are difficult to justify in view of the
great demand for fuel and the smallness of supplies, especially as these have to
be brought to the towns from remote country districts.
(f) Wages and Salaries.
19. There has been a general rise in wages and salaries in the past few
months; not only have Persian Government employees had their wages increased
by 40 to 100 per cent, (as compared with the salaries paid one year ago), but
private employers of labour have also increased the wages of their workmen or
employees recently, in view of the enormous rise in the cost of living, which has
been continuing uninterruptedly during the past six or seven years.
VI .—British Propaganda Efforts in this District.
20. British propaganda activity in this district has been unavoidably
restricted for many weeks past owing to lack of staff and also as the result of
the failure of the responsible authorities to supply to this consulate sufficient
propaganda material (in Persian) and to supply, above all, portable radio
broadcasting equipment, portable cinema apparatus and films for the same.
21. Despite these handicaps a modest start has been made in the up-hill task
of trying to influence public opinion here. In order to make it possible for the
public to hear the news broadcasts from London every evening, under cover instead
of in the streets, a disused cinema has been rented and equipped with stoves. In
this old cinema between 200 and 300 people forgather every night to hear the
news—which is preceded by a short programme of Persian music produced by
gramophone records. The cinema provides, at the same time, convenient
opportunities for distributing propaganda and publicity material and for
exhibiting posters, war photographs, &c. It is hoped to make similar arrange
ments in Hamadan, Senna, Kerind, Kangavar and Malayyir, as there is no doubt
that the Persian public appreciates these news broadcasts and the short
programmes of music which precede them and, above all, the opportunities they
afford of escaping from the cold streets to a place where one can linger in a warm
atmosohere for an hour or so.
22. A small number of British Newsreel films (with Persian sound-tracks)
arrived in Kermanshah on the 16th December and have been shown at the local
cinema since that date. They will be shown at Hamadan during January 1942.
A few more films are due to arrive soon, but the supply needs to be multiplied
several times over in order to produce any appreciable effect upon Persians, the
majority of whom seem to be still convinced that Germany will win the war.
Spectacular films and radio broadcasts relaying loud music need to be provided
in ever-growing volume if any impression is to be made on local public opinion.
To this end portable battery-operated radio sets and travelling cinematograph
units with all their necessary equipment should be provided for use in Persia in
adequate numbers as soon as possible. As long as British propaganda activity is
delayed, anti-British feeling will inevitablv increase; this is bound to be the case
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