Coll 28/112A ‘Persia. Tabriz – Monthly despatches of internal situation in Azerbaijan & misc. reports.’ [‎129r] (258/1237)

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reflected this tendency, but with a certain hesitation. Retail prices, except for
the month of October, when there was a fall in nearly all food-stuffs, have
remained substantially unchanged. The Russian Trade Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. has continued to
import goods for the local and Tehran market, the chief commodities being
cotton piece-goods, sugar, crockery and glass-ware, cod-liver oil and small
quantities of chemicals for the soap and match factories. The textile and sugar
imports have done nothing to lower prices and force the release of hoarded stocks
which is so desirable, as the Russians have shown as much determination to get
the highest prices as the local merchants. Their purchases both of grain and
dried fruits have declined. The Irano-Soviet Oil Company has made a bid—
not always by means of legitimate persuasion—to capture the retail trade in
paraffin to the disadvantage of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. Business in
dried fruits, the principal export of the province, has not been brisk; after the
ceasing of the autumnal demand from India in December there was practically
no export except a consignment of about 50 tons bought by the Russians. The
carpet trade has fluctuated; direct export to Syria, Iraq and Egypt has dwindled
to a trickle, but there have from time to time been purchases on some scale for the
Tehran market, destined, no doubt, for ultimate export. Prices have fallen, but
costs in the industry have risen, and failures of small factories, noticed in the last
appreciation, have continued. Stocks of Tabriz carpets are said to be getting-
very low.
19. As observed in paragraph 14 above, the inevitable slump in Tabriz
industries has begun. Of the four biggest factories—two textile and two leather—
one textile factory An East India Company trading post. is virtually bankrupt and the others are nearing the verge.
It is difficult to see how they can survive. The disproportionate cost and poor
quality of their products closes the export market to them and the same costs
prevent them from satisfying the local market. With two well-equipped cotton
and woollen mills and two modern tanneries in the city half the population is in
rags and unshod. The factories could only carry on by cutting down the number
of their operatives to less than half and by reducing wages. The existing labour
agreement (the Sheikh award) prevents them from dismissing employees, and the
strong trade union, arguing incontrovertibly from the high cost of living, rigidly
opposes any wage cuts. In this dilemma an increasing number of factory An East India Company trading post. owners
and shareholders are seeking to rid themselves of their liabilities and migrate to
Tehran. The shares of the two tanneries and one of the textile mills are quoted
at present at 10, 5-9 and 5-4 rials. There has for long been a flight of capital
from Tabriz; the price of real property is low and there are no buyers.
20. Local Attitude to Great Britain .—The agitation over the oil question
was singularly free from references to Great Britain. But this was probably
due to directives which later fell into disregard, for in the later months of 1944
Left-wing journalists began to assume a tone of righteous indignation over
British policy in Greece, and events there were quickly made the excuse for open
attacks on British policy in Persia, where, it was represented, we were intent on
“ colonisation,” using as our tool c£ Mister Zia ud Din the Englishman.” Since
January, no doubt as a result of the joint action of His Majesty’s Ambassador
and the Soviet Ambassador, this campaign has died down and there have been few
references to Great Britain in the local press. While the Left-wing pictures
Great Britain as the big bad wolf of imperialism, the attitude of the merchants,
landlords and officials towards us is one of disappointment and reproach.
Unreasonable as it may seem, there is a belief among this class that if the
Russians and the Tudeh party behave badly it is because the British let them.
Great Britain, they argue, brought the Russians into Azerbaijan; she ought both
to keep them in order and see to it that they depart at the proper time. But they
rather fear she won’t.
_ ’ 21. The principal vehicle of British propaganda in this province is the
printed word. Publications in Persian, supplied by the Public Relations Bureau
at Tehran, sell steadily, and over the past six months there has been an
appreciable increase in the demand for the more attractive magazines, such as
Shaipur, and others produced by United Publications, India. Distribution in
the various towns of the province is in the hands of local newsagents, who find the
trade profitable. Publications in English have only a restricted sale, as the
knowledge of the language is not widespread, but there, is evidence of a desire
to learn and text-books have sold comparatively well. A good teacher of English
would be a most useful adjunct to our propaganda here. The travelling cinema
, van, though its activities were somewhat restricted by the delays in obtaining
passes from the Soviet authorities, put in some good work up to the end of October
when the weather became too bad for outdoor shows. The Soviet authorities have