Coll 28/112A ‘Persia. Tabriz – Monthly despatches of internal situation in Azerbaijan & misc. reports.’ [‎278r] (558/1237)

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2S0* Ar?j;«nian oh:>ol in Tabriz. It b^s been dec idea to open
a school working on the same syllabus as Armenian schools in
Sr Ivan. The principal lan^niBgos will be Ihissian and Armenian,
Persian being releg ted to a very minor place in one class
only. After a lively meeting it was decided to admit leftisb
elements to controlling positi ns in preference to the wealth
ier and more oonserv tive members of the community.
231 Return of 5 olitical Intt rnces, ©tc. Hussein Ouli Katlbl,
formerly onitor of the ♦Fariyaf f newspaper and head of the
Irani Bidsb party, has now returned to Tabriz and prooosoe to
restart bis paper. He had been arrested by the Russians end
interned at Arak and Resbt.
a leading Tabriz Nazi called Nams&ehl, a former employee
of olfinger, the I.Q.Farben agent, has likewise returned and
opened a ahop. He hfid fled for safety to Tehran at the atart
of the Bussi n ooeupatl n.
232. Supply Department. Maneouri, whose attempted s•indie
was described in paragraph 205 of this Diary, hoc been sent
beck to Tehr n under custody. As his scheme has been to a
gre t extent frustrates, it is thought thut he has not made
sufficient money to purohese hiK freedom. Altogether his
agents collected f bout 80,000 supposedly worthless coupons
when istsuing questionnaires for the new issue, against these
coupons Jv d his plan worked he would have obtained His. 12,000,
000 wort* of rationed goods. One of his agents alone had
collected 10,000 coupons and had offered an official Rls 500,000
if he could have them made valid.
Another irregularity that has come to light is the theft
of thousands of blank identity cards from the registration
department•• These h^ve been filled out ?nd completed with
forged seels and eorres >onding ration cardtJ issued. This
fraud has been worked for several months and has constituted
a considerable t r in on supplies of monopoly goods. A still
further irregularity to be discovered is the adulteration of
supply department tea stocks with tea substitutes and the
replacement of white sugar by wet yellow sugar.
A notice has been published that landlordr; must give
undertakings for the sale of grain co the Government by the
end of Shobrivar, otherwise officials will be sent to collect
the landlord’s quota plus an additional quantity to cover
their expenses.
Mr. Alien st tag that ho does not propose to purchase
grain from districts where it cannot be collected with the
available transport, important quantities of l&i?t sei sons
grtin purchesed by the Government having been left to rot ss
it could not be moved.
Mr. Allen has also settled the 1 ng outstanding cl£im of
Amir As and to additional sugar to the 1* ttar’a apparent sat
isfaction.
233. Tabriz Meat Supplies. The Municipality has attempted
to reduce the price of mutton froas Rls. 120 to His. 108 per
batman* The butchers now refuse to kill as they contend that
they cemnot afford to sell at the now price* and Tabriz has
been practically with ut roe t of any sort for some days. It
is thought th*’t the Municipality will give way to the strikers
and reimpose the old price.
234. Marriage Customs and Morals. The ’Kharv&r Nov* has
drawn attention to the serious deterioration of loc 1 morals
resulting from the exist inf'; marriage law and customs which
render it Impossible for many young people of both sexes to
Contract suitable alliances. In these circumstances, the
paper says, every d«y the young men are consorting with pro
stitutes, blighting their lives by oontr cting disease,
/depriving