Coll 28/112A ‘Persia. Tabriz – Monthly despatches of internal situation in Azerbaijan & misc. reports.’ [‎521r] (1044/1237)

With the
Under
,sy
ms hM- i*
jio. 6 ot 1942.
jctoper 5181.
jiUtCryVt Stat
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Sopt^iiiD.r 3181 to
^ wgatu^r orofep cm ^pt«»p8r 24tija with heavy
w^v^^^raia* hext iuomio^ S^anaud, over 12,000 teat, was whits
% 'with fresh auaw• Froa than uatii the e/id of the moath raia
Xeli aaily fiad ©now appeared also on the lower mountains on
ine Kar&dafc,u. October drought the unual flat woathor with
rain at intervale.
At 10:50 p*iiu on tne 25th of Jopt ember there was
a alight earthquake•
54. ,>'■ v/:>;...> 4 .‘.,.y;i:.> « i».xeept in tiifc ; iissaish area, where
peasants are afraid to t&ke thsir animals far from the town,
winter sowii^s have been good. A few tractors ^ve been
brought from Oorgan to the Ke&aieh area.
According to the Govemor'-General in Tabria, the
Russians iuiv& purchased 20,000 nemaes, 20,000 cattle and
50,000 sheep since the occupation, he gave these figures
in sa off-hand W(uy and they are aim ;6t certainly inaccurate.
what is imp >rtant la that he does not think the aale of these
animals has da^taged agriculture so far; cut the Hussisns
continue to purchase obviously without consideration for
Persian wishes and the effect will, no doubt, be felt
sooner ratuvr than later.
55. ^ ..w^n'bX.^,, , Before tnc new waeat policy was
launched oa"oot o ber 141h, the Governor-Oenoral had 22,000
tons if wheat available ia^^ustern Azerbaijan, )f whieh
o, 000 tons were in vari rubAiSi? 1 !; and roughly 2,^00 this in
fabric itseli. In estern Asei'baijan the position was much
leas satlsfaatory. absentee landlords were unable to collect,
while government oummisalaiis Oiulu not compete with buyers
from *raq.
After the new policy was announced it appeared for
a short time tnat ti«i new r lees would ori/ig forth much ’ , siriy rt
wheat in Eastern Verbaljan and stop smuggling in iestem
naeroaijan, except in tn@ regions immediately on the frontier.
If the Government nad seen a ole to buy and pay for all the
wheat wnlcu would then have been offered the new policy
would have had success; but by the end of October prices of
all commodities were rapidly rising and the holders of wheat
w ere thinking again.
ihe sharp increase in the official pr ice of wheat
was linked In the minds of the general public with fears
that the i*ial would be depreciated. Most harmful publicity
was given to the proposals to extend tne note issue and
people were led to believe that the proposal was a new and
disastrous one. Panic purchasing of foodstuffs and kerosene
]set in and presently there was a tendency to buy any com-
laodity whatever and a reluctance to sell — in aaort, a
>flight from txie rial. The Governor-General told m towards
the end of October Uxat he still aad no Instructions aojut
the seilirig price of wheat to the oukers, out that he was
centinning to issue two-thirds of the city's doily require
ment a at the old price. Many bakers, he thought, were
hoarding the wheat or selling it to friends lastaad of
turning it into oread, iue net result was an acute shortage
of oread and a steep lucre axe In price, ho doubt many more
tnaxi the bakers were profiting by the panic.
Op.POL.DEPr, j
2\ DEC 1942
In the coiirse of October X decided tiiat tae
Huselans