Publications, Newspaper Cuttings, Photographs and Correspondence about Persia and the Persian Gulf [‎313r] (628/879)

MAIL EDITION.
hat the enforcement of the ordinary cri-
ninal law is repression, is dangerous non
sense. To our mind the most unpleasant as-
S]
tl
pect of Egyptian affairs as depicted
Eldon Gorst’s report is the failure to
nise this simple and fundamental fact.
The growth of these new political
in Egypt, culminating in the murder
in Sir
recog-
forces
of the
Premier, has been made the ground of an
acrimonious condemnation of the Consul-
General, and of unfavourable comparisons
with
may
Lord
forms
be
Cromer
of the
eminent
extremely
left
predecessor,
unfair-
Cairo the
Nationalist
had begun to manifest themselves.
These
Before
baser
agitation
Lord
Cromer had himself commenced painfully to
recognise that the mid-Victorian Liberal prin
ciples which he applied to the treatment of
the Egyptian press were wrong. Moreover,
during the time when his work in Egypt was
brilliantly successful, Lord Cromer had be
hind him Lord Salisbury, Lord Bosebery and
Lord Lansdowne. We cannot tell how far Sir
Eldon Gorst has been the executor of his
own policy, or the instrument of the curious
band of politicians who now form the Gov
ernment of the Empire. But there are cer
tain aspects of the Egyptian situation which
force upon Great Britain more decisive
action. We have not a free hand in Cairo,
despite the greater liberty conferred by the
Anglo-French entente. We are in Egypt
as the trustees of the Powers with enormous
interests in the country, and our presence
as been accepted because of the belief
hat we can fulfil our mission more success-
ully and with greater altruism than any
ther European nation- If that confidence
s sapped, the position not of Great Bri-
ain so much as of Egypt, will become intoler-
ble. France is already reported to be
rowing restive. We stand convicted, on
ur own confession, of two grave mistakes.
- recent telegram informed us that the
Egyptian Government have carried the em-
loyment of a native agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. farther than the
ountry is ready for, and that the corrective
3 being applied. The Consul-General ad-
lits that he under-estimated the pernicion
fluence of a press that incites t
rime, and that the exis
lore firmly applied.
aw must be
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Suung -paAiesqoun nnieqe^ peia^ue AyL
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I au asua U41M apise paqsmiq KyL abue.
-puiq .10 qi Qnou IA saa.ioj uto[ 01 paMote
a.iaAk KuL Suenuyeg pajpunq A[M1 pessy
Jep.s : sxedaai puesnou e pey xepuedIs
•saajoj [eUOHnysuo qq Jo sseiboud q 09
un qsnu M toj pa^BieSSaxe qsoU Jiaq)
ui uoynosli! pur apn)i)daui pug 01 ang
qensuo
[ ueissn u. ui uqe. paq qeus paiu
-UEON pue u[EJ pey ;uaiuu.ieAO0 aq^ sKep
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peAuE 9qoN st) eiojaq uvqBjsj Jo quo
aq 01 0.185 poos uyEq puq JepuS aq) ang
•X.iBssaaauun SEA uornysuoo u. Jo qoddns
ui uoresuotrp siq qey. puB ‘paqsqqB^sa
A[uH SEA QutuA08 [UOHn HsUO) aq)
)Bq) tuiq Suy[4 ‘pessy Jepies 01 u a3BSsaiu,,
quasin ub,, paqo)Bdsap KepaeH 805 JIS
‘suoi)B)uasa.idai puB SqoN Kq peozuoo aq
01 SEA )uatuaAoui QsHEUOKEN aq) )Bq) jaqaq
aq) o) niL -uaiu pursnou b UJUM uB-iaqa^
.ioj papiB)s H spun jo QueA puB uoisuas
-sip Aq pa)BiuajB)s uaaq pBq OyA sjaiqa Ue[
qqag aq) q)iM saa.ioj pauiof aq a.iaqM ‘uBq
-EJSI qe SEA pessy JEpies SISHEUOHEN aq)
Kq paivqs )ou SEA qeus patyon jo sapy
Buoq aq) ui saAi)B)uasaida.i uSiaioj aq)
jo aouapyuoa aqqppqa aq) ang uonenats oq)
[o uoudomaAan TntAvA/ — -
„ HIMI!" "4+I"d Uoren9!s ..
lad jo qutdoap pjaaaad aq) jo MOI[B P[OA
I qaiqM pasur uoaq paq d/ud^ 8 4814 yayaq
pS e Jqstutn ysuug out ut paanpui HIA ‘ui
)as tpe etoyadns e puB "JstuI autd
sb payeasure. SEA YrMO/T-pa-nra —2
he
pui
It is no answer to plead
hat these errors sprang from a mis-
uided altruism : there is no more dangerous
nd cruel force than that of ignorant, blind
umanitarianism. If we are to continue to
dfil our duty in Egypt, the remedy must
c applied sharply and without delay. If
ir Eldon Gorst does not feel that this is a
olicy he can resolutely execute, then Cairo
no fit place for him. It is the veriest
umbug to call this policy either reactionary
r repressive. It is entirely consistent with
le reasoned development of Egyptian liber
cs. Indeed we go farther and say that in
and 1 lie- nt
whether the spectacular or substantial
factions of carrying the Finance Bill
worth the risk and odium in which
conditions are bound to implicate
party.
satis-
were
such
their
The issue raised between the Premier and
the Sovereign will doubtless exude a vapour
of sentiment in which its real merits may
tend to become obscured—and Mr. Asquith,
who will be the inevitable sufferer in such a
case, must have been very hard pressed
before consenting to place himself at such 1
disadvantage. But, apart from all considera
tion of that chivalry which Englishmen ins
tinctively demand in the treatment of the
Crown, the Premier’s course is indefensible
. — 1 timate procedure
THE TIMES OF INDI
(The Times of India, Friday, May 20.)
A Blue book recently issued
The Persian by the Foreign Office sum-
Burlesque. marises the diplomatic his
tory of the eventful months
in Persia which led to the deposition of
Mahommed Shah, and the substitution of his
young son as the constitutional monarch.
It is necessary to visit a Persian town to
realise how utterly worthless the Persian
Government is—a mere instrument for the
extraction of taxes. It is necessary to peruse
these Papers to understand the cowardice
and incompetence, the element of opera
bouffe which ran through every phase of the
revolution. The narrative opens with May
of last year, when the British and Russian
representatives were pressing upon the Shah
the restoration of the constitution, and
Sipahdar was threatening to march upon
Teheran from Kasvin. Mohammed Shah
wriggled under the pressure of the Ministers
like a toad beneath the harrow. He dis
missed his one progressive Minister, Saad-ed-
Dowleh, and tried to sow discord between
the British and Russian Ministers by what
Sir George Barclay calls puerile expedients.
Then came the news that 900 Fedai from
Kasvin were marching on the capital. “Panic
“seized the Cabinet, which now expects us to
“advance money and save them from their
“quandary.” The Constitution was hastily
restored, Saad-ed-Dowleh was reinstated as
Prime Minister, and a superficial calm set
in, which induced in the British Minister a
belief that a detente had been arranged which
would allow of the peaceful development of
the situation. But the childlike confidence of
the Foreign representatives in the bona
fides of Mohammed Shah was not shared by
the Nationalists. Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Assad was at Isfa
han, where he joined forces with the Bakh-
tiari chiefs who had been stalemated by dis
sension and want of funds. He started for
Teheran with a thousand men. True to the
belief that the Nationalist movement was to
be controlled by Notes and representations,
Sir George Barclay despatched “an urgent
“message” to Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Assad, telling him that
the constitutional government was firmly
established, and that his demonstration in
support of the constitution was unnecessary.
But the Sirdar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. had taken good care to be
out of Isfahan before this Note arrived.
He joined forces with Sipahdar and in three
days the Government had fallen and Moham
med Shah had taken bast (Per.) A Persian custom allowing an individual to seek asylum at a designated location. in the Russian
consulate.
But to find ineptitude and irresolution in
their most exaggerated form we must turn
to the progress of the constitutional forces.
Sipahdar had a thousand irregulars; Sirdar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division.
Assad twelve hundred Bakhtiaris. They were
allowed to join forces without let or hind
rance. They brushed aside with ease the
puny attacks upon them by the Royalists.
They entered Teheran unobserved. During
this critical period in the operations the Shah
had with him three hundred Russian-drilled
Cossacks and two thousand men who were
kept idle. Having hemmed the Cossacks
under Colonel Liakow within Teheran, the
Nationalists were in a position to repel all
attacks. Then the Shah took a mighty reso
lution. He announced his solemn determina
tion to stake his all on a determined attack
upon the town, and to take refuge in the
Russian Legation if it failed. Incidentally it
may be remarked that the decision to bom
bard the capital provoked more “strong
“Notes” from Sir George Barclay, and was
commenced in direct contradiction to an un
dertaking given by the Shah himself. But
the bombardment was so ill directed that the
. shells fell on the Imperial Bank, and the
attack failed completely. In a few hours the
Shah was a refugee in the Russian consulate,
and the throne of The Lion and the Sun, the
Shah in Shah, passed into the hands of the
constitutionalists after fighting which involv
ed only three hundred casualties. The on Y
good thing that can be said of Mohammed
Ali is that nothing in his reign became him
like his leaving of it, for he mustered up
some dignity for the last stage. But imme
diately he descended to the most vulgar cha -
fering for a larger allowance than the Mejliss
was disposed to grant him. The only redeem
ing feature in this travesty of a revolution
was the courage shown by some of the Fedai,
and the calmness of the British Colon
during three very trying days. So disap
peared the old Persian despotism Under
the last two Kajar Kings it was the most
worthless monarchy in the world, destitute
of the slightest claim to respect or considera
tion • its disappearance was a fitting climax
of its miserable existence.
Yet even Mohammed Ali, in his snug re
tirement, must find grim satisfaction in the
chaos which he left behind him. The con
stitutional regime was established on Ju .
16th ; it has had nearly a year of power; the
condition of Persia could not be worse.
There is no security for life and property
outside the capital and the towns in Azer
baijan held by the Russian troops Now
this blue book makes it quite clear that the
on Tabriz was
ii
of
B
G
S
w
st
C<
II
st
to
he
of
hi
bi
si
t
a
e
o
N
I
t
1
circum-
Nation-
desperate
the
The
a
advance of Russian troops
absolutely imperative in
stances of the town,
alist forces were in - .
plight. They could make no headway against
the superior following of the Shah, the
townspeople were starving, and an attack on
the foreign residents was pending in order to
compel foreign intervention. The condition
of Southern Persia to-day is a standing illus
tration of the impossibility of withdrawing
those troops. Where the influence of the
Cossacks is felt, peace and order are' en
sured, trade progresses. Where there are
no foreign troops, as in Southern Persia,
which comes in the British zone, trade is at
an absolute standstill. In August of last year
Colonel Cox, Resident in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ,
reported upon the deplorable condition of
insecurity into which all the main arteries of
traffic in Southern Persia have been thrown
by the chronic state of chaos and anarchy
under which the country has been labouring
for the past three years. How far it has
been improved of late may be judged by the
recent attack on Mr. Bill, our Consul at
Shiraz, on the Shiraz-Isfahan road. A year
ago we find the British Consul at Shiraz as
serting that although the Shirazis of the
better class realise that there is no hope of
British intervention, it is quite impossible
to prevent them talking about it. The
Nationalist Government links incompetence
with an arrogance which is almost ludicrous.
They are for ever protesting against the pre
sence of Russian troops in the north-west
province: they exhibit a pitiful incapacity to
preserve order where they have a free hand.
They reject offers of financial assistance upon
the only conditions in which it can be
offered, coquetting with the Deutsche Bank
meanwhile. In some English quarters there
is a disposition to cavil at the continued pre
sence of Russian troops in Azerbaijan. On
the contrary we should welcome at least
some agents of order in Persia, and if we are
not prepared to do our part in the British
zone of influence, at any rate cease the futile
issuing of Notes of which no-one takes notice,
and step aside in favour of those who will
pursue a more effective policy.
ATTEMPTED MURDER.
A sensation was caused at Barrackpore on
May 13, Mr. Dees, a European mill inspector,
attempted to take the life of his wife. Mrs.
Robertson, living at the house of Mrs. Dees,
ran up to the station hospital and stated be
fore the Resident Surgeon that Mr. Dees had
fired two shots at his wife. The Surgeon ac
companied Mrs. Robertson to the local police
station, and upon their information the men
on duty hurried to the spot, and found Dees
standing at his door with a revolver in his hand,
threatening to shoot anybody who crossed the
threshold. He was arrested.
/