"تقارير إدارية ١٩٠٥-١٩١٠" [ظ‎‎١‎٤‎٠] (٦١٦/٢٨٥)

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Customs.
Finance.
Arms and
ammunition-
88
ADMINISTRATION REPORT OF THE PERSIAN GULF POLITICAL RESIDENCY
The administration of the Customs has-been fairly satisfactory as far as
the public is concerned. No complaints of importance were made against
it by British subjects.
Nevertheless, the personnel employed are not sufficiently intelligent or
educated for the efficient discharge of their duties. No intelligent system of
accounts is kept either of money received or paid out. Seth Damoder Dharm-
sev, a Bania, is the nominal head of the Customs. He, however, has been absent
in'India for six months, and in tiie interval Shaikh Abdul Karim, an Indian
Muhammadan, who was only a menial gatekeeper when Mohomed Ibrahim
supervised the Customs, has been left in sole charge, assisted by a few clerks of
Bania Damoder. it is a pity that hitherto His Highness the^ Sultan has not
thought it advisable to appoint an experienced officer who might reorganise
the entire administration to His Highness's great profit. Patting aside
political considerations, one of the stumbling blocks to that course has been
provided by the unprecedented import of arms and ammunition which lias
enormously swelled the Customs receipts, enabling the Sultan to get rid of his
debts and be free from pecuniary embarrassment for the first time since he
ascended the throne. All the arms merchants willingly pay him | a dollar
on each rifle imported in addition to the customs duty of 5 per cent, ad
valorem. The payment of this tax entitles the merchants to a free pass or
license from the Local Government to export the arms.
The Maria Theresa dollar still continues as the current coin in Maskat,
The great fluctuations in its value cause many of the merchants here to
speculate usually with disastrous results.
A suggestion to try and abolish the dollar and to introduce the Indian
rupee as the current coin is still under consideration. It is stated that the
Arabs are beginning to realize the great advantage of its stability.
Mr. Stephen, Manager of the National Bank of India, Ld., Karachi,
paid a private visit to Maskat in March. He stated that the opening of a sub*
agency in connection with Karachi would be an easy matter. Many of the
merchants are anxious to see this plan adopted.
There was a still further and unprecedented increase in the arms traffio
over the preceding year amounting to 148 per cent. Last year it had
increased by 56 per cent, over the preceding year. In two years, therefore,
the trade has risen from Es. 6,10,6^5 to Rs. 41,85,760.
The following table shows the amounts imported from the different
countries
Belgium
United Kingdom
France
Germany . .
Biiles.
45,370
80,800
6,280
5,230
Revolvers.
1 ,565
1,220
220
Nil
Cartridges.
5,055,000
3,870,000
2,151,000
1 ,230,000
The English rifle is still very popular owing to its superior workmanship
and finish. The Belgian one is a plausible imitation of the English and owing
to its cheaper price has a very largre sale. The French and German rifles are
very inferior in quality. The pattern is the Martini-Henry type.
The average market price of a rifle with 100 cartridse is English Rs. 35,
Belgian Es. 30, French Rs. 18 and German Rs. 15. Most of the arms impor
ted are believed to have been sent up the Gulf in dhows.
Twenty thousand rifles with their complement of 100 rounds of ammunition
per rifle left for the Mekran Coast. His Majesty's ships employed to check the
traffic met with no success during the official year. The masters of the badans
and dhingies employed to transport the arms were paid freight money equal
to the value of the vessel tocoTer the risk of seizure by the men -of-war an
often received a bonus besides.
Most of the rifles carried across to Mekran were for Pathans who al
though expelled from Maskat by wish of the .Local Government collected in
large numbers near Jask waiting to receive the various consignments ana
thence convey them to Afghanistan.