"معلومات عامة عن بلاد فارس لأي طبعة مستقبلية، ١٨٩٥" [و‎‎٣‎٤] (٢١١/٥٩)

22
OUR TRADE WITH THE PERSIAN GULF.
paid by farmers at the Persian Gulf ports as 1
inland customs and other revenues of their ? distr’^ 50 ^
the total is 3,060,000 krans, exclusive of some "obscure
items “ not ascertained. We may, therefore, put the w) 1
actual total at 3,200, OCX) krans. A very simple calculation f° C
import trade of two millions sterling with a duty of c 7 • 30
us 5,000.000 krans, ie., 2,000,000 in excess ! If tl S ' V ^ S
a duty on the export of opium, the excess ought to be twV S
as much We may note, in passing, that, in the same wav
the Shah loses an appreciable sum annually by his stra y ’
arrangements for the Post Office, which is also a peculia^
Imperial matter. ^ v
The next means of assisting trade in Persia is one to whirl,
it is England's duty to look, and not the Shah's. It was noted
long ago by Mr. Curzon, and nothing has as yet been done
And it cannot be pleaded here that Russia interfered for
Russia has nothing to do with the matter. It is a fact ’that
while we seek the growth of our trade with Persia, and actuaUv
have, as we have shown by figures already furnished a full
half of that trade, we maintain in the country noneof those officers
whom England charges to look after trade, save one—we refer
to consular officers. We have occupied the Persian Gulf
“ consular district,” as it is phrased, since the beginning of
the present century, with our trade, surveying vessels, and even
officers ; our trade has grown, and, in one or two articles
alone—such as piece-goods and tea—might be made to
attain dimensions that would quite dwarf the entire present
trade ; we seek for an expansion of that trade ; and yet we
leave arrangements as they were half a century ago !
“ The district,” too, is most extensive. It embraces not only
the whole Gulf, and its numerous islands, but nearly a dozen
larger and smaller" ports,” and, from Muscat on the South to
the head of the Gulf, and, from Beluchistan on the East to
Nejd in Central Arabia, embraces nearly a score of Chiefs
Governments and States! It affects the Eastern half of a Pe
ninsula—Arabia—half the size of Europe, and the whole
Southern and some portion of Northern Persia, besides
a portion of Asiatic Turkey ; and for all this vast extent of
country, all these islands and States, and these numerous ports,
we have only one European officer, a Vice-consul as he is
termed, at Bushire ! It is true that Muscat is termed a “ sub-
consular ” district, but there is no special consular officer there;
the Indian Political Resident, a military gentleman charged’
with other duties, being supposed to supervise trade matters
as well. Also, a European officer has lately—on, we believe,
Mr. Curzon's strenuous recommendation—been stationed at
Mohommerah for the Karun River trade, which, as we have
OUR TRADE WITH THE PERSIAN GULF.
23
4 «.
*
seen from the figures, is so inconsiderable as to be hardly worth
notmg. It is true, too, that one or two ignorant Persians or
other natives, may be found at other ports, whose business
,s to collect imperfect returns ; but, practically, as we have
said, there is only one European officer, and he a Vice-
consul, for an extent of territory that would cover more than
half the map of Europe 1
It is not that attention has not been drawn to this extra-
ordinary neglect, or to the value of our Persian Gulf trade,
Mr Curzon has done both, and very forcibly and prominently •
but why some improvement has not been effected is inexpli!
cable. We would advise our Liverpool, Manchester and
Birmingham—not to say Bombay, Calcutta and London—
merchants to form deputations to make the lives of Secretaries
a burden with regard to this very important matter We
would recommend them not to be content with barren and
evasive replies, but attack by turns also the Board of Trade
and the Government of India. Let them ask for a "full"
Consul for Bushire with " Vice-consuls" at Muscat, Bunder
Abbas, Lmggah, Kowait, Bahrein, Ojair, and the Karun
River, and persist till they succeed. As we have stated, an
officer has already been appointed for the last place But no
one can imagine why a port like Bunder Abhas. with a trade
that affects the whole of East Persia as far North as Meshed
(and even to Bokhara), should be left out in the cold. Mr.
Curzon, in his valuable work, chiefly on political grounds
recommended a whole line of Consuls to be appointed in East
-Persia, from Bunder Abbas to Meshed. Such a recommenda
tion, without the railways and roads that we have advocated
and in the present politically unsettled and feeble character
ot Last Persia, may be premature. But we recommend on
commercial grounds alone, the appointment of at least two more
Vice-consuls for the Persian side and two others for the
Arabian side, assuming that Muscat is already partially provid
ed for, and that Bahrein may be neglected for Oiair. A
picture of the busy trade at this last place, as described by
an eye-witness only a short time ago, we have already
furnished. As for Kowait, the other port on the Arabian side
where we would place a European Consul, it was described’
as long as thirty years ago. by Sir Lewis Pelly, as the very
busiest port in Arabia. His language is terse and graphic
and his words will carry more weight than ours. Here is
what he says :—
“ Koweit is one of the most thriving ports in the Persian Gulf Its
crafts are large and numerous, trading with India and the Arabian
coasts. Its sailors are reputed the best in these regions. Its trade
is considerable ; importing rice from Shuster, Bussorah, and the
Malabar Coast ; corn from the Persian Coast ; dates from Bussorah •