"تقرير الإدارة عن المقيمية السياسية في الخليج الفارسي للأعوام ١٩١٥-١٩١٩" [و‎‎١‎٢‎٩] (٣٩٦/٢٦٤)

i
FOR THE YEAR 1918.
23
and before the end of the year he had nominated another Democrat election
candidate, Agha Saiyid Jawad m Agha Tanya's place. A remarkable li<»ht is
thrown upon 1 ersia s ntness for Parliamentary institutions bv the fact that
there is actually nothing in the law to prevent a candidate for'election being: 'i
member of the Election Committee, nor does anyone from the Governor-Gene
ral downwards see anything unusual in the spectacle as it were, of one of the
parlies to a suit sitting upon the judge's bench.
The Democrats had by the end of the year great hopes of electino- at least
four of the six Musulman members for Kerman city and districts, namelv
Asaf-ul-Aiama^ik, Agha Yahya, Muayid-uMslam and Agha Saiyid Jawad'
while the Moderates, though they had collected a fair show of candidates on
paper, w r ere not really hopeful about more than three, namely, Prince Nusrat-
ud-Douleh (Minister of Justice in Wusuq-ud-Douleh's Cabinet), Rifat-iid-
Douleh (brother of Sardar Nusrat) and Haji Mirza Murteza. Three of the
above named candidates (Muayid-ul-Islam, Nusrat-ud-Douleh and Eifat-ud-
Douleb) were at Tehran and likely to remain there, but the Persian Parliament
ary laws allow of absentee candidature.
* At the time of writing (February 10th) the position has improved consider
ably. Asaf-ul-Mamalik has been won over by the Moderates and has made a
compact promising the Prime Minister his support in case of election, Throuo-h
him an alliance has been concluded between the family of Sardar Nusrat and
that of Nusrat-ul-Mamalik, known as the " Khanzada " family, and the old
rivalry between the " Sheikhis " and the " Balasaris " on which the Democrats
were counting is temporarily in abeyance. The Democrats have ceased even
to hope for the eleciion of more than three candidates, namely, Agha Saiyid
Jawad, Muayid-ul-Is 1 am and Saiyid Mustafa. The Moderates have good hopes
of securing the election of Haji Miiza Murteza and Asaf-ul-Mamalik for
Kerman and neighbourhood, Shariat Madar for Eafsinjan and Zerind, Prince
Nusrat-ud-Douleh for Sirjan, Eif'at-ud-Dauleh for Jiruft and Aqta, and Adl-us-
Sultaneh (son of Sardar Nusrat) for Bam and Narmashir^.
Condition of Country.—Owing to the drought which had lasted since the
The food supply. spring of 1916, grain supplies were at a low
ebb at the beginning of the year and prices,
which six months previously had been standing at 12 tomans per Kharwar
for wheat and 8 for barley, in January stood at 28 and 22 respectively. Even at
these prices bread was only obtainable with the greatest difficulty, and by the
spring the inhabitants of most of the villages were barely subsisting on millet-
meal and berries. On two or three occasions the South Persia Eifles came to
the rescue with such stocks as they could spare, some 400 Khar wars altogether
being delivered to the local authorities at prices 6 or 8 tomans below the current
rate. On the departure of the Prince Governor, who had been exploiting the
situation in various ways—he made at least 6 tomans per Kharwar, for instance,
—on the grain he allowed to be exported to Yezd from the Eafsinjan district,
against his own strict orders—the supply improved a little and the town held
out till July when a harvest distinctly above the average was reaped. Eor a
week or two wheat and barley prices dropped from 35 and 22 to 20 and 16
respectively. But owing to the long continued scarcity the new harvest had
been heavily mortgaged, particularly b} 7 the South Persia Eifles w r ho had been
forced to safeguard their future position by large forward contracts. In these
contracts the buying prices had perforce been left open, to be decided accord
ing to the market rates current after the harvest had been brought in. Con
sequently, not only the bigger landow^ners such as Nurullah Khan, Bahadur-ul-
Mulk of Mashiz and others, but local groups of small owners and speculatort,
combined to keep stocks off the market; the intention being, firstly, to force up
post-harvest market rates so that the South Persia Eifles should pay as high a
price as possible for grain purchased in advance, and, secondly, to starve both
town and South Persia Eifles into paying still higher rates later on in the season.
r ihe result was that from the beginning of July till the end of October the
price of wheat rose steadily at the rate of a toman per week to tomans 38 per
Kharw r ar, with barley at 28. Bread was dearer, worse in quality and no less
difficult to obtain in the autumn of 1918, after a good harvest, than it was in
the spring after two years of drought ; nor were the new Governor-General's