"ملف ٣١/٤ مراسلات بشأن أنشطة عبد الله ملا صالح" [و‎‎٣] (٢٨/٥)

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Erf-ract of notia^ dated the 8 th February, 1945 made
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Ivlr. d. N. Jackeorio
by '(D
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This letter addressed to me, ostersibly by His ifec
Highness, instead of the usual letter from His Highness
forwarding the remarks of the Head of the Rationing
Committee as at page 4, is the result of a struggle between
Abdulla Mulla - a merchant himself and very much interested
- and Abdulla Salim, in which Abdulla Mulla was able to get
His Highness to side with him. The reason is not far to
seek. His Highness employs Abdulla Mulla as his Secretary
without paying him any salary. Abdulla Hulla is expected
• to work and to maintain a staff of clerks for no cash
remuneration. His remuneration is made in the form of
trade privileges and political employment - as laboufc
adviser - with the oil and sulphur companies for which, at
His Highness insistence, he gets considerable salaries. This
is just one illustration of the evils of a system of
Government run on a no-cost basis. Unless the P.A. insists
there will be no control of prices. I have arranged with
Abdulla Salim, however, that the Cloth Corporation shall
import all the requirements of cloth for rationed
distribution so that such essentials as chafias and
mosquito netting will be available at controlled prices.
Please see also in this connection my letter at page 2 of
File 27/88. The only Import Assistance Recommendations
thfct will be given for cloth to other merchants for the
second half of 1945 will be to enable them to clear orders
already placed and paid for.
On further consideration I am now opposed to trying to con-
/ _
trol the prices of other goods from the United Kingdom. I
think is a better policy to try to get more goods. For thas
purpose I have asked for 100 tons instead of 50 for July -
December 1945. Bahrain whose population is about the
same as Kuwait’s, has 400 tons. The disparity i*s quite
unjustifiable, as this tonnage is for goods otner than