'Administration Report of the Persian Gulf Political Residency for the Years 1915-1919' [‎184r] (374/396)

\fW.
FOE THE YEAR igjg.
59
brought under the Sultan's effective control. The situation is, however
complicated by the hostility of the Imam in interior Oman and of the Sheikh
of Bireimi. There are demands for slaves in both of these places and once there,
the possibility of getting them out or of bringing pressure to bear is small'.
The traffic is, however, very small and a certain proportion of slaves manao-e*
to escape. 0
Total imports amounted to Es. 43,49,471 and exports Rs. 36,34,842 as
Trade. compared to Es 24,99,725 and Es.
2 i,68,978 respectively, of the previous year.
It must be remembered that these figures on)y inaccurately/ represent Muscat
and Muttrah. Sur has 80 trading dhows which make an average profit of
Es, 10,000 per year each, and there are numerous poits on the Batineh Coast each
with its colony of Indian merchants and by no means insignificant trade. No
record is available of this trade and it must be fully half as much as that of
Muscat and Muttrah.
The price of dollars continued high, the average prices for the year were
as follows :—
Rs.
January
per 100 dollars.
February
232
ditto.
March
254
ditto.
April . ,
254
ditto.
May . . *
. . . 239
ditto.
Jure
248
ditto.
July ...
250
ditto.
August
237
ditto.
Septemler , .
256
ditto.
October , . .
252
ditto.
November , .
254
ditto.
December
256
ditto..
On 1st October, His Highness the Sultan issued a proclamation to the
effect that from 1st January the rate of exchange would be fixed at Rs. 2
to the dollar. The merchants who have dealings with the interior where only
dollars are accepted, were much perturbed. The Sultan, however, when the
situation was explained to him soon realised that his proclamation was
impossible to enforce and withdrew it on the advice of the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. .
The limited amount of dollars in the country, the natural variations in
exchange caused by the demand for dollars in the date season or the demand
for bills on Bombay to make payment for rice, and the absence of a State bank
alike, make arbitrary fixture of the rate of exchange an impossibility. That
there are disadvantages in th^ present double currency and in the variations in
the rates of exchange are obvious. At the same time, the past war experience
of other and more advanced countries havf shown the impossibility of
fixing the rates of exchange, and it is doubtful if variations in exchange
have such a serious effect on trade as were once supposed. Eupee currency
will gradually replace dollar currency with the increase of trade and
the opening up of the country. This process may be left to the people them
selves, and an immediate attempt at change can only bring disaster.
Considerable trouble has been caused in the latter half of the year by the
restriction on the export of rice from India. Information as to the sanctioned
amount allotted invariably arrived very late and- the amount usua y
icadequate. The instance may be quoted when the w^hole of Muscat an
Oman, with a population of between half a million and million living almost
exclusively on rice, received a quarterly allotment of 250 tons. A condi ion
of chronic shortness of supply prevailed, with the result that prices soared and
£l/