'Administration Reports 1920-1924' [‎181v] (367/412)

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Par see Early in the year Captain Bumboat, a Parsee, e;r-meinber of
the I. M. S., spent a fortnight in Kerman studying industries. Three other
Indian Parsees from Yezd visited the town shortly after with the object of
investigating the possibilities of engineering and irrigation schemes. Nothing
has so far come of these missions.
(The present position and future prospects of British trade will be discussed
in the Trade Report).
6. Church Missionary Society and its work. —The work of the C. M. S. in
Kerman consists of (^) Educational, and (h) Medical and welfare work.
The Rev. A. K. Boyland, returned from leave at the end of May and took
over charge of the educational work from Mr. H. E. Biggs. There is a boys*
school which teaches English, Persian and Arabic to about 55 boys. The girls'
schools, where English and Arabic are taught and Persian embroidery, is, in
charge of Miss M. J. Stuart. A hygiene lecture is given once a month by
welfare workers, specially on the care of babies. The girls' school has over
come the opposition which it had to face when it opened in December 1921 ;
and in three years the numbers have risen from 18 to 102 including 12 little
boys. Great interest is taken in the hygiene lectures and these would do even
more good if parents would only leave the girls longer in the school. But they
are taken away all too soon either to get married or to earn their own living.
The medical side of the Mission was in charge of Dr. C. M. Schaffter, till
the end of May when he left for Yezd. Dr. Gr. E. Dodson, then took over the
men's hospital and Dr. (Miss) Mary Price the women's hospital ; Miss E. 0. H.
Stratton, remained in charge of the town welfare work. Miss E. J. Petley, and
Miss E. M. M. Seagrave, assisted as nurses. The beds in both hospitals were ill
constant demand throughout the year, patients coming from a radius of 100
miles ; while a certain amount of the medical work of Kerman and Bam has been
performed by three former assistants of the men's hospital in Kerman. Dr.
Dodson, reports that the health of the carpet weavers, who work in the main
industry in the town, while still leaving much to be desired is distinctly! less
bad than it was 15 or 20 years ago. The work of the medical mission is rapidly
on the increase. In 1924 there was 565 in-patients and 540 major operations
compared with 447 and 201 respectively in 1923, while 2,144 women out-patients
attended the women's hospital as against 86 in the previous year. Visits to
the patients' houses show a similar increase.
In the words of Miss Stratton, the principal object of the welfare work
is 4 ' to get in touch with deformed carpet weavers 4 so that expectant mothers
may be taken to hospital to receive the medical attention they so sorely need."
In all 59 confinement cases were undertaken during the year—mostly Moham
medans.
Work on the new hospital was carried on steadily, and it is hoped that
the new building will be completed by next year when it will be capable of
accommodating 70 to 80 in-patients.
7. Political Interests of the Consulate. —The European community in
Iverman is about 30 in number. Of these roughly one-third belong to the C.M.S.
one-third to the I, E. T. D. ; and between them, the Bank, business community
and Consulate make up the remaining third. To look after their interests
is the chief business of H. B. M.'s Consul here. Politically it is his task to
expound—and practice—the policy of His Majesty's Government in regard to
Persia which remains one of friendly sympathy coupled with resolute non
intervention in affairs which Persia must manage herself. To do this is not so
easy as it sounds, for several reasons. To begin with Kerman is so habituated
to the historic diplomatic rivalry between Britain and Russia, that almost every
question is liable to be given a pro-British or a pro-Russian complexion. The
activities of the present Soviet Consul—which are dealt with later—encourage
this tendencv. The one question always uppermost in the minds of the leading
officials .and non-officials in Kerman is whether Reza Khan is at any particular
moment pro-Russian or anti-Russian. And these terms are held by all to be
synonymous with anti-British and pro-British. The solution of every big ques
tion is believed to hinge on whether British or Russian influence is paramount
in Tehran. And in every local intrigue in which the Soviet Consul takes a hand,
the British Consul in spite of himself is too often credited with a desire to uoik
in the same way on the other side. Thus when the Soviet Consul was adver
tising the merits of the Sinclair Oil Concession, His Majesty's Consul was
approached by the Governor-General with an offer to work up demonstrations
against it and in favour of a British concession.