'Muscat. Wazir of - Appointment, Leave, Pay, etc, of' [‎104r] (217/546)

To
No. qijc
Political Agenoy & H.B.M's consulate,
Muscat^the 4th November 1930»
If/
The Hon^le the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ,
Bushire.
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SUBJECT:- Status of Financial AdTiser *
Memorandum.
i
With the appointment of a new Financial Adviser
the question of his exact status arises* Mr.Thomas, as you
are aware, though originally appointed as Financial Adviser
only, was later given a seat on the Council of Ministers,
and was made responsible -with the rest of the Council- for
political affairs as well, i.e. for the general administration
of the State. Personally I am of opinion, for a number of
reasons, that this extra responsibility should not be put upon
the Adviser, and I gather that you are inclined to be of the
same opinion, vide para 4 of your letter to the Government of
India No#494.S, dated the 16th September 1930.
2 # If he is to do his work thoroughly the Financial
Adviser should be free to devote the whole of his time to
financial matters. The Council, for instance, acts as a sort
of High Court in serious cases: murder etc. The proceedings
of the Court -in Arab fashion- are protracted and the Financial
Adviser -as full member of the Council- has to attend the
sittings. This is merely one example, there are many others,
of the way in which his time is spent in matters otaer than
finance. In this particular instance, apart from the waste
of the Adviser•s time, I douht personally -though I happen to
"be a firm believer in capital punishment- whether it is
desirable for a British officer, even though in the employ of
the Muscat State, to be a party to the infliction of local