File 948/1909 'Persia: Situation in the South; Condition of the Roads. Attack on Mr Bill. Road Guard Scheme.' [‎195v] (395/744)

the household, so as to induce them to face the extra expense of moving into the
country with the Shah, only 10,000 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. was promised, and it is probable that His
Imperial Majesty will he obliged to spend the whole of the summer in Tehran. I am
told that the deficit for the last two years is estimated by the Minister of f inance at
17 crores of tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. , or rather more than. 1,500,000L
To a great extent, the disorders in the provinces are only the counterpart of the
chaos that exists in the Government at Tehran. The Cabinet itself is hopelessly
divided ; intrigue is as rampant as ever; Ministers interfere in each other’s depart
ments, and in the departments themselves there is no organisation or system, and the
feeble efforts that are occasionally made to reform them are constemtly thwarted by
self-interest and ignorance ; the Medjliss complains that the Ministers disregard its
wishes, and the Ministers that the Medjliss hampers their work, and both that the
maleficent influence of the clergy is the root of half the trouble.
The prospect of obtaining money in the near future is small. A necessary
preliminary to any financial operation—except with the two Powers is, of course, the
conclusion of an agreement for the consolidation and service of the Government’s debts
to the Russian Bank, and the Persian Government are showing little disposition to
push forward the negotiations for this purpose. But, supposing that this difficulty is
surmounted, there still remains the question of security for an advance, whether from
the two Powers or from other sources. For an advance of so small an amount as
400,000L security can be found, but there will be considerable haggling before any
arrangement is reached, for, thanks to the ill-considered offers made by such persons as
Mr. Cohen, Mr. Osborne, and Mr. Moore, the Persian Government have the most inflated
ideas of the country’s credit. There is, of course, the possibility that the projected
internal loan will meet with a measure of success, but no one who is acquainted with
the country has any faith in it, and the present state of insecurity is not calculated to
reassure the native public.
In such conditions the probability of the restoration of order on the southern roads
in a reasonable period is slight, and I venture to suggest that the time has come when
it is necessary to intimate clearly to the Persian Government that the prolonged
interruption of British trade is intolerable, and that His Majesty’s Government will
have to consider what measures they can take themselves to put a stop to it. The
circumstances not only warrant, but demand, extremely plain speaking, if we are to
bring it home to the ruling classes in Persia that they must put their house in order.
For this purpose I would propose that the Persian Government should be informed
that if, by the end of September, such a degree of security has not been established on
the main trade routes in the south as to permit ordinary caravan traffic to be resumed,
His Majesty’s Government will take the duty in hand themselves. I am quite aware
that a threat of this kind has less significance when coming from us than when made
by Russia, for the simple reason that the Persians are quite certain that our troops
would be withdrawn as soon as their work was accomplished. On the other hand, it
w r ould, for just the same reason, be proportionately less resented. It would serve
to bring the Persians to a sense of the deplorable failure which has hitherto attended
the experiment of self-government. It would stimulate the few who realise that, until
European assistance, in the shape of advisers and instructors, is enlisted, no progress
towards reform and reorganisation is possible to enforce their views ; it would bring
the Government and Medjliss face to face with their desperate financial position, to
wdiich at present they appear resolved to shut their eyes
It is quite possible that, under pressure of a threat of this kind, the Persian
Government will find means to restore order. The successful efforts of Yeprim in
Azerbaijan show wdiat can be achieved when sufficient pressure is applied, and, now
that Teprim has arrived in Tehran, his services might be used with equally good effect
in Fars. The one real difficulty is the money question, but the Government know
quite well that for such a purpose they have only to apply to the two Governments,
and they are only restrained from doing so by the insensate anti-Russian agitation of
the ultra-Nationalists.
I have, &c.
CHARLES M. MARLING.
P.S.—Since writing the above I have received a letter irom the acting director of
the Indo-European Telegraph Department, calling my attention to the alarming increase
in the number of acts of wilful damage to ther telegraph line in the Fars province;
these acts of “wilful damage” are almost exclusively the breaking of insulators, and
during the past month 377 insulators have been broken, each breakage being