Coll 6/19 'Arabia: (Saudi Arabia) Hejaz-Nejd Annual Report.' [‎97r] (194/540)

39
intended to give effect to this proposal was discussed by the Legislative Council
is not known; it was certainly not published. There is little reason to expect that
the proposed assembly would have any greater significance than the abortive
“National Conference’’ composed of representatives of the Hejaz towns only,
which met in 1931 but never again. This new-fangled assembly business was
evidently not intended to replace entirely the simpler paternal form of consulta
tion sanctioned by ancient Arab usage, for only a month later the King made
a speech, saying that he wished to meet the people so that he might he aware
of their ideas and wishes, and they of his, and that the public would therefore
have free access to him, and, in his absence from the Hejaz, to his son, the Viceroy,
from 8 to 9 o’clock every evening.
131. The ordinary difficulties of administration are aggravated in a country
like this, where there is no supply of trained officials, where any man may be
raised suddenly from nothing by the King and as suddenly degraded, and where,
while it is a point of honour with the King to make lavish presents to any sheikh,
Saudi or not, who visits him, officials are always in arrear with their pay—some
times as much as six months. Sheikh Abdullah Sulaiman continues to be the
most important man in the Administration, being in charge of finance, defence
and the pilgrimage. His influence was able to restore to favour his brother and
assistant, who had been disgraced after a dispute with the King’s Chamberlain.
New stars show above the horizon now and then, such as Najib Salha, a clever
young Syrian who was a clerk in the office of a British firm in Jedda two or three
years ago and is now Director of Public Works in Jedda, and a certain Abdullah
Khuwaitir, a Nejdi, who is a sort of Director of Supplies and is said to have laid
the foundations of his career by the ingenious device of buying up cheap the robes
which are given away at festivals by the King and are then sold by the recipients,
and selling them back to the Treasury at a profit but still at a much lower price
than the market rate. In spite of the appointment of a Hejazi to a post in the
Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Syrians retained their predominance. Fuad
Bey was absent for more than half the year, but the gap was filled as usual, when
there were negotiations to be carried out, by his fellow Syrian, Sheikh Yusuf
Yasin. At other times current affairs were delegated first to Sheikh Abdullah
Sulaiman, and when he left, to his brother, Hamad, who even received the
credentials of the new Turkish Charge d’Affaires. Some of the administrative
changes on the Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan frontier have been alluded to elsewhere. One
satisfactory change was the removal of a truculent frontier customs official,
Muhammad Farhud, to the post of chief of police at a place some 60 miles south
of Jauf.
IV.— Military and Naval Organisation.
132. An attempt is being made to organise in the Hejaz a regular armed
force, more akin perhaps to a gendarmerie than to an army. These troops wear
European uniforms, are drilled to some extent, and, although they cannot yet
be described as soldierly, their appearance on the march is considerably less
disreputable than it was. Their military value, however, is probably rather less
than that of the only other standing forces in the country, namely, the personal
retainers and negro guards of the King and the Amirs. In case of war Ibn Baud
would no doubt rely, as in the past, on levies from the tribes and villages. It
would appear that the Ikhwan can no longer be considered the backbone of his
forces, while the irregular camelry in the Hejaz has been absorbed into the regular
army.
133. There is a military school at Mecca which was intended for the training
of about 100 cadets at a time, but at present it is being used exclusively for
training recruits to the ranks.
134. The barracks throughout the kingdom are, it is said, to be repaired,
and some work was, in fact, carried out at Jedda during the early autumn. It
has been reported from Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan that the Saudi Arab Government intend to
build desert forts on the Saudi- Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan frontier at Haql, Alaqan, Dhat-al-
Haj, Isawiya and Haditha, and on the Saudi-Iraqi frontier at Lanqa, Lina,
Umm-al-Rudhumma, Hafar-al-Batan and Jeriya. These forts are to be opposite