'Reports of administration for 1918 of divisions and districts of the occupied territories in Mesopotamia. Volume I' [‎32v] (69/470)

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has been a general absence of serious crime. Reports of petty crimes have been
dealt with summarily by the officers concerned.
9. Education. —There are small schools at Rumaithah and A1 Gharab.
Samawah with its 10,000 inhabitants would appear to need a school, but there is
no general demand for education, and although people have told me that they
would send their children to school if there were one, they are not at all inclined
to put their hands in their pockets and pay for buildings or teachers.
10. Medical and Sanitation. —A Civil Hospital with Sub-Assistant Surgeon
in charge was opened at Samawah in the end of December 1918, one of the Medical
Officers from the Samawah Camp to act as visiting officer for instructions and
operations. A dresser is posted in Rumaithah; there are no other civil Medical
Officers. The Division is, on the whole, a healthy one, but there is always a con
siderable amount of small-pox, and this year there was an epidemic of cholera
and a serious outbreak of the universal influenza, the number of deaths from
pneumonia being considerable. A travelling dispensary and vaccinator in the
Division will be a useful and welcome institution. This, it is hoped, will come
into practice as soon as the Civil Hospital has commenced working properly. The
efforts made to improve the sanitation have been described under the head
“ Municipalities.” British ranks have been placed in charge of the sanitary squads
at Rumaithah and Samawah with good results.
11. Shabanahs. —The total sanctioned strength of Shabanahs for the Division
is 331, distributed as follows :—Rumaithah, 121; Samawah, 151 ; and Shinafiyah,
59. We have recruited up to full strength, but it has been necessary to put
considerable pressure on the towns and tribes in order to achieve this result. The
Division has never before supplied men for Government service, and such service
is distinctly unpopular. The recruits fear that we are going to make soldiers of
them, and when we began to drill them the townspeople used to assemble and make
sport of the recruits. It is consequently not surprising that it is difficult to get
men, but a distinct improvement is perceptible, particularly in Samawah and
Rumaithah. The men are taking kindly enough to drill and they appear to enjoy
the authority which Government service gives them. The subordinate staff is
another difficulty, the Onbashis are men of the old school, and the Arab drill
instructors are apt to be careless. Still, in spite of all this, I consider that a
surprising standard of efficiency has been attained.
12. Labour.—A large amount of Arab labour has been employed on railway
construction work. Forcible collection of labour has been necessary in many
cases and, even so, it has been difficult to provide our quota. The Shaikhs
complain that their men earn only about 4 annas a day (this, of course, is their
own fault), and consequently they have to pay the labourers extra money out of
their own pockets. They also say that the labourers are taken away from their
work in the. fields to the detriment of agriculture. Others explain their failure
to provide labourers by saying that the whole tribe is miles away out in the desert
grazing cattle, and that makes it very difficult to provide reliefs. It is unfortunate
that up till recently the railway authority did not make any arrangement for the
accommodation and shelter of Arab labourers, as this has distinctly added to the
general dislike for the work. There is no doubt that this labour question has been
a great cause of dissatisfaction amongst the tribes. It has caused discontent at
a time when we particularly want to allay such a feeling, and I doubt if the work
done compensates for the unrest it has produced. Any satisfactory solution of
the problem would come as a great relief both to the tribes and to the Political
Officer. Personally, I think that the work could be done much more satisfactorily
by a few Indian Labour Corps.
13. Miscellaneous. —On the whole I consider that the year’s working has
been satisfactory. Our relations with the tribes are friendly and there has-been
no serious outbreak and but little serious crime. Prices of all commodities are
high, but that is true of the whole of Mesopotamia. On my taking over the
Division there was but one road from Nasiriyah-Samawah-Shinafiyah; two new
roads have since been constructed, one from Diwaniyah to Rumaithah, the other
from Rumaithah to Wa‘ar. Both these roads are in good condition and passable
for cars during nine months of the year.