'Reports of administration for 1918 of divisions and districts of the occupied territories in Mesopotamia. Volume I' [‎72v] (149/470)

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13. Establishment and Personnel : British Officers. —Major Macpherson
was in charge of the Hillah Division from 1st January to 18th November, when he
handed over to Capt. Tyler.
Hillah. —Major Macpherson was also Political Officer for Hillah district till
end of October, when he handed over charge to Capt. Dacres. The following officers
have served as Assistant Political Officers, Hillah, for varying periods during the
year: Capt. Livesey, Lieut. Creedy, Lieut. Platts, Lieut. Kerr, Capt. Aston, and
(Japt. Hunt. The last two-named remained at the end of the year as Assistant to
Assistant Political Officer, Hillah district.
The following British Officers are at present with the Hillah Shabanah : Capt.
Boyle, Officer Commanding, Capt. O’Connor, Lieuts. Hughes and Boyes. The
following served during the year : Capt. McWhinnie, Capt. Chaning Pearce, Lieut.
Berey, Lieut. Margrett.
Diwaniyah. —Capt. Daly < held charge from April till the close of the year.
Capt. Webb joined him as assistant at the end of the year, taking the place of Capt.
Chaning Pearce who had proceeded on leave.
Hindiyah. —Capt. Tyler held charge until the beginning of December, when
he was relieved by Capt. Thomson.
Musaiyib. —Capt. Thomson held charge of Musaiyib until the beginning of
December, when he was relieved by Capt. Livesey.
Karbala.—Major Pulley, Captains Bray and Bovill held charge of Karbala
during the year, the last-named remaining in charge at the close of 1918.
It is, perhaps, invidious to make distinctions where all have worked willingly
and well, but I camrot close without remarking on the able manner in which
Capt. Daly has handled the most troublesome district in the Division.
Establishment. The great lack at present is a competent clerical and executive
establishment. The majority of the executive establishment consist of former
Turkish officials, of whom all that can be said is that, as a rule, the efficient are
hopelessly corrupt, and the honest—according to Turkish standards—hopelessly
inefficient. Honourable exceptions there are, but they are few and far between.
The clerical staff is mixed, Indians of every province and every class, Ano-lo-
Indians, Baghdadis local Arabs, these form the hotch-potch of the office estabhsh-
ments of the districts. The great majority of them have no training in systems
of correspondence and office management, and Assistant Political Officers spend
many heart-breaking hours searching through files for papers that should be, but
are not.
Many Assistant Political Officers themselves have had little experience of
office management, and so confusion grows worse confounded.
It should be possible to import a number of Indians thoroughly up in corre
spondence systems who would instruct the local clerks in this all-important branch
of their work.
Special attention might also be paid to instruction on this subject to students
at the Mamurs’ School in Baghdad.
14. Conclusion. —This Report has been written amid many interruptions
and the press of other duties. It had to be completed by 15th January and the
last instalment of district reports was received on 14th.
It does not pretend to do more than touch lightly on the main features of the
year s administration.
The district reports are submitted as received. In most respects they are
sufficiently illuminating to picture the conditions under which Assistant Political
Officers have worked and show the progress which has been made.
A Year's Progress.—It has, indeed, been an “ annus mirabilis ” in the annals
of Jraq: motor roads have been driven through the length and breadth of the
Division; the train rumbles dady past the ruins of Nebuchadnezzar’s Palace and Birs
Nimrud; urged as by a wizard’s wand, “the waters have receded from the face
of the earth, vast swamps have been reclaimed, and the wheat and barley now
shows green where eight months ago the fisherman plied his net as he had done for
generations For many miles of its length the Euphrates has been securely confined
T WA I s ; fHd the waters, which yearly spread in devastating floods now
at the bidding of the English engineer, carry life to rich lands that have lain deld
or centuries. The pilgrim and the wayfarer pass securely and unarmed where
formerly none but the strong man armed went, save in fear and trembling- 2nd it