'REPORT on the Working of the Line of Communication AND ON THE Withdrawal of the British Military Mission IN EAST PERSIA, 1919-20. GENERAL STAFF INDIA. [‎28r] (62/168)

4.— Contracts.
For the purpose of making contracts the area under consideration must
be divided into two parts.
1.—Buildings.
A.—*Meshed and Turbat.
In this area there were Persians with large capital who had a certain
amount of experience of both building and road w ork but no idea of contracts.
They were shy of coming forward, so at first at Meshed the w ? ork fell into
the hands of Armenians. The Persians worked under these Armenians and
so got used to the principles of contract w r ork and finally tendered them
selves. However, ideas on the subject of working to a time limit and penalties
for failure to comply with conditions of contract or for bad work were beyond
their comprehension and led to endless argument. There appears to be no
Commercial Laws in Persia under which any agreements can be enforced. A
simple form of contract was used giving particulars of wmrk, estimated cost,
time limit and fine for non-completion. The contractors were eager to do
good w ork as a wdiole for the credit of Persia, and in one case wdiere a
contractor failed another big man came forward and took over unconditionally
the whole contract (including the liabilities of the contractor who failed), and
finished the work.
There were very fev cases of really bad woik and when such did occur
the most effective penalty w as to black-list the contractor.
B.—South of Turbat.
There were no Persians with capital to take building contracts and the
Indians, either resident or w ho had come w ith the Line of Communications to
Persia, w T ere unwilling to take building contracts and so most of the work
was done by daily labour. Towards the end of 1919, however, a few build
ings, notably at Birjand, w r ere put up under lump-sum contract and one or
tw r o under percentage current account contract with a time limit. Both these
methods were found to be cheaper and quicker than daily labour as the class of
subordinate supplied was unable to get the Persian labouier to work very
hard. Finally a few contracts were obtained on a rate basis and the position
would have become normal in 1920, if building operations had continued.
The difficulty in getting the Indians to tender was, I think, largely due to
the fact that the work being done was, in quantity, far beyond the capacity
of the locally domiciled labour to get done in the time and so labour had to
be imported. This meant offering higher wages to men living hundreds of
miles away to induce them to leave their homes. Directly they arrived on
the scene in the local labour put up prices to bring their wages level, and
consequently the contractors could not tell what he wmuld have to pay and so
he waited until work slackened off before starting to tender.
2.— Bo ads.
In this again the country can be divided into three, i.e., Meshed and
Turbat, Turbat to Shusp where there are patches of cultivation, and south of
Shusp which is desert.
A.—Meshed and Turbat.
As in the case of buildings so also for roads the Armenians started taking
contracts but here the Persians followed sooner than in the case of buildings.
Tenders were called for to make a road to a certain specification, two rates
being paid, one for work on plains and one for hills, the Section Engineer to
be the judge of which was wdiicli, and the Assistant Director of Works the
final court of appeal. The work was done satisfactorily.
B.—South of Turbat to Shusp.
In thi« stretch deserts occur and there w r ere no influential Persians with
capital. Owing to lack of subordinate staff daily labour cculd not be resorted