Coll 17/10(4) 'Internal: political situation; relations with HMG' [‎157v] (314/1031)

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of these set-backs, the Prime Minister was obliged to modify his original inten
tions and it was not until the 5th October that he completed his new Cabinet in
the following manner :•—■
Prime Minister and Minister for Defence : Nuri Said.
' / > « . Foreign Affairs: Abdul Illah Hefidh.
Interior : Tahsin-al-Askari. ^
i > Finance: Salih Jabr. '
. Justice: Daud-al-Haidari.
Communications and Works : Abdul Mahdi.
Education : Tahsin Ali.
Economics : Abdul Muhsin-al-Shallash.
Social Affairs : Ahmad Mukhtar Baban.
As you will see, there is no fundamental change in the Cabinet except for the
dropping of Ali Mumtaz, and six of the late Ministers return to office. Abdul
Muhsin-al-Shallash (the third “ Shia ”) has been a Minister of Finance in former
Cabinets, and Ahmad Mukhtar Baban, a civil servant, whose last post was
Director-General of Supplies, passes as a Kurd in virtue of his membership of
the Baban family.
6. The Cabinet has lost vigour by the departure of Ali Mumtaz, and without
Taufiq Suwaidi it will, as Nuri Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. himself foresees, be weak in debate. In
political circles it is expected that Taufiq Suwaidi will now join the ranks of
those opposed to the Prime Minister and that in the Senate there will be strong
criticism of his administration by a compact, hostile group including Jamil
Madfai and Mustafa-al-Umari. On the other hand, it is doubtful whether these
men wish to assume the responsibility of governing the country in the present
difficult circumstances, and they may, therefore, be shy of pressing home their
attacks.
7. In a public statement which he made on returning to office the Prime
Minister declared that the programme of the new Cabinet would remain
unchanged, and that he and his colleagues would devote their attention especially
to improving the distribution of essential supplies and the reform of public
education. He is without doubt right to give first importance to supplies.
8. The Government’s plans for building up stocks of wheat with which to
feed the urban population have not yet produced the results hoped for. The
supplies needed for the bakeries and for the sale of flour in small quantities at a
controlled price have up to the present been maintained in most places, but of the
reserve stock of 100,000 tons which it was estimated would be needed to meet the
demands of the towns until next harvest only about 40,000 tons have so far been
collected. The policy of compelling the owners of large stocks of wheat to sell to
the Government at the fixed prices has, however, only been in operation for a little
over a month and on the information available it is not unreasonable to hope that,
as each month passes, further quantities will be located, bought up and distributed
fast enough to keep pace with current consumption.
9. A similar handling of a number of other essentials of life will, however,
be necessary if the great mass of the townspeople are to be saved from severe
hardship during the coming winter. For a variety of reasons, which it is
unnecessary to discuss in this despatch, the prices of all food-stuffs and con
sumers' goods, including many things of which there is no real shortage, have
been rising rapidly and the wage-earning classes are facing the oncoming winter
with acute anxiety. In consequence, on all sides demands are being pressed for
substantial wage increases, and unless urgent measures are taken to peg down
market prices or to ensure rationed supplies of cheap food and clothing we shall
soon, I fear, see wages vainly mounting in pursuit of prices until inflation and
economic chaos result.
10 Compared with the complex systems of the industrialised countries of
Europe, the national economy of Iraq is simple, but the fact has to be faced that
the administrative machine is woefully inadequate to deal with current problems
even in the elementary form in which they occur in this country. The small group
of British officials who are trying to establish a working control over supplies are
now, however, beginning to make some slight headway, and I try to hope that
before winter comes the position may have been improved. It is, nevertheless,
clear that the feeding, clothing and housing of the people is the most urgent and
important problem that the Government have to face, and I would that I could
detect some real evidence of a robust determination to tackle these problems.
Instead, one has to fight against inertia, lack of public spirit and widespread
stupidity on the part of politicians, vested interests and the propertied classes.
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