'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎443] (502/714)

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Lxchequer, Thirdly, lie must be ready to purchase a continuance
of the ever-precarious favour of his superiors ; and, lastly, not-
knowing when he may fall, he must provide for himself against a
rainy day. Hereby is instituted an arithmetical progression of
plunder from the sovereign to the subject, each unit in the
descending scale remunerating himself from the unit next in rank
below him, and the hapless peasant being the ultimate victim. It
is not surprising, under these circumstances, that office is the
common avenue to wealth, and that cases are frequent of men who,
having started from nothing, are found residing in magnificent
houses, surrounded by crowds of retainers and living m princely
style. ' A lake what you can while you can ' is the rule that most
men set before themselves in entering public life. Nor does
popular spirit resent the act; the estimation of anyone who, en
joying the opportunity, has failed to line his own pockets, being
the reverse of complimentary to his sense. No one turns a thought
to the sufferers from whom, in the last resort, the material for
these successive mudalchih has been derived, and from the sweat of
whose uncomplaining brow has been wrung the wealth that is
dissipated in luxurious country houses, European curiosities, and
enormous retinues. In one of Sir Lewis Pelly's reports upon
Southern Persia, penned while he was British Kesident at Bushire,
I have come across the following passage, which tersely depicts the
effect of this system upon the cultivators of the soil :—
One of the consequences of this system of farming is that the
agriculturist is called on for a much larger rent than the State receives
from him ; e.g. A. farms a governorship from the Shah for an amount
B. plus C, the douceur (the term of the annual contract remaining a
constant quantity, while the douceur varies). A. in turn farms his
circle of villages, of which D. takes one circle. D. again sublets a
hamlet or one of his villages to E. who deputes F. to collect the rents.
Each, of course, expects a profit on his contract, and consequently the
agriculturist, instead of having to pay the amount B. which benefits
the State, is called upon for his share of B -f C, -1- D's + E's + F's
profits. He cannot pay. E. complains to E. and E. to A., who is
dunned for his contract sum from the capital. A. gives to his sub-
farmers permission to collect the revenue by force. This is done ; next
year some of the peasants have fled, some of the land is lying waste.
The country, in brief, is revenued as if the Government were to end
with the expiry of the governor's lease. 1
Report on the Tribes around the Shores of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . 1874.
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