'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎469] (528/714)

INSTITUTIONS AND REFORMS
469
are expected to subscribe, and which is supposed to come out
once a fortnight, although its appearances are irregular. This
paper is edited by the Minister of the Press, who enjoys an
absolute monopoly of all newspaper and other printing, and pays
500 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. a year for the privilege. The ' copy' is always sub
mitted to and countersigned by the Shah. It is produced, as are
the other journals that I shall mention, by the lithographic A lithograph is an image reproduced from a printing plate whose image areas attract ink and non-image areas repel it. pro
cess. The Shah occasionally contributes to the ' Iran,' and prides
himself on the exceptional purity of his style, in which few Arabic
words occur, in spite of the large part they fill in the national
vocabulary. In the same journal (May 10 and 19, 1888) was
printed a communication, also from the Royal pen, to which I
shall afterwards refer, upon the new lake that was formed a few
years ago on the road from r leheran to Ivum. Foreign politics
are excluded from the purview of the • Iran,' for fear of offending
the ambassadors; domestic politics are eschewed for fear of offend
ing the Shah and governing hierarchy; and accordingly its scope
is narrowed to the uninteresting dimensions of a Court Journal
and Official Gazette, in which are recorded ministerial appointments,
the movements of the Court, and the wonderful shots made or
heads of game bagged by the king. A feuilleton. however, always
appears, consisting as a rule of some historical or geographical
work of ancient or modern times. It may well be imagined that
without a subscription list artificially recruited such an organ could
not boast of a very lucrative existence.
(2) The ' Ittelah, a semi-official organ, also edited by the Min
ister of the Press, and also appearing irregularly, though nominally
once a fortnight. Ihe scientific bent of its editor, the Itimad-es-
feultaneh, then known as the Sani-ed-Dowleh, was responsible for
the technical character of some of its earlier contents; but it has
now embarked upon a less restricted field. It often contains
a political article, snipped as a rule from some French newspaper
by the scissors of the Minister ; and it has been known to publish
telegrams ot European incidents within a month of their occur
rence.
(3) The ' Sheref,' an illustrated monthly, lithographed A lithograph is an image reproduced from a printing plate whose image areas attract ink and non-image areas repel it. at
Teheran, under the same official supervision and editorship. Its
illustrations are usually confined to portraits of some Persian
minister or grandee, sometimes varied by the physiognomy of a
European potentate.