'Military report on Tehran and adjacent Provinces of North-West Persia (including the Caspian Littoral)' [‎120v] (245/610)

the Governors, have lapsed, but the Ministerial Departments
in Tehran now have branches in the principal provincial towns.
The officials of the financial and judicial departments, of
gendarmerie, police and education, form a sort of provincial
cabinet under the presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. of the Governor, but they also
correspond direct with their departments at Tehran, and are
responsible to them. The Governor has no right of interference
in their work, and his ability to control their policy depends
on his individual personality and influence. A powerful
Governor may secure the appointment of his own dependants
to these posts but in some cases, especially in provinces near
to Tehran, the de facto power passes into the hands of the
financial and gendarmerie officers, and the Governor becomes
a mere figure-head.
The greatest blow to the Governors was the establishment
between 1911 and 1914 by Mr. Shuster, and Monsieur Mornard
his successor as Treasurer General, of an independent and
centralized financial administration. ,
The provincial revenues no longer pass through the hands
of the Governor and he is only authorized to draw from the
financial official the sums specified in a budget sanctioned for
him from Tehran and which includes a fixed salary for himself.
Budgets are similarly sanctioned for the other departments,
and the officials in charge draw the money allotted to them
in the same way. The opportunities of Governors and deputy
Governors for “ Mudakhil ” and patronage are consequently
diminished, unless they can come to terms with the “ Rais-i-
Maliyeh ” (Chief of Finance).
The tenure of office of Governors and others remains un
certain and is dependent on the pleasure of the Tehran Cabinet.
Deputy Governors are appointed by Governors subject to the
approval of the Minister of the Interior, and the G overnors,
in common with other officials, when possible introduce their
own relatives and dependents to subordinate posts.
Salaries have been fixed for 1 most officials, but many
of them are quite inadequate and require supplementing
by “ Mudakhil ” and uncertainty as to the probable duration
of his employment is a further incentive to an official to make
hay while the sun shines.
The appointment of responsible officials for separate branches
of the administration is a progressive step, but at present, the
officials are too prone to intrigue against each other, especially
1 Many Deputy Governors are still unpaid.