Coll 28/120 ‘Persia. Ahwaz – Consular diaries.’ [‎90r] (180/669)

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IV
X3»
14*
the only means ®f securing performance of the contract will
lie by civil suit!
The proposal t* acquire wheat from the cultivators
by effering in exchange a proportion <rf goods normally un
available except at black market prices awaits c®mpleti#n of
the undertakings* This is sensible enough as long ap Aghai
Nafisi hopes to get a portion of cultivat®rs‘ grain through
the landlerds, f®r clearly no raiyat will pell grain t# his
landlord qt the government price if he can get by a barter Xsjki
transaction a price in effect 25% greater. Unless the under
takings and arrangements for the barter transactions are
completed quickly, there ip a very considerable danger <§f the
cultivators' surpluses falling into the hands of speculators
| and hoarders.
General
In the second fortnight of the month the Persian
authorities reparted 2« cases of typhup, of which 10 were
fatal, and 15 cases of typhoid, of which six were fatal.
The ISlectric supply Company, which has consistently
over-loaded and failed t« maintain its installations,
has for some months been able to supply the town with current
for a few heurs only each day.The Allied forces have so far
been unable to supply the numerous spares neccessary for re
pair of the installation and efforts of the company to buy
new dynamos in the north have been unsuccessful. The Cotton
Factory An East India Company trading post. , which gets its power from the same supply, has now
been closed down to enable the te>wn to get ten hours current
daily and the cost ®f current raised from Rials 4 to Rials i
per unit in trder to compensate the share-holders of the fac
tory. The Manager of the supply Company states, however,
that his plant cannot possibly maintain even this load for mwre
than a few wesk^.
15* The Commissioner of Police reported on 2tth May that
he had not received any funds for feeding prisoners since the
beginning of the Persian year, (a similar report state? that
payed Issa—see paraVIbelow— had to pay not only his own fare
to Burujird but that »f hip escort as well.) The commissioner
blames his lack of funds on the military officers who are be
ing drafted into the Police Department and are, according to
him, innocent of administrative ability or experience.
16. The Allied forces have recently had a narrow escape
from being deprived of ice. The capacity of the local ice-
factories is not sufficient to provide all the i«s desired
by the town population and the forces, but could, if the sup
ply was properly regulated and a^price-war avoided, supply an^
amount not far from adequate. When, therefore, the Governor-
General represented that the 30 rials per block which the
British military authorities proposed to pay would make it
impossible for any of the public except the wealthiest to buy
Ice and that he had every hope ^f introducing a ’'controlled”
price of 15 rials per block, it was readily agredd that the
military authorities should not conclude any contract until
the Governor-General had a chance to reduce the pric^. A fort
night later it was found that no attempt had been male to inis
. introduce a controlled price but that all the Persian govern
ment departments had concluded contracts for Rig.25 ter block,
^_ and that attempts had been made to conclude other contracts
£*euld which</nave left n-« ice for the forces. There is n» confirma
tion of the report that the Governor-General asked :'or ten
thousand tumanp from the owner ®f the factory An East India Company trading post. in reTurn for
permission to charge 30 rials.
V Tribal.
With reference to para 9 of the last Ahwaz Diary,
General Humayuni has withdrawn his forces to Ram Hormuz t#