Coll 30/9 'Persian Gulf: Administration Reports 1926-1938' [‎47r] (98/1028)

• SECTION 7.
MANUMISSION.
During 1937, the following number of slaves was manumitted
Bahrain Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
Muscat Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
Sharjah Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
23
30
22
A. C. GALLOWAY,
Sbo etary to the* Politiccil Pcsidont in th& Pcvsicin Gulf,
SECTION 8 .
TRADE AND TRADE FACILITIES.
1 . General conditions. —Previous reports have emphasized the effect of
the Government’s policy of economic centralisation on the trade position in
Rushire. Bushire has, in the past two years, ceased to exist as an indepen
dent trading centre of any importance, and no longer offers openings for
foreign trade, as local demand, except for staple goods such as, sugar ar d piece-
goods, which are already the object of monopoly, is insufficient to justify
trading for the local market. Deprived of this form of activity, the town has
come to depend solely to the use made of the port, and such merchants as
remain confine themselves to acting as forwarding agents for principals in the
industrial and trading centres of the interior. The economy of the town
reflects the changed conditions in every sphere. Bazaar activity is restricted
to a minimum to meet the demands of local consumers ; the monopoly
branches on the other hand, are active. The transport companies, four of
w T hich now exist in the town, have derived considerable activity from the
demands of the forwarding agents; two new garages opened in 1937.
Employment in commercial undertakings tends to decline, the population
becoming increasingly dependent on the official departments, Customs,
Malieh, municipality, etc.
In 1937 two branches of monopoly companies were operating in Bushire,
both with capital subscribed locally, both under head office in Tehran. The
sugar monopoly, which in 1938 is to include the monopoly of tea, earned and
naid a dividend of 25 per cent, compared with 22 per cent, net dividend in
1936-37 ; the piece-goods monopoly after an initial year in which no dividend
was distributed, this year paid 15 per cent, on capital.
Such modification complete the adaptation of Bushire to the system under
which the individual as a commercial or industrial unit tends to be superseded
bv some form of communal activity. The few concessions made during t e
year to the individual, have had little effect in encouraging new trade ; the
response to the placing of various items of export on a free list (category lit)
entailing the right to retain the foreign exchange proceeds of export, has been
-disappofnting, not so much because merchants are slow ° r
under these conditions, as because it is increasing y . cu .
goods for which there is sufficient demand abroad to render exportation p
The activity of the port presents a contrast to the inactivity of the town-
From a neak in the winter 1936-37, Bushire foreign trade has continued active,
though receding from the peak level, and landing and a
improved. In the early part of the year, conges i r j ac p
source of real difficulty ; ships had in some cases to overcarry ^c^g f J^k
of space in the wharves and warehouses. eina ^ f or a complete
mission to provide the necessary exchange was ^“stThrL months
cessation of customs clearances in p of the Comm i ss i 0 n (even
of the year, however, greater regular y . ,^, 1 , j n t ern al organization in
though hand in hand with delay) has combined with internal o
the Customs to remedy the position. The appointment;
53;C) ExAffairsDept.