'Administration Report of the Persian Gulf for the year 1932' [‎581r] (65/72)

57
from Mohamed al'Tawil hi? CustfmiT l)Tr mai I lt ^ ined and t^ause of report
r,« Ojair and Jubail J s ’ d^MUnS 883 ’ tha ‘ tra “ Sit h adC
{g) The years 1931 and 1932 were lean vearc fnv +nn v u ,
tribes, and this coupled with the noor rnwrlmo- Y ^ i Ivi,wait merchants and
reported elsewhere, made considerable 'ieroorl +? e ? wor ^ depression,
These facts have tended to foster a risimr twr S +* 1 r° ^ nances ^ mva it.
for their Shaikh. ' ‘ ^ lng tetlm g of discontent among the people
or der to prepare the way for the blockade discussions which His
Majesty s Government hoped to see opened with Bin Sand in 1932 aad to create
a more friendly atmosphere generally the Honourable Lieut Colonel T V
Hassa' acco™v nfod t" b" ‘"n Pc ^ f rt,lf ’ visitc<t Bi ’> Sand at Hlffuf in
Jriassa accompanied by the writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. m Februarv 1932. Outwardly the astnte
monarch was all that could be desired and was full of promises. Among other
things he agreed that a commission composed of Kuwait and Neid merchants
.should meet to discuss ways and means for ending the Blockade without damao--
ing the interests of either side. No doubt he duly made mental reservations
all along, and saw that the easiest way out of the difficulty was to please his host
by promising anything that was asked. Suffice tn SAT7 illQ-f ll\r +li/-k /-.vi^ /-.i* I OOO
/.I v. / rn iv r v ; umbLanamg quesnons were
settled first. To those who know the “ Great King ” and his elusive ways the
above failure was exactly what was prophesied. Nothing short of firm retalia
tory measures, or the removal of Bin Sand from the field of politics, by eithei
internal disaster oi death will, in the opinion of the writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. , ever bring relief tc
Kuwait. The first course is, no doubt, the correct one, as delay means disaster
not only to our friends but to our prestige and future interests.
(0 To further prepare the ground and improve friendly relations His
Excellency the Shaikh of Kuwait visited Riath on 14th March, accompanied by
three of his relatives. He returned to Kuwait on 3rd April. Outwardly the
visit was the usual success. The “ Great King” was his charming self, and
could not have acted the part of generous host better. In a hundred different
was he played on the feelings of the Shaikh and event went so far as to warn
him against the machinations of His Majesty’s Government who, he said, were
always out to spoil friendly relations between himself and other Arab Rulers,
etcetera, etcetera.
To sum up the Shaikh achieved “ nothing at all ” although he was flattered
into thinking that he had succeeded in making and cementing a lasting friendship
which would result in early benefits to come.
Again those who knew only expected this result. During the Shaikh’s
visit the violation of the frontier of Kuwait by Bin Sand’s patrols mentioned
in Section VI above, took place : and mid-summer saw a further tightening up
of the Blockade.
VIII. —Relation’s with Iraq.
(u) These have remained officially excellent during 1932, and would continue
to do so, were it not for the unfortunate underground tension existing between
the two States, which differs little from that existing between Kuwait and Nejd.
{b) As viewed by the Shaikh of Kuwait, Iraq, like Sa’udiyah, wishes to
absorb Kuwait. This is not unnatural seeing that Kuwait narrows her outlet
to the sea to a strip of a few miles and has herself the finest harbour in the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
(c) The ’Iraq Government proceeded during the year to impose full taxa
tion under the Istilhak law of 1931 on the Shaikh of Kuwait’s date gardens in
’Iraq, also to impose export duty on produce from these gardens exported to
Kuwait for the Shaikh’s use. As His Majesty’s Government gaVe the Shaikh
of Kuwait in 1914 an undertaking that these properties should he exempt in
perpetuity from taxation, the question of securing such exemption, or of com
pensating the Shaikh in lieu, is under consideration.
In May 1932 the ’Iraq Court of Cassation rejected, on the ground that the
original sale deed was invalid, an appeal made on behalf ol the Shaikh ot Kuwait
against the decisoin of an ’Iraq Court alloying the ciaim of Rafia hint Ah Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
a r Zuhair, lodged in an ’Iraq Court in 1930, to the possession of the Bashiyah