"ملف 19/175 البحرين - تجارة اللؤلؤ" [و‎‎٢] (٨٣/٣)

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Serial No, 295. —From the Honourable the Political Resident in the
Persian Gulf, Bushire, Memorandum No. 124-S. of 1924, dated 17th
(received 25 th) February 1924. i ,
Reference Foreign and Political Department telegratn No. 315-S, dated
8th February 1924 (Serial No. 285). I enclose a copy of a memorandum
No. 122-S., dated 15th February, I have sent to Political Agent, Bahrein, ^ v
on the subject of the reform of the Pearling Industry. v *
I have given Major Daly a rough outline of my ideas on the subject r'w-
demi-officially some little time ago, but events in Bahrain and pressure of ^ ^ -
more important work has prevented the matter being pursued. • ^ ^
J cannot say at present if accounts anything on the lines I suggest are
possible, but if they are, and stringent orders are issued by the Shaikh that /ZJ-S,
Nakhudas should keep intelligible accounts, and Nakhudas who refuse to do /
so (or merely are too lazy to) are punished, then I think some arrangement d, // -
of the sort will suffice. If so, Nakhudas who keep proper accounts and keep
their divers properly informed of the state of their account and treat them
decently need never be interfered with by the State, or their financial posi
tion, etc., become public.
The drawback to the suggested arrangement of having a special Pearl
ing Department of State seems to me to be that it involves an excessive
amount of State interference and makes the financial position of the
Nakhudas public property, which in certain circumstances may easily affect
them adversely.
Enclo. of Serial No. 295. —Memorandum to the Political Agent, Bahrain,
No. 122-S. of 1924, dated Bushire, the 15 th February 1924.
In their telegram No. 315-S. of 8th February (Serial No. 285). Foreign
stated that Government are awaiting my proposals about the reform of the
diving rules.
As you know, I am rather of the opinion that the reforms outlined in
para. 5 of your memorandum No. 208-C., dated 17th December 1923 (Enclo.
of Serial No. 260) and repeated to Government in my Express Letter No.
712-S, dated 21st December 1923 (Serial No. 259), are too drastic and, in
point of fact, lead to too much interference by the State in the Pearling
Industry. Apart from this I do not know that there is sufficient time to in
troduce it before the pearling season. In a communication some little time
ago I myself outlined a scheme which mav or may not be feasible, and I
repeat it somewhat amplified below. Perhaps something on these lines
might be tried this year and if it is not successful the other scheme of creat
ing a separate State Department to run the Pearling Industry might be tried.
The scheme I suggest is roughly this: —
Shaikh Hamad should issue a proclamation stating that for some time
past it has come to his knowledge that grave abuses exist in the pearling in
dustry in Bahrain, particularly the slackness of the nakhudas in keeping
accounts, the result of which is that divers cannot obtain their just dues.
He therefore orders that all nakhudas should keep regular accounts which
should be^in with "Guffal" 1923. The accounts should be drawn up on the
lines of the sample account attached to the notification and should consist
of a general account for the whole of the Nakhudas transactions, together
with separate accounts for each diver and hauler; each of the latter should
be given a small book containing a certified copy of this account. The
amounts carried forward on to these accounts should be verified either from
his previous account or by oath before the Qazi or by agreement between
Naknuda and diver. The proclamation might go on to say that ignorance
of letters or figures on the part of the Nakhudas will not be accepted as an
excuse for incorrect or improperly made out accounts, that Nakhudas must
engage clerks if they cannot do the accounts themselves, a big Nakhuda a
special clerk and the small nakhudas a share of a clerk. Finally he could
say that a diver asking to have his account settled before the Salifah or the
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