"بلاد فارس والشأن الفارسي من إعداد السيد المحترم جورج ناثانييل كورزون، عضو البرلمان." [‎٤‎٣‎٨] (٧١٤/٤٩٧)

438
PERSIA
III. I nferior T owns and D ependencies
Administrative Division
Burujird
Bostam and Shahrud
Kamareh
Asadabad
Joshekan
Khar
Kharakan
Demavend
Talikan
Saveh
Firuzkuh
Tarum
J now come to that which is the cardinal and differentiating
feature of Iranian administration. Government, nay, life itself,
purchase' ln that countl T may be said to consist for the most part
and of of an interchange of presents. Under its social aspects
1 ^ this practice may be supposed to illustrate the generous
sentiments of an amiable people ; though even here it has a grimly
unemotional side, as, for instance, when, congratulating yourself
upon being the recipient of a gift, you find that not only must you
make a return of equivalent cost to the donor, but'must also
liberally remunerate the bearer of the gift (to whom your return
is very likely the sole recognised means of subsistence) in a ratio
proportionate to its pecuniary value. Under its political aspects,
the practice of gift-making, though consecrated in the adamantine
traditions of the East, is synonymous with the system elsewhere
described by less agreeable names. This is the system on which
the government of Persia has been conducted for centuries, and
the maintenance of which opposes a solid barrier to any real
reform. Fiom the-Shah downwards, there is scarcely an official
w ho is not open to gifts, scarcely a post which is not conferred in
return foi gifts, scarcely an income which has not been amassed by
tht leceipt of gifts. Every individual, with hardly an exception,
in the official hierarchy above mentioned, has only purchased his
post b} a mone\ present either to the Shah, or to a minister, or to
the superior governor by whom he has been appointed. If there
are sev e ral candidates for a post, in all probability the one who
makes the best offer will win. Upon his appointment he receives
the littihJich, or official statement of the revenues of the province,
with legulations for its management. Henceforward it is his
)usiness to collect the taxes, to see that the proper military quota
is forthcoming, and to administer justice. But there appears in
eisia to be a peculiar objection to a new assessment, no doubt
ansing from the universal and legitimate fear that it can only
lesult in further exaction. Accordingly, the Tiitabcheh remains
o sohte and unaltered; but in bargaining for his post, the would-be