ملف ٢٢٩٧/ ١٩١٩ "تقارير شهرية للمقيمية البريطانية في الخليج الفارسي. ١٩١٢-١٩٢٠." [ظ‎‎٤‎٠‎٦] (١٠٤٤/٨١٧)

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8
During the latter part of the month, the Governor-General and Inspector of
Revenues had been busy elaborating their budget estimates. Great difficulty was
found in limiting the expenditure to the amount of the funds available. The In
spector had been in constant consultation with His Majesty’s Consul on the subject,
and during the course of these conversations complained frequently of the
lack of business aptitude of the Governor-General, and of the rapacity of his staff,
more especially the Deputy-Governor, the Shahab-el-Mamahk. Meanwhile, pending
the completion of the budget, and its sanction by His Britannic Majesty’s
Minister and the Treasurer-General, the whole administration of the province was
being conducted practically without any funds whatever. No one who could
possibly be put off was ever paid, and the small and irregular payments which
were being wrung from reluctant tax-payers at intervals, were immediately
swallowed up by some pressing need or other.
In the beginning of January, the Inspector of Revenues completed his budget
for the expenditure of the £15,000, but on examination by Major O’Connor it was
found to exceed the available funds by some 6,000 Tomans. A meeting was accord
ingly held at the Governor’s palace, when the Governor-General, the Deputy-
Governor, the Inspector and His Majesty c s Consul discussed ways and means.
As in the opinion of the Governor-General, no further reductions in the
estimates could be effected, it was arranged on Major O’Connor’s suggestion that
the Inspector should prepare two budgets, one showing only such items of expendi
ture as were to be met from the £15,000 and the other to provide for all necessary
expenses from provincial revenues. This apparently simple expedient was not
welcomed with such relief as might have been expected from the harried Inspector
who perhaps foresees that the items relegated to the s/cond budget will have a poor
chance of ever materialising into actual payments. But whatever the fate of these
two budgets may be, their preparation has at least had the good result of compelling
the Governor-General and his staff to look a few financial facts in the face and to
realise that no quantity of figures or argument can expand £15,000 into £16,000
or any greater sum.
(b) The questions of arms and of officers still present difficulties. As to arms
the Governor-General informed His Majesty’s Consul that 1,500 carbines and 500,000
rounds of ammunition and two maxim guns, intended for the Gendarmerie had
arrived at Bushire, and that as the Gendarmes at Shiraz would only require some 600
of the carbines, he hoped to be able to secure the remaining 900, together with a pro
portion of the ammunition for his own force. His Majesty’s Consul mentioned the
matter to Major Seifvert, who said that in the first place he only proposed to bring
up from Bushire such quantity of arms and ammunition as may be required for the
immediate needs of his own Gendarmerie, that these munitions were only intended
for the Genda/merie, and that it would not be possible for him to hand them over to
the Governor-General without orders from his Commandant in Tehran. The matter
is clearly one which could only be settled by arrangement between the Central Gov
ernment and the Commandant of the Gendarmerie at Tehran, and Major O’Connor
has, therefore, reported the circumstances of the case to His Majesty’s Minister for
| his "information. As to officers, the same difficulty exists as has always existed in
Persia, i.e., want of proper leaders. The material may, probably will be, good
enough, but without proper guidance and honest administration the whole plan must
inevitably end in disappointment and failure. It is unnecessary to insist upon this
point. It is a truism with which all the world is now familiar, and it is at the bottom
of most of Persia’s troubles. It is possible that Swedish or other foreign officers
might be competent to bring the experiment to a successful issue. But practical
acquaintance with the Gendarmerie officers leads Major O’Connor to think that,
excellent officers as they are in many respects, they are scarcely the type of man,
and possess too little experience of oriental people, to succeed in such a difficult
task. British officers alone would seem to possess the necessary qualities and
experience. It seems probable that their employment would afford the best
guarantee that the Governor-General’s plans should not end in failure.
50. On the 22nd December the Darya Begi started for Kazerun with a few
sarbazes. The object of his expedition is, firstly, to arrange with the local headmen
along the road for tofangchis to guard the road for the passage of the caravans