his resignation, which has been accepted, and passed out of office. A new Cabinet has been formed and with it a new era has commenced. And as we scrutinise with anxiety the names of new Ministers and examine their antecedents, in search of those guarantees of good government and security for life and property so sorely needed in all Eastern countries, we view with satisfaction the dawn of brighter prospects, and hail with joyful anticipation the signs of coming development and a wider appreciation of the value of the civilising influence of the West on Persian men and things, which cannot but lead to a better mutual understanding and the livelier interchange of ideas.

Apart from other considerations, such as the political outcome of these events and their influence on the strategical position of Persia as a neutral state or as a useful ally, all of which great problems will no doubt, in the fullness of time, be ably dealt with by those competent to guide the destinies of the world and settle the fate of kings, there are other matters of a humbler and perhaps more profitable character which may well merit the attention of an English commercial public. Let us, then, leave diplomacy to the diplomatists and the fate of kings to those who make them, and inquire, in the first place, how the immediate condition of the country is likely to be ameliorated by the changes which have so recently occurred, and, in the second place, in what way and to what extent the same changes are likely to influence our interests as a commercial nation in our dealings with Persia and the Persians.

In the first place, then, there have been moments during the last five or six years when the most sanguine well-wishers of the country have felt despondent, and have been little short of predicting the speedy dissolution, which must inevitably follow the chaos of disorder and financial embarrassment into which the country seemed to have sunk-moments when authority has been set at nought and the Central Government powerless to cope with provincial insubordination -moments when a hungry populace, with its fields ravaged by locusts, has through local mismanagement been driven to acts of riot and sedition. as a means of lowering the price of bread-moments when foreign merchants have despaired of the settlement of their long outstanding debts, and their grievances, enhanced by the fall in silver and commercial stagnation, have tempted them to withdraw from the country altogether. Happily this is no longer the case. A deus ex machinâ has not been wanting. Things have righted themselves somehow, and as in daily life it oftens happens that everything comes to him who waits, so in Persia instances are not wanting in the history of the last decade to illustrate this adage.

It is not my purpose here to give a sketch of the contemporary history of the times in Persia or to dwell too much on the failings and shortcomings of the murdered Shah. Like many Eastern monarchs, the character and dealings of Nasr-ed-Din Shah left much

to be desired. But de mortuis nil nisi bonum. Persia has now a new monarch, who as an autocrat need not let his actions be trammelled by the traditions of the past. He has a new Ministry, and, judging by the indications already received of changes likely to be effected, intends doubtless to turn over a new leaf. But no one who has lived in Persia, or who has been in any way connected with the country, can fail to express heartfelt regret at the resignation of the Sadr-azam. The ex-Grand Vizier is a man with an extraordinary capacity for work. His tact and patience were remarkable under the most trying circumstances. He was indefatigable while in office. No petition ever remained unanswered, no request was unattended to. A man of humble origin, hampered by the disadvantages of birth, poverty and unpromising antecedents, he raised himself to prominence by the exercise of indomitable energy and perseverance and became at the age of thirty-four Prime Minister of the Empire. His position, owing to the plurality of offices centred in his person, was probably unique in the history of modern Cabinets. He was at one and the same time Grand Vizier of the Shah, Minister of the Interior, Minister in all but name of Foreign Affairs, Director of the Customs, Head of the Treasury, Master of the Mint and Governor of the Persian Gulf Ports. He did most of his work himself, and the extraordinary thing is how he ever got through it. Though rich he had frequent and heavy calls on his purse, and the crowd of indigent petitioners, the halt, the maim and the blind, who daily thronged his door and never left empty-handed, sufficiently attest his generosity. By virtue of his position he possessed unlimited authority, the only sanction attaching to his acts being the word of the Shah himself, and in a country like Persia, where the office is merged in the individual, the Sadr-azam's personal influence made itself widely felt for good. His post is not to be filled up for the present. He will be hard to replace, and, should he ever come into office again, his return to power would, I venture to think, be universally considered as beneficial to the country.

The new Cabinet is promising. Mohsin Khan, Mushir-ed-Dowleh, formerly Persian Minister both in London and Vienna, and for many years Persian Ambassador at Constantinople, holds the portfolio of Minister for Foreign Affairs. He was till recently Minister of Justice and Commerce. His long residence abroad has imbued him with European tastes and taught him the value of foreign intercourse. A well-educated man of pleasing address and speaking French fluently, he is eminently well fitted for the post he now occupies and is fully alive to the disadvantages of the present system of administration in Persia. If he has a free hand and receives encouragement he may do much to forward the prosperous development of his country. Other members of the Cabinet are Mukbar-ed-Dowleh, formerly Minister of Telegraphs, who now holds the post of Minister of the

Interior, and Abbass Mirza Mulkara, uncle of the present and brother
of the late Shah, who is Minister of Justice. Ali Kuli Khan,
Mukbar-ed-Dowleh, was formerly Minister of Public Instruction,
Mines, and Telegraphs.
He rendered excellent services to the

British Government in the early part of the sixties at the time of the conclusion of the Telegraph agreement, when the Indo-European Telegraph was carried through Persia. He was then made a C.I.E. in recognition of his services, and has since been created a K.C.I.E. He is a man of much enlightenment and common sense, though, like most Persians, difficult to rouse to action. Abbass Mirza Mulkara, brother of the late Shah, was for thirty years of his life in exile at Bagdad, dreading the displeasure and jealousy of his reigning brother. He was recalled towards the latter end of the late Shah's reign and a reconciliation was effected. His last official post was that of Governor of Ghilan.

Without being too sanguine about the realisation of all the projects of improvement enumerated in the Shah's recent proclamation, we have at least good reason to hope that the new Ministry will make many changes for the better. The Shah proposes to abolish the yearly sale of public offices, and the Council is to be reorganised, the Shah himself acting as President. It will be remodelled on a European basis, and its business conducted in a manner more suitable than before to the requirements of modern civilisation and Western policy. The system of departmental governorship is one which sorely needs radical reformation. It is the custom in Persia to appoint new governors yearly in the various provinces into which the country is divided. The candidates offer their presents of money, or 'pishkesh,' to the Shah, who, according as the offer is good or bad, issues or withholds his firman or royal warrant. The governorship, therefore, goes to the highest bidder. The disadvantages of the system are obvious. The result is in any case calamity for the province which the new governor is called upon to administer. First, the sum required for the 'pishkesh' has to be raised, in the generality of cases, by a loan at an exorbitant rate of interest. This is paid down in cash before the governor leaves the capital. He then proceeds in great state and by slow marches, generally accompanied by some 400 or 500 retainers and their servants, to his post. The loan and interest are recovered by a system of forced taxation. A profit has to be made in addition, and funds are required for the journey and the year's expenses of the governor, who also endeavours to raise a sufficient amount to make a larger 'pishkesh' for the ensuing year, and so retain his post for two years in succession. It is needless to say that the results are disastrous to the peasant, who is thus called upon to maintain the governor and his suite at the sacrifice of his own agricultural prosperity. The system is one which for obvious reasons cannot be altered without the direct co-operation

of the Shah himself. The Ministers are powerless in the matter unless their ruler takes the initiative, and has recourse to other methods of filling his royal coffers than that of draining the corners of his empire.

The civil and criminal procedure and judicial administration. generally, more especially as regards foreigners in their suits with natives, leaves much to be desired, and it is greatly to be hoped that the nomination of the Mushir-ed-Dowleh to the post of Minister for Foreign Affairs may lead to a codification of the laws, or, possibly, to the introduction of the Code Napoléon, adapted, as in Turkey, to Mohammedan usages, in criminal and commercial tribunals, and to the institution of a proper commercial tribunal, as in Turkey, for the adjudication of mixed commercial causes between natives and foreigners. The present Minister for Foreign Affairs is an advocate of the judicial system in vogue in Turkey, and shortly after his return from Constantinople, while Minister of Justice, submitted proposals for remodelling the courts and the system of judicial administration, and forming it on the basis adopted in Turkey, where the existing laws, as far as foreigners are concerned, are excellent; it is only their administration which is bad. The late Shah was, however, unwilling to sanction so radical a movement, and the matter dropped. The want of a proper commercial tribunal for mixed causes is greatly felt in Tehran, where at present litigation between natives and foreigners is referred to a sort of amicable arbitration committee, composed of a member of the Persian Foreign Office, known as the Président du Bureau des Contentieux or Reis-i-Divani-Muhakemmat, assisted by a delegate from the Legation, under the protection of which the foreigner whose interests are concerned may happen to be. The presence of the delegate is necessary to form the tribunal. No decision is valid unless given before and signed by him, and, if dissatisfied with the nature of the proceedings, he may retire, and so dissolve the court. The President is not necessarily a man versed in commercial law. He adjudicates on the matter in dispute by the light of his own common sense, aided by the foreign delegate, and, if he thinks fit, calls in three or four merchants from the bazaar to act as assessors or give their opinion. The result is a rough and ready justice, and frequently, though not always, a very equitable settlement. But the disadvantages are great. Infinite time is lost in delay and correspondence before the matter in dispute is heard at all. Witnesses, though summoned to attend, do not feel it at all incumbent on themselves to be punctual, and often never put in an appearance at all. Sometimes the native party, especially if he is the defendant, thinks fit to absent himself, on the pretext of his own ill health or the illness of a member of his family. Causes, even when being heard, are frequently interrupted by the parties in other suits clamouring for attendance. The President while engaged on

one case is often called away to attend to correspondence or other matters. There is no order and no power vested in the court to compel obedience to its commands. We have here only to do with the so-called tribunal which attends to mixed cases. Commercial and criminal matters, to which natives only are parties, are dealt with by the religious functionaries in accordance with the Sher', the religious, and the Urf, the secular law. Foreigners have no locus standi in these courts, which are for Mussulmans only.

Let us now turn to the second part of our subject and inquire in what way and to what extent the changes, which have already been or are now being effected, are likely to influence our interests as a commercial nation, and discover what possibilities they present of stimulating and increasing our trade, and how we can best profit by the movement which is on foot.

Of the new members of the Cabinet, Mukbar-ed-Dowleh, Minister of the Interior, who has already rendered good service to the British Government, may well be credited with English proclivities. He is a man well acquainted with our administration in India, and one who has had the benefit of frequent intercourse with English Government officials in Persia and with English financiers. He has, moreover, had conferred upon him the Knight-Commandership of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire; and under these circumstances we may reasonably hope that he will prove an active champion of British interests under the new régime. What is needed in Persia is a vigorous internal policy, far-reaching enough to extend to the kmits of the Empire and to enforce in distant provinces and departmental governorships the prompt execution of the mandates of a healthy central administration. To effect this the most salient requirements are roads and railways, without which no central government can hope to make satisfactory progress or advance the commercial and agricultural prosperity of the country.

Let us, then, consider roads and railways. These are undertakings which the apt appreciation of the domestic needs of his country, already manifested by Muzaffer-ed-Din since his accession to the throne, may well prepare us to think, will, in a short space of time, engross the attention of the new Sovereign and his Cabinet. The term of ten years stipulated by Nasr-ed-Din Shah as the prescribed period during which no attempt should be made to advance schemes for railway development, will shortly expire, and, while Russian influence and capital are at work, pushing forward the construction of suitable approaches to the country from the north, from Enzelli on the Caspian Sea to Tehran, to Tabriz from Ag Stefa and Julfa on the north-west, and on the Transcaspian frontier to the north-east; while the Germans, fired with the zeal of industrial ambition, are expending efforts and money to construct the Khanikin road, which will intersect the north-west of Persia, and afford in time a ready VOL. XLI-No. 239

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