Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-06-26
HONESTY ~ PERSIA.
A LAND WHERE TIE OFFICES AZ
FARNED OUT.

FARHED OUT.
The Entire Persian Government Honey
combed with Corruption The Poor the
Only TRNpayer> -- Condition OF The /
Lower Glasses Might BE Worse.
Honesty there isn't much o! in Persia
Political services are always paid IOr-O.lve |
ON delivery. Here Il, for instance, the son /
Of the present mourshecr ed ,Owleh, 10y .
OF "a, not quite tiNe feet high His father .
had done the shah little eTNIce some time /
ago, and so the young fellow got Job as
governor Of GhaserIn, an important and /
fertile province He didn't rule any worse .
than his predecessors-thats true. As a
general tn ng the offices all farmed out,
50 much cash down and much every year
long the office holds good, which Is not |
long. For the right divine to misgovern /
some Of the NOR" important prOvin es enor-
nous sums are paid Thus, the Lll- l-es Sultan
pays his royal papa annually matter OF
,n.OOO tomans, and the other prince at
TabreeZ pays = U,Ru The governor of |
khorassan, although bos,ing it over a
thInly pcoplei and sadly impoverished |
country exposed to continual Inroads OF the /
Turcomans yet has to lind the wherewIthal .
to rspleuish the Golfers of his master every |
year TO the tune Of 5000 tomans $4,000, |
and SO 1t goes on IN q. Oporton IN all the /
other offices down ~ tie very scuillons who /
lave to bribe their superiors TO be allowed |
to stay another term
Every thing goes by bribery, corruption, |
and stealing here either direct or indirect. |
The whole country, from the complicated
government machinery down to the smallest /
business, is so honey combed with this thing |
that doubt il thorough reform could |
ever be accomplished here in this slow going, |
conservative country, even If some shah OF
u succession OF shahs should attempt it The |
present shah is for instance fully aware of |
this dreary state of things as numhers OF !
his sayings prove, but he has never tried to
remedy II Thus he gives the fRttest obs !
within his git always TO his favoritcs
Every Noon ROuz New Years about March |
~ he sends out a number OF them, who /
have 70 bear the khalats robes OF honor to |
the big otiicehoIders IN the provinces This
a sIgu that they will lie allowed 10 hang
on to their Offices at least one year longer.
The messenger bearing this mystic gift trav-
els with almost royal pomp, and a large
retlnue Of servants, horses, mules, Camels,
etc All this splendor and the gigantic
brIbe paid the messenger to report to the
shah that the province is in apple pie order,
and that all the inhabitants thereof are as
happy as the day is long has to come cut
of the governor or officer and indirectly, OF
course, out Of the poor taxpayer, and when
say poor taxpayer" | mean poor tax
payer" for here the only taxpayers are the
pnoT-the artisans, the peasants, the small
tradespeople
NOT A POOR MANS PARADISE
The rich don't pay any taxes whatever.
That is why great many rich folks here,
with whom the fear OF being drspoIled Is
greater than their love of display and that
Is one of the leading traits of the Persian
the love of display live in mud novels go
about Oh the back of lame donkeys, and
wear shabby clothes As soon as II peasant,
for instance, has had plentiful crop
presto the thumb screw is applied to him,
and he Is made to pay twice his usual taxes
redress. there Is none 4 refractory tax
payer is simply bastinadoed till he give, In
II is astonIshIn. that there is any people
left here at all to raise taxes from But
century after century of this misSovern-
ment and oppression has accustomed them
to 1t, so that they don't know any better,
and think il is as 1t ought to be. Nowhere
else in the world, do believe, are the peo-
pie such thorough believers in the old saw:
Whatever Is, Is right Besides, they can't |
help themselves They are intensely Ignor- |
ant and have but the filmiest and must |
absurd ideas of other countries They don't
know but what Persia is really the poor
mans paradise" as | once saw Persia called !
IN a book written by DR. Willis Emigrate
they can't-thers is law against IT, and |
the government prevents it Even the poor
Guebres tortured and oppressed beyond ell
durance, had - emlgrate TO India on the !
sly, and those caught were punished cruelty. |
In spite OF ali this, the poor here, as far |
the actual necessities of life are con
cerned, are really better olf than in some
other countries-as IN the south Of Italy, for
instance, or even the west OF Ireland They
have enough to eat and drink, and the
shelter they have is ample three fourths OF
the year. The soil, when cultivated, is usu-
ally extremely rich, the climate not rigor-
Gus, and the clothes they wear and food
they eat Can be supplied for neat to moth
ing Their wants are not those Of civilized
beings, but of poor, down-trodden slaves,
who have been under the heel of the con
queror for thousands OF years Who knows
but what it comes in appropriately here to
say, Where ignorance is bliss twere folly TO
lie wise: At least, must say that 1t is
but very seldom that one meets a Persian
no matter how humble, even the beggar by
the road siie-w no wears the de jected, des-
olate miserable air one may see so often de-
piCted ON the faces Of the toiling masses Of
England, France, Germany or Italy. 1t
seems the gayety of heart, the elasticity of
mind we lind in a Haiiz, a Saadi, have not
wholly faded out of the national character.
Wolf Won SChIerbrand's Teheran Letter. !