The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-07-24

especially the recent indications OF progress.
TO which ws would now draw attention. and
We may have word to say about the strange
now scot known a. the Babies. whose his
tory. creed. and observances the author has
made the subject Of careful study.
Il 10 we'll known that the reign OF the pros
ent Shah has witnessed the Introduction OF q
series OF reforms in Persia Among those
which may be termed successful are the
institution Of q city police in Teheran and tho
reconstruction and embellishmen t Of the capt.
tal ITSELF Among the attempts at reform
which have rs yet proved abortive. may be
mentioned administrative reorganization. the
institution Of judicial tribunals. and the codi-
Acaion OF tho laws. Fruitless. also. hns been
the effort to avert injustice on the part
Of the provincial Governors by placing
In the larger towns petition boxes In
which the victims Of oppression might
drop appeals to tho Shah. The provincial
Governors promptly ordered watch to be
kept on the boxes and caused the bastinado
% be administered to ALI persons using them.
Naturally. therefore. the petition boxes ro-
main empty. There Is a third class OF reforms
which We should scarcely associate with any
vsry advanced degree OF national progress.
which marks considerable forward movo
In country like Persia These include the
construction OF railroads and the institution OF
. postal system. OF tho electric telegraph. OF
newspapers. OF Government mint and
Q new currency. OF European banks. Of
commercial and other concessions. manu-
featured roads. and OF higher education.
Reserving railways for a subsequent para
graph. we observe that down to the year
1874 the postal system was in the hands OF the
aknr ~ no -kN farp
system from the Minister OF Ways and Com
munications. These individuals found the
conveyance Of letters extremely lucrative. as
they extracted a commission from both the
sender and the recipient. In 1875 an official
Of the Austrian Post ONCE was intrusted with
tho organization OF tho Persian post upon
European lines For time. nevertheless. the
service remained insecure. valuable packets
being opened and plundsred: but latterly
greater safety has been attained. and the ar
rAngeme nts now include a bi-weekly service
to Europe. q weekly service to India. and
weekly services between the capital and five Of
the principal provincial towns In 1896 there
were reported to be seventy. three Post Ofices
In tho kingdom. and In the year lSS4-5. the
latest for which statistics are procurable. there
were conveyed 1895. 1896 letters. besides post
cards and samples. and about $4,000 parcels.
having value Of S1520.OOO. The receipts
for tho same year were returned at about
100000. and the expenses at S66.50O. From
England letters 60 to Persia via Berlin. and
under favorable conditions are delivered In
Teheran only few days over q fortnight.
BY curious inversion Of tho customary
chronology in matters Of mechanical progress.
the electric telegraph was already In full work.
ing order throughout Persia long before a de-
cent letter post had been organized. The first
experiment was made by the Government in
1850 with line from Teheran to Sultanieh.
and this was followed In 1880 by a complete
line from Teheran to Tabriz. which in 1863
was extended to Julia At this period ensued
the negotiations between the British and Per-
sian Governments with relation to the passage
Of the main limo Of the ndo-European Tele-
graph Company through Persia in transit from
London to Bombay. The issue Of these proceed
in9s has been tho construction Of q wire from
Julia to Teheran worked by the Indo- Euro
pean Telegraph Company. and from Teheran
70 Bushire worked by q sta1 OF the Indian
Government In addition to this trunk line
Persia possesses some 5000 miles Of single
wire lines In Q moro or less dubious state OF re-
pair. which belong to the Government and
arc worked by . Persian staff The capital Ia
now connected with every city OF importance
in the kingdom. and this has had q prodigious
effect on tho consolidation OF the sovereign
power. Statistics. however OF the revenue
and expenditure on these lines and OF the
work accomplished are not forthcoming.
Tho history and the present condition Of
journalism in Persia exemplify the anoma-
lous position occupied by that nation. sus-
pended as 1t Is. like Mohammed's coffin. be-
tween the two worlds OF civilization and bar
barism. It was in 1850 that the first Per-
sian newspaper was established. It was
placed BY the Government under an English
editor, whose duty was to republish judicious
or interesting extracts from the European
journals. while political articles were FREE
Quently contributed by the Shah's Prime MIN
lister. 1.-THE same time was started the system
which has been virtually continued with every
succeeding publication. that. namely. of requir-
ing all the members Of the civil service above
certain rank to become regular subscribers.
This paper seems to have subsequently ex-
pired. but in 1895 another publication called
tho Tshernn Gazette was begun by COM
mand Of the Shah. Its columns wore at first
niled with descriptions OF European countP es.
inventions. and trades. until. tho interest Of
editor and readers in these novelties being
exhausted, the bill OF fare was restricted to a
court circular and to disquisitions on Oriental
science. alchemy. &c. At the present time the
newspapers In existence In Persia are the fol-
lowing: First the Iran,. q purely official
organ to which all functonaries are
expected to subscribe. which Is sup
posed to come out once q fortnight.
This paper Is edited by tho Minister of the
Press, who enjoys an absolute monopoly Of all
the newspaper and other printing. and
pays oOO tomans 1.-THE toman is now worth
about $l.43) year for the privilege. The
copy" is always submitted to tho Shah and
eounfersigned by him: 1t is produced by the
uthogrsphic process. The Shah himself occa-
stonally contributes to the Iran. and prides
himself on the exceptional purity OF his style.
In which few Arabic words occur. in spite
OF the large part they play In the national
vocabulary. Foreign politics are excluded
from the purvew of the Iran for fear OF ofreud-
Ing tho ambassadors. and domestic politics
are eschewed from the dread OF offending the
Shah and the governing hierarchy. Tho scope
OF the paper is consequently narrowed TO tho
undressing dimensions OF II court journal