The evening times., 1899-12-23
BREAD SCARCE IN PERSIA.
The United states Consul General
Tells of the Suffering There.


Tells of the Suffering There.
The State Department received cable
gram despatch several days ago regarding
the scarcity of bread in Persia, and United
States Consul Robert W. Bowen has sent
from Teheran fuller account of the dis
tress prevailing among the people there.
, He says:
During the past two years the price OF
all kinds of cereals in most of the cities
| of Persia has been abnormai!y high. espe
ciaiIy in Teheran. This is probably due
TO several assisnable causes.
within the last few years the population
of Teheran has been steadily on the in
crease. while the means for providing the
food supply have remained stationary.
There has been very little addition to the
area of the land under cultivation. and no
improvement has been made in the meth
o6s Of transport so as tc utilize the sur
plus grain, which fails to find market in
some districts in times of scarcity.
The winter before the last was marked
by very heavy falls of snow and severe
cold. and in consequence a good deal OF
damage was done TO the green crops. In
some districts the ravages OF blight add
ed considerably to the loss. the result be-
ing that during the whole of the spring
and the early part Of the summer of this
year there was great scarcity of bread
and the minor necessaries OF life. Flour
was not imported from Russia, but not in
sufficient quantities TO give continuous
relief to the demand. Some legations, no
tably the English. purchased larg: quanti-
ties of wheat, had ii ground into flour. and
made bread on their own premises for the
supply of their subjects and dependents.
This legation had 10 get an order from the
| local government on particular baker 10
provide certain quantity Of bread daily.
This resource. however. sometimes failed.
and servants and their families were left
destitute or had 10 put up with a kind Of
bread largely compounded of other mate
rials than wheat or barley AS bread in
this country is much more an article OF
daily consumption than it is with us. a
lack in quantity or a dearness in price
quickly produces much hardship and dis
tress among the poor people. whose means
are never able to bear any unusual strain.
Last winter was exceptionally mild. and
the rainfall greatly below The average, the
result being that early in the summer there
was q scarcity of water and failure to
meet The requirements for the irrigation of
the crops. Very little of the cultivation in
Persia is independent OF artificial water
ing, and il the springs or sources which
nave TO supply TINS demand are not SUM-
cient for the purpose, the effect on the
harvest is more or less disastrous. IL ap-
pears from reports that this years harvest
has not been a good one, and that the
produce Of wheat is not equal to the con-
sumption, and consequently there is again
scarcity OF bread: and such as is provided
is of a very Indifferent quality. Caiculat
ing from the present condition of the food
supply, it is generally feared that as the
season advances the bread difficulty of the
earlier part of the year will be greatly in
tensified, and we shall be on the verge OF
famine. Ii is not. however. improbable
that the large landed proprietors, who re-
ceive their rent in produce, have stored UP
their proportion OF the years supply in
the expectation of a still further rise in
price; but II there is a seasonable rain
fall these will put it on the market for
fear of loss. Up TO the present. the pros
pect is not by any means cheering. but it
is not yet too late in the season to expect
an average sowing for the future crops
and decline in the prices of food.
Rice, which forms such a large staple
of food in this as well as in other Eastern
countries, which is grown largely in the
provinces on the south of the Caspian has
fallen ofi in quantity and increased in pri e.
thereby adding very considerably to the
difficulties of the situation. In view of this
fact. il is possible that the export of rice
will be strictly prohibited. which will tend
to minimize the severity of the tension and
relieve the anxiety which is justly felt.
Il have thought that the present state of
the food question is sufficiently serious to
make il the subject OF special report"