New-York tribune., 1912-07-14
In the Land of
a Child King

Not much more than year ago the Per
sian charge d'affairs IN Washington came
10 New York 20 bid bon voyage TO a group
of young Americans who were sailing for
Persia TO reorganize the finances OF that
country, and every one who knew anything
about what had been going on in the land
OF the Shahs hoped that a new day was
dawnlng for its suffering people few
years before, by an almost bloodless revo-
luton the Persians had compelled the Shah
to give them a constitution and a parlia-
ment and when his son and successor,
Muhammad All refused TO live up to the
agreement they deposed him and placed
his twelve-year old son, Sultan Ahmad
Mira. on the throne. In return for a pen
sion OF $4,000 "A year the deposed ruler
agreed 10 leave Persia, and the British and
Russian governments undertook 10 see that
he stayed away.
The Persians now took heart once more.
The young Shah entered his capital OF
Teheran amid general reJoicings the free
press. which had been crushed out during
the contest with Muhammad All. reap
peared, and the Persian Legation in America
was instructed to seek out a financial ex-
pert to act az Treasurer General Of the
country and reorganize its finances, which
were in a very bad way. The Persians, II
seems, haven't much faith I'm the Euro
pean nations, and they thought that an Am
erican might be free from their influence.
A young man named W. Morgan Shuster
was chosen, and with assistants he sailed
from New York full Of hope and ambition
for the future Of Persia. Eight months
lot ba Tho Russian
ment had demanded his expulsion and the
hopes Of Persia had been blasted.
How it all happened Mr.. Shuster tells in
book called THE Strangling Of Persia"
which has just been published by the Cen
tury Company 1t is not book which boys
and girls will want to read, probably In
fact, few persons will be able to follow It's
tangled thread Of Oriental intrigue and
European diplomacy" as NJ. Shuster calls
IT, but the main facts OF its story are easy
enough to understand. All there Is TO 1t,
Mr. Shuster tells us. is that Russia, al
though she had acknowledged the constitu-
tional government Of Persia preferred the
old order, because II was easier 10 control
the Shahs I'm her own interests than 10 con-
troll the National Assembly. Therefore, she
did not want the finances Of the country put
on a satisfactory basis and did not want
Mr. Shuster.
Mr.. Shuster had expected to find the
Persian finances tangled. but when he ar
rived in Teheran he discovered that there
really were not any finances TO tangle. The
taxes were collected by agents Of the gov
ernment In the different provinces, who
were supposed TO remit them, minus the ex-
i,Ia Of IN
nance, but IL was more by accident lhan
design that anything trickled into the CEN
trail treasury. Very powerful persons re-
fused to pay their taxes, and even genuine
ly patriotic persons shared the time-honored
belief that TO enrich ones self at the ex-
pense of the government was perfectly
proper and honorable. The army, which Mr..
Shuster describes as largely a mythical
CORDS" was always demanding larger sums
Of money, and the various government OF,
fcials seemed TO think that the chief duty
of a Treasurer General was TO sign checks
for them. Because Mr.. Shuster refused TO
do this for the Prime Minister, and Parlia-
ment refused TO interfere in his behalf that
gentleman rushed out Of the National AS
sefnbly one day and ordered his coachman
10 drive him 10 Europe. Protests also came
from the various foreign legations in Tehe-
ran all but the British Dutch, Turkish and
American yreferring the old free and Gao!