140 PERSIA IN 1903. 



divided into innumerable minor classifications. The 

 heading matieres textiles, for instance, includes no less 

 than twenty-six subdivisions, the majority of which 

 require a paragraph of description, and some of which 

 are themselves divided up again into lesser groupings. 

 For a large number of imported articles there is a fixed 

 charge by weight, the recognised unit for this purpose 

 being the hatman of Tabriz ( = 640 Persian miskals, 

 7*27 Russian pounds, 2 French kilogrammes 970 

 grammes, 6 '49 English pounds), while there is a new 

 tariff in place of the old 5 per cent for such goods as 

 are still charged ad valorem. Most Manchester goods, 

 such as cottons, calicoes, shirtings, &c., are charged 

 according to weight, the duty working out at from 

 4 to 10 per cent according to quality. It is obvious 

 that under such a system the more expensive class 

 of goods is greatly favoured, and therein is visible the 

 part that was played by Russian influence in the com- 

 pilation of the tarifl", for it is the more expensive goods 

 that form the bulk of Russian imports. The cheaper 

 goods, which come almost exclusively from Manchester, 

 are of course at a proportionate disadvantage. Again, 

 the duty on sugar, which under a liberal system of 

 bounties floods the Persian market from Russia, works 

 out at about 2\ per cent, or rather less than half that 

 in vogue in the past, whereas the duty on tea, which 

 comes chiefly from India, has been increased by 95 per 

 cent ; spices, another Indian staple, are charged at 

 an exorbitant rate, and the duty of 10 krans per hat- 

 man on indigo is almost prohibitive. One might almost 

 suppose that these figures had been drawn up with the 

 deliberate object of stifling the Nushki-Sistan trade- 

 route, which seems to have become an absolute night- 

 mare to Russian politicians. 



The following table of the imports and exports 



