THE FATE OF THE SHAH.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVII, Issue 10241, 2 September 1909, Page 6

THE FATE OF THE SHAH.

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN PERSIA. (By William Maxwell.) At lost some thing lias really happened in Persia. Mahomet Ali Shah lias taken refuge under the Russian flag and his son has been proclaimed in his stead. For two years we have read of revolutions and counter-revolutions, of Parliaments in hysterics and Parliaments in flames, of rebellious subjects and repentant Shah, of battles and sieges from Tabriz to Bushire. Only Persians could have survived this Jong tragedy, and only the immortal Jtlaji Baba could do justice to the tragi-comedy. , You remember the famous battle in which two Russians put to flight the army of the Shah led by tlie sirdar and the chief executioner?

"We were parleying in this manner," says Haji Baba, "when a shot from the Russians hit the chief executioner's stirrup, which awoke his fears to such a degree that he immediately fell to uttering the most fearful oaths. Calling away his troops and retreating himself at a quick pace, he exclaimed:

" 'Curses on their beards! Curse their fathers, mothers, their ancestry and posterity! Whoever fought after this fashion H Killing, killing, as if we were so many hogs! See, see, what animals they are! They will not run away, do all ive can to them. They are worse than brutes —brutes have feeling—thc.v have none. O Allah, Allah, if there was 110 dying in the case, how the Persians would fight!" The Russians have come again. They have lauded at Enzeli, 011 the Caspian Sea, and marched to ICazvin, on the road to Teheran. And not a hand has beeii raised against them. : The Persians are too busy to heed a foreign invasion. They arc fighting for the Constitution —lot the country take care of itself.

The Nationalists have enterecl. Teheran, and the Shah has found asylum in the Russian Legation. This success of' the Constitutional Party may be ascribed to their allies from the mountains between.the Lower Tigris and the plains of Ispahan. The Bakhtiari are a race apart from the Persians, and. have come upon the scene with set purpose. When Ispahan, the chief city of Central Persia, and the ancient capital, threw in its lot with the Nationalists, the Shah sent a noted reactionary . as Governor. He oppressed and plundered the people and roused the ire of the priests arid the hill tribes. The Uaklitiari, who are wanderers only in the sense that they seek the same pastureground one year after another, arc well armed and roughly disciplined, and have resisted all efforts of the Government to divide them by feuds and jealousies. At the bidding of their hereditary chief—a man of uncertain disposition—these mountaineers descended 011 Ispahan and drove out the Shah's troops. Prince Firman Firma, whose exploits against the Turks on the western frontier brought him greater fame than success, was despatched by the Centre of the Universe to quell the disturbance. After the manner of Persians, he sent a. deputy to do the work, and the Uaklitiari remained.

Meanwhile, the rebellion spread to the south, where another tribe of mountaineers, seeing the wealth and nakedness of Bushire, raided the Gulf province. The energy of the British Resident, Major Cox, set limits to this dangerous activity, but it was manifest that the whole kingdom was involved, and that from the Caspian to the Persian Gulf the standard of revolt was unfurled.

Despite many warnings, the Shall continued his obstinate and tortuous policy. Having declared the Parliament, inherited from his father, a "holy institution," he forthwith battered it with cannon and gave the fragments to the flames. Having pronounced his people unfitted for self-government, he wept repentance and appointed a "Council of Conciliation" as a proof of his sincerity. Having gone back on his promise he submitted to foreign pressure and issued a new proclamation for a new Parliament. But his Majesty's performances have never redeemed his promises, and his subjects suspected his renewed- zeal for the Constitution as a pretext for raising a loan to continue the struggle. , New factors have been created to disturb the ancient theory that the Shah is the State and that all men live l'or the Shall. With the anjumans or political clubs Mahomet Ali Shall has been an object of suspicion ever since lie came from Tabriz a few days before his father died. These suspicious have grown and are shared by moderate reformers who realise that the Shah would rather rule by the sword than by the Constitution. Disloyalty assumed the aspect of rebellion, and the province of Azerbaijan, whose people are Turks by descent and whose proximity to Russia gives security and a supply of revolutionary recruits, maintained a continuous fight for the Constitution. As long as the struggle was confined to this remote* corner of the kingdom, both Russia and Groat Britain could look 011 —-with impatience, no doubt," but without alarm. But when Ispahan and Bu.shire caught tho infection the case became urgent. Ihe invasion of Russian soldiers may seem a deliberate breach of the convention with Great Britain, but i'cs purpose is really to prevent conditions of anarchy that might compel forcible intervention. As a matter of foct, Russia lias displayed astonishing self-control. 'For nearly three .years .she has su fl'ored 111 trade and security from the insurrection on her border—in Azerbaijan—and the road from the Caspian to Teheran, built by Russian capital and maintained by Ijer commerce, lias been exposed to repeated acts of brigandage. Yet Russia forbore to take active measures and was content to put pressure on the Shah to redeem his pledges. But Mahomet Ali preferred his prerogatives to his principles and ignored the Russian memorandum. To let Persia stew in her own juice seemed the only solution. It was essential, however, that in this process neither tho property nor the lives of Europeans should be endangered. As long as the fabric of government was merely dropping to pieces and the weapons of offence were in the nerveless hands of the Nationalists this risk could be ignored. But the presence of the Baklitiari-—who have at least the reputation of not being terrified by a few casualties—made it necessary to adopt precautions. Russia, therefore, took the decisive step and advanced a force as far.as Ivazvin, whence it could march on the capital in the event of menace to Europeans. Whether the necessity for further action will arise is still uncertain. In a country like Persia things drift rather than happen, but three years of anarchy have produced the natural results. The authority of the Shah is ended. He can no longer hold out hope of those pecuniary rewards before which the. heads even of reformers in Persia are ready to bow down. His treasury is empty, and the struggle to secure personal control over the finances of his kingdom has brought ruin to his people. What will happen to the Shah? His leanings have always been toward Russia, and the prospect of their advance on the capital may therefore be not unwelcome to the Shall.' The Nationalists and the Baklitiari, however, are not reconciled to this Russian invasion, and demand as a condition of peace the withdrawal of the Russian soldiers. They have themselves made this concession impossible, for until order is firmly established in Teheran and Parliament has given proof of its authority it is essential that Russia should act as the guardian of European I interests.