PERSIA.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13645, 13 July 1908, Page 7

PERSIA.

THE FIGHT FOR REFORM;

The first big step in the history 'of constitution-malting in l'eiisia. was in 1905. The mollahs, or priests, gave the chief impe.us to the movement, wliich sprang from the growing discontent with the incompetence and misgovernment •ot the Grand Vizier, a kinsman of the Shah, the -\in-eh-Dowlth. In December, 1905, they left Teheran, with many leading merchants, as a protest against- the pievailing misrule, and the Shah th£h promised to convoke a Representative -Assembly. As nothing had been done to fulfil "this promise the priest again lelfc Teheran in July 1906, and went to Ivumi Their followers in Teheran took reluge in the grounds of the British Legation, to the number of at least 16,000. thereupon Ain-ed-Dowleh was dismissed, Mus-hir-ed-Dowleh was appointed Grand Vizier in his place, and the Shah on August 5 signed a decree authorising the convocaa National Council, elected by the princes, clergy, nobles, merchan's, and tradesmen. The National Assenib-y jut' for the first time on October 7, and Sun-ieli-ed-Dowlah, formerly Minister of Commerce, and a leader of the reform movement, was elected President. On the death of Muzaffer-ed-Din, which took place on January 8, 1907, Ins sou. Mahomed Ali Mirza succeeded as Shah, and was crowned wi.h much pomp. Th«members of the National Council trer© not invited either to the coronation or to the durbar which followed, and an impression gained' ground that the Shah was opposed to the new Constitution. The indignation of tie reform party and the dangerous position of affairs, however, led to tWe" Shall sending a letter to the Council on February 1, formerly recognising and confirming the Constitution granted by the late Shah. The Council then set iiself to secure the removal of various local Governors, and in almost t-verv case trouble resulted, the Court and" the reactionaries generally opposing. Parliament at every turn. There were many changes of Ministry. Mushir-ed-Dowleh resigned in March, and Admin-es- : Sultan became President of the Council and Minister of the Interior, on the understanding that the Shah should coopera e with Parliament, in accordance with the Constitution. Amin was, however, assassinated on August 31. A tjcW-_ Cabinet- was formed, and on November 12 thi- Shah paid a to Parliament, and * took ihe oath of fidelity to. the Constitution. Things did not go smoothly, however, and on the 27th of. that month the Caminet resigned. Ihe posi ion became one of great danger Mid confusion, and a -strong party Wi.s contemplating the deposition of the Shah in favour, of Ziil-es-Sultan. Both Natioiiulists and Royalists actually pivpar. d lor hostilities.

To such a pasw had rw'tf-rs come that the members of the Cabinet wok- summoned on December 15 to the Palace, and detained under ; arrest. It. wa6'. only thiough the intervention of the British Legation- that the Ministers regained their freedom. It transpired that the Shah had prepared a coup d-etat, his intention being lo imprison the Ministers, expel the JS'ationalisi leaders, and dissolve Parliament. Two brothers of the President, were expelled, and later imprisoned, but the coup d'etat failed. About 2000 armed Nationalists guarded Parliament. ... The Shah demanded the dispersal of the Nationalists, but the President refused, saying the Sovereign wa» - committing acts of treason against the Constitution, h-lui.li necessitated his deposition. The reactionaries, who were augmented by 1000 roughs from Veramin, held the Gun Square and the vicinity of the Palace, and on December 17 they committed some gets of murder and looting. The >"ationaliftt.B, about 10,000 strong, erecu-<i barricades extending for a mile around tly/parfiajnent buildipg, and acted strictly on the defensive. On Decern}), r -28 the Shah suggested negotiations, and at the request ot Parliament dispersed the Nation-, al forces, Theieupbn, however, the roughs on the other recommenced looting and rioting, and &e Nationalists hurriedly took up their potion behind the barricades again, -i gP.od deal pf .street fighting took place, but the matter., ended for the time being by the Shah yielding. On December 22 a declaration on the Koran* which he sent--10 the Assembly, as a mark of his renewal of fidelity to the Constitution. Hereby hj« Majesty accepted the conditions of th® JJpjliss, including the punishment of the ringleaders in the rio s, and the dissolution of. tije fyupf. clique. The following morning the Shah recejyed the British and Russian representatives, .and gave them fais formal apd solemn assurance that he did fWt entertain any m-r tention to abolish the const jtutional regime, but would strive to work with }t. The Times correspondent at _ Tehe-rafi wrote on January 2:—"The incidents ofthe latter hftJf of December have proved that there -is real strength in the Persian. reform movement, and 2 genuine feeling of reyubn'om in the boson} pf th e Shah'a subjects against- the" tyranny and pojfrsiption they have' en long endured, and also a goodly amount of patriotism. The Shah liae noc yet givei> up all hope of retaining bis autocratic pojrer. JJe has shut himself up in his palace, which he never leaves out of f#.ar of bis life. His faronrilee are round blm 93 busy a« ever.

If the Court refrains from intriguing with Foreign Powers the Mejless may, succeed before long ' in some sort-' of order* and in establishing a. fairly stable ( and liberal Government. But I ami afraid this is too much to hope for. Anarchy will, most probably reign supreme for 6ome time to come, and no one tan foresee what the eventual ; outcome will be." . .Although the terms' of the understanding between Parliament and ' the Shah were signed, each of the two parties interpreted them as being in its own favour, and it was not long before fresh demands and matters made themselves heard. Aiain matters looked critical. Un January 13, however, the Shah received the President and reiterated his promises of fidelity, to the Constitution and the following day it was announced that a final reconciliation had taken place between the Shah and Parliament. In return for concessions . made by the Shah, Parliamen ■ agreed to the suppression of several newspapers as punishment for their references to his Majesty; the extremists were. forbidden to deliver speeches in mosques, and the Shahs Civil List was subs.antially increased. On -February 3 four ringleaders of the December disturbances were publicly whipped and then imprisoned. This was hailed with great satisfaction by the press, as'it «"».•> the fiivit time anyone had been punished since the fronting-of the Constitution, and the hope was expressed that, other crintiua.s would soon be brought to justice. Then on February Ulit came the news: The anjuman-s (political clubs) .are buymo- arnus. • I'g.y rumour.-, are in circulation." A few howig Inter an attempt was made un the lite ol the Shah. While his .Majesty was driving thiough the streets of ."Teheran thvee bombs were thrown. Cine exploded in front of his motor car, and several men and horses were killed; but the Shah, fortunately for himself, was not in the car, but in. a carnage .a little distance behind, and \vas unharmed.; Xo arrests were m.ide and on .March 7 the Shah sent a rescript to the ilejlifes, complaining of the apathy of Parliament in taking measures for the discovery of the. authors of the outrage, .and ilec.aring that he himself would shortly proceed to .take the : pectssary steps." lhe rescript produced an uneasy r'fe t -iing that fresh troubles were brewing. Ihe .ilinister for .War, who is also Governor of Teheran, however, announced Sn Parliament shortly •• after that the men who threw the bomb were six in number, and came from a village in North-west iiibrix, and- the police had their names and. full descriptions of them. No record of their arrest, however, is available.

A number of Cabinet changes followed, then -the whole Cabinet, resigned. About this time the Governor 6f Teheran and the Commissioner of Police were accused of making illegal arrests, but. the Khali refused to agree to their being sent up for trials i'ublie feeling ran very high, and the Nationalists began to arm themselves. On April 13 the Shah, on having the; situation'explained to him by a deputation from the Parliament, consented to -allow the officials to be tried by miliv tury court. The Mejliss yielded to this, but angry crowds, thousands strong, Wjected the proposal, and a, cessation' of business was proclaimed. However, the ■trial was proceeded with, the Commissioner of Police being placed under arrest in the meantime. The result of the trial, by the way, has not transpired. On May 3 the news arrived that the new Cabinet has resigned, the; re. son assigned being the failure to raise the money necessary to wipe off the arrears of pay due to officials and aoldiers, ihe demands for which had become pressing. There was then a lull in the news from Teheran; and/on May 15 it was announced that the celebration of the Shah's birthday passed off successfully, and the anjuuians exhibited great rejoicing in view of the diminished tension be. ween : the Court -and the Constitutionalists. But events must have developed with startling rapidi.y since then, for althougn our cablegrams were silent as to rthe happening leading up to it, a. message on June 9 told of a startling move bv the Shah.- He summoned the notabilities of his kingdom to meet him at Bag - shah, outside Teheran. There he had three reform leaders arrested, and.'.he appointed a notorious .reactionary, Hagib-ed-Rowlah, Governor of Teheran.' The cable went on to say that the" capital was in a s'.dte of panic,, and that, the tihah was increasing his forces hourly. Then came the intimation that. Parliament had issued ap ultimatum to ,tlie Shah, and relations in the meantime had been broken off. A force of Cossack soldiers surrounded Parliament Hou&e,, and demanded that certain reformers, whose arrest had been ordered by the Shah, should be given up. It was the refusal of the Parliament that led to the bloodshed as reported and .precipitated the crisis.