Expenditure disallowed

[pars]

Dear all:

What is the meaning of the words in bold in the following passage? It is from the book Anglo-Iranian relations since 1800, edited by Vanessa Martin, p. 90:

Marling duly reported that Farman-Farma told him that as the Iranian government would want a detailed account of this subsidy and that his enemies in Tehran 'would contrive to get a large portion of the expenditure disallowed'.

Thanks a million

 

[jutfrank]

What's the problem? Is it the word disallowed?

I would guess that it refers to spending that would not later be authorised or approved by the authorities.

 

[Annabel Lee]

The bold words are not part of the same noun phrase: "the expenditure disallowed" does not mean "the disallowed expenditure." The structure is "get something disallowed," which relates to "get somebody/some people to disallow something."

Here's an analogy. If one cannot afford to get the whole building cleaned (to get cleaners to clean the whole building), perhaps one can afford to get a large portion of the building cleaned (to get cleaners to clean a large portion of the building).