I have heard officials condemn in the strongest terms the laws they are
obliged to enforce. There are few persons who are obtuse to the sense of
injustice, but at the same time the suggestion has been expressed that
an extreme difficulty would be experienced should the taxes be collected
in any other form than dimes. I cannot see the slightest truth in this
disclaimer of responsibility for Turkish evils, and I believe the
present difficulty might be overcome with little trouble by a system of
rating the land ad valorem.
The soil and general value of properties in Cyprus vary as in England
and other countries according to quality and position. There is land
contiguous to market towns of much higher value than the same quality of
soil in remote districts; there are farms supplied with water either
naturally or artificially, which are far more valuable than others which
are dependent upon favourable seasons. Land which formerly produced
madder was of extreme value, and should have been adjudged accordingly;
but why should not all properties of every description throughout Cyprus
be rated and taxed in due proportion? The valuation should be arranged
by local councils. The vineyards which produced the expensive wines
should be rated higher than those of inferior quality. Gardens should be
rated according to their distance from a market; fields in proportion to
their water-supply and the quality of the soil. The Cypriotes do not
complain of the amount of 10 per cent. taxation under the name of dimes,
but they naturally object to the arbitrary and vexatious system of
inquisitorial visits, together with the delays and loss of time
occasioned by the old Turkish system. "Rate us, and let us know the
limit of our responsibility"--that is the natural desire of the
inhabitants. If the industries of the country are to be developed they
must be unfettered; but if weighed down by restrictions and vexatious
interference, they will hardly discover the benefit of a change to
British masters.
Some people in Cyprus make use of an argument in favour of the present
system of dimes or collecting in kind by tenths, which does not commend
itself by logical reasoning. They say, "if you rate the land ad valorem,
and establish a monetary payment of 10 per cent., you will simply burden
the poor land-holder with debt during a season of drought, when his
property will produce nothing. According to the present system he and
the government alike share the risk of seasons; if the land produces
nothing, there can be no dimes." It does not appear to have occurred to
these reasoners that in such seasons of scarcity the taxation could be
easily reduced as a temporary measure of relief according to the
valuation of the local medjlis or council; but I claim the necessity of
artificial irrigation that will secure the land from such meteorological
disasters, and will enable both the cultivator and the government to
calculate upon a dependable average of crops, instead of existing upon
the fluctuations of variable seasons.
