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.
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