These people were extortioners of the worst description,
and the bribes and extra payments extracted from the vine-growers are
represented in the gross sum mentioned as amounting to 40 per cent. upon
the general produce of the vineyard. The reforms already established by
the abolition of the nefarious system of tax-farming have relieved the
vine-growers from the most serious oppression, but sufficient abuses
remain to demand a radical change, if the industry for which Cyprus is
specially adapted by nature is to be encouraged.
As I have described in outline the rude method of cultivation and the
manufacture of wine from the first bursting of the young vines, I will
now examine the system of arbitrary interference to which the vine-
grower is exposed through the successive stages of his employment.
The first tax is perfectly fair, as it is calculated according to the
rateable value of the land, which is divided into three classes. These
qualities of soil vary in the valuation from
No. 1 = 500 piastres the donum (about half an acre) to
No. 3 = 100 piastres the donum
The malliea, or annual tax upon these valuations per donum, is 2 per
cent.
When the grapes are nearly ripe, they must be valued before the
proprietor has a right to gather his crop. He is obliged to present
himself at the government office at Limasol, many miles from his estate,
to petition for the attendance of the official valuer, called the
"mahmoor," upon a certain day. This may or may not be granted, but at
all events one or two days have been expended in the journey.
Should the mahmoor arrive, which he frequently does not, at the
appointed time, the medjlis, or council of the villages, appoints a
special arbitrator to represent their (the vine-growers) interests, and
he accompanies the government official during his examination of the
vineyards. After a certain amount of haggling and discussion, an
approximate weight of grapes is agreed upon, the mahmoor declaring the
ultimate amount far above the actual crop per donum: and the tax is
determined according to their quality, resolved into two classes:--
No. 1, the commanderia, and other superior varieties, pay 25 paras the oke.
No. 2, all other grapes pay 16 paras the oke.
But these taxes. are modified according to the abundance and quality of
the grapes in each successive season, being sometimes more or less than
the figures given. The crop is generally ripe towards the end of August,
and the tax, having been determined, may be paid during the following
January, March, or May.
