The Trade Is Merely Retail; And Those Who Possess
Capital, Generally Invest It In Goods, As Usual Throughout Syria And
Egypt, There Not Being Any Public Institution Like Banks, Or Trading
Societies, Or National Funds, From Which The Capitalist Might Derive
Interest For His Money.
The Turkish law rigorously forbids the taking of
interest; and even if it were otherwise, there is not any government nor
any class of men to which the people would intrust considerable sums.
The investment of capital in landed property is also liable to great
risk.
[By a decree of Mohammed Aly in 1813, the purchase of land in Egypt
is rendered impracticable; for it orders all the Moltezims (or landed
proprietors who shared in the possession of villages and grounds, and
who formed a class living on their rents in the country towns,) to
receive their yearly revenue from the Pasha's treasury, where they
suffered every kind of humiliation and injustice; and the whole of the
soil was declared to be the property of government, or in other words of
Mohammed Aly himself, who leaves the cultivation of it to the fellahs on
his own terms. It happened lately that the Fellahs, who farmed five
thousand acres belonging to the village of Damkour near Cairo, were
deprived of their leases on the land being declared public property,
because the Pasha wished to sow clover for his cavalry upon the soil
that the Fellahs had possessed. Landed property in Syria also subjects
the owner to great inconveniences: he is oppressed by every governor of
a district, and by every soldier who passes; he suffers in his receipts
from the extortions of the Pashas, which generally fall more heavily
upon the cultivator than upon the monied man: and if he do not
constantly watch his peasants, he is most probably cheated out of all
his profits.] The usual
[p.375] method is to enter into partnership with different petty
merchants or retail dealers, and obtain a share of their profits; but it
is subject to almost as much anxiety as an active trade, from the
necessity of keeping a constant account with the partners, and
incessantly watching them. Usury is practised, and an annual interest
from thirty to fifty per cent is paid at Cairo for money: but few of the
Turkish merchants descend to this practice, which is reckoned
dishonorable. Usury is wholly in the hands of Jews, and Christians the
outcasts of Europe. There is, perhaps, nothing in the present deplorable
state of eastern society that has a more baneful effect upon the minds
and happiness of the people, than the necessity of continuing during
their whole lives in business full of intrigues and chances. The
cheering hopes which animate an European, the prospect of enjoying in
old age the profits of early exertions, are unknown to the native of the
East, whose retirement would bring nothing but danger, by marking him as
wealthy in the eyes of his rapacious governor. The double influence of
the Turkish government and Muselman religion have produced such an
universal hypocrisy, that there is scarcely a Mohammedan (whose tranquil
air, as he smokes his pipe reclining on the sofa, gives one an idea of
the most perfect contentment and apathy,) that does not suffer under all
the agonies of envy, unsatisfied avarice, ambition, or the fear of
losing his ill-gotten property.
Travellers who pass rapidly through the East, without a knowledge of the
language, and rarely mixing with any but persons interested in
misrepresenting their true character, are continually deceived by the
dignified deportment of the Turks, their patriarchal manners and solemn
speeches, - although they would ridicule a Frenchman who,
[p.376] after a few months' residence in England, and ignorant of the
English language, should pretend to a competent knowledge of the British
character and constitution; not recollecting that it is much easier for
a Frenchman to judge of a neighbouring European nation, than for any
European to judge of Oriental nations, whose manners, ideas, and notions
are so different from his own. For my own part, a long residence among
Turks, Syrians, and Egyptians, justifies me in declaring that they are
wholly deficient in virtue, honour, and justice; that they have little
true piety, and still less charity or forbearance; and that honesty is
only to be found in their paupers or idiots. Like the Athenians of old,
a Turk may perhaps know what is right and praiseworthy, but he leaves
the practice to others; though, with fine maxims on his lips, he
endeavours to persuade himself that he acts as they direct. Thus he
believes himself to be a good Muselman, because he does not omit the
performance of certain prayers and ablutions, and frequently invokes the
forgiveness of God.
At Medina several persons engage in small commercial transactions,
chiefly concerning provisions; a lucrative branch of traffic, as the
town depends for its support upon the caravans from Yembo, which are
seldom regular, and this circumstance causes the prices of provisions
continually to fluctuate. The evil consequence of this is, that the
richer corn-dealers sometimes succeed in establishing a monopoly, no
grain remaining but in their warehouses, the petty traders having been
obliged to sell off. Whenever the caravans are delayed for any
considerable time, corn rises to an enormous price; and as the chiefs of
the town are thus interested, it can scarcely be supposed that the
magistrates would interfere.
Next to the provision-trade, that with the neighbouring Bedouins is the
most considerable: they provide the town with butter, honey, (a very
essential article in Hedjaz cookery,) sheep, and charcoal; for which
they take, in return, corn and clothing. Their arrival at Medina is
likewise subject to great irregularity; and if two tribes happen to be
at war, the town is kept for a month at the mercy of the few substantial
merchants who happen to have a stock of those articles in hand. When I
first reached Medina, no butter was to be had in
[p.377] the market, and corn was fifty per cent dearer than at Yembo;
soon after, it was not to be had at all in the market:
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