'Reports of administration for 1918 of divisions and districts of the occupied territories in Mesopotamia. Volume I' [‎69r] (142/470)

Iby the ordinary Revenue staff. Like the vegetable tax, this is difficult to collect
on any satisfactory system. Undoubtedly the least vexatious method is through
the Shaikh, but with weak Shaikhs this means loss of revenue.
At present at any rate the tax should be continued, as it is the only contribution
paid to the Exchequer by a considerable portion of the inhabitants.
Tobacco. —Tobacco is grown to a considerable extent in Hindiyah and Karbala.
The method of collecting the Government share—one-fifth—is to estimate the crop
and to collect the revenue when the tobacco is sold by the grower.
Other taxes call for no special remark.
Tapu. —During the year a Tapu Department was formed in Baghdad, but
its activities had hardly extended to the Districts. Much work awaits it—the
examination of tapu claims and documents; the sifting of the true from the false;
the registration of the former, the rejection of the latter.
Mallak and Sarkal. —The regulation of relations between Mallak and Sarkal is
one of the more pressing problems which await settlement. It is clearly impossible
that the Mallak should be allowed to exercise the right which he claims to remove and
appoint Sarkals at his will.
A beginning has been made by the issue of an order forbidding Mallaks to
remove Sarkals without permission from the Assistant Political Officer, and, con
sequent on this, it is necessary to fix a fair rent and insist on its payment. The whole
question presents many complications, and will require special study before a
general policy can be framed.
Waqf. —Save in Hillah District, there is a very small amount of Waqf property,
and such as there is has received but scant attention from already overburdened
Political Officers.
Noav that a Department of Auqaf has come into existence in Baghdad, it is to
be hoped that Waqf lands will receive closer attention.
Conclusion. —The country is bristling with-problems of Revenue administration;
the great desideratum is definite information as to actual conditions and customs
in different areas, and the immediate necessity is the collection of this information;
until this has been done, it would be premature to attempt to frame any general policy.
Festina lente must be our motto.
The administration of the country has been for centuries in a state of chaos :
better that each step in the reduction of chaos should be gradual, than that
“ uniformity ” of system, so dear to the Englishman’s heart, should be introduced
on insufficient information and in opposition to the ingrained customs of the land.
3. Irrigation. —The year that has passed has seen a great deal of solid work
accomplished by the Irrigation Department.
New Works. —The excavation of the two new canals of Hindiyah, the Jorjiyah
and the Bani Hasan, was completed by January, just in time to let the people at
the tail sow a late crop, and during the year much labour was expended in strengthen
ing the banks; in Musaiyib a new head was constructed from the Mahmudiyah canal,
the effect of which will be to bring under immediate cultivation some 15,000 acres
of land which has lain waste for generations, while eventually it is hoped that a
further 25,000 acres will be irrigated.
Clearance of Old Canals. —Besides these new works, the capacity of old works
was greatly increased by silt clearance, and many miles of protective flood banks
were constructed, the result of which is seen in the reclamation from swamp of
very large areas in Hindiyah and Karbala Districts.
Question of Labour. —One of the main difficulties encountered by the Irrigation
Department is the obtaining of labour at the time and place required. The Arab
intensely dislikes regular labour and has a strong prejudice against working outside
his own tribal land. It was found by bitter experience that it not enough to collect
a hundred or a thousand Arabs in one spot if some immemorial custom was thereby
infringed; the Shaikhs and Sarkals would obey the letter of the order and bring
the men to the place required; the Arab would spend the greater part of the day
slumbering peacefully in the nearest garden and in the evening return to his home.
Faza‘. The most efficacious method of getting work done was undoubtedly
by a “ faza‘, ” by which is meant a levee en masse of the tribe for a given period,
generally not more that 5 to 10 days. Under these conditions the Arab works
reasonably well, and however galling it may be to the engineer, who desires to see