'Reports of administration for 1918 of divisions and districts of the occupied territories in Mesopotamia. Volume I' [‎76v] (157/470)

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stand, except in an emergency, an A.P.O. cannot spend five rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. on necessary
repairs or improvements without previous sanction and the issue of a C.D.O.
I trust that this state of things will be remedied.
I fear the proposal to remove auqaf from the control of the Revenue Secretary
and to place it under that of the Judicial Secretary will lead to difficulties. Tn this
district by far the greater part of the Waqf income is derived, from land. There
are no fewer than 91 gardens in which Auqaf holds a share, and 67 maqamat,
besides shares in various estates and a valuable ‘uqr right. The administration of
these is closely allied to the revenue administration, and they offer the same
problems as confront the revenue authorities. For example, it is frequently
necessary to decide whether a more or less legal right, whether held by a mallak
or the auqaf, is to be enforced against cultivators who have never had to respect
it in the past, and it would, I consider, be inadvisable that different principles
should be applied by the two departments. I presume it is not intended that the
local administration of Waqf property should be vested in judicial officers, who are
not in a position to tour in the district and exercise supervision over the Waqf land.
Miscellaneous and Special Revenues .—These taxes, which produce only a fifth
of the demand from land revenue, are always liable to be overshadowed by the
latter, and, moreover, in the year under review the imperative necessity of providing
grain for the army has distracted attention from all other revenue matters. Yet
these revenues are even now expected to jneld three lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees , and will produce more
under proper supervision and management. At present they are administered on
the Turkish system, of which the best that can be said is that it added to the
attraction of Government service by affording underpaid officials numerous
facilities for increasing their incomes. There is little to be said about the individual
taxes. Owing to restriction of the main fishing ground at the barrage it was found
necessary to reduce the farm of the fish tax by 25 per cent., and the date tax will
yield a little less than the budget estimate. All other taxes show an excess over
the estimates. The fruit and vegetable, fish, slaughter and liquor taxes were
farmed, the-others being collected direct.
I regret that for the reasons mentioned it has been impossible to give these
taxes the attention they require, and I have not sufficient information to discuss
them in detail, but it is evident that radical changes are necessary. These revenues
are open to almost every objection that can be made against a tax. They are
vexatives because they are collected direct in small sums, collection is difficult and
expensive, adequate supervision is impossible, the people are liable to be dunned
twice for the same amount, and there is every opportunity for fraud, which the
so-called system of accounts most effectively conceals. For example, a man who
purchases sheep out of a flock on which kodah has been paid, must go with the seller
to the Mamur Kodah and obtain a new receipt lest he also be required to pay the
tax. Similarly, the tax on vegetables is collected both in the field and in the
market, and only the collector s knowledge of the local growers prevents a double
collection. Why there have been no complaints on these grounds I cannot
understand.
The date, fruit, and vegetable taxes will, I presume, ultimately be merged in
the general land revenue. Meanwhile in 1919 I hope that it will be possible to
exercise a proper check on the count of trees. Kodah is an impossible sort of tax;
a genuine check is out of the question, and I think it would be best to farm the tax
by tribes to the Shaikhs. The farmer’s profit would probably nearly balance the
cost of direct collection, which in 1918 amounted to Rs. 3,274/8/-for a demand
of Rs 72,050/- _ Petition stamps are now bought singly from the office, an
obviously objectionable practice, but T am applying for sanction to a proposal to
sell petition stamps at a discount to petition writers, who will become licensed
vendors on paj^ment of a small fee. I hope to take up the question of these
miscellaneous taxes before long and to submit a report in detail.
(C) Customs. —Nil.
(D) Compensation. Considerable sums have been paid on account of compen
sation for land taken up for military purposes. At present, compensation has been
paid on account of damage done by the destruction of crops and trees, &c., but
rent for land in military occupation is now being assessed. No rules existed for
the assessment of damage, and an application to the Revenue Board for guidance
produced little result. As no directions based on the practice of other Lessing
officers were available, 1 was compelled to work out a system of my own, which