'Reports of administration for 1918 of divisions and districts of the occupied territories in Mesopotamia. Volume I' [‎90r] (184/470)

2. Revenue : (a) Land Revenue .— I. For revenue purposes the district is
divided into four shubahs : Musaiyib, Iskandariyah, Mahmudiyah and the Jurf al
Sakhr. For the greater part of the year, district headquarters was staffed by a
mudir mal and two clerks. The mudir mal having been convicted of complicity
in an attempt to sell Government grain was imprisoned and dismissed. He has
not been replaced, and it is very doubtful whether, given reasonably efficient mamurs
shubah and a good head revenue clerk, a mudir mal is necessary.
II. The Musaiyib shu‘bah consists of the areas served by the Musaiyib,
Nasiriyah and ‘Ajaimi canals (Government property) and of the Abu Lokah tapu
estate and the annexed lift cultivation. For administration purposes it includes
the Naqib’s waqf property (Qadiriyah), which pays no revenue. It is a large slnTbah
and the collection and management of the various miscellaneous taxes collected
in Musaiyib town devolves on the mamur. An assistant mamur has been sanctioned.
Iskandariyah consists only of the land irrigated from the Iskandariyah canal
and annexed karads; it is a light charge. All land is Government property.
Mahmudiyah was even before the existence of the new canal a big slnTbah, the
flow land, amounting to some 10,000 acres of cultivation in any year, and the baqrahs
in the lift area numbering about 200. The estimated cultivated acreage in the
Mahmudiyah area this year is some 20,000 acres and two mamurs will be necessary.
Two mamurs were originally sanctioned, but one was found to suffice. It is not
proposed to divide the area into two shu‘bahs. I consider that it is better to keep
our revenue areas large on the ground both of economy and efficiency, adding
assistant mamurs where found necessary: the mamur and his clerk in a slnTbah
like Iskandariyah are, in my opinion, underworked, except at certain times of the
year. But before drastic changes can be made it is necessary to arrive at some better
method of assessing revenue. The whole of the Mahmudiyah shu‘bah is Government
property.
The Jurf al Sakhr is a large area, extending as it does from Wand to Sakhariyah
near Imam Hamzah, but it is a definitely tribal area and all tapu land, and therefore
depends very much less on Government administration than do shu‘bahs where
the land is mostly sanniyah. So far it has been staffed by a mamur and his assistant,
but it is proposed to abolish the post of assistant.
On conclusion of harvest operations this year all granary staffs, permanent or
temporary, are being brought under reduction.
III. The total charges for establishment during the year were Rs, 44,000/-.
Total demands issued, all of which will shortly be collected, are shown in the
annexed statement.
IV. I attach as Appendix B. to this section copies of my 1,318 of 26th August
to P.O., Hillah, and extract copy of paras. 1-4, of my 1,755, of 15th November, to
P.O., Hillah. These explain sufficiently methods of assessment and collection
adopted. I would only add that the assessments on the Mahmudiyah and
Iskandariyah karads are in cash at a rate fixed in Turkish times and very low.
It is proposed to revise them.
V. As regards saifi, the assessments of the estimating committees were, under
instructions from Hillah, accepted, although it was clear that in many cases they
were well below the mark. Nevertheless there is little doubt that the shitwi
assessments were full, and represented a considerably greater share of the produce
than the cultivator had ever been used to hand over to Government.
VI. The vegetable tax, instead of being collected in the market on vegetables
sold was assessed on a new plan, an account of which will be found in the correspon
dence attached as Appendix C. A.P.O., Musaiyib’s 605 of 15th April 1918; para. 1
of 724 of 10th May 1918; 1,456 of 20th September 1918; F.R.O.s 13,033; Note
to P.O., Hillah, on working of tax.
It cannot be claimed that the device was a complete success, and it certainly
gave rise to an incredible number of petitions. But I am of opinion that both the
want of success and the numerous petitions were due to the unfamiliarity both of
and of the people with the plan adopted. But as long as we continue to
collect vegetable tax on the Turkish method, i.e., in the market, we must either
consent to be robbed or to put the tax on iltizam.