‘Cyprus.’ [‎71v] (142/184)

I
13(5 CYPRUS.
tried the members of which are both Christians and Mussulmans, and which
holds its sittings at Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus; and, secondly, the Medjhs
el Tiiaret sitting at Larnaca where commercial suits are heard, the members
of which consist of equal numbers of Europeans and natives, each important
Consulate sending a delegate, and the natives being half ( hristian and half
Mussulman, making a total of twelve. Thus fair guarantees of justice are
afforded to the population of this commercial town, where, too, the several
Consulates are able to watch the proceedings of the Court. At the capital
the Medilis el Tahkik cannot adequately attend to the criminal jurisdiction
of the whole island, the majority of cases being disposed of by the District
Courts where Christian testimony is inadmissible. .
“ Another grievance of which the Greeks have to complain is the unequal
distribution of the personal tax called “ verghi,” of which they pay m most
villages more than their fair share ; but this is an evil which would be quickly
remedied could they make themselves heard in the Central Medjhs.
“Though they have just cause then to complain of the inferior position
which they hold in the eye of the law in the instances already mentioned,
both Mussulmans and Christians have equal cause to be dissatisfied with the
mal-administration which, in these days of commercial activity, arrests the
development of the resources of the island. The government derives a
revenue of £230,000 from Cyprus, and the expenses of administration amount
at most to £30,000, the surplus of £200,000, finding its way to the Treasury at
Constantinople. Nothing whatever is spent on the improvement of the
country, no roads are constructed, no bridges thrown across the winter
torrents. But these and other instances of a careless or vicious administra
tion which could be enumerated are not exclusively detrimental to the interests
of the Greek population, and, therefore I refrain from dwelling on them here.
But I think that there can be no doubt that the evils which press equally
upon Turks and Greeks are more intolerable than those of which the Greeks
alone have cause to complain.”
Consul Lang, during his nine years’ residence in Cyprus, appears
to have gained considerable knowledge of the working of the admi
nistration ; he considered that the representatives of the people were
assigned an important position in the councils of the island, and that
it 'was partly from servility and partly from incapacity on the part
of the elected members, that so little advantage was reaped by the
people, hut this was a defect, not in the system, hut in its execution.
It seems that in Cyprus, it is not so much the laws themselves,
hut rather the administration of the laws which needs reform. The
Ottoman Government is noted for publishing innumerable firmans,
laws, and ordinances, which leave but little room for improx ement
as regards either completeness or natural equity; and it has been
either the disregard or the mal-administration of these lav s, wInch
has done so much injury in the country.
It is said that there is a code of commercial law based upon
the Code NapoUon; also that the criminal code is both comprehen
sive and sensible; the property laws appear to be somewhat com
plicated, but it is believed that when they have been thoroughly
investigated, a clear system will be found to pervade them.
The foundation of Turkish law is the sheri, a religious com
pilation comprising the Koran and a series of maxims. This law
cannot be altered by the secular power, but supplementary and
elucidatory enactments suited to modern requirements, may be,
and have been, added; these are known as the destour, or Ottoman
secular law. . • j
The annex of the recent convention between Great Britain and
Land tenure. Turkey (see page 27) seems to recognise four different ownerships