The Cypriotes have nevertheless derived a collateral advantage
from the change of rulers, as the extreme grievances to which the
consular reports allude were aggravated by the farmers of taxes, who no
longer exist. These people were extortioners of the worst description,
and the bribes and extra payments extracted from the vine-growers are
represented in the gross sum mentioned as amounting to 40 per cent. upon
the general produce of the vineyard. The reforms already established by
the abolition of the nefarious system of tax-farming have relieved the
vine-growers from the most serious oppression, but sufficient abuses
remain to demand a radical change, if the industry for which Cyprus is
specially adapted by nature is to be encouraged.
As I have described in outline the rude method of cultivation and the
manufacture of wine from the first bursting of the young vines, I will
now examine the system of arbitrary interference to which the vine-
grower is exposed through the successive stages of his employment.
The first tax is perfectly fair, as it is calculated according to the
rateable value of the land, which is divided into three classes. These
qualities of soil vary in the valuation from
No. 1 = 500 piastres the donum (about half an acre) to
No. 3 = 100 piastres the donum
The malliea, or annual tax upon these valuations per donum, is 2 per
cent.
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