There is
hardly a proprietor who does not occupy a ridiculous surplus when
compared with his title-deeds, and the encroachments are even now
proceeding.
This system of land-robbery was connived at by the officials for a
"CONSIDERATION;" old title-deeds were exchanged for new on the
application of the holder, and the seals of the venal authorities
rendered them valid, at the same time that hundreds of acres were
fraudulently transferred from the state. When the intention of a British
occupation was made public, a general rush was made for obtaining an
excess over the amount defined in the title-deeds, by the swindling
method; and the extent to which this plunder was extended may be
imagined from the fact that 40,000 such documents were awaiting the
necessary signatures when, by the arrival of the British officials, the
Turkish authority, who could not sign the deeds with sufficient
expedition, was dismissed, and the false titles were invalidated.
The monasteries and the vacouf (Turkish religious lands) lay claim to
lands of vast and undefined extent, which are mystified by titles and
gifts for charitable purposes, surrounded with clouds of obscure usages
and ancient rules that will afford a boundless field for litigation. In
fact, the existing government has arrived at the unpleasant position of
being excluded from the land, nearly all of which is claimed either by
individuals or religious institutions.
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