Court, consisting of a Chief Justice and Puisne Judge, both being English barristers, for the whole island, and six District Courts, each composed of an English barrister as President, and one Moslem and one Christian member. The Supreme Court is a Court of Appeal from District Courts in both their civil and criminal jurisdiction; and it has certain jurisdiction in Bankruptcy, Lunacy and matrimonial cases formerly vested in the High Court of Justice. It also has original jurisdiction under the Cyprus Neutrality Order in Council and under the Cyprus Extradition Order in Council, both of 1881. It is a Colonial Court of Admiralty; and one Judge has power to deal with Election Petitions. Appeals lie from its final judgments under certain restrictions to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. One or more Judges of the Supreme Court, with either two or more Judges or the President only of the District Court, constitute in each District an Assize Court for that District, with an unlimited criminal jurisdiction over Ottoman subjects. One or more Judges of the Supreme Court, with the President of a District Court, form an Assize Court for the trial of non-Ottoman subjects. The President of the District Court, sitting with one or both Judges, has jurisdiction in criminal matters up to three years, and unlimited jurisdiction in civil matters, over Ottoman subjects. The President alone, or the two native Judges sitting together, form Magisterial Courts having jurisdiction in cases in which the defendants are Ottoman subjects; while the President sitting alone may constitute either a District Court (Criminal or Civil) or a Magisterial Court, where the defendants are nonOttoman subjects. To Ottoman subjects defendants both in civil and criminal matters Ottoman Law as modified by Cyprus Statute Law is applied; to non-Ottoman subjects defendants English Law as similarly modified is applied, with certain exceptions.

The Order in Council of 1882 also limits the jurisdiction of the Mahkemé-i-Sherieh Courts, referred to in the Convention, to the cognisance of religious matters relating to Moslems, such as marriage, divorce, alimony, inheritance, and the care of persons and estates of infant orphan Moslems. These Courts comprise that of the Qadi of Cyprus having jurisdiction in Nicosia town, the

Qadi of Nicosia-Kyrenia with jurisdiction in those districts excepting Nicosia town, the Qadi of LarnacaFamagusta, and the Qadi of Limassol-Paphos. These Tribunals are retained in conformity with Article 1 of the Annex of the Convention of June 4, 1878.

The reform of the Courts and their procedure was eagerly welcomed by the people and has met with universal favour and acceptance.

Land.-Immoveable property in Cyprus is still held by the tenure prevailing at the occupation and is governed by the Ottoman Land Code. It consists of two main divisions. The greater part of the land is known as Arazi-mirié or State Land, which must be held by Qochan (title deed) issuing from the Land Registry Office, and becomes forfeit to the State if uncultivated for ten years without valid excuse. The other great division is known as Arazi-Memluké, commonly called Mulk (land planted or built on), and consists of buildings, trees, gardens, vineyards. This must be held by registered Qochan and can, like Arazi-mirié, be mortgaged, alienated and inherited, and is liable for seizure for debt. Arazimirié cannot be disposed of by will, but Mulk has a wider law of inheritance and can be disposed of by will.

All minerals belong to the State, and buildings cannot be erected on Arazi-mirié without permission of the State, which can also acquire compulsorily for purposes of public utility any immoveable property. There are other categories of land, including what is known as Arazi Mevkufé, which embraces the Vaqf or dedicated lands. By the system of registration, modified and improved under British supervision, it is now possible to transfer immoveable property almost as quickly as moveable.

Vaqf-Evqaf.-Properties dedicated to religious and charitable uses are specially dealt with. The Evqaf (plural of Vaqf), comprising properties of considerable area and value in Cyprus, have been administered under the Cyprus Convention by an Ottoman Delegate, appointed by the Ottoman Minister of Evqaf at Constantinople, in conjunction with a British Delegate nominated by the British Government. They are inalienable and mostly vested in hereditary trustees, and include mosques, tombs, establishments which house dancing or other dervishes,

and land which has been dedicated to religious or charitable purposes by permission of the Sultan. It has been the policy of the British Government here, as in India, to respect and conserve not only the properties themselves pertaining to the religion of Islam, but also the laws and regulations which are directed to control them; and there is little doubt that the submissiveness of the Moslem inhabitants to the British régime is in a great measure due to this policy.

Education.-Sir Robert Biddulph, in his first general Report on the island in 1880, considered the state of education to be at a low standard, the majority of the agricultural population having received little or none, while in many villages not a single person could read or write, and the education of women was almost entirely neglected. Some 65 Moslem and 83 Christian schools, mostly in the towns, existed at the time of occupation, the Moslem schools being to a small extent State-aided, though without inspection and indifferently attended. Little more than the recitation of the Qoran was taught in the Moslem schools, but the Christian Schools possessed a curriculum embracing arithmetic, geography, ancient Greek and sacred history.

In 1880 a Director of Education was appointed, and in 1881 the Government promised grants in aid, in proportion to the efforts of the people and supplementary to existing sources of support, if certain conditions were fulfilled, of which the most important was the election of School Boards in the villages. In 1883 the Director of Education, who, relieved of administrative duties, had become Inspector of Schools, reported real progress and marked improvement in many schools, both Christian and Moslem. In 1905 Boards of Education were established, one to regulate the Moslem and the other the Christian schools. In 1905 and 1907 Education Laws were passed, consolidating and improving the old system, but assigning the administration of the law to Village and District Committees, with the Moslem and Christian Boards of Education, while the High Commissioner has the power to prescribe the support of schools in villages unprovided for. The dual system of schools resolves all question of religious teaching, which, however, in both classes of schools plays a highly important part.

In 1912 there were 175 Moslem and 391 Greek Christian State-aided schools, besides 16 Moslem and 4 Greek Christian unaided schools, educating some 5926 Moslems and 25,656 Greek Christians, including girls and boys. In 1915 the total number of schools had increased to 628, with 36,661 scholars on the books, and an average daily attendance (except in harvest time) of 31,800, receiving a total grant in aid for the island Revenue of 72001. per annum. Besides the Elementary Schools there are various Secondary Schools for both girls and boys.

From this it is clear that education has been eagerly sought, and that much has been done since 1878 by the Government to enable the people to reap the advantages they desire, but the Census of 1911 still returned 84,530 males and 116,162 females as illiterate. It must be remembered, however, that education is not compulsory, and that, the inhabitants being mostly agricultural or pastoral in their pursuits, both girls and boys are retained at home by their parents to assist them in their labours. It is also said by the High Commissioner in his Report of September 1915 that,

'while the knowledge of English is extending greatly in the island, the effect of a higher education on the boys from the villages, when they return there from the towns in modern garb, is to make them disdainful of any hand labour, an idea encouraged by their parents. Thus a class of youths is growing up fit only for clerical work, who are content to loaf while their parents work for them. Consequently, clerical work being insufficient to meet the applicants for it, and no relief at present during the War being found by emigration to places where Greek business instincts can find scope, the surplus of these young people is very evident.'

This is a result which has exhibited itself further east; and it is submitted that a system of education which should equip the student to support himself either by work on the land or in trade would better meet prevalent conditions. It was with this object in view that in 1913 a Government Agricultural School was established, with a syllabus including instruction on plant-structure, the nature and habits of injurious insects, elementary agricultural chemistry, the use of modern implements, sericulture and bee-keeping, to be supplemented by

poultry-keeping, elementary veterinary instruction, and agricultural bookkeeping. There were originally twelve Moslem and nineteen Greek Christian students. Schoolmasters have also been receiving courses of agricultural instruction during their vacations.

Revenue and Taxation.--The principal tax for revenue in the island, Verghi Qimat (literally and ironically gift value), is a land tax of 4 per 1000 on the capital value of land. It was found in existence at the occupation and is still retained. Other Verghi Taxes on rent, trade, profits and salaries, have been abolished, together with the military exemption tax on non-Moslem subjects.

A feature of the Ottoman administration which caused both complaint and hardship was the collection of tithes on a great number of minor products of the soil, but all these have now been abolished except the tithe on cereals, which is still taken in kind. In lieu of tithe, certain dues taken on export of the various products of the soil have been imposed. The assessing of tithe on cereals on the threshing-floors, and the taking of it in kind by delivery to the Government Stores, is an arrangement that meets with the entire approval of the peasantry, who are thus able to discharge their obligations to Government in kind when they are in possession of the means to do so. The English Government at first instituted a system of assessing the tithe on a money basis, but this was found to lead to a great accumulation of arrears and considerable hardship in the subsequent enforcement of payment by writs of sale. The moneylender, to whom the peasant is nearly always in debt, obtained the first turn of payment, or the peasant sold his corn and spent the money and had none to give the tax-collector on his visit. The old objection to the payment of tithes in kind lay principally against the ruthless and dishonest tithe-farmers who bought from the Government the right to exact it.

Other sources of revenue are the sheep, goat and pig taxes, port and harbour dues, export duties on wines and spirits and licences for their retail, excise on tobacco, stamps, court fees, royalties, licences, salt monopoly, a tax for the destruction of locusts, and import duties, for which there is a tariff.

The revenue, which for the first full financial year