Islam, Turkey, and Armenia, and How They Happened/Chapter XVII
CHAPTER XVII.
TURKISH TAXES AND THE MODE OF COLLECTING.
If the institution of government is based upon the idea of justice, protection and mutual help for human progress, the Turkish rule has no right to claim that title. One of the most evident reasons of this accusation is her tax system, which is nothing less than a highway robbery, a well organized system to suck the last drop of blood from the veins of her subjects, be they Moslems or non-Moslems.
The following taxes and the mode of collection will explain the existing affairs in that country:
1. Taxes on Real Estate. This is about three per cent of the entire value of the property, to be paid every year, the value being determined by the government. The severity of this tax and degradation attached to its collection is more keenly felt in the interior of the empire, especially in small towns and farm villages. There comes a company of ruffians under the title of "Padishah Zabtiehsy" (king's police), numbering five, seven or more, armed to the teeth, tough, ignorant, vulgar and gluttonous men, who stop at the house of the wealthiest, call the leading men of the community and having stated the amount demanded of the town, threaten them in the name and by the authority of the Sultan, "the Father of the Faithful, whose mercy and wisdom fill the earth." These fiends, known as collectors, live on the people for one, two or more weeks, demanding the best of provisions, dictating the bill of fare themselves. Their horses also must be taken good care of by the town, even if it takes the tender gardens or the fields. Among the means employed by these collectors are beating men with many stripes, smearing the face with cow's manure, tying men to the tree or the wall, head fixed and the eyelids stretched up and down so as to expose the eyes to the burning sun for hours at a time, have the body bent forward, place a heavy rock or log on the back until the muscles and joints give way and sometimes the blood gushes from the nose, and many other such things. The violation of personal honor and unspeakable deeds imposed upon men and women must pass silently. These deeds continue day after day with increased intensity until the community is compelled to sell everything at any price to get rid of such brave and faithful officers of "His Imperial Majesty, whose goodness spreads all over the world."
These atrocities are imposed not upon the Christians alone, but upon the Moslems also. Still the injustice practiced upon the former is immeasurably severe. In a village known to the writer the total amount demanded for the year was 39,000 piasters, of this 33,465 piasters were paid by 180 Christian families, while twice as many Turkish families paid only 5,535 piasters.
2. Taxes on Agricultural Products. The vineyards, orchards, gardens and grain fields compose this class. The rate levied upon the products is nominally one-eighth, but the time of determining the value and the mode of collecting brings it as high as one-fourth or more. The fruit products are valued by the collectors and while yet in blossom, and though the crops may fail, still the taxes must be paid. It often occurs that vineyards and orchards are deserted by their owners in order to get rid of the heavy taxes. The right of collecting "the tithes" on wheat and similar products is sold to parties known as tithers, most cruel and heartless men, and a great terror to the farmers. The tithes are demanded for the simple fact that the ground, though bought with the money of its owner, is regarded as the absolute property of the government; therefore, the former must pay for the privilege of using the ground. According to this principle one cannot turn his own field into a garden or orchard, nor can he build houses upon it, nor even can he sell it, without the official permission of the government. The law is that if a field is not tilled for three successive years the government has the right to confiscate it and sell it to others. Because of the absence of modern machinery and many obstacles in the way, an average farmer can cultivate but ten or twelve acres of land. After hard labor and constant watch over the field from the tenderest growth to the harvest, the fariner is not allowed to use any part of the products until the tither has measured the crop and taken his part. So soon as the threshing is over an agent of the tither puts his stamp all around and over the piles of the wheat and orders the farmer to watch and wait until he comes again to measure it. In the meantime the farmer has no bread to eat and no oats for his stock, and is obliged to borrow at a rate of fifty per cent interest. He may have to wait for weeks and sometimes until late in the autumn watching over his crop day and night to keep off the cattle and robbers from disturbing "the marks," in which case he will be accused of stealing and must lose more. When the farmers of the town send word and beg the tithers to come and settle the business the rude answer is "Yavash, Yavash" (slowly, slowly). When they do come a horror fills the town, farmers are accused of stealing, insulted, beaten and condemned for so much damage, the act and the mode of execution being in their own hands. After the alleged damages are rectified in their own fashion, the turn comes to the "legal tithe, the divine right bestowed upon he Sultan, the successor to the prophet." From the best portion of the crop the right of the government is secured.
3. Taxes on Herds and Flocks. The tax levied upon each sheep, etc., is estimated about one-eighth of the entire value due in the spring, when the sheep sell for the least money. As a hard winter passes, when the owner of the flock has consumed all provisions and left nothing to pay this tax, he is obliged to sell a part of his flock for only one-third of the price they could easily get in the autumn. The only reason this tax is demanded in the spring is because the number of the sheep and goat are greatest at that time.
4. Haraj or Zimmet. This tax, demanded of non-Moslems only, is a religious tribute, which according to the Koran, giaours have to pay for their existence and their "infidel religious rights." According to this doctrine no Christian subject can be allowed to live under the Mohametan dominion without humbly surrendering to this demand. Under the Turkish rule, which is the best representative of the Mohametan institution, this tax is nominally contrasted with the military service of the Moslem subjects, from which the Christians are "exempt," or rather, deprived. This is an annual tax imposed upon every male member of the non-Moslem communities at the rate of two dollars each, and in advance. The Turkish Government believes strictly in cash business with her own subjects, leaving all delays for her transactions with the foreigners. This tax the government is very severe and prompt to collect. The poor who are not able to pay at the demanded time are insulted, imprisoned, beaten and even tortured in the most brutal manner, mentioned under the head of "The Turkish Prisons." Their property, houses, cattle, tools, even bedding and common utensils are forcibly sold, the buyers being mostly Mohametans or the officers themselves. This tax begins at birth and goes through life. Often the tributes of the dead are collected from their relatives or churches for several years after their death until a new census is taken. Many persons unable to pay try to conceal themselves from the sight of the collector, give up their work, and sometimes their home, for a temorary relief at least.
5. Taxes on Trade. Every man except the farmer is expected to follow a trade, hence a tax levied on all above fifteen years of age, increasing as the age advances. The supposed gain on a given trade is determined by the authorities, and three to four per cent. demanded whether the person follows his trade during the year or not; hard times and failure in business excuse no one.
Besides the above taxes there are various fees and dues—duty on merchandise, fees on birth and marriage and death and burial; dues on building, repairing, planting and change of residence; dues on traveling, buying and selling. Great amounts of money are often collected for the "improvement of the roads and erection of public buildings and bridges, but no one can see where such roads and buildings are or ask questions about them without being accused of rebellion, which means imprisonment, torture and loss. Frequently a general announcement is circulated all over the country declaring urgent needs of the government and demanding immediate response for this "obligatory help," as it is called. Well-to-do persons, especially among the Christians, are forced to share in this involuntary virtue.