The Dispossession of the Peasantry (ص 135)

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عنوان

The Dispossession of the Peasantry (ص 135)

المحتوى

119
Although it is true that the werko and aghnam were paid in money towards the end
of Ottoman rule, these taxes were insignificant relative to the size of the tithe
which was paid in kind. The British measure meant that the peasants were forcibly
and more fully integrated into a money economy while at the same time lacking a
developed division of labor and basically employing traditional methods of
production. Now, they had to borrow more money.
Third, and perhaps most important, since it more fully illustrates the first
two points, is that this new measure made the peasants susceptible not only to the
calamities of nature, but also to the fluctuations in the market prices of their
produce, which they also had no control over. During the Ottoman period, a fall in
market prices did not necessarily result in having less of the produce for the
peasants’ own needs because the tithe was paid in kind. On the other hand, the
new measure meant that the peasants had to give up a much larger portion of their
product when prices fell, especially since the tithe now was a fixed money amount
based on years of high prices and greater output. .
The second kind of direct agricultural tax was the werko (house and land
tax). It was based on the capital value of the land and applied to rural and urban
areas. The Beersheba district was exempted in order to encourage registration of
land."
Initially, the tax was at the rate of four per thousand and ten per thousand
of the capital value of Miri and Mulk land, respectively. By the time of the British
"Ibid., 507.
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The Dispossession of the Peasantry

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المنشئ

Riyad Mousa

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