for over 100 persons. They possess a church and a mosque, and receive an allowance from Government for clothes, fuel and money, but can only quit the farm on urgent business by permission of the Chief Medical Officer. In March 1914 there were 94 inmates.

Roads and Harbours.-At the time of the occupation, only one carriage-road existed in the island. It ran between Nicosia (the capital) and Larnaca, then the principal port, a distance of about 26 miles. There were no bridges to speak of, and the only wheeled traffic in the island was maintained by bullock-carts. Produce was in the main carried by camels, mules and donkeys. There are now upwards of 760 miles of public roads, and some 1000 miles of secondary and village roads; and nearly 2000 bridges and culverts have been erected. Motor-car services have been established between Nicosia, Larnaca and Limassol, the three principal towns. In August 1905 a Government railway between Famagusta and Nicosia (36 miles) came into use. It was extended to Morphon (25 miles) in 1907, and is now being further prolonged to Evrykhou in the direction of Tröodos, an additional 15 miles. In November 1914 some 71 miles altogether were open to traffic in the island.

In 1878 the ports of Cyprus were open roadsteads, but considerable improvements have been effected since then. In 1906, at a cost of 126,000l., Famagusta obtained a harbour capable of receiving H.M. ships 'Diana' and 'Minerva'; while Larnaca has now a pier some 900 feet long, provided with a solid sheltering wall some 250 feet long, which affords adequate shelter and landing conveniences in bad weather. The ancient harbour at Paphos has been dredged, and two moles suitable for coasting craft have been erected at Kyrenia, while a pier and jetty, each about 200 yards long, have been constructed at Limassol.

A weekly steamer carries the mail between Cyprus and Egypt, and there were before the War fortnightly services of the Austrian Lloyd and Messagerie Maritime steamers between Cyprus, Turkey, Italy, Syria, Egypt, Austria and France. Local steamers also ply between the island and Egypt at irregular intervals. In the year 1879 the total tonnage of shipping arriving in and sailing from Cyprus ports was 454,129. In 1908-9, following an

almost annual increase, 947,445 tons of shipping cleared from and entered the ports. Since then there has been an almost annual decrease, due, in 1909-10, to the failure of the gypsum trade and the crops, and in 1910-11 to the same causes, with the addition of a Turkish boycott of Greek vessels. In 1912, quarantine, the Italo-Turkish war, strikes at Marseilles, and the stoppage of the Greek Pantaleon company, caused a further fall. But in 1913 there was a recovery, and for the year 1913-14 the tonnage entering and clearing amounted to 721,515 tons.

The Press.-There are three Turkish and sixteen Greek newspapers and periodicals published in the island, but no privately-owned English newspaper appears at present, although some such papers enjoyed a brief existence in the earlier days of the occupation. The Government, however, publishes, in English, Turkish and Greek, the Cyprus Gazette,' recording legislative Government orders, articles, appointments, etc.; and there is also a quarterly Review of Agriculture and Industries, edited by the Director of Agriculture, and styled the 'Cyprus Journal.'

Under the auspices of Colonel (now General) Sir Robert Biddulph, the island entered upon an epoch of just administration and evolution towards material progress which has been maintained and gradually improved by a succession of High Commissioners to the present day. Its material progress was no doubt greatly hindered by enforced economy, due, in the earlier years of the occupation, to the incubus of the Turkish tribute and the probable anxiety of its governors to obtain as large a surplus as possible to meet the obligations imposed by the financial agreement with the Sublime Porte. By arrangement between the British Government and the Porte the payment under Art. 3 of the Convention was commuted for an annual sum of 92,800l., commonly known as the Turkish Tribute. This amount, however, proved to be still in excess of the difference between the revenue and expenditure except in the years 1891-2, 1906-7, 1907-8, and 1912-13, and had to be met by grants in aid from the British Parliament. At the same time, as a result of the financial ingenuity of Mr Gladstone, the surplus revenue of the island has never at any time

reached the coffers of the Porte, but has been devoted to the interest on the Turkish Loan (1855), guaranteed by Great Britain and France.

The burden of the Tribute, not perhaps unnaturally, led to a disinclination on the part of the Legislative Council to vote for any increased taxation proposed by the local Government with a view to new public works and improvements, and to some extent hindered progress. In 1910, however, the British Government decided to obtain from Parliament a fixed annual vote of 50,000Z., called a Grant in aid of Cyprus revenue. This fixed contribution, which, in conjunction with Cyprus balances, goes towards the payment of the 81,7527. constituting the annual service of the 1855 Loan, enables the local Government to press upon the elective members of the Legislative Council the desirability of voting larger sums for the purpose of works of public utility. The figures of the High Commissioner set out herein under the heading of Revenue and Taxation Revenue and Taxation show that on March 31, 1915, there was a balance in favour of the cooperating Governments of upwards of 100,000l., upon a statement of account extending from the occupation till March 31, 1915. The surplus balances, with the interest thereon, have hitherto been invested in Consols.

Cyprus has, therefore, been of no little assistance to the British taxpayer in helping substantially to meet an obligation which otherwise must have been met out of British Revenue. The balance of advantage, however, resulting from an equitable executive and judicial administration, the advancement of education both literary and technical, the improvement of communications both inland and maritime, the preservation and care of the public health, and the increased security of property and person, appears to be on the side of Cyprus. The Cypriotes and their representatives in the Legislative Council, ever since the institution of the new Courts in 1883, have constantly eulogised the improvements effected in the administration of justice under British rule. They have not been quite so ready to admit the perfection of the administrative side; but this has probably been due to a policy which in the earlier days was affected by the incidence of the Tribute, and to

certain tithes, taxes and impositions remaining over from Turkish times, which were eventually repealed.

The Greek Cypriotes, through their Press and popular representatives, have always proclaimed their desire for the vwo or Union with Greece, while, on the other hand, the Moslem community have shown great contentment with British rule. It is difficult to believe, in view of the present condition of Greece and the progress and advantages attained by Cyprus under British rule, that the Cypriote Greeks would enjoy any greater share in the government of the island or in shaping its destinies, or would reach any higher plane of material prosperity, by being merged as a province for the place-hunters of what they call their Mother Country. On the other hand, the Moslem inhabitants, who have for nearly forty years been separated governmentally from their Ottoman compatriots, could hope for no greater security or advantages by the retrocession of the island to Turkey than they now enjoy. The sentiment of patriotism as a reason applies more strongly to their case than to that of the Cypriote Greeks, many of whom have found profitable occupation and comfortable homes under alien governments anywhere but in their own country.

It seems clear that, in present circumstances, it would be dangerous and impolitic on the part of the British Government to hand the island over to a minor Power such as Greece. Cyprus, though still undeveloped and never used by Great Britain to any great extent as a place of arms, is capable of enormous harbour improvement, would make a convenient submarine and aeronautic base, and is admirably adapted in its terrain for a station and training-ground for troops. Thus equipped, it would command not only the entrance to the Suez Canal at Port Said, but also the coasts of Asia Minor and Syria, with access to the Baghdad Railway, thus vindicating the prevision and acumen of the statesman at whose instance it was occupied by Great Britain.

JOHN PAGE MIDDLETON.

Art. 8.-AGRICULTURAL COOPERATION IN GERMANY. 1. The Recent Development of German Agriculture. By T. H. Middleton. Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. 1916. [Cd 8305.]

2. Agricultural Credit and Agricultural Cooperation in Germany. Report to Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. By J. R. Cahill. 1913. [Cd 6626.]

3. Die deutsche Volksernährung und der englische Aushungerungsplan. Edited by Paul Eltzbacher. Brunswick, 1915.

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4. Report of the German Food Supplies Committee. Translated in Better Business,' Vol. 1, No. 1. Dublin: Maunsel, 1915.

5. Zeitschrift für Agrarpolitik; Blätter für Genossenschaftswesen; Vorwärts, 1915-16; and other German

newspapers.

WITHIN a week from the outbreak of war-the exact date being Aug. 4, 1914-Germany passed a law regulating the maximum prices of various necessities. These included food-stuffs, fodder, raw materials, and sources of heat and light. From this simple fact two striking lessons may be drawn. In the first place Germany realised from the outset that the war might be a long business, and that economic questions would play an important part in it. Secondly, she realised that it would be unavailing to try to regulate the price of finished articles without also regulating the price of the raw materials from which they are provided. The first of these propositions she was in a better position to understand than we were, having given more care to preparation; the second seems to be a matter of commonsense, but it has not yet been accepted in England.

When we began to realise the probable duration of the war, we sought to shorten it by a policy of blockade. The resistance of the Central Empires to this policy has been, perhaps, a more unexpected disappointment than their military stubbornness; for their economic resistance has often seemed on the point of collapsing, yet never has collapsed, nor is it likely to do so. There is reason to suppose that the German Government has fostered the impression that the British blockade was