Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 88, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 July 1903 — TAX REFORMS IN PERSIA [ARTICLE]

TAX REFORMS IN PERSIA

It la Bald the Shah Propose* to Wlp* Oat Ancient System. It is reported that the Shah Is about to abandon the time-honored Oriental custom of farming out the taxes |o contractors and have them collected directly by the government, says the -London Times. This will put an end to an evil, the greatest of many, pei> halls, under which Persian traders and citizens have for many years groaned. Mlsgovemment and maladministration In Oriental lands is almost Invariably connected with fiscal abuses and mismanagement of the revenue. Particularly has this been the case in Persia, owing to the peculiar way in which the high officials and provincial lulers were selected by the Shah. On the Persian New Year day all the great functionaries of the State and the Governors paid their respects to the sovereign, and each laid at the .monarch’s feet his complimentary offering of what Is known as “plshkash” in current coin. The Governor who brought the biggest bag received the fattest post for the ensuing twelve months. The Governor Whose bag was considered too light got nothing. The whole arrangement was a process of “squeezing.” The Shah squeezed the Governors, the Governors the tax farmers, the tax farmers the people. * “Plsh-kash” was also offered by every prominent and wealthy man whom the sovereign honored with a visit, and, as the loyalty of the Individual w’as gauged by the weight of the bag presented, it was not a good thing for a Persian if the gift fell short of the ruler’s expectations. This custom was abolished a little time back, to the great satisfaction of the wealthy and upper classes of Persia. The change in the mode of collecting the revenue, by which the tax farmer Is eliminated, is another step in the right direction.