of the present administration of antiquities to place the numerous ancient sites and monuments in a condition rendering them accessible and of greater interest to the visitor than has hitherto been attempted. Paphos, Salamis, Soli, and many other places demand attention in order to preserve their ancient character, now threatened by the island becoming once more a centre of revived life and activity. Salamis possesses the remains of probably the largest market place ever built by the Romans, foreshadowing perhaps the famous Emporium of the East" as Famagusta was called in the middle ages. A Roman temple of the largest size at NeaPaphos lies in ruins which have never been explored (vide Hogarth's "Devia Cypria," 1899). The Museum Nicosia, built as a memorial to Queen Victoria and much added to in recent years, contains a unique collection of Cypriot pottery, sculpture, gold and metal works of art, which was re-arranged during the years 1935-1937 in accordance with the most up-to-date methods of display. Separate smaller collections, of the medieval architectural fragments, which are always coming to light, have been formed, and District Museums have recently been established in Larnaca, Famagusta and Paphos. The superb Gothic cathedrals and churches of Nicosia and Famagusta, in their curious Eastern surroundings, attract numerous visitors. These buildings, of the finest type of French medieval art, are singularly well preserved where they have been converted into mosques; in other cases they are interesting ruins. The conservation of this fine series of Monuments is now the care of the recently established Antiquities Department which has already done much to make them secure and more attractive to visitors. The Venetian and Genoese Republics left few traces of their rule in the island beyond the imposing fortifications of the seaports of Famagusta, Kyrenia, Paphos and Limassol, all of which are scheduled as Ancient Monuments. The number of Ancient Monuments in Cyprus now protected by the Antiquities Law of 1935 amounts to 178, of which 74 are Government's property. At several of the most important monuments there are resident Custodians and entrance fees are charged to visitors from outside Cyprus. Climate. The mean temperature, as recorded in the screen at Nicosia, for the last fifteen years is 66-3° F.; mean maximum, 78° F; mean minimum, 54.5° F.; Highest shade temperature during that time 111° F.; lowest 25° F.; Average rainfall for last ten years 18-14 inches. The year 1936 had a rainfall of 14-05 inches. Figures for rainfall refer to the whole Island. The rainy and cool season is from October to March. The climate is varied, hot and dry in the plains in summer, and damp on the sea-shore; the climate on the hills inland is bracing and healthy. In winter the temperature rarely falls below freezing point. Malarial fevers are prevalent during the hot months, and if the winter is mild, they occur throughout the year. Sanitary improvements and plantations of trees have, however, had a beneficial effect. Population The population, excluding the military, in 1901 was 237,022; in 1911, 274, 108; in 1921, 310,715; and in 1931, 347,808. The Moslems, who are all Ottoman Turks, form about 18:46 per cent. of the population, the rest being nearly all Christians of the Independent Cypriote Church. The Cypriote Church is a branch of and in communion with the Orthodox Eastern Church, but is "autocephalous" (i.e., The Archbishop of Cyprus is not subordinate to any Patriarch). This position of independence it has retained undisputed since the 5th century when the Emperor Zeno finally decided against the claims of the Patriarch of Antioch to exercise authority over it. Christianity was originally introduced into the island by St. Paul and St. Barnabas, the latter of whom, a Cypriote Jew by birth, was martyred at Salamis. Towns. The chief towns are Nicosia, the capital, 23,507 inhabitants; Larnaca, 11,725; Limassol, 15,066. The two latter are open roadsteads. At Famagusta, on the east, the harbour and quay space have been considerably enlarged. The inner harbour is dredged over an area of approximately 1,800 feet by 700 feet, to 24 feet at low water (ordinary spring tides), with a channel of approach 250 feet wide and 26 feet deep. The curtain wall, south of Othello's Tower, has been pierced with three arches, giving access from the town to the quay. The quay is faced with a concrete wall 1,770 feet long in 24 feet of water and has road and rail access. Further accommodation for sailing vessels and local craft has been provided by means of a steel jetty 325 feet long by 20 feet wide with a depth of 15 feet at low water. The port may be entered in safety both by night and day. The town of Famagusta is little more than a collection of ruins encircled by fortifications and the inhabitants are nearly all Moslems. The Christian suburb of Varosia is built on more modern lines. The combined population of Famagusta and Varosia is 8,771. The four towns already mentioned are the capitals of four of the six administrative provinces into which the island is divided the other two capitals being Ktema, 4,467, the modern capital of Paphos, on the southwest, and Kyrenia, 2,049, where a small harbour has been constructed, in the district of the same name on the north coast, which has some trade A harbour with the opposite coast of Karamania. for small coasting vessels exists at Paphos, the site of the ancient capital of that district. This had become silted up and almost useless, but it has recently been dredged sufficiently to enable small sailing vessels to enter and lie in safety. Industry, Trade and Customs. Cyprus was in ancient times famous for its copper mines, and to-day the principal mineral product is cupreous pyrites which is mined on a large scale by the Cyprus Mines Corporation in the Evrykhou valley and near Lefka, with a crushing and concentrating plant at Morphoa Bay where steamers call and load the ore. Cupreous pyrites is also produced at other localities, notably at Kalavaso in the south of the Island. Asbestos occurs on Mount Troodos where the Tunnel Asbestos Cement Company Ltd. has established quarries and mills for the production of fibre which is transported by aerial ropeway to the port of Limassol for shipment. Chrome iron ore is mined at Troodos by the Cyprus Chrome Co. Ltd.; it is transported by aerial ropeway to a crushing and concentrating plant near Kakopetria, the product being sent by road and rail to the port of Famagusta for shipment. Terra umbra (Turkey umber) is mined chiefly in the Larnaca district, and is carried by road to factories situated at Larnaca where burnt umber is prepared and exported. Gypsum, of which there are extensive beds in Cyprus,, is quarried for local requirements, and there is a small export trade in both crude gypsum and plaster of paris. The main industry of the island is agriculture, the products chiefly consisting of cereals, carobs, olives, wines, spirits and vinegar, tobacco and cigarettes, linseed, flax, sumach, silk, silk cocoons, wool, straw, hides and skins, cotton, cotton seed, cheese, potatoes, onions, raisins, grapes, oranges, lemons, mandarines, peaches, apricots, cherries, plums, almonds, and hazel nuts; cattle, mules, donkeys, sheep, poultry and eggs are also exported. Agriculture is dependent largely on irrigation, the water for which is obtained mainly from wells in the dry season and by flooding from streams during the rainy season. Agriculture has been greatly retarded by the deficient rainfall and the lack of water for irrigation. Drilling has revealed the presence of underground water which is being developed. Special attention has been given in recent years to tobacco production. The itinerant Tobacco Instructors employed by the Government afford instruction to the peasant growers, and the efforts made have resulted in considerable improvement in the preparation of tobacco for the market. A scheme for the improvement of cotton growing is being gradually put into force. The main object is to produce a grade of cotton readily marketable in the United Kingdom; an undertaking which necessitates, amongst other things, the control of cotton seed for sowing purposes and licensing of ginneries. The Cotton Law of 1937 was passed with a view to giving the Department of Agriculture wide powers for controlling the industry. Cyprus wine, which has been famous from early times, has lately received a good deal of attention. It was formerly a domestic industry, and the wines produced consequently lacked uniformity in character and quality. Modern methods of manufacture have now been introduced and good light table wines are now on the market, owing mainly to the efforts of the Cyprus Wines and Spirits Co., Ltd., who have established modern wineries at Pera pedhi, Mallia and Limassol. An effort is also being made to market Cyprus wines in the United Kingdom, and a Law has been enacted to prohibit the export to British Possessions of wines not coming up to the standards required. This, it is hoped, will secure recog: nition of the good wines produced in Cyprus and prevent the export of inferior wines, prejudicial to the marketing of the best Cyprus wines. There has been steady expansion in the export of Cyprus oranges which, owing to their good quality, have found ready sale in the United Kingdom and continental markets, particularly those of the Scandinavian countries. The value of oranges exported in 1937 was 88,4091. compared with 34,498. in 1933. The improvement of agriculture is fostered by the Government Department of Agriculture and technical assistance and advice is rendered by the Veterinary, Entomological, Plant Pathological, Viticultural branches of the Department and by a field staff of itinerant Agricultural Officers. A Central Experiment Farm has been established at Morphou and there is an Experimental Vineyard at Saittà, a Citrus Experimental Grove at Famagusta, a Deciduous Fruit Nursery at Trikoukkia and Nursery Gardens in suitable centres for the distribution of seeds and plants. Considerable attention is given by the Government to animal husbandry. Cyprus is famous for its donkeys and mules. The Government maintains a stock farm at Athalassa and stud stables throughout the Island. Good breeds of cattle, horses and pigs are imported for the improvement of the local breeds. Good breeds of poultry are maintained by the Government for distribution. The export of poultry and eggs is increasing, and there is considerable room for expansion. The heavy tariff now imposed by the Egyptian Government on fruits has adversely affected the fruit export trade to Egypt and exporters are now unable to look to that market as an assured outlet for fruits and vegetables. In addition the economic difficulties encountered in marketing Cyprus produce in Central Europe have forced merchants to seek markets further afield. Such markets demand a higher standard of grading and packing before trade can be established on a permanent footing and in order to extend and encourage this trade to more distant markets a new Law known as the Agricultural Produce (Export) Law, 1933, has been brought into operation. Under this Law a Produce Inspection Service has been organised and Regulations for the inspection of Citrus Fruits, Potatoes and onions before export are enforced. Regulations for the inspection of other produce before export are contemplated. In past years much injury was done to the crops by locusts, but the work of locust destruction was vigorously prosecuted for many years with great success, chiefly on what is known as the 'screen and pit" system. Screens topped with American cloth, over which the locusts cannot pass, were stretched across the country in front of the armies of young locusts on the march. The locusts were then gradually forced into pits dug at intervals transversely to the screens, from they could not emerge. This system, as the locusts which, as the pits were topped with a zinc lining, became more scattered, was discarded in favour of live locusts. Both the purchase and the spraying a system of collecting locust eggs and purchasing systems have been employed in recent years. The spraying system has latterly been replaced by the use of poisoned bran bait. The forests of the island, which had been largely destroyed in the past, are recovering under the protection now afforded. Natural re-afforestation depredations of goats, of which Cyprus, in prois very slow, partly in consequence of the portion to its area, contains a large number, and partly in consequence of past denudation and subsequent soil erosion. Sponge fishing is carried on along the coast by boats from the Greek and Italian Islands. Sponge fishers are issued a licence at a nominal fee and the Government takes a duty in kind of 20% in the case of harpoon boats and 25% in the case of machine boats of the catch. Sea fishing is comparatively neglected by the local fishermen, who only use trammel nets and long line, but Italian and Greek trawlers work most of the year and fish is becoming more plentiful in the market than heretofore. coffee, edible oils, fertilizers, fish, flour, iron, leather, The chief imports are beans and peas, cement, machinery, motor cars and chassis, petrol and petroleum, rice, sugar, textiles, timber and tobacco; the exports are chiefly animals, artificial teeth, carobs, cheese, citrus and other fruit, corn and grain, cotton, cuminseed, embroidery and needlework, onions, potatoes, raisins, tobacco, wines and spirits, wool and mining and quarry products, viz., asbestos, cupreous concentrates, cupreous pyrites, metallic residues, terra umbra and yellow ore. The Customs import duties are mostly on a specific basis. The ad valorem duties vary from 7 to 40 per cent. Under an Order in Council, which came into operation on the 1st January, 1901, the following coins are legal tender currency:-Gold, the sovereign. Silver, 18, 9, 4, 3 piastre pieces, limit of tender 540 piastres (nine equal to one shilling). Bronze, 1 piastre, half piastre, quarter piastre, limit of tender, 27 piastres (40 paras 1 piastre). By a proclamation dated the 7th of January, 1935, bronze coins, with the exception of the quarter piastre piece, are in course of withdrawal from circulation and are being replaced by cupro-nickel coins of the same denominations. By proclamation of 28th April, 1928, a new silver 45-piastre piece is current and legal tender in the colony as from that date. Currency Notes were issued from time to time from September, 1914, as a war measure. Notes of the following denominations are in circulation :-51., 11., 108. By an Order-inCouncil of 1st November, 1928, the Treasurer as "Commissioner" of Currency was authorised to issue Currency Notes of the Government; such Notes are to be legal tender, and provision was made for the conversion of the Notes into sterling and vice versa, and for the establishment of a Note Security Fund. The Ottoman Bank has branches at Nicosia, Larnaca, Limassol, Famagusta and Paphos, also at Troodos during summer season. The Bank of Athens has branches at Limassol and Nicosia, with Correspondents at Larnaca, Famagusta and Paphos. The Ionian Bank has a branch at Nicosia, agencies at Larnaca, Limassol, Famagusta and Paphos, and Correspondents at Kyrenia and Morphou. The Bank of Cyprus, has its Head Office at Nicosia, agencies at Larnaca, Limassol, Famagusta, Paphos, Kyrenia and Morphou. The Agricultural Bank of Cyprus, Limited, which operates under a Government Guarantee, was established in 1925, with Head Offices at Nicosia. It lends money to farmers through the medium of Co-operative Credit Societies or direct to individuals. Other banks operating in Cyprus are Bank of Larnaca, Limited and Emniet Bank, Limited with Head Offices at Larnaca; Peoples Bank, Limassol, Limited, with Head Office at Limassol; Famagusta Bank, Limited, with Head Office at Famagusta; Popular Bank of Paphos, Limited, and Melissa Bank, Limited, with Head Offices at Paphos. The Turkish weights and measures are in use. The oke 28lbs. avoirdupois; and the donum= about acre. A law relating to weights and measures was passed in 1890. Means of Communication. The Cyprus Government Railway of 2' 6" gauge extended originally from Famagusta Harbour to the Capital, Nicosia, and then to Morphou and up to the foot-hills of Troodos at Evrychou. Owing to uneconomic results the Section from Kalonchorion to Evrychou was taken up and the remaining Section Nicosia to Kalonchorion closed to scheduled traffic. There is no navigable waterway in the island. The main and secondary roads have recently been reconstructed and good roads exist between all important centres. Most villages are connected with these roads by cart roads. There are motor car services between the chief towns of each district. The Famagusta harbour was completed in 1906, and was enlarged in 1932-33 with assistance from the Colonial Development Fund. An extension to the pier at Larnaca with a sheltering arm at the sea end was completed in 1909. The ancient harbour at Paphos and the harbour at Kyrenia are of sufficient depth to admit of their use by the small coasting craft that trade between Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor and Cyprus. There are no Government telegraphs, other than those along the railway, but the Eastern Telegraph Company, Limited, maintain cables between Egypt and Cyprus and Palestine and Cyprus, and land lines connecting the six principal towns of the Island also at Pedoulas, Platres, Prodromos and Troodos during the summer season, June to September. The principal towns are connected by telephone. A weekly mail service is maintained between Egypt and Cyprus by subsidised steamers of the Khedivial S.S. Company. Steamers of the “ Adriatica " Navigation Company of Venezia call weekly from Italy en route for Palestine and Syria on the outward voyage, and from Syria and Palestine on the homeward voyage en route for Italy (Fast Line). Steamers of the same Company call fortnightly (a) from Italy via Greece, Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Mersina on the outward voyage en route for Rhodes, Greece and Italy; (b) from Italy via Greece en route for Mersina, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Italy; and (c) from Italy via Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Mersina en route for Izmir and Italy. Steamers of the Hellenic Coast Line Company of Piræus call fortnightly from Greece direct en route for Syria and vice versa. Mails for Arabia, North-West India, Iraq and Iran are forwarded weekly to Jaffa for onward transmission by the Overland Mail Service Palestine-Iraq; and mails destined for countries served by the EnglandIndia-Malaya (Australia) or the England-South A general system of grants-in-aid of elementary schools was established in 1882, and further regulated by various laws up to 1929, when Government assumed the chief responsibility for elementary education. In 1933 the Governor became the central authority for all matters connected with elementary education, including the appointment and discipline of teachers and control of books and curriculum. Teachers' salaries and gratuities on retirement are paid by the Government, but the provision and maintenance of schools is met from local rates, with assistance from Education Funds under Government control. There are separate schools for each religious community, i.e., Orthodox-Christian, about 81 per cent. of the population, Moslem, about 18 per cent., and smaller communities of Armenians, Maronites, Latin Catholics and Jews. For each community there is a Board of Education with advisory functions and control over the amounts to be raised by local rates. Government elementary schools provide a six years' course from the age of 6. Education is free and voluntary. The following are the statistics of schools, teachers and pupils for the school year 1936-37 :— Orthodox-Christian.-Schools, 499 (boys' 49, girls' 48, mixed 402); pupils 37,525 (boys 21,641, girls 15,884); teachers 940 (masters 610, mistresses 330). Moslem.-Schools, 211 (boys 26, girls 25, mixed 160); pupils 7,424 (boys 4,493, girls 2,931); teachers 255 (masters 212, mistresses 43). (b) Secondary. Under the Secondary Education Law, 1935, all Schools above the primary standard are required to be registered and open to inspection, and all teachers in them are licensed. There are about 50 such schools. Strict conditions, relating to management, finance, staff, curriculum and teaching conditions, are imposed on schools in receipt of grants from Government. Among the most important schools are: for Moslems a boys' Lycée and girls' High School in Nicosia, administered by a Governing Body constituted under the Law, and supported by Government and Evcaf grants and by fees; for OrthodoxChristians-6 Gymnasiums (classical): (1 for boys, 1 for girls, 4 mixed) and 2 High Schools for girls in the towns, and a Commercial Lyceum at Larnaca, all managed by local committees appointed under the Law; 5 high schools in the larger villages, managed by local elected committees; private commercial schools in Nicosia, Famagusta and Limassol, and a commercial school with private endowments at Lemythou; Latin (Catholic)—a boys' school in Nicosia and convents in Nicosia, Larnaca and Limassol; undenominational-the English School, Nicosia, administered by a Board of Management on behalf of the Governor and now re-organised with a largely English staff; and the 2 American Academies (for boys and girls at Larnaca, for girls at Nicosia) managed by the Reformed Presbyterian Mission. The Armenian elementary schools have secondary classes attached to them. There are also a considerable number of small private schools, mainly for teaching English, in towns and villages. Many of the boys' schools admit girls also. The total enrolment in secondary schools is about 4,200. A Government training college for elementary schoolmasters is to be opened at Morphou in 1937. There is no training college for elementary schoolmistresses. British Occupation. On the 4th June, 1878, a Convention was signed at Constantinople between the representatives of Her Britannic Majesty and the Sultan of Turkey, by which England engaged to join the Sultan in defending his Asiatic possessions against Russia in certain contingencies, and the Sultan. "in order to enable England to make necessary provision for executing her engagements," consented "to assign the Island of Cyprus, to be occupied and administered by England." On the 1st of July an Annex to this Convention was signed at Constantinople, in explanation of the conditions of the occupation. On the 14th of August, 1878, a supplementary agreement was signed, giving to Her Britannic Majesty for the term of the occupation full powers for making laws and conventions for the government of the island in Her Majesty's name, and for the regulation of its commercial and consular relations and affairs, free from the Porte's control. The island was annexed to and became part of His Majesty's dominions by an Order in Council of the 5th of November, 1914. Government Up to the 12th November, 1931, the Government was regulated by Letters Patent. bearing date 10th March, 1925, providing for the administration of the Colony by a Governor aided by an Executive and a Legislative Council. The Legislature consisted of the Governor, nine official Members and fifteen elected Members, three chosen by the Mohammedan and twelve by the non-Mohammedan voters. After the disturbances which occurred in the autumn of 1931 in various parts of the island those clauses of the Letters Patent, dated 10th March. 1925, which dealt with the constitution of the Legislative Council were revoked by Letters Patent dated the 12th November, 1931, power to legislate being vested in the Governor. The island, for administrative purposes, is divided into six districts namely Nicosia, Larnaca, Limassol, Famagusta, Kyrenia, and Paphos. In each the Government is represented by a Commissioner. This division (which formed the basis of the original judicial system of the Colony under the Courts Orderin-Council of 1882, but was abandoned under the Order of 1927 in favour of three judicial divisions, each comprising two districts) was readopted by the new Courts Law, which came into operation on the 1st January, 1936. By this Law the Courts were reorganised in the light of the experience afforded by the working of the system in force under the Order of 1927, and the re-organisation may be described as a blend of that system with the system obtaining under the Order of 1882. The new Law provides for : (1) A Supreme Court, consisting of a Chief Justice and two or more Puisne Judges, with appelate jurisdiction, both civil and criminal, over the decisions of all other Courts, and original jurisdiction as a Colonial Court of Admiralty under the Imperial Act of 1890 and in matrimonial causes, with powers in such causes similar to those of the High Court in England; when hearing appeals the Court is constituted by three or two judges, as the Chief Justice may determine; but in criminal appeals leave to appeal is granted or refused absolutely by a single Judge. A single judge exercises the original jurisdiction of the Court. In civil matters where the amount or value in dispute is 300l. or over an appeal lies from the Supreme Court to His Majesty in Council. The Supreme Court may also in its discretion grant leave to appeal to His Majesty in Council from any other judgment which involves a question of great general or public importance. (2) Six Assize Courts, one for each district, with unlimited criminal jurisdiction and power to order compensation up to 300l. These Courts are consti tuted by a Judge of the Supreme Court sitting with a President of a District Court and a District Judge or with two District Judges. This bench of three is nominated by the Chief Justice whenever a sitting is to be held. (3) Six District Courts, one for each district,, consisting of a President and such District Judges and Magistrates (previously called Assistant District Judges) as the Chief Justice may from time to time direct. There are at present three Presidents (each in charge of two district Courts, namely Nicosia and Kyrenia, Famagusta and Larnaca, and Limassol and Paphos, respectively), nine District Judges, and six Magistrates. The District Courts exercise original civil and criminal jurisdiction, the extent of which depends upon the bench constituting the Court. (I) In Civil matters (other than those within the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court) a President and one or two District Judges sitting together have unlimited jurisdiction; a President or a District Judge sitting alone has jurisdiction up to 200%., and a Magistrate up to 251. (which the Governor may increase to 501.). The jurisdiction of a member of the Court sitting alone to try an action on the merits is determined by the amount or value actually in dispute between the parties as disclosed at the settlement of issues or upon the pleadings. But any member of the Court can in any action, even though beyond his power to try, settle issues, or make an order not disposing of the action on the merits, or give judgment when the defendant fails to appear or admits the claim. A President has also power to hear appeals from decisions of Magistrates in actions where the amount in dispute does not exceed 251. (or 50l. in case of a Magistrate whose jurisdiction has been increased to this amount). District Court is exercised by its members sitting (II) In criminal matters the jurisdiction of a singly, and is of a summary character. A President has power to try any offence punishable with imprisonment up to three years or with fine up to 100l. or with both, and may order compensation up to 1001.; a District Judge has power to try any offence punishable with imprisonment up to one year or with fine up to 1001. or with both, and may order compensation up to 50l.; and a Magistrate has power to try any offence punishable with imprisonment up to six months or with fine up to 251. or both, and may order compensation up to 251. Subject to these limits of punishment which the members of the Court cannot exceed, a President or a District Judge may also try any offence punishable with imprisonment up to five years if the Attorney-General and the person accused consent; A District Judge may (with, in prosecutions conducted by a Law Officer or a Police Officer, his consent) also try certain offences punishable with imprisonment up to three years; and a Magistrate may (with the like consent in such prosecutions) try a few offences punishable up to three years. In addition, every member of a District Court has power to hold a preliminary enquiry into an offence not summarily triable and commit the accused person for trial by an Assize Court. The jurisdiction above described may be exercised over Cypriots and non-Cypriots, but the Law expressly states that it does not confer any jurisdiction upon the Courts it establishes to hear any matrimonial cause where either party is a member of the Greek-Orthodox Church and the marriage was celebrated in accordance with its rites, or where either party is a member of the Mussulman faith and the marriage was contracted in accordance with the Sheri Law, or to hear any other matter which, under the principles of the Ottoman Law previously in force in the Colony was cognizable by an ecclesiastical tribunal, or which is within the jurisdiction of a Mussulman religious tribunal pursuant to any enactment in force for the time being. The reconstituted Courts are to apply the loca Laws and certain Ottoman Legislation specified in the new Courts Law, the common Law, and the rules of equity in force in England on 5th November, 1914 (the date of the Colony's annexation) in the absence of provision in the local Laws, and any Statutes of the Imperial Parliament applicable to the colonies in general or to Cyprus in particular save in so far as they may be validly modified or other provision made by local Law. The family Law of the various religious communities which had received legal recognition under Turkish rule is expressly saved. |