We observe, with some surprise, that the Government have issued
an ordinance in Cyprus requiring from the inhabitants forced, though not unpaid, labour, for the making of roads and. other purposes. The ordinance is to be presented to Parliament, and it is clear, by Mr. Forster's remarks on Monday night, that it will be sharply criticised. A Canadian colonist writes, in de- fence of this ordinance, that in many parts of Canada, the settlers make the roads by forced labour, and that the system works well. But there is no parity at all between the cases. In Canada there is complete self-government, and if, under such a system as that, the very democratic legis- lature of the country finds it satisfactory to the people to arrange for a certain labour-contribution, rather than a tax, for the making of roads and so forth, the people cannot complain of their own law. It is a totally different thing in the case of a Crown colony or dependency like Cyprus, where forced labour means labour the terms and conditions of which are dictated by an irresponsible Government to a helpless people. That is serfage undisguised.
