Colonial land laws were easily circumvented to dispossess Muslims.
Evidence
Another subsequent piece of protective legislation was the Warnier Act of 1873, which aimed at preventing the sub-division of Muslim lands, but left loopholes whereby such scandals as the following could occur: near Mostaganem a Jewish lawyer’s clerk acquired 292 hectares, which was tenanted by 513 indigènes, for no more than 20 francs. The costs imposed on the “vendors” somehow amounted to 11,000 francs, and they now became the purchaser’s labourers at starvation wages. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 87
Categorization
- SEED: A striking case study for an essay on how nominally protective colonial legislation manufactured dispossession through procedure.
- XREF: connects to: The belief that Muslims had different needs enabled colonial indifference.