This acknowledgment by the people shows clearly that the new regulation was not considered harsh or unjust. It is an adequate refutation of the oftrepeated charge that Joseph despoiled the Egyptians of their liberties and reduced a free people to slavery. Slave-owners are usually not content with a tax of 20 per cent on the gross income of their estates. Except for the tax, royal ownership of the lands was more nominal than real. At all events, the tax was not considered exorbitant by the people themselves. They were grateful to be able to remain alive and to retain the use of their animals, houses, and lands, even though it be under the nominal lordship of Pharaoh.