Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-07-28
TIL; IsNIIsiIisS.


If any race in North Africa has
golden age in store for it that race is
the Bcrbcr or Shcluh. In numbers
and physical strength it already stands
first in Morocco With the Arab ele-
mcnt it does not mix at all. Peoples
of this blood and language spread un-
der different tribal names from Cape
Spartcl to Nubia aud the Egyptian
Soudan. They are, in a rude but cncr-
getic fashion. traders, farmers, and
shepherds. and have against desperate
odds gained Il reputation for iutcli-
gcncc and industry. 1t is sign. char
actcristic of French rule that in Africa
alone have the representatives of this
most promising race, the kabyles, de-
clincd in numbers. We say promising
adviscdly. because those who wish well
to Morocco must live in hope. The
rule of Sultan Mulai Iassan, except in
coast towns subject to European innu-
cnce, like Tctuun, Tangicr. and Moga-
| dor. is weak but uncontrolled dcs-
| potism. Persons convicted of small
oilcnscs, or entirely innocent, crowd
the prisons and remain there for life.
Slavery is forbidden, but in no wise
suppressed. Fiscal monopolics and
taxes are decrccd at will. and payment
| of the latter is cvaded by any one who
can take to the hills. The inhabitants
| of the Riff and Atlas live in chronic re-
bclliou against the kdids of their prov
| inccs who act as the Sultan's taXgath-
| crcrs. From the southern territories of
Sus and Talilet the imperial eXcheIucr
| gets little more than the spoil amassed
| by Government raids, often headed by
the Sultan himself The rctalntory
! brlgandagc which is provoked by such
measures is pcrpctuated by the absence
of an efficient army or police. Indeed,
military service and personal scrf-
dom are often synonymous. The
worst features in the situation are the
thinncss OF the population and the want
Of communication. Morocco is larger
| than France, but its inhabitants, once
very numerous, have dwindled to about
| 6.OUO,O 900. Ii is saId to possess no
wheeled carriage besides the Sultan's
coach at Fee. 1t is covered with metal
| liicrouS mountains and travcrscd by
large rivers, mostly running westward
from sources in the Atlas; but it has
neither roads nor bridges. Irrigation,
which now supplements to some small
| extent the deficient rainfall and the ir-
regular tlOw of the rivers, needs an
enormous Developments; but the natives
have neither the money nor the conf
| dcnce required. In circumstances like
| these the weakness of the Government
| and the poverty Of the people act and
react upon each other to the common
ruin. The men tend docks, or scratch
the earth with plows of patriarchal
make, and the women act as beasts of
burden. The ordinary village is COM
posed OF the rudest cabins of mud,
sticks, and leaves. The few manual
industries of the country are starved
alike by want of encouragement and
want Of accessible markets. Such ex-
port trade as is done at the ports, and
notably at Iangicr, gives no idea Of the
| real Resources vi Morocco. The con-
struction of roads and harbors and the
| abolition Of vcXatious imposts would
enable other Industries to share in the
success which actually attends the cat
tie trade with Gibraltar. But neither
poverty nor tyranny have entirely
crushed the well conditioned natures Of
the population. Least of all has it pre-
pared them for forcblc annexation by
"A European power. Neither Arab nor
Bcrber has anything of Egyptian SER
Witty about him. One might expect
mendicancy to be rampant, but this is
not the case. Bcggars are thicker and
more shameless AT Seville, Naples, or
Boulogne than at Ietuan or Tangier.
The character Of the people, like that
of the country, is calculated to excite
hope as well rs regret 1t seems quite
impossible to believe that these fine
races are to live on like this forever.
The transforming influence must come
from Europe, and the fate OF Morocco
depends on the generosity and single
mndedness OF the particular European
nation that may exercise that in niluence.
The Ndt.OHut RcUteO.