Washington sentinel., 1899-05-20
ENGLAND.
Is FRANCE TO CIvILIzE MoRoccoo
Commercial Intelligence.


Commercial Intelligence.
The powerlessness Of Spain and the
unwillingness OF England would seem
to give the Republic free hannI. Time
and again she has shown her desire to
reduce the whole "El Maghri5" under
her power. Her policy is both clear and
steadily pursued. She strengthens her
influence at the Court OF the Sultan and
among the leading tribes as occasion
offers. She giv,s her protection to
denizens and aliens indiscrimlnateIy.
and takes care that that protection is
respected She masses her forces in
Tunisla and Algeria, aud has her com.
manters upon the border in readiness
to enforce obedience 10 her will and
overawe opposition, We may readily
believe that her will is quickened by the
events that have happened at Fashoda
and in eastern China. Even before
these occurrences M. Leroy Beaulieu
was fearful only that his country might
pluck the plum before it had fully
riDened. SirJohn Hay is no less positive
IN his forecast, and regards the French
annexation OF Morocco as a mere matter
oftime.
It may be said France gave solemn
assurances to England, Italy and Spain,
after the fiasco OF 1884 that she would
not disturb the status 9Ho unless state
OF anarchy compelled her to interfere.
What thenf Have we not seen very
solemn assurances regarding Africa, as.
surances given by well intentioned
nations, defeated OF their end1 Again,
a state OF anarchy is the one thing GER
tain about Morocco. The Sultan can
not tell for any length OF time who are
really his subjects and who are not. The
country is seething in revolt, now here,
now there. He requires an army TO
execute his orders, while intertribal
feuds are waged irrespective OF his will.
Besides, France has special reasons for
Intervention. She must put an end to
the smuggling Of goods into her African
possessions. She requires a better from.
tier and a strategical position in the oasis
OF Tatilet 10 maintain her present
domains Above all, she looks with a
longing eye upon territory which is as
large as the Republic itself, which has
mild climate, abundance OF water, a
fertile sol, a vast variety Of productions,
rich mineral deposits, and a good posi-
tion forbade; territory which, though
he uin NF fra
natural endowmentss and.is geographi-
cally one with Algeria.
What does the commerce OF Morocco
amount to and what is EngIand's share
in it2 The total traffic by way Of export
and import in 1896 was only 66o7 ITO,
OF which Eugland's portion was Saso,-
3S7. 1t fell the year following, the last
tor which we have definite returns, to
k494,37I, England maintaining her part
well at $232,332. Broadly speaking,
then, this country has s4psr cent. ofthe
whole trade, such as 1t is, while France
has scarcely more than 28 per cent. But
small as Morocco's dealings with out
side nations may appear today, would
they not increase, and increase largely
under any orderly government AT
least, an end would be put to the enor-
nous Auctuation in exchange which now
ranges from as to 40 per cent. That
would be a great benefit TO all trading
nations and to England in particular.
The commerce OF Algeria Is altogether
a French development. Tunisia has
multiplied her foreign trade by nearly
ten times since the French occupation
in 1880, and, as our Consul General
shows, her intercourse with England
has, during the same time, improved in
volume, IN value and proportion. May
we not expect a like result from the
expansion of French power over
| Morocco?