The Republican journal., 1901-10-17


which would soon exterminate any
other race, have multiplied and pros
pered until in many ways they have be-
come, quietly but surely, the masters
of their ostensible masters. The trade
and commerce of the country are main
ly in their hands, and though the
Moors hate and despise them, and sub
ject them to every imaginable degrade
tion, they yet recognize the Jews as
such essential members Of society that
laws are actively enforced forbidding a
Jew to leave the country under any cir
cumstances. Outside of a few coast
towns, they are treated worse than
brutes; and whenever it lies in their
power they retaliate with greatest
cruelty. This is often possible,-thanks
matters and the existence of debtors
law which permits the Imprisonment
of man until the uttermost farthing
of his debt is paid. Today Shakes
speare's Shylock finds many counter
parts in Tangier and the prisons are
crowded with stately, uncomplaining
Moors, held ''in durance vile'' in many
cases till their death, through pretty
debts owed to the Jews. On the
other hand, a Moor will kill lew with
as little scruple as he would snake,
whenever he can do so quietly. That
is easy enough, as the sons of Israel are
forbidden to carry arms and must
make all journeys defenseless and on
foot. In Tangier Jews are allowed
certain privileges which their brethren
farther inland do not enjoy. Their
shops are more commodious than those
of their Moorish neighbors and they
own considerable real estate But they
are herded like sheep in their own
quarter of the city, and their dress is
rigidly regulated, so that they may be
known at glance from true be-
levers" On no account whatever must
they enter any street in which a
mosque is situated; they cannot build
places of worship for themselves, and
to pass a ''holy house with shoes on
the feet means certain death. That is
why all the Jews you meet in Tangier,
rich and poor, are refooted-because
so-called holy houses are everywhere
Whenever a Jew meets a Moor, he
must promptly turn aside SO as not to
touch the garments of a follower of the
Prophet. This is often impossible in
the extremely narrow and always
crowded streets; and legal punishment
for the slightest otfense of a Jew ranges
from cruel bastinadoing, to death by
fire. The Tangiers prison is a fearful
one, hewn out of rocks i'll a hillside.
The cells, each hardly as large as cof-
fin, are entered by hole through which
the prisoner crawls. He is chained to
the wall and passes his time doing any
kind of work at which he, is skillful,
providing his friends bring him the
necessary materials. He sells his wares
to passers by, or in any way he can,
and the proceeds go to swell the sum
necessary for his ransom, or to keep
him from starvation as there is abso-
lutely no provision made for feeding
prisoners. The Governor of Tangier
receives the munifcent sum of seventy
five dollars year, from the Sultan
| who lives at Fee and to whom he is ac
countable for the spiritual, executive
and financial affairs of the city. OF
course he cannot exist on that paltry
sum and keep up the state expected of
him; therefore it is perfectly under
stood that he may rob his subjects at
will, sending to the black holes in the
hillside anybody who has the temerity
to resist the levy demanded The Gov
ernor lives in great splendor and sup
ports numerous harem; for he well
knows the uselessness of laying by for
rainy day. Should he accumulate
anything beyond his living it will sure
ly be appropriated by his imperial mas
ter.
| There are many negroes in Morocco
and most Of them are slaves; but the
servitude is said to be of mild charac.
ter and being ''perishable property"
the human chattels are at least as well
treated as the camels and donkeys.
Every city has its slave market, and
the number of a mans wives is only
limited by his means. AS the females
are more industrious and tractable
than the males they are considered a
good investment, especially as their
children are subject to sale; and SO it is
not uncommon for a Tangiers Moor to
have from fifty to a hundred wives. AT