The Washington times., 1904-05-29
Country Of Myth and
Marvel, Where Bigoted
FanaticiSm ReignS.
Fallen From High Estate
of Learning and Gull
ture in the Arts.
Peaceful Shepherds OF
the Plains Become Ban
dts in a Night.

NJ HEN Ion Perdicaris was cap
NM tured and held by Moroccan
bandits a couple Of weeks
ago. it would have been strange had he
been greatly surprised. Perhaps long
residence in the shadow OF danger had
bred contempt, but that 1t vas always
present he must have been fully aware.
Either that or the Europeans and Ameri-
cans who have put on paper their inn
pressions Of The Sunset Land" have
perpetrated cruel injustice.
For to them II has always seemed n
land OF robbery. legalized or outlawed
as the case might be. but robbery Just
the same and all the time. One writer
has gone so far as TO declare II the pre-
vailing system OF government. The
treasury is filed by means of exactions
and authorized thefts. and every official
conscience may be bought This is true
from one end OF the social scale 20 the
other. When the merchapt has tortured
the slave and the pasha has rified the
merchant, the sultan employs similar
means TO relieve the pasha Of his booty.
Times ana manners change, and II may
be that something Of Improvement has
bsen wrought in Morocco. However il
be. the records Of visits to the country,
made by scientific and DISTINGUISHED OBJ
servers, fairly reek with nameless cruel
ties. One reads OF men shut up in
ovens; Of wedges driven in under their
nails; OF children slowly smcthered to
death before the eyes of their anguished
parents; Of a man shut UP in q cage with
chained lion. with the chain of the
Gf frr,r
springs TO carry him within an inch OF
ais terrified feilow-prisoner Small won
der the royal Golfers are full.
Pasha Made to Disgorge.
One traveller tells the story OF a pasha
who had been summoned 20 the ROYAL
court 10 give account Of his collections
He went disgorYed and returned. Elab-
CRATE ceremonies greeted him and there
were outward manifestations OF extreme
JOY on the part Of the pooulace. The
traveller records. however that the
primary mental attitude of the peonIe
was one of almost overwhelming aston
ishment that the pasha had returned at
all To their simple minds IL seemed
unnatural that ruler who had acquired
30 much should be permitted to realize
an aspiration toward length OF davs
when a courteous offer Of a CUP of cor
fee would have settled the business once
for all
II was not so much surprised writes
the traveller. II gathered the plan was
70 turn the pasha loose again on tho
people. so that he might acquire a sec
ono hoard for the eventual use OF his
royal master"
So much for the government: In bust
ness the same rule prevails. The canons
Of commercial honor are an unknown
quantity in Morocco. or. II they are known
at all. II Is only as another Illustration
Of the strange views Of the Christians
The suave old Moor, white bearded
and patriarchal, will receive his pros
pective customer with the grace ana
courtesy of knight errant-and then
cheat him within something less than
an inch OF his life. IN such little
transactions as these the native talent
OF invention. reputed 20 have attained
development truly remarkable, is seen
in some OF its most striking manifesto
tons.
Money-Lending Robbers.
The current rate OF interest ranges
amiably between IS and 100 per cent, ac-
cording TO the locality and the needs Of
the debtor. and imprisonment is the
usual method Of enforcing collection.
Indeed. is said this ample means is
resorted TO for the purpose OF enforcing
collection two or three times over, not