Omaha daily bee., 1906-01-18
MOORS PLAY WAITING PART
MOhsmmsd Ell Torres to Take No Hand in
Early Conferences.
WILL AWAIT AGREEMENT Or POWERS
when Program 10 settled Morocco
VIII Insist Upon Having some
thing TO say About
Its Execution.

ALGEClRAS, Spain, Jan. 1.-THE dele
gates OF the Moroccan conference today
took day of leisure In order to enable the
secretaries to get ready for their work, and
INDUCED in private conversations among
themselves or spent the time in preparing
with their Junior colleagues for the discus
sion Of the surveillance of contra band arms
in Morocco, the first question to be dis
cussed at the next meeting.
Ambassador White visited Gibraltar after
he and Minister Gulnmere had gone over
the present situation in Morocco regarding
Illicit trade in arms. When the conference
shall agree on regulations for the punish
ment, OF foreigners engaged in smuggling
arms into Morocco most of the countries,
including the United States, will have to
legislate on the subject, as only Great
Britain and Spain by orders in council
penalize their subjects abroad
While the talk among amba ssadors Is all
OF harmony, Mohammed FL Torres, the
Moroccan foreign minister and head of the
mission of Morocco, and Mokri. the sui
tan's principal agent. do not believe that
the conference will agree.
Position of Morocoo.
Budget Meakin, an eminent authority on
Morocco. had prolonged conference today
ia <AiaOtS with FL IOTTes anu
repeated to the Associated Press the Moor
ish view, as follows:
Mohammed FL Torres will be a passive
observer at the conference until II enters
the last stage. IL the powers do not agree
the conference will fall to pieces OF itself
without the Moors lifting a finger. IL,
however, the powers accept a general plan
OF control OF Morocco the sultan cannot be
suit the faith provoke a rebellion among
ms own people The powers will hesitate
before facing an international military occu-
administration. The Moors expect some
power to take their viewpoint even were a
general s.r agreement attained. They pray
tect his faithful, and they trust that the
powers Of evil will fail into confusion. The
cited over the fate of Morocco, as 1t is the
last independent Mussulman kingdom OF
Africa.
In concluding the conversation Moham-
med ell Torres used the following expressive
sentence as indicating the inconsistency
Of the powers: why don't they hold q
conference upon Russia and establish order
there"
Would Bar Arms.
Mohammed Ell Torres expresses satisfac-
ton at the fact that the conference will
begin with a discussion of contraband arms,
as this is a question on which Morocco Is
ers. The Moroccans contend that while the
French and German governments nominally
restrict contraband arms from entering
Morocco the great manufacturers of arms
in France and Germany reap a harvest by
the Illicit introduction OF arms, thus TO-
menting anarchy and instruction. There
fore Morocco is prepared to have the DOW
ers decisively stop this contraband trade
On the other hand some of the anbassa-
dcrs fear that the contraband question may
precipitate a crisis over the main Franco
German controversy, the surveillance OF
contraband arms involves the determine
ton whether France alone shall patrol the
coast, or whether the powers shall estab-
lish Jan international patrol. The determi-
! nation of who shall establish the patrol
may therefore bring up the principal
Franco-German issue over France having a
| special position warrantng it to direct the
| maintenance of order.