Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-17
Al GECIRAS IS GONE
Morocco Remains-Fez Sub
iect for Comic
Opera.

| Special cablegrsm to The Star.
| FEE. June 16-Algeciras is gone-forgot-
| ten. Morocco remains. And II there Is
one place In the world At subject for
| comic opera Fec is that place.
/ Never did any ruler have SO great an
opportunity of showing that there was stun
in him as ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS of the pres
ent day has had Eardanapalus could not
leave a greater name that he II he would
| only leave his harem and get upon his
horse, for the first business of a sultan Is
| to cut of heads Not for century have
| there been so many heads all absolutely
ripe to be cut on and hung upon the gates
of all the Moorish towns. First comes
Raisuli, whose head should certainly adorn
/ the gates of Tangier, for the climb-down
| the Maghzen has made before him renders
| it Iudicrous to the Moors and dangerous to
| every European in the land Just in the
I very town which is set m a focus In the
| eye of Europe no authority exists Raisuii
| followers, armed to the teeth, peramDuiate
| the place, laughing the bashas troops to
scorn, and working their sweet will, as
it best pleases them. Only three days ago
| they shot and killed two men in the full
! light Of day, the bullets whistling about like
/ humble bees among the citizens.
True that the victims wanted killing as
badly they could One of them was
| murderer In grain, and both were thieves
The greatest danger that the sultan mas
| to face is what is going on in Tangier; for
RaisuH Is neither feeble. as is the roqu,
| nor yet a trifier, as the sultan is and Eu-
| rope looks upon the situation right across
the straits.
Size Of the Army.
| The entire Shereef1an army certainly num-
| bers under 5000 men. and the various Eu-
| ropean instructors-French, British and
! bafr
| The difficulty is that in Morocco men OF
energy are scarce. In fact. but one exists
| able and competent to deal with Raisui
and the pretender, to curb the unruly tribes
| and make the sultan once again master of
| his own house, and not. as he is now, the
shadow of a shade, a king in partibus. a
| ruler such those one sees in comic operas
| a commander of the faithful without the
| slightest faith in anything on earth. That
| man is Ell Menebhi, once ambassador in
London and now living in honorable retire.
ment in Tangier. driven from power by
court intrigues of ministers incapable of
anything but theft
The pretender rules the eastern half of
all the territory, having some six and
| twenty tribes at his command. He has a
custom house outside Molide. and collects
competent, having made no advance for
| the past three years although the sultan
march on Fez. The territory he rules is
! mostly mountainous sterile and stony, and
| all the widest of the Berber tribes, who
| never gave more than shadowy allegiance
| to the sultans of Morocco, inhabit it, max
| ing it pandemonium with their feuds All
| money laid out on its conquest is money
thrown away, for the pretender can neither
make nor mar the sultan, and the expense
involved would be exorbitant The tribes
the roqui (pretender) dominates have never
been productive of anything but trouble to
the state: and if the sultan restore
some show of order in the country which
remains still nominally faithful to his rule
the cause of the pretender will fall as
rapidly it arose and gradually die out
Necessity for Strong Effort.
Still, the necessity of a strong effort
the sultans part is manifest. But with
the government he has to back him up, it
seems impossible that any can be made;
and 1t is natural enough that seeing all
the pitfalls in his path, the sultan may have
given up all hope. Out of comic opera no
one has ever seen a government such as
that which at present misrules Fee.
There is but one exception, and that is
Abd-el-Kirm Ben Slirnan, the minister of
foreign affairs, who is honorable man.
He still retains some of the best traditions
of the oiden times. His grandfather had
his head cut off for treason, which some
how gives the grandson quite air of
having been brought up in all the best ira
ditions of the state. Cunning and merry
looking, he is, they say, poet Report
proclaims him honest; that is as far as 1t
is possible for him to be in his position.
He clearly the ruin of the Moors, and,
though an amiable fanatic, not liking
Christians over much, would welcome any
thing that would bring order and security.
He knows the feelings of the outside world,
having himself been envoy both in Paris
and st. Petersburg. He has intelligence and
tact, though he lacks both courage and
initiative, but If a strong prime minister
were to arise, like Jonah's gourd and
spread his shadow over all the land. Ben
Sliman certainly would second him with all
his intellect and knowledge of affairs.
Marry Hosnita HE Soul
The chamberlain is one Beni-Aish
merry hospitable soul. He once was gov
ernor of Tetuan, is now lord chamberlain,
and only in an opera, either of Offenbach
or Lecoca could such a man be found. Fit
at moments notice to play Bones" or
"Mr Johnson" at q Chrfsty minstrelS show,
he really is a Moorish mountebank, whom
no one could take seriously, even in Fee, the
land of paradox. Being negro, he is less
fanatical than most of his compeers. and
foreigners who know him say he Is hospi-
table in his new palace, built with the money
he has stolen from various sources, where
he loves to entertain. Naturally. he knows
nothing of affairs. being profoundly ignor-
ant of everything outside the daily round
of ceremonial state in which he spends his
life. Still he is not evil counsellor, and
only let him steal little now and then, and
he will not actively set himself up against
reform.
Gubbas the minister of war, looks like a
Babu from Bengal. or perhaps more resem-
bles an old charwoman in provincial town.
Why he was chosen for the post that once
Menebhi filed Allah alone can tell, but In
himself he is kindly man enough, speak
Ing both French and English fiuently and
well. English he learned In Manchester,
where he lived az merchant. became a
liberal and free trader. and to this day
laments the death Of Mr. Gladstone, whom
he refers to as great man OF state and very
liberal" His common salutation Is My
dear" which he applies to all and sundry.