Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-02

stake The struggle was between England
.nss sns sp.ln On ne A.. one s,.,. s &c: and
nggTNFated by H. net that In 1904 Eng
land ana France reached an agreement un-
dsr which the former country practically
French loan to- The sultan was approved
and England agreed not only to allow the
French 60 continue their subjugation OF
tho Moers. bat stipulated that after thirty
pose preferential tariffs upon the imports
Of other countries into Morocco Spain had
been admitted to equal privileges and was
thus induced to aecede to the arrangement.
Germany would not consent to this agree
ment and fought against II not only In
her own interest. but In defense of the COM
merce OF the world at large and insisted
upon an open door" Even England would
have gained much II Germany had been
successful. not only In trade. Tangier would
have been made free and neutral port.
and that would have strengthened Gibral-
tar.
Results of the Conference
The results of the conference were:
/. That the powers refused to support
Germany in her demands that Morocco
should be entirely neutraiized. that the au-
thority of the sultan should be supported.
and that commerce should be free.
2. France. England and Spain relinquished
their thirty-year proposition.
g. A protocol was signed assuring equal
trade opportunities for all the signatory
powers. but no provision was made to guar
aIltee them.
4. It was provided that a national bank
should be established to control the finances
of the government. and that the stock
should be distributed pro rata among the
various powers.
s. A police force of 400 native privates
and non-commissioned officers Is to be or
ganized under the command OF French and
Spanish officers, to be appointed by their
governments. with Swiss Inspector gen.
eral who has no authority and Is authorized
only to observe what is going on and report
Jointly to the powers.
As has already been said, these agree
ments are not satisfactory to anybody. The
German scheme was to support the author
lty of the sultan with all the military that
was necessary In exchange for purely COM
mercial concessions. To this there would
have been no opposition on the part OF the
native chiefs. The French scheme involved
political and financial control of the affairs
of the government to which the natives
would not agree. The conference accepted
neither plan and went only half way. pro-
viding a police force that is not sufficient.
leaving industry and commerce unprotected
and giving no support to the authority of
the sultan. Therefore he is likely to be
oyerthrown at any time. Under the agree
ment no one of the powers Is authorized to
protect him and he is given no facilities to
protect himself In case of trouble all the
nations will have to stand off and refrain
from interfering without the consent of each
other. In other words. while the fire Is
burning thirteen nations-an unlucky num-
ber-will have to get together and decide
who shall put 1t out.
Proposed Police Unpopular.
The proposed gendarmerie is very unpop-
ular If a conflict comes it is asserted that
the Mohammedan prvates and non-eommis-
stoned officers will not obey their foreign
Christian officers unless 1t happens to be to
40 NOT ha
idea of being placed under the command of
Christians or foreigners If battalion OF
strictly foreign troops had been organized
to support the sultan, or IL the sheiks or the
different districts had been held responsible
by the powers for the preservation or peace
and good order or II they had been request
ed to furnish an army of native soldiers un-
der native command 1t Is said that tney
would have been willing and loyal But the
proposed gendarmerie is neither one tning
nor the other, and it is predicted that the
native troops will not obey foreign officers.
because they consider their appointment 10
be a reflection upon the ability and loyalty
of their own countrymen. Thls feature OIL
the agreement, and particularly the seiec-
ton of French and Spanish officers. Is the
most unpopular of all the results OF the con-
ference. 1t has exasperated the notapies'
has increased the prejudice against all Tor
eigners and has made the situation ex-
tremely critical.
The commercial development of the coun-
try is not only arrested, Dul AL ioieieH Gu
terprises are imperiled. Nobody will under
take concessions: nobody will risk capital
Investments are being withdrawn as fast as
even at great sacrifice Industry
is paralyzed, commerce is falling on. and
the country is rapidly going backward,
rather than forward A collision between
foreigners and natives may occur at any
moment and there is no provision to meet
it Conspiracies against the sultan are more
frequent and formidable than ever. He has
no support either from the powers or from
his own mobiles, and under the present CIR
cumstances his situation is critical. He
cannot sustain himself much longer.