Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-21
In CONFERENCE AT ALGECIRAS.

| of a conference presented by the sultan, and
| thus our propositions of reforms ere to be
submitted to an International consultation.
| Il have thought that under the condition
| that we obtain the guarantees necessary We
should not refuse the measures Of concilia-
ton compatible with the dignity Of France
/ or with the maintenance OF essential inter-
ests. To refuse them would be TO lose the
sentiment of our responsibility toward the
country. 1t is understood that we do not
/ propose that the Moroccan question shall go
beyond the proportions in which it should
| be maintained. and thus we have consented
| TO SO to the conference"
| IS
| The kaiser's response to this clear and
comprehensive exposition of Frances situa-
| ton was simply confession
| 6ermanys that he had been clearly de-
Attitude. feated before the conference:
! II have been set on edge
| he said. by certain offensive proceedings of
| M. Delcasse. But / render full homage to
the tact and ffrmness OF NJ. Rouvier. / VIII
do nothing to create any difficulties
There Is no doubt but that NJ. Delcasse
failed to perform. literally. his entire duty
| in the matter of communicating te the Ger
| man government his agreement with the
| British. The French minister contented
| himself with a verbal communication to
| Prince RadOlin at dinner table between
| drinks, and although the prince loyalty de-
| clared he had Informed the government at
| Berlin" the kaiser held there was no COM
munication, and there was certainly none
| in writing. The departure Of NJ. Deicasse
| should have effectually and finally closed
| the incident, but we have seen that it did
| not.
Germany's attitude IN the matter of Mo-
rocco does not appear to have been the re-
suit of a misunderstanding, but of a ma
| neuver the object of which was to force
France to abandon her interests in Moroc-
| CO, which she deemed prejudcal to her
| own, and at the same time detaching
France from her understanding with Eng
| land. obliging her. willing or unwilling. to
align herself with Germany 1--WE have the
| right and the duty" said the Prince Henck-
! ell de Commensurate, in a conversation re-
Gently. Ito consider the eventual conse-
| quence which the agreements and engage
ments which France may make face to face
| with Germany A German publcst has
said in more violent manner: we must
| obtain either a French alliance, or we will
have war with France" These declarations
seem frank at least and enable to under
| stand the real motives of Germany in in
spring the Sultan of Morocco to ask that
| the question of reforms in his country be
submitted to a conference.
| Morocco is not nation except in name.
| 1t has no idea of national unity, and only
| rivalry. jealousy and hatred
| iufouieh1 are developed among the diff
People. ferent tribes whose natural
instincts, manifested a CEN
| fury and more ago. are still maintained. The
| declaration made by the inhabitants of
| Sale proud of being descended from long
| line of redoubtable pirates, to their neigh
| bors OF the holy city of Rabat, separated
| from them by the River Oued Bou-Regreg
| is typical, namely: The people of Sale and
! those of Rabat will never be friends, not
IA he
come milk and the sand become dry raj
sins"
| There is one tie only that binds these
many fragments, and that is the tie of re-
| ligion. The sultan symbolizes that tie and
| Arab. Moor and Berber. though he does
| not recognize him a political head,
acknowledges him as a religious chief.
! Crowned cherif," with the baraka or divine
| power which he has inherited.
More powerful than the sultan the
| numerous religious brotherhoods, whose
| Zaouias or mahdis travel on missions from
| Mecca to central Africa. But for the rival
| ries and jealousies among these their power
would be immense and a holy war immi-
nent.
| Morocco is a vast territory of 200 goo
| square miles, a population of ten millions,
| but without the cohesion necessary to
state. The effective authority of the sultan
| extends, perhaps over the one-fifth of the
country, and this division is denominated
Bled-el- MakhZen, or country of government.
| The other four-fifths is called Bled-el-Siba
or country of the unsubdued and rowing in
| dependent tribes.
The Bled- el-Makhzen consists of the Gharh
| and the Howz, the ancient kingdoms of Fec
and Marrakesh comprising the greater part
| OF the region between the Atlas and the
| Riff Coast range, the Jebala the wooded
mountainous region of Braber, south of
Fee and MequineZ and thrust in like
wedge between the Gharb and the Howz, al
| most reaching the sea near Rabat, ana
finally the Atlas chain and the desert be-
| yond.
| The Sultan Mulai-Abd-el-Aziz. the son of
Mulai-Hassan, was proclaimed sultan in
| the cherifian camp June
| -"o Soi1aA Z, 1894 His sou, Prince
| or morocco. Hassan, was born July,
1899. The sultan has six
| ministers. whom he consults If he deems it
| prudent to do SO; otherwise they are merely
| the executives of his unrestricted will. In
a population of ten millions there are six
thousand Christians, chiefly at Tangier
| Jews numbering one hundred and fifty thou
| sand inhabit the coast towns of El-Arafch,
| Sale, Safi and Mogador where they are
engaged in commerce.
The sultan is a young man and is said to
| be intelligent, but his encourage is weak.
| if not positively bad. The sultan has taken
| to the bicyciette, the automobile and pho
! Biography, occupations of which his peopIe
are not fond The bicyclette and the au-
| tomobile are looked upon as trivial and un-
| dignified, and photography as irreigious it
| being forbidden by the Mussulman law to
| reproduce the human face. Besides, the
sultan Is in debt. and, finally, he is not
| liked. Bou Hamara, the pretender on the
| other hand, is popular; indeed, it is said
| that he is Moulai Mohammed the one
| eyed, who, according to popular Moorish
| tradition and custom. should now be on
| the throne. since Moulai- Mohammed was
| born in wedlock of the late sultan's first
wife. while Abd-eI-Aziz Is the son of a
| slave. Bou Hamara Is an accomplished
legerdemainist. and the faculty to change
| silver pieces into gold has won for him ex-
traordinary favor among the simple people
of the country. If 'Bou' is spoken in She
ear of Abd-el-Azz he is ready to collapse.