Weekly independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1887-1914, 1907-08-23
Why Morocco Is Coveted.

The s~trsuRest thing I know is that
Morocco, the worlds richest prize,
should have remained intact unto this
day. Thirteen legations and Consul
stes-General, costly out OF all proper
ton to immediate needle, watch the stag
gerinR derelict on the epot in Tangier.
Aud have We o seen the two greatest
military lowers on earth at daggers
drawn over the spoil, and a terrible
crisis averted only by the backing down
OF France at Won Bulow's Will, followed
by the abreakiDR' OF Theophile Delcasse,
the strongest Foreign Minister France
ever had?
Now people are asking: aWhy all this
excitement over a semi.eavhge Darbary
state which many Of us picture as a
worthless desert peopled only by
blacks?' Because from The viewpoints
OF strategy, climate and mineral and
agricultural wealth, Morocco stands
unique, with Il potential trade-given a
couple Of decades Of developement-of
600, 900 GOO a year.
Looking round we see all the nations
struggling for existence, for new
markets, for new outlets for their peo-
pie. Germany toJk the DutchiAs FROM
Denmark, Alsace.L Lorraine from France
and Krao chou from China France in
her turn seized Algeri, from the Deys,
the Savoy from Italy. old runis from its
| hagG-nf CnnrAn 40 Eann nr1ar md
suppress piracy in the Mediterranean"
Great Britain eeiZed the Transval and
the Orange Free State. Italy cove,s
Tripoli; Russia laid hands ON Man
churia.
Yet non dared touch Morocco; Tor
IaDgier and Ceuta are keys OF the
worlds highway; so tnat invasion OF
the Moorish Empire would have raised
A~rmRgeldon. And the troubled seas
OF diplomacy surely never beheld SO
rich a "ierelict." Three hundred thous-
and square miles OF eurth's most fertile
land lying at Europe's very door, and
it'll 1900 miles Of coast line-a perpei-
al Riviera-on two OF the worlds most
important waterways, the Mediterranean
and the Atlantic. \ prize indeed.
a granary that would feed an empire.
Limitless fisheries, especially below
Agadir, where the Germans are now
making nch hauls. Copper mines, rich
or than the tabulously nch Rio Tinto
property, just across the Straits. And
ten millions Of n hardy fighting race that
might well yield u superb army Of half
a million troops, such as could be swift.
ly disposed in European fields should
occasion arise. A recruiting ground OF
this kind may well counter-baIance the
rapid increase OF Germany's population
over That Of her rval.
How few Of US realize thai only nine
miles separate Morocco from Europe, at
the narrowest point OF the Straits OF
Gibraltar? And who shall say in these
days OF daring engineering that this span
may not sooD be Eridged, and Europe
united with Africa by rail?
A prize, indeed, this M~orocco-cne
even remotely comparable to it does not
exist. The climate is tine lovely climate
OF Southern Spain; the richness OF the
soil would make our farmers mouths
water; for it will grow and grow with
phenomenal luxuriaDce everything from
wheat and barley to oranges, sugar, tea,
coffee, cotton, cork, and wine. II AL
geria, with half the area and population,
and no rivers worthy the name, has Il
trade OF sl25, 100000 a year, what would
that OF Morocco be worth il properly
de velopcd!-william G. t'itz-Gerald, in
Review OF Reviews.