Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-12
MOROCCO IN 1907
Bird's-Eye View of a Coveted
Empire.
RIVALRY OF THE POWERS
Enormous Extent and Wonderful
Resources of the Land.
TEN MILLION WHITE AFRICANS
Warning to Flirtatious Travellers; or
Story of the Spaniard Who
Died for Love.
TEN MILLION WHITE AFRICANS
Copyright. 1906, by Frank C. carpenter)

Copyright 1906 by Frank G. Carpenter)
TANGIER, Morocco
Stand with me at this, the chief gate of
Morocco and take bird's-eye view of the
country We are on the Atlantic coast, at
the northwestern corner of the African con-
finent and only fifteen miles from Europe.
The Strait OF Gibraltar begins just east of
here. and the Pillars of Hercules are al
most in view. / can see the hills of Spain
over the way and 1 know that the seat of
the worlds civilization is not far beyond.
The Land the Powers Covet.
This country is on the very edge of
Europe. 1t Is fat with natural resources.
and the great powers would like to gobble
It up. France, Germany and England covet
It. and it is only the jealousy of each which
keeps off the others. On my way here
called at Algeciras Spain, where the con-
ference of the powers was held. and find
In Tangier the representatives of all the
nations which formed a part of It. Our
own American minister is now at Fee to
have an audience with the sultan and to
officially welcome Morocco into our family
of nations He went there with a large
caravan. guarded by soldiers sent by the
sultan, the Moorish government paying all
bills.
But what kind OF a creature Is this our
new international sister?
In the first place, she Is coy. She would
rather be let alone, and her bosom Is raging
over her international adoption. Neverthe-
less the powers want her and her trade;
for she is rich and her country is one of
the best parts Of this continent. 1t ex-
tends from this point down the Atlantic
coast for a distance as great as from New
York to Pittsburg, and eastward for sew
eral hundred miles along the Med1ter-
ranean from Gibraltar to Algeria. 1t Is
bigger than any country in Europe, ex-
ceptlng Russia, and bigger than all New
ENGLAND added to the combined areas or
New York. Pennsylvania, Ohio and West
Virginia.
Morocco is part OF what was once
called Little Africa" the great section at
the northwestern end of that continent which
embraces Morocco. Algeria and Tunisia,
reaching from west to east as far as from
New York to Omaha and everywhere wider
than from Philadelphia to Boston. This
]; nd was named by the Arabs of the past
the Western Island. 1t is bounded on two
sides by the waters of the Atlantic and
the Mediterranean, and on the others by
that sea of sand, the Desert of Sahara. OF
this Algeria and Tunisia belong to the
French and are rapidly changing under
the new civilization. The people are pros
porous and the exports increasing. Mo-
rocco is an Independent empire, and Is still
IN the throes of the dark ages.
A Country Going to Waste.
How backward Morocco is we shall never
realize until the foreign powers step in
and begin to develop 1t. The soil is rioh
and deep. and large part of it will raise
the same crops as California. These foot
hills of the Atlas mountains might be the
chief fruit garden of Europe and there are
great plains in the south, which will raise
the best of wheat barley and corn. Even
the mountainous parts, and they are many,
are covered with pastures and the people
now rear thousands of sheep, cattle and
goats.
Sp. gets most OF her meat from Moroc-
1a.,lr Out o. .i,Jr r
see & unloading boatloads of beeves
which viii be carried across to Gibraltar.
The ca lie are taken out of the boats in a
curious way. The water is shallow tina I
lighters cannot come to the shore and
the beasts have to wade. There are no
landing arrangements and each animal Is
pried out by long beam which is thrus.
under its belly. while 1t is held fast by two
sailors head and tail and stretched taut.
At just the right moment four other Moors
standing outside the boat In the water
press down on the opposite end of the beam,
raising the steer into the air and letting 1t
slide down into the sea. 1t goes in with a
splash. comes up gasping and is led out to
the shore by rope tied to Its horns.
The sheep here are as fine as any in
Spain and this might be one of the great
wool -producing countries of the world
am told that the land is rich in minerals
and that it has gold. silver, copper and coal.
Geoogically II Is part Of the Spanish
peninsula which has long been furnishing
minerals in great quantities. Morocco has,
however, never OteU pTospSGltu anu no one
knows what IL contains.
Think OF a country six times as big as
Ohio which has not one road fit for a wagon
or any wheeled vehicle, to say nothing
OF railroads or other means of communica-
ton. Let IL have not one thrashing ma
chine. reaper or mower, and no farming
implements but those which scratch the
soil: let it have markets worthy of
mention In our sense OF the word; and let
Its people be robbed and oppressed by their
officials, so that there Is almost no incentive
Lob ND haua Of ha
conditions In Morocco.
Among the White Africans.
You can know nothing, however, about
the situation until you consider the people.
These Moors are not like our negroes
whose ancestors came from below here
across the Sahara in the lands bordering
the Gulf of Guinea. Those people are black
as your boots. and as barbarous as any
lrthex N the facA of the earth They