New-York tribune., 1908-01-26
MOROCCAN QUESTION.
DELCASSES SPEECH.
IT Clears the Situation-France WW
Not Quit africa.
Especial by French Cable to The Tribune
1905. by The Tribune Association


copyright. 1905. by The Tribune Association-l
Paris Jan. 25-Although the result Oh the
| Moroccan debate cannot be reached oelore don-
dav. it already seems certain that unless Soine
entirely new event crops up Wlthlh Ihe HeN~
forty-eieht hours the Chamber OF Deputies anu
the country will approve without heSlta'loh lio
policy adopted by the Clemenceau CABINET Inc
impractical programme eloquentiy adVocateu W
loan Jauras furtively to turn tail and to scuttle
awav from Morocco, fell upon the ChaIhDer ii>e
a wet blanket and was met with indignant prot
+attons from, all the benches excepting the small
and steadily dwindling group of Unified Social
lists Even RibOt the spokesman OF the CON
servstive RepubIicans, unable TO Suggest
ANYTHING better than the measures now Dehs
carried out by NJ. Pichon. the Minister OF for-
eign Affairs ard by General Picquart' the Nlii-
lister of War. Moreover the sensatlohal reap
pearance in public life of NJ DeicasSe aL'e1
three years silence ELECTED thrill of patrlouc
enthusiasm in the Chamber and throuShout
France
When DeIcasse spoke there profound
silence All eyes were riveted upon the saIo"
Commissioned little man whose dark, intelligent
eyes cleaned behind his double eyeglasses anu
whose high pitched but musical voice penetrated
TO every corner of the Chamber This dramatic
manifestation of Delcasse's popularity IS a bar
ometric measurement of the change OF pubic
feeling since his retirement from ONCE aIilu
a tempest of dissatisfaction. during which ne
was abandoned by his closest polltlcai
friends DeIcasst's speech has had the effect OF
STRENGTHENING the CIemenceau Cabinet owing
10 the vivid chapter of secret history related by
the man who, as Minister of Foreign Ai1alrS
during seven wears. successfully aimed not only
to foil the efforts of Germany to Isolate France
but to turn the tables by cementing the Franco
b>- agreements
ententes with England. Italy and Spain.
One important result Of Delcasses speech is
to enable the average Frenchman-the man In
the street-to judge the situation with sangfroid
and 10 see that the Moroccan question Is insep-
arabic from the European question, and that'
short of absolute effacement world power.
France has choice of only two policies In Mo-
rocco The first is that adopted by the Gle
menceau Cabinet. which consists in maintaining
her positions at CasablanCa and on the Algerian
frontier and in consenting to act conformity with
Spain by virtue of the Algeciras Convention,
as mandatory of Europe. in establishing order
in the seaports and in holding the de facto Sui
tan of Sultans Cwhether Abdul Aziz or Mulai
Haffg) TO his obligations under the Ageciras
treaty As DeIcass6 and Pichon have both
pointed out. If France scuttles away from her
responsibilities in Morocco some other European
power will inevitably assume that task, more
especially as Japan blocks the way in Asia for
European enterprise and American hegemOny
closes the doors in Central and South America,
and Morocco is the only field remaining avail
able.
The alternative is for France. relying upon
the Franco Russian alliance and on her entente
cordiale with England. to reassert her full
liberty Of action, which was circumscribed by
the Algeciras Convention. to grasp the hilt of
her sword and to defy Germany The fate Of
Morocco would thus be fought out in Lorraine
There IS not a single responsible man in French
public life to-day who advocates such an ag-
gressive policy which would forthwith precipi-
tate European Thus by process of
elimination the present policy adopted by the
CIemence;tu Cabinet is the only practical course
left open u France. Thanks To DelCasse's
speech. the average Frenchman-the man in the
street-now for the first time realizes this fact.
l. 3.