Evening star., 1909-09-05

1t IS venerable adage that where
there is smoke there is fire. We had oc-
caSion recently to note the
Moorish smoke in Spain's troubles
at Meiilla we may now
see the fire. There is some
resemblance in the Spanish situation at
Melilla with that Of the Russian situation
in Manchuria and Korea-war in both
cases being the result of concessions to
private parties. \ correspondent from
Madrid furnishes the bottom facts. which
are Illuminating.
In 1907 two mining companies were
formed to exploit the iron and lead mines
in the Riff. These were a Spanish and a
French company organized on the basis
of vast project to exploit the mines or
the Riff coast. and to convert Melilla and
other Spanish places in Morocco into COM
mercial centers, as Well as tourist water
ing places. The Spanish company was
entitled "Companie Espanola del Riff.
the French company established in
Faris) was entitled the 'Societa Norte-
Africana," and both companies were sup
ported by well known capitalists.
Bou-Hamara. the roghi, 1t appears
granted the concessions and agreed to
the hostile kabyles. and for such partlcl-
patton he was to receive 10 per cent of
all the ore mined So long as the roghi
was Indifferent to the succession to the
throne the affairs of the concessionnaires
prospered. To facilitate the exploitation
the companies built railways from
Melilla to the mines: the French COM
pany constructed line from Melilla to
Nador, a distance of thirty kilometers, and
the Spanish line ran toward Beni-Dou-
Ifrnor.
Now the roghi in a certain moment,
when Mulay Hands power appeared to
wane, left the coast and marcned with
his partisans toward Fez- The kabyles.
then left free. to show their hostility. at
tackled the miners and the work was sus-
pended. The Spanish government sent
a mission under Merry del Val to Fee
with the object of having Mulay Hafid
ratify the concessions granted by the
rebel rogh. The mission was unsuccess-
full.
In June Gen. Marina. the military gov
ernor OF Melila, induced the local kadi
to permit the resumption
Attack by of mining operations. July
vA. the habyles attacked
again and four workmen
were killed. The leader of this attack, it
should be stated, was Kaid Chaldi, a for
mer lieutenant of the roghi, who refused
to permit the exploitation of the mines
unless allowed the roghi's share.
What followed has been already men
toned. 1t is sufficient to recall that Cen
Marina hurried troops to the scene.
which. unable to cope with the rufians.
were finally reinforced by the hurried levy
OF reserves, which served as a pretext for
the revolutionists and anarchists to mani
fest in barcelona, the capital of seditious
Catalonia.
A correspondent from Madrid gives the
latest development in the origin OF the
Spanish operations at Melilla, based upon
a public statement made by Senior Vel
interested In the development enterprise.
severed his connection herewith The
correspondent writes:
These two companies Che Spanish and
the French), seeing that the sultan would
not ratify the concessions they had OBJ
tained from the rebel against his author
ity, had some motive in organizing the
murder of the four WOrkmen If 1t be
true. as Senior Vellaneuva has publicly
stated, that they did SO. Being unable to
they naturally concluded IL they could
bring about Spanish Intervention they
would be able to secure the ratification of
their concession from the Spanish govern
ment.'
From Barcelona, dated August "a, a dis
patch announced that in the effort of the
government at Madrid to
Seditious stamp out revolutionary ten
S.L, dencies ninety-four schools
and centers of teaching
were closed, on the ground that these
schools had become centers of sedl-
ton. At the same time a number of an
archists had been expelled from the coun-
try.
1t is a curious phase of the spirit of
the times to note the exaggerated tone of
the papers at Paris and Madrid, which APP
pea. to take pleasure in criticising and
exaggerating the obstacles which con-
front the Spanish government. This pol
icy. which seems to have been adopted
by the press of both countries without re-
gard to parties, must be attributed not to
malice, for there is none. but TO the de-
sire for sensation and nothing else.
The alarmists who express astonishmsnt
at Paris that Gen. Marina has not been
able to master within ten days the stu
alton in the Riff forget the obstacles
and delay of Gen. Drude at Taghit and
Menabba. France and Spain are united
by the treaty of 1904. which was COM
pleted in 1905, and by the decisions
of the conference at Algeciras. The
Franco Spanish entente was confirmed
and generalized by the protocol of 1907. The
Temps reads the French press a lesson,
and says:
Even if Spain were wrong France
should look twice before saying anything
unfriendly. When Spain Is clearly in the
right; when she is acting in the Rif by
virtue of a right expressed in a con-
tractual law; when she is defending her
flag without and public order within,
she should have the energetic approba-
ton Of her friends without reserve or
restriction And the Temps expresses
the hope that the French public opinion
will take proper note of these facts and
in the future be less accessible to pessi-
mistic commentaries.
The attitude of the French press is
perhaps due to the rigid censorship estab-
lished by the Spanish
government. The Voz de
. Guipuzcoa, in protesting
the cause. against certain exaggera-
tions, one of which reported "three
thousand deserters from Hendaya." says:
There were no more than one hundred
and fifty The Misrepresentation as to
the events at Barcelona and as to the
operations at Melila may be attributed
solely to the closed door. for the press.
failing to secure authentic news. manu-
factured it. NJ. de Leon Castillo,
MARQUIS del NUM-, interviewed again by
formation published by the press was
Ia rUely erroneouS and had created an