The log cabin Democrat., 1909-09-27
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If the troubles that beset Spain on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco were not of her own making, there would be feeling of considerable sympathy with a country almost the last of whose foreign possessions Is so seriously threatened. Unfortu- nately, Spain has brought the trou- ble upon her own head, or, to be more accurate, the Ultramontane cabinet that misgoverns the country has in ticted them upon her. Most people outside the Spanish cabinet do not re- quire to be told that the Riffians who inhabit the Moroccan highlands over looking the Mediterranean are a fierce, intractable, unconquered peo- pie. Even Muza's Arabs could not re- duce them to submission. and the troops of Cardinal Cisneros were equally unsuccessful. It may be said that the writ of the sultan himself does not run far into the Riff coun- try. where the people follow the life that was theirs before civilization wis
 ited western Europe, having their own code of honor, their blood-feuds and their internecine strife. Great pi- rates fin times past, they have long given up piracy as a profession, and practice Is now merely as a pastime
 But they have never ceased to exer- else themselves in the profession of arms, and for many years the little wealth they have acquired by their labors on the land and in the field. and by the sale of the herds and docks they rear, has been devoted to the purchase of guns.
 Guns and guns, and still more guns, some coming from England, France, or Germany, many coming from Bel gium, large quantities from Spain, and not few from the sultan's own troops; for 1t is no secret that when a Moor Is tired of serving in the army
 in return for pay that is always in arrears, he deserts, carrying his be- loved gun with him, and sells 1t to the nearest tribe that does not ac- knowledge the sultan's authority. Even on the coast beyond Tangier Lnd round Ceuta. Tetuan and Melilla, gun running has been carried on openly, more than once within view of the writer. The guards on the beach have been squared or tricked, and conveys have been waiting within mile of the land!ng-place to carry the precious weapons into the mountains. So it happens that the Riff1ans are well armed, and they are fighting because their territory has been violated. In | deed, if they had white skins and a code of western morality, they would be in serious danger of being called patriots instead of rebels.
 The position In which Spain finds | herself Is one of extreme difficulty Senor Maura. the premier. Is an obsti nate reactionary. The country Is in censed against the war party Span
 ish finances are in their chronic state of weakness. The cost of subduins the Riffs in money alone, to say noth
 ing of blood, will be enormous. If thu
 government does not fall. If easterr
 Spain can be pacified, if 50,000 troops
 can be sent to Melilla and the other
 presidios of Spain in Morocco, if the
 Riffs can be driven of and their noun
 tain strongholds can be destroyed, fl
 Is hard too see what Spain can hope
 to gain beyond measure of glory and
 a bill, that bear the same relation to
 one another as the bread to the sack | in Falstaff's famous tavern account,
 There Is not enough money in all the country of the Riffs to pay the bill | that Spain has incurred already, and
 though some attempt may be made | to saddle the sultan with responsibil. ity, 1t is we'll known that Mulai el Hafid Is no better able than Gen. Marina to control the tribesmen. Nor | is the country of the Riffs calculated | to tempt sane men to conquer it. It is wild, rugged, inhospitable, and can scarcely yield living even to those who have been brought up in 1t. It could only be kept at the point of the bayonet, for even If Spain had a sur, | plus population. there would be no temptation for emigrants to settle in such a wild and unproductive land Spain has no colonists, she needs more population. and consequently there is absolutely no room for an imperial policy in Africa,
 If Senor Maura were less obstinate and the rulers of Spain less proud one and all would see the advisabll lty of retiring at once from an unten | ,blo rncitIcp hafora tba wpOpHe in ficted upon the nation by the Cuban troubles and the American war brolJ, out afresh. Nobody doubts the bravery of the Spanish troops; they have. and | deserve a splendid reputation. Bu, mere bravery will do very little iu | campaign carried on under coDdi 1 uons with which the Spaniards are