Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-17
HOLY WAR INARMENIA AND ALGERIA

other who understood since many
years the necessity of winning the 10y
atty and affectionate attachment Of the
native Algerian to France, that man
was Albin Rozet.
A dispatch dated Paris. September 16.
announced the death of NJ. Rozet in an
automobile accident. The death OF NJ.
ROGET has created profound regret in
France and Algeria, and especially
among a vast number of Arabs. for the
most part Kabyles. for whom he la
bored, and who had come to regard
him as a marabout
The writer had the privilege of being
intimately acquainted with NJ. ROGET.
and has lost in him most devoted and
sympathetic friend. NJ. Rozet repre-
scented in the French chamber the de-
partment of the Haute Marine. and also
was deputy from Oran in Algeria He
was most popular with the Arabs. and
was indeed their benefactor. 1t Is due
to NJ. ROGET and some other benevolent
rian native has become strongly at
tached to the government of the
French republic.
There are. 1t should be said. two
schools in this matter OF colonial ad-
mfnistration. One of these held that
Mussulmans belonged to a civilization
distinct, and that the best means to
show the good will of government after
their we'll being had been assured con-
sisted. first of all in leaving them tran
quill: the other school. on the contrary.
held that it was necessary to develop
their institutions and spirit and treat
gious belief. and finally to prepare
them for more intimate rapproche-
ment in the affairs of government
Albin Rozet belonged to the second
school. and in the development of that
policy in the chamber he was hailed as
protector and cheikh by the Kahyles.
The Kabyles and. in general. the Ber-
hers of pure race are bv customs ana
intelligence most susceptible of devel-
opment. Following his theory of
change Of policy indicated. he proposed
the enrolment of the Kabyle in the
navy as well as in the army.
Even before the present war, in
which the Kabyle has become a hero.
Albin Rozet's pol
Success Of Albin Icy gained ground.
Rozet's Policy. "A, FIRST x,t he ,n wa.
ference. but finally 1t was said of him
that he had the ear Of the tribunal
That this was so is apparent from the
fact that he occupied the important
post of chairman of the committee on
foreign affairs.
The war has overturned many things
and among these it has lifted the AL
gerian and Senegalian high in the
esteem and affections of the French,
whose battles he Is helping to fight
with bravery and devotion that Is
extraordinary.
Albin Rozet thus was a precursor, a
marabout for the Algerian, for whom
ne announced a new age. The mara
bout has not disappeared, however, be-
fore knowing that his labors had pro-
duced fruit. and that due to his efforts
in the chamber he had constituted for
France a new soldier and a new citi-
zen henceforth above suspicion.
This work, it should be said in ex-
PLANTATION, is all the more interesting
and meritorious because in the COM
mencement of the war the loyalty Of
the native Algerian was the subject Of
suspicion and disquiet, and arabo-
phobes and arabophiles discussed the
subject from all points Of view.
The arabophile commended that gov
eminent was too distrustful of the
Arab. and that such distrust would
cause him to be hostile whenever there
necessary for the nation to treat him
with more kindness and give him all
the rights and privileges of the citizen.
The arabophobe. on the contrary. would
maintain him as the ward of the nation.
but hold him in continued suspicion,
because of race and religious hostility
Both parties. it is confessed, dreaded
some religious blast that might sweep
over Islam and arouse the tribesmen
OF Algeria. Tunis and Morocco in whom
there was still concealed the desire for
independence. Certainly any revolt
would be crushed, but at what pricef
The troops remaining in garrisons for
home defense-would they suffice to
avert the danger?
There is some compensation. however
poor, that war brings to it's particle
pants. 1t leaves In its
Une Benefit bloody tracks the knowl-
If Uor. edge that peace is impo-
tent to impart, the respect
that is due from one to the other, and
a better regard for the Golden Rule
The enthusiasm with which the native
soldier and the voluntary squadrons of
goums" furnished by the tribes re-
sponded in September. 1914, to the call
to the colors in France was an object
lesson never to be forgotten. 1t was
silent but eloquent pact of durable
fidelity and crushing rebuke to the
agents of the Turkey OF the Young
Turk. among whom, first of all. was the
enterprising Maj. Enver." now Enver
Pacha, who had slipped into Algeria,
Tunfs and Tripoli to prepare for revolt
OF the tribes by preaching in the desert
the "djehad."
ne foreign element, SO abundant in
Algeria, how has it acted during this
time? Spain and Italy have directed a
large part of their superfiuous popula-
tons into the provinces of Oran and
Constantine. The Spaniard furnishes
la borers in agricultural fields, the Ital-
Ian. by preference, to the fishery. or il
he is not Neapolitan. to the mining en-
terprises. 1t is among these that ready
agents are found, for money. to propa-
gate false and incendiary news, which
filters through all classes. But on the
whole the exotic elements of the popu-
lation of Algeria have been calm and
docile and crimes and misdemeanors
have fallen to almost nothing
Algeria has suffered in an economi-
cal sense from the brusque suppression
of credit and the moratorium and the
resultant barred or patched-up legislation
which has paralyzed business. Can
there be a manifestation of colonial
activity without the intervention of
banks? When financial establishments
close their doors all the wheels of pro-
duction slow up or shut down. and this
is what has happened in Algeria since
August, 1914.
1t is to this economical condition
added to a diminution of laborers in
of mobilization and the
penury of first matter for the manu-
facturer that is due the intensity of the
actual economical crisis In Algeria.
The value of land, however, the barom-
eter of public confidence, has not va
ried, nor has any one thought of ex-
patriation, nor has there been the
slightest idea of panic
The atmosphere at the front has Gre