New-York tribune., 1921-10-02

~ France, Italy and Spain accredited to
His Highness the Sultan of Morocco and
resident at Tangier undertook remaining OF
Tangiers streets. 1t was the considered
opinion Of His Britannia Majestys agent that
Shakespeare Road would be an appropri-
ate designation for that crowded street in
Tangier which curs down the hill through
the heart of the bazaar district To this
opinion the agent of France took exception;
the "Rue Voltaire" seemed to him more
fitting name. The Italian agent differed from
both, and could think of no appellaton more
obviously suitable than the "Via Garibaldi"
The Spanish agent was only shocked by the
levity of his colleagues, for it clear to
him that the only possible name for the
street in question was the "Cale Cervantes,
and that name accordingly he had the honor
to propose.
have forgotten what the street is actually
called to-day if indeed | ever noted. but the
name which the four legations finally compro-
missed upon was the "Street of Adam" For
Adam was generally assumed to be more near
ly neutral respecting the four legations than
were NM. Shakespeare, Votaire, Garibaldi
and Cervantes and by compromising upon an
unquestionably neutral name no one of the
four legations achieved an advantage at the
expense of any one of the three others. Which
is the sumnum bonum of International
ization. Whether internationalization has
proved to be Tangier's summum bonum is,
however, quite another question, and one on
which the curtain may possibly be allowed to
fall without further ado. Mulai Hafid, the
ex-Sultan of Morocco, once wrote parable
IN Arabic verse on the subject of Tanger,
for which l am indebted to Walter B. Harris
Tangier correspondent of "The London
Times" and for many years prominent
figure in British Moroccan affairs. Trans
lated, it runs. about as follows:
SIN the last day the people of Tangier
came to the judgment seat of God, and the
Supreme Judge said: Surely you are the
least and worst of all people. Under what
circumstances did you live?
"And they replied: we have sinned. We
have sinned But our government was inter-
national. We were ruled by the Representa-
tives of Europe
"And the Supreme Judge said: Surely you
have been sufficiently punished. Enter into
paradise
Tangier breaks into the news by reason of
the recent Spanish reverses in it's hnterland.
1t is small enclave in the Spanish zone.
which has fallen into its present underlined in
ternational regime through repeated postpone
ments of any fixation of its status Because
it affords the quickest access to both the
Spanish and French zones which lie in it's
hinterland, both Spain and France claim it,
In which connection | recall an incident Of
the days when the act of Algeciras afforded
such basis in law as existed for the interne-
tional regime which prevailed at Tangier
Two French officers were seated at their
after-dinner coffee on the terrace of the Ho-
tel Continental and the small talk with which
they passed the evening hour consisted Of
idle reflections the physical appearance of
the Spanish coast, in plain sight some ten
miles distant across the Strait Of Gibraltar.
Enter Spanish officer, who clicked his heels
and interrupted senors the officers of France
to point out that article of the Act of AL
geciras existed which had ever been cor
scrued to authorize the French administration
to pass reflections the physical appearance
of the Spanish coast. To which the French
officers responded that if monsieur the officer
Spanish disapproved of the tenor of their re-
Elections his recourse TO remove his coast
to some less visible distance. Curtain.
Events since then have served only to tight
en- the Franco-Spanish tension at Tangier un-
til to-day the Spanish reverses Of the last
month have brought it close to the breaking
point. From the French point of view, the
Spanish and the Spanish claim to Tan
gier the final obstacles TO free hand in
the French protectoratc Of Morocco From
the Spanish point of view, the Spanish zone
has been, especially since the war of 1898,
by which Cuba and the Philippines were lost
Spain's last hope important colonial
power. Indeed, with the exception of Cj-
braItar there is no other name which touches
Spanish pride SO deeply as that of Tangicr.
and Gibraltar is not in the political arena at
present.
Spaniards claim that the various Moroccan
treaties merely allude to Tangiers special
character and none OF them has ever ex
cluded it from the Spanish zone Frenchmen
claim that none Of the various Moroccan
k1e