New Britain herald., 1925-09-14
WHAT THE MOROCCAN WAR IS ABOUT

The caids. wszirs, grand wizars and Moslem generalissimos gener- ally who have been upholding the diehad or holy war in the Riff are now facing the supreme test. Mar shal Petain is on the ground and the French, according to communi- ques from Fez and Paris, are mill ing around with the sheiks of the desert In what is called colonial warfare. Nobody expects the Riff fans to win the war; In fact, the intelligent el-Krim brothers. who are at the head of the Moslem hamsains, do not delude themselves with any such fantastical dreams On the other hand, they don't eX- pect to lose in the scrimmage. Verify, a peculiar situation. The Rifians expect 10 get trounced in various portions of the field, but ultimately expect to get what they went out after in the first place. Not one person in a thousand possesses maps with sufficient detail to show the lay of the land in Nor rocco; and without this an intelli- gent estimate of the situation is quite impossible. Sufficient to say is that the Riff country itself is very mountainous. Fighting up to the present has been in the "zones' not part of the Riff proper.
 Now it is possible to focus the picture. If the Riff proper should remain unconquered. the bad and bold Rinians would still be in a position 10 indulge in the unpleas- ant pastime of raiding. The neigh
 borhood would be no place for a person loving peace, quiet, pros perity and safety.
 Therefore, one is inclined to ask
 what will the finish be? What can
 be the end of the Moroccan melee
 What Krim and his younger
 brother are out after is forcing a
 general conference of the powers or
 the Moroccan situation and settling
 it according to lines more or less in conformity with common sense
 if that can be done. The Riff wants
 sovereign rights over the larger par
 of the so-called Spanish zone;'
 the treaty of Algeciras would b'
 scrapped; France would emerge
 more securely established than be
 fore.
 But all this cannot happen unti
 the warning contenders from Eur
 ope have satisfied national prestig
 bit; some victories by the Frencl
 and Spanish would help to this end
 When the Moroccan peace confer
 ence is held Spain will likely be re
 lievod of the hot poker she has beel
 holding ever since she projected he
 deplorAble administration into in Noroccan hornets nest, But sh will retain her "honor about lik she retained it after the Spanish American war,
 There has been a marvellous dit ference between the administration
 of Spain and France throughou . their various zones of influence Spain's administration of Cuba an the Philippines were ideal compare with her administration in MoroC s co, Frances administration of he r zone, on the contrary, has been on of the colonial marvels of moder P times. This Is not remarked wit [. any journalistic idea of making b French reader feel good, but b' @ cause it is q fact,
 @ The Rifians were disgustcd wit 9 the Spanish and all but drove the 70 10 the sea; the Rialans and tt ; Arabs were pleased with the Frenc e administration. but are al war vii n them for diplomatic reasons - l. force a general Moroccan settl
 mcnt. They are known to belie' " that Spain will lose out at tn It time. while the benefcent rule $ France in it's zone will remain. l. There has been one fairly got n road in the Spanish zone; only ol ', telephone line: no reliable post 's service, no civilian police except Il political secret service; no sanita' 1 service; no health service; no ho l. pitalsi no tood inspection; ozly