The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-06-06
SP ANISH, French
BLOCKADE HITS
WOUNDED RIFFS
They Fight for NGtiUe
Soil, Doctor Says

EOtNGONs EHbiduCg JUNO 49, TIC
Spanish and French government have
bIockaded Morocco to such an ex-
tent that it Is Impossible for a doc
tor or nurse to get Into the interior
Of the Riff country to aid the wound
ed and sick natives, H. Gordon Can
ming, who has Just returned to Lon
don after mInIstering to the Riff
wounded In their war against the In
vading armies.
Canning declares that the Riffians
are fighting for complete independ-
ence from the domination Of foreign
imperialists. They merely ask to be
left alone to govern their own land.
The Riffians would gladly mako peace
and settle boundary disputes with the
invaders, Canning declares.
In a recent interview, Canning
stated:
A blockade has been established in
the present war which prohibits even
Red Gross stores being sent into the
country, and had made it almost i'm
possible for doctors to penetrate into
the interior to alleviate the sufferings
Of combatants and non-combatants,
which modern war, with all its hor.
tors of bomb-dropptng, gas artillery
and machine gun Are, entail on the
population Of . country which sui.
esfs an invasion
Defend Their eoh.
Nevertheless, the Riff continues
TO dght, and has on many occasions
sent out desperate appeals to prove
to tho public Of Europe that he wages
var simply to defend his soil and
drive back the foreigner to the sea
coast"
For two thousand years, altho this
country has suffered numerous inva-
sions, It has never been wholly oc-
cupied or subdued by any foreign
element, and they do not intend that
the present day shall see their coun-
try become a colony Of Spain.
1.-THE league of nations, which is
supposed to limit the possibilities of
war and to protect the rights Of small
nations, does not appear to be in any
hurry to solve this dangerous prob
lem, altho the Rim has on many occa-
sions appealed for its support and
arbitration.
Are Most HospltabIe.
During my journey thru Morocco 1
did not meet single Riff who could
be described as cunning, suspicious
or cruel; on the contrary, they were
most hospitable and frank, not In the
least fanatical or savage. The one
desire Of everybody appeared to be
first to win independence, secondly
to have peace, and thirdly to develop
the country.
THE adjective cunning seems to
me to be more applicable to many
European diplomatists than to the
Rim, for proof of which it is not
necessary to go further than the
methods employed to enmesh Moroo.
co herself in the entanglements of Eu-
ropean diplomacy"
Demand Independence.
Muhammed ben Abdul Krim has no
desire to create any disturbance in
this zone. He wishes, and has re-
peatedly demanded. that a neutral
commission should be appointed at
once to investigate and to rectify the
boundary lines between the two dis
tricts over which there is a dispute,
and which is a tantalizing cause of
frontier incidents.
The peace terms which the Rif-
fans have demanded are not alto
gether excessive. There were a few
minor territorial points which in the
course Of conference would be- more
or less settled. They were prepared
to leave Spain in undisputed posses
sion Of Ceuta and Melilla and the ora
mines which have been developed
close to the latter place.
They demand complete autonomy
and recognition BY the league of ma.
lions"