Evening star., 1932-11-02
FRENCH COLONIAL
. CHANGES ARE SEEN
Visit of Herriot to Madrid
Brings Official Specu-
IatiOn.
BY CONSTANTINE BROWN.

A fundamental change in the colo
nial policies of France and Spain IN
North Africa is expected in well M
formed diplomatic circles to result from
the courtesy" visit of Premier Herriot
to Madrid This change is bound to
affect Great Britain and Italy.
Ever since the SpaniardS deposed
their King and adopted the republican
form of government, the Spanish gov
ernment has been anxious to clear the
difficult situation in Northern Africa.
which has been costing millions and the
lives of many Spanish soldiers without
succeeding in subduing the natives.
The republican government intends. It
Is reliably stated, to get out or the Rill
and its other possessions on the North-
ern shore of Africa as soon as 1t con-
veniently can do so, and the visit OF MI
HerriOt is believed to have been maze
with the view to France taking over the
territories the Spaniards intend 10
abandon.
At the present moment revival of
Moroccan warfare on a large scale is
feared and the French are prepared to
meet this emergency, but the Spanlards
are reluctant to sacrifice more men.
Unrest Prevails.
On the other hand, the Spanish pos
sessions on the East African coast, the
Rio Orc and Cap JUDY districts both
OF which are more important TO the
French than the Spaniards, are Seeth-
ing with unrest and it is said that MI
Herriot has suggested to the Spanish
20 llSFr
France in exchange for certain in
creased advantages in Tangiers as well
for a lump sum OF money.
The same inducement is offered 10
the Spanish government for the posses
sion of the Spanish Riff. The French
government. which heretofore has been
severely handicapped in its military OPP
erations against those mountalneers by
the fact they had to cooperate with
the weak Spanish colonial forces has
asked Spain to hand over the policing
of that region to the French military
in Morocco The French have been pre-
pairing for trouble in Northern Morocco
for long time and have been building
railroads to facilitate the transportation
OF troops to the unruly regions.
They intend now, 1t is asserted. 10
continue with the building of that rail-
road network as close as possible to the
main Spanish ports in North Africa,
Ceuta and Melilla.
As far as is known. the agreement
does not provide anything about the
handing over of those strategically i'm
portant ports to France. but it is stated
that the new railroad will be built
within IS miles from these ports.
British Objections Seen.
In spite of the existing cordial rela-
tons between Great Britain and France,
it is said. the British are bound to
raise serious objections to this plan
whenever it is ready to materialiZe.
For the time being. the British con-
troll without challenge the Straits OF
Gibraltar. AS long as the two principal
ports on the other side OF the straits.
Melilla and Ceuta, are in the hands of
a weak nation they can constitute no
danger to the British control over
Gibraltar But II these ports pass into
the hands of a strong nation, like
France, the British situation in the
Mediterranean will be substantially
altered. Ceuta can form an ideal sub
marine basis, and, with the control OF
that harbor by the French, no ship
will be able to get through unless the
French permit it.
While it Is denied by the French gov
eminent that any arrangements with
such an ultimate view have been nego-
tiated by Mr. Herriot during his visit
to Spain, reliable reports received in
Washington indicate this matter has
been thoroughly discussed between
President Zamorra and the French
premier, and it Is likely that on ac-
count Of the Spanish financial difficult
ties and its desire to clean up once for
all her North African entanglements
Spain may have agreed to compromise
with France on this matter which is
of vital importance to the French gen.
eral staff.
Troop Movements Facilitated.
With the control over Ceuta. France
would not only, in case of international
complications share the supremacy of
the straits with Great Britain. but also
could bring her troops from North
Africa to Europe with much less risk and
trouble than when she had 10 trans
port them from Oran to Marseilles.
That means of transportation re-
quired important conveying, because
the transports had to be in the open
sea for at least 48 hours and were ex-
posed to submarine attacks. The method
of bringing troops from North Africa
to France by the way of Ceuta is much
easier because it requires only few
hours crossing between two continents
without muchlsrisk from submarines or
any other Warcraft.