Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-06-23

blind old man, living in fear in
his palace at Rabat.
Sultan Moulay Mohammed
Ben Arafa is a reluctant ruler,
Third Of O Series
brought to the throne as a puppet
Of the French. Few in Morocco
recognize him as either a Spiri-
tual leader or a sovereign.
His story is symptom OF the
ailments that plague the French
empire. The political pattern of
Indo- China is taking shape once
again. Morocco is Smoldering.
The situation may not be SO
Immediately critical as that Of
Frances other North African
protectorate, TuniSia, but the
elements of prairie fire lie be-
meath the surface.
Moulay Mohammed has been
Sultan nine months. He was put
into the job because the old Sui
tan, Sidi Mohammed Ben Yous-
SET, declined to be puppet all
his life.
Story Dates From 1912.
To understand the story of
the SultanS. you have to go back
to 1912. The French were es-
tablishing their authority in Mo-
rocco. Hadj THANH ell Glaoui
Mezaouri, paSha of Marrakech
and ruler of the Berber tribes
men, threw in his lot with the
French. He would remain I'M
challenged ruler of the whole
region of Marrakech. In theory
only, he was the instrument of
the sultan.
The pasha'S fortune came from
many interests all the way from
mines to levies on brothelS, plus
q feudal system Of taxation.
When the sultan visited a city.
he would announce how much
money the city should give him.
The pasta called his caliphS and
word was passed down. If the
sultan needed 100 million francs,
200 million would be collected to
take care of outstretched palms
- including the pasha'S - all
along the line.
In 1927 Sidi Mohammed be-
came Sultan after the death OF
his father. A shy boy, he had
not expected to rule because he
had two elder brothers. But the
French sized him up as man
ageable, an instrument to ensure
their grip on a land rich in min
eral resources and teeming with
possibilities for development.
Sid Mohammed remained shy
until 20 years ago, when the
Istiqlal independence move
ment, looking for a rallying
point, began calling his "our be-
loved king" Sidi Mohammed
liked that.
Got Big Ideas After War.
During Sidi Mohammed's rule.
the French ended tribal wars and
united Morocco. But the Sultan
was not popular, nor did he get
big ideas, until after World War
II. He leaned closer to IStiqlal
while continuing a long-Standing
feud with local chieftains, the
caids and paShas, and particu-
larly the Pasha of Marrakech.
Nine months ago Sidi Mo-
manned felt strong enough to
balk at signing reforms an
nounced by the French to ap-
pease nationalist feeling. The
French, using the threat of the
pasha's three million Berbers,
deposed him and exiled him to
Madagascar.
Morocco'S native population
Of 812 million-about 8 million
of them illiterate-had diSliked
the Sultan as a money collector.
The Berbers. Moors rather than
Arabs, had paid little attention
to him. But the moment the
French removed him, the nom
Berber population suddenly and
avidly supported him. He was
their hereditary spiritual leader
and they insisted the French
could not remove him.
The situation worsened at
once. There was an air of con-
tinuing crisis, spelling danger to
the mighty American air bases
newly built in the country.
TerrOriStS Hired.
BY day life went on normally
In the f1ouriShing cities built by
the French. BY night in dark
alleys mysterious groups of three
men were hiring poverty
stricken Arabs for a few thou
sand francs to murder and ter
rorize. In the crowded slums ma
tionalistS tried to enforce boy
colts of French goods. To stig-
Matte French tobacco, they
would pounce on cigarette
smokers and grind out lighted
stubs on offenders palms.
In the distance, French bust
nesSmen could see a threat of
creeping paralysis. Some ap-
pealed to Paris for a change in
policy, but old line colonists
called for more firmnesS. That
meant force, arrests, curfews, re-
pressions. The more "firmness,"
the more terror. Responsible Ma
tionalist leaders who might have
checked the terror were in jail or
exiled. New men, more extreme.
took over. Moderate Nationalist
were becoming less and less mod
crate, even though they admit
ted Morocco had few people able
to administer what has become
modern nation in 40 years of
French rule.
Twice the new sultan was al
most killed in terror attacks, and
now he nreferS tn StaV within