MINISTER IN ATTENDANCE INTERVIEWED.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 139, 12 June 1905, Page 5

MINISTER IN ATTENDANCE INTERVIEWED.

LONDON, June 10. On being interviewed here Senor Ur- ,' rutia, the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, who accompanies King Alfonso. ! -j.id His Majesty was charmed with his visit. He added that -the best possible i relations existed between Spain and Eng.an<L and that the visit of His Majesty j ; meant that Spain would adhere to all j '.er engagements with France and this ! •: JUntry with regard to pending questions. , Resides emphasising the existing good , >cling, and druwing closer the ties which bound both. i I 1 The agreements particularly referred I Ito by Senor Urrruita is that relating to the future of Morocco, the main features of which are as follows; 1- The protocol begins by setting ; forth that there can be no question of j a division of Morocco, as the principles admitted by diplomacy confirm the maintenance of the status quo and respect jfo rthe Sultan's authority. So menI tion can only be made of moral delimitation or establishment of spheres of j influence. This is a recognition by Spain j :of the spirit of the Anglo-French agreei ment. but stress is laid on it. as will at once be seen in the lines that follow. I 2. Spain gives her express adhesion to the convention concluded in April be- | tween England and France. Spain will j I retain all her present possessions. Me131a, Alhueemas. Ceuta, and so on. but j she will not be able to erect any forti- : i Ccations there, nor will she be allowed to cede any of her domains Ln Morocco, whether present or future, to any Power but France, which thus> acquires a j right of pre-emprinn. while the entire coast bftween Siplilla and the mouth •>t the Sebu is neutralised. j 3. Subject to the consent of the Sulan, Spain can develop the territory of the Presidio, so that the Riff rittora] may enter into her sphere of influence. I 4. Thus Spain may incorporate in this sphere the districts which she obtained by conquest during the reign of Charles the Fifth and at other times, and which -he had afterwards to surrender. Tangier and Tettian will be specially affected by this article, which, however, cannot be put into execution before a certain period. Fifteen and 20 years have j I been mentioned as the dates, but again , ! both Tangier and Tetuan would be . üb- ' ject to the same restrictions as the ' I other Spanish establishments in regard ito disability to construct fortificationand su forth. 5. All the territory depending on the Shereef of Wazan and the remainder of the Empire of Morocco will be under ; France's influence. Spain did not conclude a bad bargain -=ince it will probably end by including in her sphere of induenee the entire •oast-line" extending from Melilki to r an<rier. So far as British interests -c concerned, it is. perhaps, better that : lis coast should be specially included | n the Spanish "zone," thoush it looks ; rather Like a choice of evils. Nor. in- : 1 deed, should sight be lost of the eon-.li- j tion that if Spain later on cares to yi.ud . ' those rights to another Power, this | must be France alone, so that France . ! may eventually have the of Mor- ' '. oceo under her thumb. Such, at a-y ' rate, is this programme of ""moral de- i liminarion," which is really an insertion of the thin edge of the wedge. Some politicians here arc now looking forward to the day when some declara- j tion of the neutralisation of the Straits lof Gibraltar i 3 made, as a logical outj come of all these arrangements, but | they are very sanguine. How all this i will affect England's position at Gib- ! raltar and the value of the famous Rock . to her has yet to tre seen. At any rite. all this implies some modification of the : existing situation in the Mediterranean, , 1 and opens out various important pos- , ; Abilities. Reuteris Agency reported last month , that a treaty dealing with the future status of France and Spain in Morocco has been signed. It is an outcome of j the Anglo-French Convention of April 18, 190-C and has been negotiated on th I lines of that Convention, which provi.i led that Great Britain. France and Spain I should conjointly negotiate on thai pirt jof the Convention in which the ; lire ■ 1 Powers were interested. Every detail >of the negotiations has been mad-? 1 known to the British Government, and the terms of the new treaty are re garded with sa*isfaetion by the Govern- '< ments of London, Paris and Madrid. •The treaty contains a number of se- i I cret clauses which will not be made i public. It may, however, be stated that considerable modifications have been made in the French and Spanish de- | mauds since the negotiations comj menced. The boundaries within which . j France and Spain will carry on their | policy of pacific penetration are eiearh 1 defined. There is at present no ques- , | tion of any partition of the country, ; Morocco remaining under the sovereignity of the Sultan. Great Britain's puli- ; tical and commercial rights are rigidly respected. During the whole progress of the negotiations the greatest desire has been evinced on the part of the Governments concerned to come to a • satisfactory arrangement on the Moor ' ish question. This has now been accomplished.