The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 1908. FRANCE IN NORTH AFRICA.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 6, 7 January 1908, Page 4

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 1908. FRANCE IN NORTH AFRICA.

, For the cause that lades assistance , For tfi« tcrbng tliat needs resistance. For the future in the diitaMce, And the good that we can Ao.

"When France's policy of territorial acI; quisrtion throughout Africa is correlated and surveyed as a whole, one may well be astounded at its wonderful foresight and the stupendous character of its scheme—a scheme which undoubtedly was that of bringing about the eventual acquisition of more than two-thirds of the entire continent of Africa." These woreta may help to throw some light upon the true significance of the activity " that France has displayed for some years past on the borders of the Sahara and the and on the events that have * led up to the present condition of affairs in Morocco. The outbreak of war in Morocco, and the international complications resulting from tae Algeelras Con- ■ ference, should not make us forget that in the past France has always preferred to advance by way of peaceful penetration rather than hostile .aggression. The foundations of a great African Empire were laid by France a century ago in Egypt and Algeria. In the middle of the nineteenth century bands of devoted French missionaries carried' civilisation into the heart of the Dark Continent, and extended French influence as far as Nyassa and Tanganyika. Behind the missionaries came the trader, the esJ plorer and the soldier. During the last three years of last century three great expeditions were sent out by France into West Central Africa. They functioned successfully in the Western Soudan and established French authority over a ter7 j ritory almost equal in area to the United States. At the same time Colonel Marchand started - from the French Congo and moved east to join another military exj j pedition starting from Abyssinia and r; moving toward- the sources of the White . Nile. All the worid knows now how England crossed France's path, and how Kitchener turned Marchand back from Fasboda. But if Marchand had not come too late the history of a continent would , have had to be re-written, and the star of France might now have been in the • ascendant throughout Northern Africa Happily for the world's peace, the rulers of France realised that they must submit to this disappointment and make the best of their opportunities in other directions. From the day of Marchand's retreat from Faslioda they practically resigned Egypt to England; and they turned with redoubled energy to their ( task of extending and consolidating their Empire along the northern limits of the Sahara and the Soudan. Slowly and steadily France improved her position in Morocco, extending her schools, her protection policy, her loans, and her influence in the Western Kingdom, and moving forward her Algerian boundary line as opportunity afforded. For many years Morocco has been doomed to fall "a prey to the hands of the spoiler." England was the only Power that couJd contest France's interests there, and England decided that security of tenure in Egypt was worth this sacrifice. Thus the Anglo-French Convention of 1904 left France predominant in Morocco, and the expedition to Casablanca is the logical consequence of this compact. There is nothing now to prevent the ultimate occupation of the whole country by France, and we may expect in a few years to find Morocco indistinguishable in administration and civilisation from Algeria and the rest of the French dominions on the Mediterranean coast. No doubt Morocco, like Algeria, will benefit immensely through the* , annexation. France has always possessed adminstrative capacity of a high order, and her marvellous achievements in Egypt and Algiers have proved that the interests of the uncivilised races in North Africa can safely he committed to her care. She will establish law and order in Morocco, set up schools and colleges, water the land, organise its trade and regulate its finances. Then she will turn her hands £o the Sahara, and the world may yet see the miracles of the Nile Valley reproduced in fertile regions springing into life at the touch of irrigation in this trackless and barren desert. But even if we leave the Sahara still a blank, we see France already in practical possession of three-fourths of North Africa, and potentially the dominant Power in all the vast expanse of territory west of, Egypt unclaimed by England. Nor can we doubt that this immense extension of France's territorial area will on the whole promote the welfare of the native races, and can be carried into effect without in any way injuring British interests, or breaking the bonds that now happily unite us to France.