THE MOROCCAN CRISIS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 203, 25 August 1908, Page 4

THE MOROCCAN CRISIS.

The scenes change quickly on the Moroccan stage, and Abdul Aziz, who last week was the recognised Sultan of Morocco, is now a fugitive from his country, leaving his rebellious brother an open road to the throne. Mulai Hafid has already been proclaimed at Tangier, and, as he has held control of Southern Morocco for some months past, he may now be regarded as "de facto," sovereign of the country. Abdul Aziz, it is reported, intends to withdraw to Syria "to await a change in circumstances, enabling him to return to Morocco." In Syria he will doubtless find sympathy and hospitality, for he is by descent one of the holiest of all Mohammedan potentates, claiming direct succession from the Caliphs, and disputing with the Sultan of Turkey the proud title of "Commander of the Faithful." But it is to be feared that if he expects the assistance of the European Powers to enable him to regain his throne, he will be' bitterly disappointed. "Europe," he said, in an interview, that appeared recently in the "Daily Telegraph," "has caused my ruin; Europe will sustain and save mc." Aβ Abdul Aziz has said, he might at any time have won over his brother and his people to his side by proclaiming a Holy War against the foreigners, and insisting on Morocco's right to manage its own affairs. But, for his country's sake, he preferred to keep faith with France and England, and he now hopes that they will support his authority against the rebels. How far his hopes are likely to be realised may be gathered from the cynical comment of the "Times" correspondent at Tangier, that "the actual personality of the Sultan is unimportant," and th,e suggestion made openly by more than one influential French journal that if Abdul Aziz were killed in the war, it would be easy for France to come to terms with Mulai j Hafid. Taking into account all the circumstances of the case, we incline to! the belief that the defeat of Abdul Aziz marks bis final exit from the arena of , international diplomacy. And it is im-1 possible to repress regret that a man f so well-intentioned and personally deserving has not had a better fate. I "Whatever may have been his faults," says Mr. Walter Harris, perhaps the

foremost English authority on Moroccan affairs, "the Sultan has never been influenced by anything bnt a real desire to do his best." when France refused to assent to the collection of taxes except on the system she prescribed, the Sultan steadfastly rejected the advice of his Ministers to revert to the old methods of oppression and extortion. He has punished corruption, purified justice, abolished the worst forms of official tyranny, and striven, according to his lights, to raise his country to the rank of a civilised Power. But in doing all this he has constantly offended against the traditions and ritualistic observances ■ sacred in Moslem eyes; and he has tried so earnestly to be- just to everybody that he has never followed any consistent line of policy for long. "I have tried," he said to Mr. Harris during the crisis of 1904, "I have tried to do so much for my country, to improve it in every way, and now the European Powers talk of dividing it up or giving it away. It is very hard. I have tried to follow every one's advice." This is no less pathetic than true; and if abstract equity counted for much in the diplomatic world, the Powers could hardly venture to desert Abdul Aziz in his hour of need. As it is, we fear that the doctrine of easy-going expediency which most of them are content to follow, points to their acceptance of Mulai Hafid. Not that this solution of the Moroccan problem is likely to be final. As Abdul Aziz himself has pointed out, Mulai Hafid is merely the figure-head of the reactionaries in Morocco, and he is liable at any moment to be displaced by any fanatic who will lead the people in a crusade against the infidels and unbelievers, who are now coercing Morocco for their own ends. But whatever be the outcome of the crisis, it is to be feared that the victory of Mulai Hafid at Markesh has definitely sealed the fate of Abdul Aziz and opened a new page in Morocco's troublous history.