THE COMMONWEALTH CRISIS.

Evening Post, Volume LXVII, Issue 150, 25 June 1904, Page 4

THE COMMONWEALTH CRISIS.

SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 1004. AMERICA AND MOROCCO. Mr. Perdiciuis, the American millionaiie, who was cup lured at Tangier some five weeks ngo, cunnot juistly blame the Govornment of tho United States for the fact that ho is not yet- afc large. His son-in-law and fellow-prisoner, T£r. Varley, is a British subject, and our Imperial authorities have, therefore, boon inlorcstiiitf Ihemselvus in tho matter too, though not with such dramatic emphasis as tho Executive nt Washington. The position is by no means an easy one. Tho enptiveft are in the hands of lUisuli, ix, bandit of credit and renown in tho Empire of Morocco who unfortunately

appears to have as little respect for his luge- lord the Sultan as for a foieiyii millionaire. llaisuli's ofijjinnl deinunds wcie a ransom of £10,000 and the le lwifrc of dome of his fellow-bandits whom the- iSullan had had the temerity to im-piit-ou; and Biilnln and America weie both at first urgent that the terms should bt; accepted, and a warship was sent to Tangier to .show that they were in earnest. A week later, when Rainnli had demanded in addition that the Sultan hhould withdraw his forces from the Tangier province, thus lea-vine; to Raisuli thrs absolute control of it, the American authorities decided that it was lmpo&sihlo to force the Htiltan ro accede to such demands. Raisuli retorted by another exorbitant addition to his already extravagant claims, demanding, in addition to {•lie ransom, that -he should be appointed Governor of the province, and should receive "an indemnity of £14,000 for tho Government's recent attack on his village." A modest and a humorous bandit is Mr. Raisuli, and finding him in such a reasonable mood, the Sultan's Ministers dfeided that, instead of trying any more ill-natured attacks on his stronghold, they | would appeal to the tribes to surrender Raisuli as the only moans of averting foreign invasion —there were then seven American warships in tho harbour, as wess an one British cruiser, and a French hquadron was shortly expected. But the Moors were insolent and refused to treat. The Sultan then took the extraordinary stop of consenting to Raisuli's demands. The robber and robe! was to be rewarded with the Governorship for which he had asked, and ho was also to receive £14,000 by way of compensation for the Sultan's endeavours to enforco tho law. But Raisuli was shrewd enough to want some better security for the money than the promise of a nilcr who has been in financial straits for some time, aud recently gave Mr. Chamberlain a very bad scare by dumping his crown jewels in London for the purpose of pawning or selling them. The unprecedented increase in the import of jewels from Morocco from nothing to several hundreds of pounds was a proof to «Mr. Chambcilain that there was another foreign rival whose products were being dumped to the prejudice of the British manufacturer. Raisuli knows more of the true inwardness of that deal in jewels than Mr. Chamberlain did when ho pub his foot on this Morocco marc's ne.«t; and he has--therefoie had the assurance to demand that the promissory notes of an impecunious and jewelless Sultan should be backed by Great Britain and America. The request has, of course, been refused, but the Sultan has continued his policy of complaisance by appointing Raisuli's nominee to tho Governorship of Tangier and releasing seveial otheia of his iriends —whether with or without compensation wo are not told. The bandit chief now " demands tho Governorship of four provinces, with a guarantee from the Powers." A more ingenuous aud unsophisticated bandit it would be difficult to imagine, and if he docs not achieve- success, his will have been the better part of deserving it. By the time that he has got the whole of Africa, with the guarantee of all the Powers for his quiet enjoyment of it, it will do timo for him to' consider ,ho\v many millions he will need in cash before ho can release his prisoner. Mr. W. S. Gilbert, who has recently been trying his hand at his old craft again, has smely in this engaging bandit and this obliging Sultan as good a pair of central figures for a- new Savoy opera as he could well desire. Tho cable message which reached us from New York yesterday supplies another touch of melodramatic farce to this extraordinary drama. "A wild scene of enthusiasm m-uj witiiewed," we are told, "at tho Republican National Convention, sitting in Chicago, when the text of a message from Colonel Hay, Secretary of State, to tho Sultan of Morocco was read. Tho message, which hns been forwarded to the Sultan through the American Consul at Constantinople, demands Mr. Peuliwiris alive, or Raimili dead." An American political Convention is as well accustomed co tall talk as any assembly in the world, but the terms of Colonel Ray's despatch were tn'.lenough to ntoiusc special enthusiasm. Time was when twisting the tail of the British lion was tho favourite pursuit of American statesmen in the year of a Presidential election, and it is better for all parties except the unhappy Sultan himself that he should have a turn instead.* But what end Colonel Hay's rhetoric can serve, beyond warming the blood of his parly's Convention, it is not easy to'see. Tho Sultan of Morocco appears to have about as much chance of capturing Raisnli as Kuropatkin has of dictating terms of peaco in Tokio next month, which wo believo siill stands us his time-table, date. With the American iionclads on ono sido of him and Rntauli's cut-throats on the. other, the luckless Sultan is between the deep sea and the devil. But should the Americans' talk of capluring his port and seizing *he Customs be put into practice, the comedy will cease, and an international situation of a very serious character might speedily develop. Tho Anglo-French agreement recognises tho preferential claims of France in Morocco, and Germany has made no attempt to conceal her chagrin nt the ■arrangement. The Pan-German Congress decided the other day, with a modesty fully worthy of tho Knisor, that "Germany's political und econnmh-Ri intcresU compelled her to acquire the Atlantic territory of Morocco,' and it also protested against Franco and Britain settling Morocco's future without consulting Germany. We hnvo fllso been informed during the present month that "Germany | claim* th^ right to occupy a commercial port in Morocco air a coal depot." As Great Britain had previously to bear tho main burden of both Gennnn and of Russian enmity, it is gratifying to find America now coming forward to take her fair share of both. li> Manchuria her dip'.omacy did far more to thwart Russia than our own, and Germany will now have to recofrniss; her as the ringleader in Morocco. Whatever tho outcome of the ntesent trouble, the presence of American battleships on a warlike mission at tho very gate- of tho Mediterranean is a remarkablo evidence of the sudden development of the United States as a worldpower.

Tho Commonwealth Parliament is iv the throes of another crisis over tho Arbitration Bill. As introduced by Mi. Wutfon the Bill contains tho same provision with regaid to preference to unionists which has long been in force in New Zealand, and was confirmed in an important division last session. The only dissatisfaction in New Zealand with re< gaid to tho clause is on the part of unionists who desire to make preference compulsory, instead of leaving it to the discretion of the Court, but in the Federal Parliament even the discretionary pieierence was only retained against Mr. Johnson's hostile amendment by 34 votes to 32. Having escaped defeat by this narrow margin on a motion directly attacking the clauso, tho Government wae then faced with a. Hank attack in the shape of Mr. M'Cay's amendment, which pro posed that tho Court should not have power to award preference " unless application for such preference is Approved by a majority of those affected by the iiwaid and who have interests in common with the applicants." Mr. Watson strenuously opposed the amendment, which he said the Government regarded as " a very seri-

otis cut right at the heart of the Bill," but the motion was etinied ncvei Ihelesd by 27 votes to 22. It s-ccnes pi city clear thit the amendment, if it stand, will go ,'cry near to reducing the provision for piefeience to futility. A poll of all the meuibcis of eveiy union, and nppaiently of every other iroiker ik tho industry nff^cicd, would be necessary before profetenc<j could be granted under this amendment, and .such a condition is co impossible of fulfi'mcnt that it can only have been introduced for the purpose of wrecking the clau«e. It will be noted that there wcie .seventeen fevser votea on this division than on tho motion which dhectly negatived tho clause, and we trust that whep the House meets on Tuesday Mr. WaUon will have becured enough of these absentees to restore the clause to its original shape. Should ho h.ive to go to the country ou the question, we c.ui_ot believe that the opponents of the incitsurc v, ill get anything but harm from their tricky tactics.