The Moors and the Sultan.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 4 July 1911, Page 4

The Moors and the Sultan.

A STRIKING ARTICLE. DEFENCE OF THE iIKHKLLTOX. MF.SSAGE FROM THE BFAT MTIH. (From the Lomt-iwi Ti.iu-rs Correspondent.) TANGIER. May 8. Last night a, tired, barefooted man, disguised in rags, arrived at my house and asked to see me. On entering he told me that he was a relation of lvaid Akka Dnimeni, Chief of t>l K , Heni M'Tir and leader of the Berber rebellion, and that h>? had been sent to me with a message'. Th.i.s stated that ties of friendship which I could not overlook existed between Akka and myself, and that ho- leant upon me to defend his good name and his cause from unjust attack. It had reached him that he had been accused of desiring to kill or drive out of .Morocco all Europeans, and that his rebellion was made expresdy for that purpose. Nothing could be less true. He recalled to inv memory that seven years ago. when Mekiive , /, was passing through the same stitc of siege as exists now at Fez, and when I myself was unable to leave the town, when VILLAGES WKRE BURNING on all sides, and even part of the city 'had been pillaged, when every day men wovo being killed, it was lie, Akka, who. in answer to my summons, came himself close to the city walls where I joined him. and it was he and his fellow-tribesmen who rode with im> 30 miles through the rebel country to Fez. Was that an anti-K/uropoun act? Was it not he, Akka, who used to take the late Major Ogilvie, Instructor •of Cavalry to Abdul Aziz, into the wildest districts of the Beni M'Tir country to hunt. AYas that a sign of hatred of Europeans? CHARGES AGAINST THE SULTAN. The rebellion wa.s against the Sultan and his Vizier. What had they done since Miilai Ha fid ascended the Throne except to extort, pillage, rob and kill? The tribes were' filled with relations of the Vizier, w-lio, with their escorts, robbed them till there was nothing left to rob. raped their women, and brought about starvation and misery on every side. The Be.n. M'Tir suffered as much as any tribe. War. devastation, rap?, and extortion-such was their lot at the bands of Miilai Hafili and Glawi. Would the Sherarda, a Maghzen tribe, have revolted except under tile direst stress? Would tribe after tribe have I'orgi.'tten their quarrels to unite if their cau'e were not just? THE CONDUCT OF EUROPE. And, what had Europe- done except to assist directly in the extortion, and indirectly in all the other injuries that they had suffered? Had not every Christian, every Jew, been paid his just, and too often his unjust claims, and -by whom but by the tribesmen, for the revenues of th Customs were sequestrated and everything fell uron the tribesmen? Loins of money, eventually, too, to be paid 'by t>!ie tribes, cartridges,' rifles, cannon, equipment, everything to facilitat-.-' Miilai Ha fid and th'Maghzen in their wholesale extortion. Europe supplied, at the cost of the tribes. And n-rnv, as the culminating point, a French army was on its wiy t:> assist him. oarrvin<r war and dcnt.li on its path. What has the tribesmen d<HK> to do/onv this? Driven to desperation bv seeing their children die before tlvvni from starvation, bv seeing women outraged, and

THE CATTLE DRIVEN off. in fact, by their lo>in<r their all. they first proestod in vnin. and at length had risen. AVore sir.:-]) risings unknown in FCur'ope? Had no other people ever dene the snine/ They had looked to IC-iimpe for help. or, at least, niercv and found neither. The Powers had grouped together in their own interests and 'in the interest of the Sultan and the Maghzpiii. But why had they furgotten the 'people? AYbat had they d'liic for them? Nothing, except add to their burden, adrondy heavy past boa ring — nothing, nothing! The message goes on to say: "We discovered that Kurope had iv.> pity, but we still looked for justice. "What.havewedono? The Sultan and th? M-aghzon. who rob wholesale to let us die in starvation, and who h;nve brought the whah country to imisery, are assisted and defended : but two wretched soldiers who stole a pack-horse and, fearing the results, deserted—what happened to them less than three months ago in Fez? The Europeans intervened, ■and, they were shot pnhliolv in the presence of the tr-oope. "What LAW OF GOD what justice of man, can justify that?' What can w;- do now but die? it is all that is left to us. We know we caiiiiiot resist for long the French troops, but noil? tho less can we permit them to invade our cdunry. We will not surrender: we wfll not cease from our cause as long as Mulai Hnfid remains Sultan and Glawi 'his Vizier. Under any other Sovereign we will disperse in peace and accept all international agreements, hut this man ami his Vizier have oppressed us too deeply. The blood of our slain, the cries of our children call us to avenge them—the blood of our slain and other blood. Rut a few weeks ago throe little girls from one of the tribes went to Fez to appeal for their father's liberty. When they arrived he was adready dead. They were raped by the Palace attendants and sent home. Had it not 'been for European assistance peace would have reigned months agio and a new Sultan would he on the Throne. You know now to what purpose Europe's assistance is put. and it will be her everlasting disgrace that she has consented to and connived at the prolongation of this p?>riod of crime. The message concludes with those words:—

By the service T onoe rendered you, by our friendship which .has never ceased, in the name of the God of mercy and justice, and in the name of our people, whom you know aii'd love, T call upon you to make known my message.

Shch as it is T send it on, for it is wortbv of bcin>g heard, concludes th'o Times correspondent.