Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1908 THE NEW SULTAN IN MOROCCO.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 16 September 1908, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1908 THE NEW SULTAN IN MOROCCO.

MOORISH V. EUROPEAN INFLUENCES. WHILE developments in Morocco apooar to bo making towards a return to normal conditions, it is clear that the Dosition there ha« been undergoing a startling? change, and the effect on French policy and prestige may be farreachinc France secured her foot- ' hold in ' Morocco under the regime of ! the deposed Sultan Abdul Aziz, and \ under that regime also the French sta- ■ tns in the country was recognised by th« /Meedraa Convention. But now the ' former Sultan, whom France protected and who in turn protected Fra.nce, is a. ' defeated fugitive, while hie brother has 1 !>(M-n Drrsclaimed at Tangier and already ' !«e Germany at his back. It is beyond question that the ex- ■ ! Sultan's leanings towards moderniain, ' and his complaisance towards French r domination and methods, have been hia { ■••ndoiiis. Ke has been a backslider * from the fierce triba] traditions of his race, and the tribesmen have forced him to find his Waterloo. It is said that he will flee to Syria, and there iwait circumstances which may be more DroDitions for his return to Morocco. Meanwhile, his brother becomes Sultan y of the Shereefian Empire. But if the w reactionaries and ths conservatives a ; imaeine that by getting rid of a Sultan f t with Western leanings they will compel j -i return to the ancient barbarism they are mistaken. Europe has its grip on t) Morocco, and it will not be relaxed by } a mere change of the nominal sover. n( eiem. Mnlai Hafid mnst trim his sails j to the prevailing -wind, or he may meet i shin wreck more complete than bU B \, brother haa done. fll Mulai's policy has been announced | ■is "Morocco for the Moroccans." But. fft J the strange discovery was mad« reosnf- ' ° Iv that he posessses a Foreign Minister, V r cne Si Aissa, who was in constant com- '

miication with M. Jaures, the French •cialist leader, an-d the particular, tete noir" of M. Clemenoeau. M-| vures. it seems, encouraged Mv ai to , jrsevere in his campaign n,gajnst Ab- ; ul Aziz, and declared that France tl ould recognise the Wf OT »S * , th. throna a* soon <vi h. •J tob ™"£. * imself by forca of arms. JL ■ J a^f '- *■ hat visited the French capital. Mulai . las also been in correspondence wittt ii ,is "envoys" in Berlin, and he i Mi- ; J lounoed recenUy through a German 0 ■riond that ho intended to exush AD- , lul Aziz, and that he would then place arso orders in Germany for weapons md tente. The prospect therefore, of ■ :ranqnillily boing restored in Motw. « s far from reassuring. "Socialism as , thfl result of reaction against V. estein , modernism of the approved stamp md.^ed wouM be exchanging King Lob | for Kin« Stork ! . . # < , Mulai Hafid has come to bo regarded ' v Oermanv'a candidate while Abdul Aziz was the nominee, almost the pupoet of Franco. But Mulai w the nominee and puppet.of Freijcb . Socialist. , is grotesquely unthinkable ! He is tne ; S«r^ontemner of "infidel" matitu- , tions. He has scorned bicycles and motor cars. He regards the four-in- 1 hand coach as an abomination, and nther Western "toys" as an insult to the Prophet. Abdul Aziz, on the , other hand, would pawn his jewels to buy steam engines, in the antemotor days, and in later tinw he would run into debt for sparking mugs, accumulators, grammaphones, billiard •ables, repeating rifles, etc. Mulai Has made aroat capital out of his conviction that the ways d{ his ancestors were good enough for him. But the ( "Times'" correspondent at Tangier in-, t.imates that even Mulai seems likely to fall under the spell of European civili- J sation. and to become "as amenable to loans" as his brother. European Go- 1 wrnments have long since discovered ( that the easiest way of destroying the Dower of any semi-civilised ruler is to lend him money. It is far cheaper as a rule than going to war with him. Hence it is expected that Mulai's reactionary sentiments and fierce Hftj.iro to oust all Europeans from Morocco will vanish as soon as he finds • it oossible to borrow from them. Con- 1 sequently, it is probable that the Go-, vernment from which he borrows the j most money will be his master. With . n load of foreign debt round his neck , ha will be as powerless as the man l ho has ousted to protest against the Europeanisation of the country. From the international standpoint it ; s a matter of supreme indifference to' the civilised world whether Mulai or ; Abdul reiens in Morocco, except insofar ' is the personality of the ruler affects I the ambitions of the nation* which de- j sire to hold territory and make money . by trade and other means. Now that 1 Germany has sustained a set-back with ; her Banhdad railway owing to the blood- j less revolution in Turkey — a scheme for, which she vainly sought French sup- j Dort — it may suit Germany to make mischief in Morocco in the hope of get- j tine a foothold in the consequent con-i fusion, and also to give her old enemy] \ "slao in the face." Judged by the j early events of Mulai's reign, it ap- j oars as if German hands in Morocco i will bo Greatly strengthened, and that' tho intricat-o Rams now being played in the distressful country may disclose ■jome very curious future moves. '~ i