TANGIER'S STATUS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19413, 23 August 1926, Page 8

TANGIER'S STATUS.

The pacification of Morocco, signalised by the surrender of Abd p.l Krim and his banishment, has been speedily followed by a revival of the old international dispute over Tangier. By a British treaty with Morocco in 1856 and a Spanish treaty in 1861, a system of capitulations was applied to this port at the south eastern point of the Strait of Gibraltar. These capitulations secured from the Sultan of Morocco a recognition that the subjects of foreign Powers who resided in his dominion should be under the direct jurisdiction of their respective countries. The Convention of Madrid, in 1880, codified these capitulations and extended their benefits to all foreign Powers. A further change came in 1904, when Britain agreed to abandon all political rights in Morocco and France made ,an equivalent undertaking with reference to Egypt; in addition, France undertook to effect an agreement with Spain about Morocco, and later in the year Morocco was split up into three spheres of influenceFrench, Spanish and the partially internationalised zone of Tangier, An item of this agreement provided that no coastal fortifications were to exist along the Moroccan coast from a point about a hundred miles within the strait to another well down the Atlantic coast, save at a few points in Spain's possession. Spain chafed under the arrangement, for two-thirds of Tangier's European population were Spaniards. A new situation was created at the end of 1923. France had taken advantage of the European war to increase her hold on Tangier, but at the Conference of Paris, chiefly through the persistence of British negotiators, the neu: trality of Tangier and its accessibility to the trade of all nations were formally established. By the fresh agreement of 1923, accepted by Spain in the following February, France obtained a dominant position, the Sultan's subjection to a French protectorate being a set-off against the. authority of the resident consuls nominally exercising joint control. De Rivera's request for 'either a Spanish protectorate over Tangier or a Spanish mandate over it under the League raises the whole question again. France cannot be expected to agree. Italy has made a demand for more definite participation. Britain cannot be indifferent in view of the naval value of an unchallenged right to passage through the strait. Although frank discussion should obviate trouble, the issue raised by Spain's demand calls for careful handling.