AFFAIRS IN MOROCCO.

Otago Witness, Issue 2812, 5 February 1908, Page 27

AFFAIRS IN MOROCCO.

FRANCES ATTITUDE EXPLAINED.

PARIS, January 28 Mr Pichon was warmly applauded foi a speerli which defined- France's and Spain's .joint policy as the result of the mandatories of Europe to restore order in the coast districts of Morocco and to establish j?olice. France would maintain ar prudent neutrality regarding Moroccan internal affairs. There would be no protectorate, and she would not accept a Morocco more internationalised thanunder the Algeciras -Treaty. Her •Moroccan policy was part of her general foreign policy, which was neither the work of a man nor of the Government, tut the work of the Republic, which had regained the position to which it wae titled in the concert of Europe. M.. Pichon eulogised peaceful alliance and" ententes. To link such a policy with the fate of a Minister would only weaken its scope. Ministers fell, but France remained. France had cleared up a misunderstanding between Britain and Russia. France's policy ought not, and did not, appear to be directed against or intended* to isolate anyone. Her agreements with Britain and Spain entitled her to act in Morocco, yet she needed authority to act. Then complications aTose. Did they go as far as to bring about danger of war? '"I do not know," said M. Pichon, "but we, and everybody here, consented to a conference, and we attended with a limited programme. We should have accepted no other, and that' conference gave our rights a new basis." January 29. The Chamber of Deputies, by 436 votes to 51, passed a vote of confidence in M~. Clemenceau's* Moroccan policy. BERLIN, January 27. There is widespread interest in Germany over, M. Delcasse's speech on the Moroccan question in the Chamber of Deputies. Semi-official comments are being reserved until after the termination 1 of tlie debate.

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