The Ambassador and the Sultan.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6481, 26 September 1892, Page 4

The Ambassador and the Sultan.

AN ENGLISHMAN'S PLUCK. The story of the adventures of Sir Charles Euan Smith, of the British Mission to the Sultan of Morocco at Fez, as told by the special correspondent of the Central News, reads like a romance. He repeats his previous account of the attack on the Mission and the events leading up to it on July 5. About six o'clock in the afternoon the Mission was really in a Bta»"e of siege. Windows were smashed by stones, and it was unsafe to venture out into the gardens. The members of the Mission and two American gentleman travelling in Morocco gathered in the inner courtyard, and serious measures wore concerted for standing the siea;e, should it last, which at that moment seemed imminent. Major Mends, of the King's Royal Rifles, the senior military officer of the Mission, was placed in charge of the defence by Sir C. Euan Smith. At this moment the Moorish Minister for War, Sid Gharuet, ten other viziers, and about twenty of the prominent members of tlie Shereefian Court rode up to the Mission escorted by an armed detachment of the Sultan's personal bodyguard, and besseched in the humblest tones that the British Minister would come with them to the palace and have one last interview with the Sultan. Sir Charles mounted his horse, and, accompanied by the four secretaries dressed in full regalia, rode to the palace attended by an escort of viziers such aa has never before been accorded to a Minister of a foreign Power in the annals of the Shereetian Court. On their arrival at the palace Sir Charles was received in a cubba or 5t" n>t *er house in the warden. The Suit? 11 advanced towards him in a afcite or th-^S^earest agitation, and said : " Your life is*" in datiger. You, your wife, and all your people must come immediately to the palace, and spend the night here." Sir Charles replied: "Your Majesty is mistaken. My life is not in danger, for I am in your Majesty's safe keeping." The Sultan answered : "I am powerless to protect you. The direction of events has escaped from my hands. Again, I say your life is in danger. If you return to the Mission you will be killed, I am sure." Sir Charles Euan Smith retorted : "Perhaps I am to be killed. Perhaps Mr M'Leod, the British Vice-Consul, may be killed. Perhaps, as you say, the whole Mission may be massacred if you permit it ; but one thing I can assure you of is that if this happens there will be another British Minister in Fez within a month. He will be accompanied by a vice-consul, and a staff as well equipped as mine, and better ; but," added the Minister in deliberate tones, " there will not be a Sultan at Fez." The Sultan appeared astounded at the words and demeanor of the British Minister, lie was to all appearance firmly persuaded that the Mission was in imminent peril, and he repeatedly endeavored to induce Sir Charles to remain in the palace, and to send for the other members of his party, but to no purpose. After one of these appeals, which sounded strangely from the mouth of the sovereign, whose word was law, even in the fanatical city, Sir Charles adroitly turned the conversion to the subject of the treaty. The Sultan at once said, with apparent frankness and show of emotion : " I will sign the treaty as you write it. I had intended to sign the treaty at all hazards just as you presented ib to me, which is, I know, as advantageous to Morocco as it is to the interests of your country. After tho affronts which my unhappy people have heaped upon your Mission this afternoon, what can I do to atone for it ?" Sir Charles then demanded the punishment of Bushta el-Bagdadi, the Basha of Fez, the imprisonment of the second Governor, and the flogging of the various soldiers who had made themselves particularly obnoxious in their threats to members of the Mission. The Sultan of his own initiative fined tho Governor, Bushta-el-Bagdadi, L2OOO for his aiding and abetting of the riotous demonstration, and ordered this sum of money to be delivered at the British Mission on tho next morning, to be disposed of as Sir Charles thought fit. The whole of the day of July 6 was spent in a manner eminently agreeable to the members of tho British mission. They witnessed the humiliation and punishment of the fanatical Governor, Bushta el B;igdadi, and the distribution of the One of L2OOO among the poor of Fez. Sid Gharnet, the Grand Vizier, was also present, but he did not produce the signed treaty as expected. The 7th w,i£ spent in formalities. TUe Bth and 9th were occupied by Sid Gharnet and viziers in comparing the twenty-one parngiaphs of the treaty with tho translation made by the dragoman of the British Mission. Frequent attempts were made to have certain verbal alterations made, but Sir Charles Euan Smith refused to change a single sentence. The treaty was then given to Sid Gharnet to be taken to tho pnlaco for the purpose of obtaining the Sultan's signature. On the morning of the 10th Sid Gharnet returned to the Mission House, with a treaty which at first sight appeared to be the one which had been signed on the evening before, and to this document the Sultan's seal had been affixed. A very cursory examination, however, showed that the treaty, while containing intact the twenty-one clauses of the original, had been tampered with, and to each paragraph had been afKxed what was practically a nullifying clause. Sir Charles immediately perceived the treachery, and indignantly taxed Sid Gharnet with it. The Grand Vizier attempted to explain away the fraud, but Sir Charles insisted upon an explanation, and Sid Gharnet admitted that the alterations had been made by the Sultan's orders. He then attempted t > placate the enraged Minister by stating that he was authorised to pay Sir Charles the sum of L 30,000 in cash if he would accept and sign the revised treaty. Sir Charles replied : "Tell your master that I will have neither his bribe nor his treaty," and, seizing the bogus document, the Minister tore it into half a dozen pieces, and threw them at the trembling Vizier, and ordered him to quit the precincts, of the Mission, without a moment's delay. From that moment Sir Charles broke off all communication with the Sultan and his Ministers. The Sultan had evidently feared this move, and in order to secure a delay and enable him to reopen negotiations, His Majesty took the extraordinary step of causing to be forcily seized and removed to another part of the city all the horses and mules of the British Mission. A s-.vift horse, however, was obtained from Mr E. Carleton, third dragoman of the Mission, and he was on the point of undertaking a dangerous ride to the coast with a requisition from Sir Charles to Sir Lothian Nicholson, Governor of Gibraltar, for an armed escort and a baggage train to be sent him to assist him on his return to the coast, when at that moment the magnificent present of horses and swords came in from the Palace. They were all refused. Having learned of Mr Carletou's mission, and perhaps seeing into what dangerous waters his treacherous diplomacy had brought him, towards midnight the Sultan returned all the stolen mules and horses to the Legation stables. In the morning of the loth tho Mission left Fez, and at midnight made the first camp at EiulJSallas. The Sultan sent several High Commissioners after the British Minister. These Sir Charles absolutely refused to receivo, stating to them through his secretaries that, after tho insults that had been offered to himself as the representative of Her Majesty, all the diplomatic intercourse between the two countries was at au end.

A latt oablagram statts that the London Chamber of Commerc* U discussing the reform of building societies. The recent failures of these societies in England and the colonies point to the need of some better method for their conduct) and organisation than at present obtains. There are in the United Kingdom 2,234 building societies with a total membership of over 600,000 people. Their total liabilities are over L 50,000,000. Tho system of organi sation and the method of keeping accounts varies so much in tho different societies that a great deal of difficulty is experienced in ascertaining their exact position. The proposal of the Chamber of Commerce is that in the case of English societies there should be a uniform system of keeping the accounts, which should all be open to Government inspection, and that the regulation of advances should be insisted on. — Star. | During the last fourteen years the consumption ot spirits per head of the population has fallen from L 2 10s 3d in 1878 to LI 17s 3d in 1891. Tobacco, on the other hand, has risen from 19s Id to 23s 7d, and cigars, cigarettes, and snuff from 3s 2d to 4s 7ft. Wine has gone down from 2s lOd to Is 7a ; ale and beer from 2s Id to Is lid. Tea has remained steady at 3b per head ; coffee has fallen from 4id to 2£d ; sugar from 5s 5d to 3s 4|d. New Zealand brewed beer has risen from Is llfd to 2s JHd. The consumption of spirits, tobacco," and cigars is computed as against the* adult male population, including Maoris, reckoned at 139,354 in 1878, and 182,280 in 1891 ; wine, ales, and tea, aa against the male and female population over fifteen years, including Maoris, reckoned at 278,321 in 1878, and 407,590 in 1891 ; coffee and sugar, against the total population, including Maoris, reckoned at 476,114 in 1878, and 675,776 in 8191.