MOROCCO.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 114, 6 July 1911, Page 5

MOROCCO.

BRITAIN TAKES A LEAD. By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright. United Press Association. London, July 5. Private advices from Gibraltar state that a division of. the Mediterranean fleet , has been ordered to Gibraltar forthwith in connection with the Morocco crisis. Tho action of the French Government in sending a force to relieve Fez was looked upon with suspicion in Germany, and to a lesser extent in Spain. Laiache, on tho coast' of Morocco, was occupied by Spanish troops, but the Madrid Government appears to have been satisfied with the French explanations. The jealous scrutiny with which the action of France in Morocco is watched in Europe is exemplified in the following utterances of tho Neue Frcio Presse of Vienna. At the end of this year, it says, the validity of the Aigeciras Treaty expires, and with it the privileges it assigns to France. Seven months before its expiration disturbances suddenly break out in Morocco, with the result that regular French troons proceed to the relief of Fez. Little remains of the provisions of the treaty. Will France whose flag now flies in Morocco and whose soldiers’ blood may be shed there, be inclined or have the strength to respect paper rights and to evacuate the country? This is the serious point; and official and semi-official jl. rases annot Icic the sinking resemblance between the history of the British occupation of Egypt and the course of affairs in Morocco. The Morocco question is once again before Europe. Spain demands a pledge, and, at the moment when a French general with French troops is marching to occupy Fez, Spain takes possession of a point of Moroccan territory. This simultaneous action of two European powers'invalidates the political and military provisions of the Aigeciras Treaty. What will Europe, and particularly Germany, say to these changes ? It may be doubted whether Germany intended her agreement with France of February, 1909, to open the way for military expeditions. Germany is confronted by weighty decisions, and the question is whether France and Germany can agree about Morocco and whether M. Delcasse’s old error—a provocative policy—can count upon tho support of the French Parliament.