The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. SATURDAY, AUGUST 11, 1923. THE TANGIER CONFERENCE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 82, 11 August 1923, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. SATURDAY, AUGUST 11, 1923. THE TANGIER CONFERENCE.

It is expected that on August 21st the conference between Britain, France and Spain respecting Tangier will he resumed. Discussing

the Tangier problem some time ago the special correspondent of the “Manchester Guardian” said that to judge by some of the French papers the Quai d’Oisay (French Foreign Office) seems to be considering a scheme for linking up the Moroccan with the Egyptran question. In the view of the Quai d'Orsay there is an opportunity for a deal. The argument is based on the idea that Egypt is now an independent nation, and therefore Great Britain can maintain a garrison on the Suez Canal only by the consent of the European Powers. France, therefore, sees the possibility of exchanging French consent to a British garrison on the Sm j z Canal for British concessions to France in Tangier. In 1904 Great Britain granted certain rights to France In Morocco generally, and in the French view those rights might now be extended to cover Tangier. The British comment on this is—l. That there can be no question of weakening our position in so important a station as Tangier and the surrounding country, which faces Gibraltar on the south coast of the Straits. 2, That the danger of foreign Powers questioning our right to garrison the Suez Canal under the new arrangement in Egypt •was foreseen and guarded against in the Egyptian Treaty itself. At the tim - when the treaty was drawn up special emphasis was laid by the British Government, backed by Lord Allenby, on tile Monroe Doctrine therein laid down. A “hands off Egypt” doctrine was agreed on by Britain and Egypt jointly, with the definite object of keeping off foreign interference. At present the territory of Morocco is divided into three zones of influence under France, Spain, and the Sultan of Morocco respectively. Tangier and its district has a sort of suspended international status. In 1913 and 1914 a Commission,

whose work has never heen publ'shed. was engaged in drafting the international statute of Tangier which had to be held up at the beginning of the war. It was, however, drafted and France and Great Britain were prepared to sign, although Spain put forward re«ervat*ons. No further steps have been taken so

far, chiefly because France and Spain have not heen disposed to raise the question. Now, however, that French initiative has conceived the idea of linking up Egypt with Tangier the British desire to have the matter settled may get a chance. It was in 1914 that France and Great Britain agreed on their respective roles in Morocco and Egypt, as a result of which Great Britain surrendered her political interests in Morocco. Now that Egypt is independent, on the French argument, Great Britain should extend to Tangier wholly or partly the renunciation then made in Morocco in return for what France regards as a concession On the Suez Canal. This argument is by no means accepted in British official quarters. France seems definitely to bo claiming the predominant position in Tangier in spite of British financial, economic, and military interest. The position is further complicated by a renewed assertion of its rights by the Makhyen or Moorish Government, which is still the legal Sovereign over Tangier as part of old Morocco.