The French in North Africa.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVII, Issue 5, 31 January 1912, Page 34

The French in North Africa.

The Relation of the Recent Troubles in Morocco to France’s Dream of a Great African Empire.

By' CHARLES WELLINGTON FURLONG

6y F FEW years ago Morocco—in the y [ mind of the civilised world — 4 J was a semi-mythical land, a far-off mirage of barren sand with a few palm-trees dimly shadowed on the skyline of its hazy imagination. Almost touching the south-western finger-tip of Europe. Morocco has been one of the last countries to elude its grasp. The Frank, however, for more

century and the opening of the twentieth saw three famous French expeditions in the North African field. A remarkable one —ostensibly scientific in its aim under M. Fernand Foureau, readied the great desert capitals on the trans-Saharan caravan routes. Air and Zinder. and pushed on to the regions beyond Lake Tchad and the country of the tierce Rabah. the Mohammedan ravager ami conqueror. Here Foureau was

than half a century has been nibbling oft' the edges of its south-eastern boundary. and now we find him on the northwestern coast, eager to begin the invasion of the interior. Ever since the Red ( ross knights planted their Haring standards over Acre and Asealon. and St. Louis raised his banners on the heights of Carthage. Frank has been the synonym of European to the Orientals of North Africa. When France’s policy of territorial acquisition throughout Africa is correlated and surveyed as a whole, one may well U* astounded at its wonderful fore-sight and the stupendous character of its scheme: a scheme which undoubtedly was that of bringing about the eventual acquisition of more than two-thirds of the entire continent of Africa. How near it has come to doing this may be readily seen. The accompanying map will convey an idea of the vast territory which is illy colonised by France or which i- recognised as within the sphere of French influence- a territory almost equal in area to that of the United States, and including a population peril.ips more than a quarter a- large. French influence in great sections ( f the Sudan and Central Africa was pr<»i ilgated mainlv by missionaries, parti ilarl.v the White Fathers. The-e men. under Cardinal laivigerie. commen < ed their crusade against slavery “for Fran.e and the Church” in the late ’fortie-, and at the -acritice of life an.l health crossed the sun-scorched sands • •f the Sah-ara. ami penetrated the rniasm. fever laden jungle of the Sudan, ind Central Africa to Xyanza. Tanganyika. ami Xva-sa. Even in Egypt. Frame -pared no pains to imrea-e it< influence and impres- the native. B* hind the Frem i missionary came the French explorer, tie trader ami the -oldier. The last three years of the nineteenth

joined by an expedition under Lieutenant Joalland from the west, and another under M. (lentil from the routh. The union of these three expeditions established French control over that territory. thus connecting the French

possessions of the Sahara through the Tchad regions of the Sudan with the French Congo. No European power seriously hampered this eastward movement through the Soudan until certain French operations reached the upper valley of the White Nile, under another and most important expedition commanded by Colonel Marchand. It started from the Upper Übangi in the French C ongo, and moved eastward to join the force under the Marquis de Bonchamp. who advanced from Abyssinia westward to meet him in the upper Nile basin. The object of this expedition was essentially a political one. French aims in Lower Egypt being blocked by Britain, a footing in Upper Egypt would not only strengthen its position there, and perhaps through Abyssinia eventually give France an outlet to the western coast, but would block Britain's plan of an Empire from the Cape to Cairo. At Fashoda the west-east trail of the Gaul crossed the north-south course of the Saxon —two stupendous schemes of Empire diametrically opposed to one another. One had to give way—but which? Lord Kitchener flushed with the victory of Omdurman. dropped anchor

before Fashoda and announced to the French commandant that he had come to plant there the Hags of England and Egypt. Colonel Marchand pointed to the French Hag already Hying, and regretted

to inform General Kitchener that he had been anticipated. Lord Kitchener replied that Britain had only temporarily abandoned the Sudan: and he would be pleased to give Colonel Marchand and his men a safe passage down the Nile.

Colonel Marchand smiled and declined, rhe English commander rose and pointed to his vastly superior force. “What can you possibly do against these?” be asked. “Die!” smiled the commandant. Lord Kitchener stood for a moment in silence, with the peace of two continents in his hand. “There is no need for that,” he said. “Your Government sent you here: your Government will call you back. Let us wait and see. Have a whisky and soda! Diplomacy did the rest. Colonel Marchand was recalled and the Tricolor was replaced by the Union Jack. The fact that this affair engendered the bitterest feelings and all but involved the two Channel nations in war goes far to prove the importance, to each, of thq strategic value of that territory. Blocked at this point. France seems to have redoubled its efforts in Morocco. Since the fortifying of Gibraltar and the opening of the Suez Canal by the Britisb f Morocco has been more than ever a desirable possession to the Powers, particucularly to Great Britain and France. Trace on the map south-east down the Atlantic seaboard of Morocco and. lying 200 miles from Tangier, yon come upon a little seaport town of sun-dried bricks, wood and whitewash, with the town walls and some important buildings in the European quarter of stone: Dar-

ri-Beida, the Arabs call it; Casablanca sav the Spaniards. Here France found its easus belli in a mob outbreak, and lost no time in following up its advantage l>v landing a force numbering more than troops. For years the unsatisfactory conditions have increased the dangers of travel and stunted the natural resources anti trade of the country. These conditions are due mainly to the radical ideas of the Sultan and his inability to organise and control his people, who in character art; courageous, cruel, and somewhat stoical, vet at times childishly impulsive and easily swayed to rebellion or war by some half-demented fanatic. The Moroccan fighting force consists only of small tribal detachments of irregular infantry and cavalry, fighting with the same irresponsibility ami wild dash of their fathers of the deserts, with no available artillery and. apart from some members of the coast tribes, possessing few modern weapons of warfare. So tribal is their present organisation that probably nothing short of a general invasion by a common enemy would cause them to cast their lot as a nation against a common foe. Under the present unstable and avaricious Government, where the strong prey upon the weak and it is as dangerous to be rich as to be poor, tribal protection is the only safeguard to the Moroccan; naturally, those tribes whose territory is not actually invaded

or who live far back from the scene of hostilities either care nothing about it or are loth to send their fighting men to the scene of action and leave their women and homes an easy prey to neighbouring hostile tribes. That there was an aggressive element among the Moors, there is no doubt; but with the promise of the Moorish governor at Casablanca to maintain order, a strong French guard at the Consulates and city gates would probably have met all immediate need of protection. Instead, a large French force aggresively entered the town to quiet the rioting, ami not only the suburbs, but the town itself was shelled by war--hip.. This naturally precipitated matters, for the news spread like wildfire that the long contemplated invasion of Morocco by the hated French had begun. The farmer tribes, with Algeria. igli. and Fignig fresh in their minds gathered their bands together and hastened to the coast. With what result? A few French soldiers wen* killed and wounded, while hundreds of Moroccans were slaughtered before the machine guns and shell-tire of the French. It is the beginning of the eml for Morocco as an independent country. France seems to have chosen the |>sy<-ho-logi.al moment to continue definitely its inevitable acquisition of Morocco.

A glance at Al-Mogreb, the Land ot the Evening, will perhaps show just who these people are, and explain the meaning of t’ne various names given them. The original inhabitants were the Berbers, a white race, probably of Semitic origin, whose descendants (an agricultural people) still make up the majority of the hill tribes. Besides these are the Aral>s, whose fathers overran ami conquered North Africa and extreme western Europe in the seventh and eighth centuries, and established centres of learning and civilisation in Spain and Morocco, when our own ancestors were the barbarians of the North. There are also blacks from the Sudan, both slaves and freemen, who have drifted northward. Intermarriage of these various Mohammedan tribes and races has given a complex and mixed population. The Moroccan is truly a study in brown; he varies in tone from the'darkest Negro to the light Caucasian, for the blood of Saxon captives of one or more centuries and ot members of the modern European colonies courses in the veins of many a devout son of Islam, who oft througn the day oilers up iiis prayers to Allah, thanking him that he is what he is and not like you a Christian dog. The term Moroccan means any recognised inhabi taut of the country, while the term Moor, strictly speaking, means a towndweller. and is so used throughout Barbary. As one goes westward from Tripoli, that land of beautiful sunsets and the terrible sand —torm. through 'Tunisia and Algeria, the altitude and tin* range of

the Atlas Mountains increase, the watersupply becomes more plentiful, the soil more fertile, and the climate cooler—• until in strange, fascinating Morocco—are lavished the richest gifts of nature. If Hadji Mohamed, with crude wooden plough and no other means of transportation than his donkey and camel, ham|>ered by unheard-of Sultanic mandates and internecine strife, exports annually £4.000.000 of produce, the possibilities of this land under so scientific and thrifty a people as the French can hardly be estimated. French policy in Tunisia and Algeria will serve as a good criterion by which to forecast the future of Morocco. The narrow streets, mud walls, and sun-dried bricks will give way to broad boulevards and modern houses, the cry of the donkey driver to the squawk of the electric tram, the wild mountain trails ami river fords to roads and .modern bridges, the hand-flail of the Arab farmer to the steam thresher, the fallow land of mountain and valley to extensive plantat ions and beautiful chateaux. The productive character of the Sudan and Central Africa is well known; but of the Sahara—what of those great, limitless, sun-baked, desert reaches ? The French, to some extent, will reclaim it; that which they do not reclaim will be necessary to them for commercial and political reasons. That which is reclaimed for agricultural purposes will be so done by irrigation. The desert is diversified in its character—great rugged mountains, plateaulands, and the seemingly endless sand reaches. In the spring the mountain sides ami plateau-lands to the north are beautified bv a wealth of flora, ami some of the sandy plains are covered with a rank grass and thorny plants. That the artesian well will plav an important part there is no doubt.* Its possibilities may be gauged somewhat when we take, for example, a simple 'yt‘ll sunk in the barren sands of the 1 unisian Sahara, perhaps more than twenty-five years ago. This still throws a crystal stream 25ft. into the air and has developed and irrigates an oasis 500 acres in extent.