MOROCCO. 



575 



of supplies on their heads to Marakish. The 

 Sultan, after he had received their offerings, 

 turned his soldiers loose on the tribe to plun- 

 der and murder as they pkased for two days, 

 in order, he said, to teach the rebels to iv 

 his authority. The Beni Zemour in retaliation 

 poisoned all the wells, with the result that the 

 Sultan's favorite wife and many members of his 

 household died. He himself was taken very 

 ill, it was supposed from the same cause. 



Naval Demonstration. The prospect of a change 

 of rulers is regarded with consternation by 

 all the inhabitants of Morocco, the foreigners 

 doing business there not excepted. The death 

 of Muley Hassan would be followed inevita- 

 bly by a conflict among all the tribes, each 

 of" which would tight for the candidate for 

 the throne with whom it is most nearly con- 

 nected. A new Sultan is supposed to be se- 

 lected by his predecessor, but ho must be 

 accepted by the majority of the- people before 

 he is permitted to take his seat under the She- 

 reetian Umbrella. The present Sultan, in the 

 beginning of his reign, killed off his two un- 

 cles and the most prominent member of the 

 Drissian branch of the Shereefian family, and 

 then banished all his male relatives to the 

 oasis of Tafilet. where they have been kept in 

 penury and solitude. His sons are so young 

 that none of them is likely to be accepted as 

 his successor. There are, however, several 

 descendants of both the Aliweein and the Dris- 

 sian dynasties who have powerful tribes at 

 their back, ready to defend their claims to the 

 succession. The jealous powers, whose mutual 

 distrust has prevented the introduction of 

 civilizing agencies, regard the situation with 

 watchful anxiety. In September, 1887, when 

 the news of the probably fatal sickness of Mu- 

 ley Hassan was brought to Madrid, the Span- 

 ish Government at once got its fleet ready and 

 moved an army corps to the ports nearest the 

 Moorish coast. On October 1 Sefior Moret 

 advised the governments of Germany, Eng- 

 land, Austria, France, and Italy of Spain's in- 

 tention to send troops to the Spanish fort 

 on the coast of Morocco. Great Britain was 

 prompted by the Spanish armaments to dis- 

 patch a naval force to Morocco, and France 

 and Italy were equally alert. These powers, 

 in their replies to the Spanish dispatch, which 

 was amplified on October 5 in a circular to all 

 the signatories of the Madrid Convention, ex- 

 pressed approval of the steps taken by Spain, 

 and declared their intention of sending ships 

 to Tangier to protect the lives and property of 

 their subjects. A few weeks later, powerful 

 war-ships of the various nations anchored in 

 the bay of Tangier, and remained to watch 

 events until the recovery of the Sultan and 

 the progress of diplomatic negotiations removed 

 the cause of their presence there. 



Proposed Morocco Conference. The Morocco 

 crisis impelled the Spanish Cabinet to urge the 

 elevation of the representatives of the great 

 powers at Madrid to ambassadorial rank, in 



the hope that Spain as a great power would 

 be able to press her historical claims to Mo- 

 rocco with more weight. "When the Madrid 

 statesmen perceived that the right of their 

 country to dispose of the fortunes of the Moor- 

 ish empire was disputed by all the powers, 

 they resorted to another method of placing 

 Spain in the lead. On October 2 Senor Moret 

 -ted the advisability of reassembling the 

 conference of 1880. In the note of October 5 

 he dwelt upon the reasons for Spain's taking 

 the initiative and uniting with the powers in 

 demanding in Morocco the reforms demanded 

 by civilization, declaring that the policy of 

 Spain is opposed to any idea of territorial ag- 

 grandizement. The Spanish interest in the 

 fate of Morocco was recognized in 1880 by the 

 powers to the extent of an understanding that 

 the views of Spain should be heard in the first 

 instance on all questions affecting Morocco. 

 The powers assented in principle to the pro- 

 posed conference. France, however, in order 

 to close the way to any further assertion of 

 the pretensions of Spain, insisted that the busi- 

 ness of the conference should be restricted to 

 the revision of the Madrid Convention. This 

 limitation, which was supported by Great Brit- 

 ain. Spain was finally forced to accept. The 

 English Government made the suggestion that 

 the powers should guarantee the integrity of 

 the Sultan's dominions in return for concessions 

 of facilities for commerce and of improved gov- 

 ernment. The various cabinets accepted the 

 invitation to take part in the conference, which 

 was to meet at Madrid before the end of Janu- 

 ary, 1888. The countries represented in the 

 Madrid Conference of 1880 were Germany, 

 Great Britain. Austria, Belgium, the United 

 States, France, Italy, Holland, Portugal, Swe- 

 den and Norway, and Morocco itself. The 

 Spanish minister resident at Tangier, Sefior 

 Diosdado, was instructed to inform the Sultan 

 of the circumstances that had occurred in con- 

 sequence of his illness, and to urge upon him 

 the necessity of granting the commercial rights 

 demanded by the powers. Muley Hassan had 

 himself requested the Spanish Government in 

 August to reopen some of the questions that 

 were discussed, but not finally settled, at the 

 previous international conference. The Span- 

 ish minister at Paris sounded the French Gov- 

 ernment, and found it willing to consider the 

 subject, whereas in 1880 it had categorically 

 refused to acquiesce in a modification of the 

 rights of protection. At the suggestion of M. 

 Flourens, the Spanish Government directed its 

 political representatives in Morocco to collect 

 evidence regarding the inconveniences and 

 abuses of the protection system. The Sultan 

 had reason to suspect the French of aggressive 

 designs on his western frontier, because they 

 had very recently engaged in expeditions 

 against the Figuig and Twat tribes, whose 

 lands lie within the borders of Morocco, and 

 had established military posts and fortifications 

 close to the boundary, if they did not encroach 



