MOROCCO. 



567 



. _eded to put in operation the machinery of the State 

 government, deprived laborers of their just wages, 

 ft our public institutions without funds to defray 

 eir necessary expenses, embarrassed all the functions 

 Statehood, and worked irreparable damage to the 

 bstantial interests and to the good name of Montana. 



The Democratic State Convention met at 

 Helena, on Sept. 15, and nominated William W. 

 Dixon for Congressman. The platform con- 

 demns, in unmeasured terms, the course of the 

 Republican party in the State in seeking to con- 

 trol the Legislature by throwing out the vote of 

 the " tunnel " precinct in Silver Bow County. 

 In October, candidate Field unofficially withdrew 

 his name, but it appeared on the official ballot 

 .and attracted supporters at the polls. 



The nominee of the Prohibition party for Con- 

 gressman was Andrew J. Corbley. At the Novem- 

 ber election the Democratic ticket was successful, 

 Dixon receiving 15,411 votes; Carter, 15,128; 

 Corbley, 389; and Field, 162. Of the 8 State 

 Senators chosen at the same time, the Democrats 

 elected 5 and the Republicans 3. Of the 8 hold- 

 over Senators, 5 were Democrats and 3 Republi- 

 cans, so that the Senate of 1891 will contain a 

 Democratic majority of 4. At the same time 

 there was an election for a member of the Lower 

 House from Deer Lodge and Beaverhead Counties, 

 a district which was unrepresented in the session 

 of this year, because of a tie vote at the election 

 of 1889. A Democrat was chosen, and the House 

 for 1891 will therefore contain, according to Re- 

 publican claims, 30 Republicans and 25 Demo- 

 crats, or, according to Democratic claims, 24 Re- 

 publicans and 31 Democrats. 



MOROCCO, an absolute monarchy in northern 

 Africa. The Sultan, who is the spiritual and 

 temporal ruler, is chosen from the Shereefian 

 family of Hassan, of the tribe of Tafilalet, de- 

 scended from Ali, the uncle and son-in-law of 

 the prophet Mohammed. Muley Hassan, the 

 reigning Sultan, born in 1831, succeeded his 

 father, Sidi Mohammed, on Sept. 17, 1873. The 

 receipts from customs at the eight ports are from 

 8,000,000 to 12,000,000 francs. The Sultan's 

 revenue is about 7,000,000 francs. Every Moorish 

 subject is required by law to pay the tenth of 

 his annual income in money, natural products, 

 or gifts ; but the largest share goes to the 

 officials, who pay the Sultan for their offices, and 

 retain what they collect. 



Area and Population. The empire em- 

 braces an area of about 219,000 square miles. 

 Gerhard Rohlf s estimated the population in 1883 

 at 2,750,000. The generally accepted estimates 

 have made it about 5,000,000, and one published 

 in 1889 is as high as 9,400,000, distributed as 

 follow : In the old kingdom of Fez, 3,200.000 ; 

 in Morocco, 3,900,000; in Tafilalet and Segel- 

 mesa, 850,000 ; in Sus. Adrar, and the northern 

 part of Draa, 1,450,000. According to the same 

 estimate, th.e population is divided as to race into 

 3,000,000 Berbers and Tuaregs ; 2,200,000 Sheila 

 Berbers ; 700,000 nomadic Bedouin Arabs ; 3,000,- 

 000 Mued Arabs ; 300,000 Jews ; and 200.000 

 negroes. Fez, the principal capital, has 140,000 

 or 150,000 inhabitants, and the city of Morocco 

 has 40,000 or 50,000. 



Commerce. The imports amount to 25,000,- 

 000 or 30,000,000 francs a year, and the exports 

 to nearly as much. The trade has grown in re- 



cent years. In 1888 cotton goods were imported 

 to the amount of 12,742,000 francs : sugar, 4,303,- 

 000 francs ; woolens, 1,905,000 francs ; tea, 1,419,- 

 000 francs; raw silk and silk fabrics, 1,221,000 

 francs ; candles, 755,000 francs ; iron and steel 

 goods, 737,000 francs; spices, 288,000 francs; 

 wines and spirituous drinks, 249,000 francs ; 

 glassware, 164,000 francs ; coffee, 161, 000 francs; 

 paper goods, 82,000 francs. The chief exports in 

 1888 were beans of the value of 7,419,000 francs ; 

 Indian corn, 2,916,000 francs; wool, 2,310,000 

 francs ; cattle, 1,264,000 francs ; almonds, 1,040,- 

 000 francs ; eggs, 848,000 francs : gums, 796,000 

 francs; slippers, 710,000 francs; wax, 435,000 

 francs ; olive oil, 412,000 francs : goat skins and 

 hair, 268,000 francs ; dates, 239,000 francs. Of 

 2,042 vessels, of 612,689 registered tons, that 

 entered the ports of 'Tangier, Casa Blanca, 

 Mazagan, Laraiche, Mogador, Saffi, and Tetuan 

 in 1888, 394, of 237,390 tons, were French ; 735, 

 of 211,994 tons, English ; 726, of 136,558 tons, 

 Spanish; 33, of 9,404 tons, German; 92, of 

 7,423 tons, Portuguese; 41, of 6,246 tons, Swed- 

 ish or Norwegian ; 13, of 1,875 tons, Danish ; 

 and 8. of 1,799 tons, of other nationalities. The 

 exportation of wheat, barley, horses, timber, or 

 ivory is forbidden, and cattle can only be ex- 

 ported by special license, which is accorded by 

 treaty to Englishmen and Spaniards. On all 

 other exports heavy duties are levied. Treaties 

 with England, France, and Spain limit the im- 

 port duties on all articles to 10 per cent. 



Rebellion of the Tribes. It is the custom 

 of the Sultans to reside alternately at Fez and 

 Morocco, spending usually a year* or more at 

 each capital. Since he left Morocco in May, 

 1887, Muley Hassan has resided a part of the 

 time at Fez and the other part at Mequinez, the 

 next largest city in the north. After visiting 

 Tangier in October, 1889, exacting while on his 

 journey large sums of money and quantities of 

 horses and cattle from the semi-independent 

 tribes through whose country he passed, he re- 

 turned to Fez, whence he removed in June, 1890, 

 after the Ramadan fast was over, to Mequinez. 

 There he organized a campaign against the 

 Berber tribe of Zimmour. inhabiting the mount- 

 ainous region between Mequinez and Rabat, on 

 the coast, ordering the Kaids or Governors of 

 Chrarda and Beni Hassan at the same time to 

 attack the Berbers from the north. The expedi- 

 tion encountered no resistance, for after some 

 raids had been made through their country by 

 detached troops of cavalry the Zimmour tribe 

 surrendered and offered to pay a ransom. The 

 Sultan has an army of about 10,000 Askar or 

 disciplined infantry, a number of field batteries 

 officered by Frenchmen, a small body of regular 

 cavalry, and a variable number of undisciplined 

 cavalry. The entire force in late years has sel- 

 dom exceeded 25,000. When he moves his army 

 goes with him. After he left Fez, and was sup- 

 posed to have departed for Morocco city, disturb- 

 ances broke out in his rear. The Ait Youssi 

 Berbers, a large tribe south of Fez, were only 

 waiting for him to leave their part of the country 

 to rebel, and while he continued his march 

 through Zimmour to Rabat, where he was con- 

 fined for some time with sickness, the Arabs near 

 Wazan, feeling confident that he had definitely 

 left for the south, began to attack and plunder 



