MOROCCO. 



477 



lion. Tin' Senate will contain 9 Democrats and 

 ihlicans; (hi- House must eventually con- 

 tain ~<> Democrats. % j(i Republicans, and 3 Peo- 

 ple'- parly men. Hut the political complexion 

 of tin- latter body was not fully determined ;it 

 the c!o-e of the year, by reason of a dispute over 

 tin- ivlurns from Choteau County. The can- 

 vnssinu' board of that county refused to count 

 the returns of Box Elder precinct, although they 

 appeared regular on their face, on the ground 

 that the election in that precinct was tainted 

 with fraud. By throwing out these returns, a 

 Democratic- majority was obtained, and a certifi- 

 cate was i->ued to the Democratic candidate. 

 By this action, if it were legal, the Democrats 

 would obtain a majority of both Houses on joint 

 ballot and would easily elect a United States 

 Senator. The Republican candidate, PL E. Leach, 

 who would have been elected if the Box Elder 

 precinct had been counted, applied to the State 

 Supreme Court for a writ of mandate to compel 

 the board to reassemble and complete its work. 

 A demurrer was filed to this petition and over- 

 ruled by the court, and an answer was filed, after 

 which the case was heard on its merits. On 

 Dec. 24 the court decided in favor of the pe- 

 titioner, and issued a mandate ordering the board 

 to count the Box Elder returns and issue a cer- 

 tificate accordingly. The court held that the 

 canvassing board had no other authority than to 

 foot up the returns ; it could not sit as a judicial 

 body and pass upon the validity of the election. 

 The mandate was served upon the members of 

 the board, but up to the close of the year they 

 had not obeyed. 



MOROCCO, a monarchy in northwestern Af- 

 rica. The Government is an absolute despotism, 

 not restricted by any laws. The Sultan is the chief 

 of the state as well as head of the religion. He 

 is chosen from the family of the Sherifs of Tafi- 

 let, and is selected by each Sultan before his 

 death, subject to an election in which all the 

 members of the family are eligible. Owing to 

 the fact that the Sultan's appointee has posses- 

 sion of the imperial treasury and the control of 

 the black body guard, which furnishes a largo 

 majority of the court officials, it very rarely 

 occurs that any other than the Sultan's nomi- 

 nee is elected. The reigning Sultan is Muley 

 Ha<san, born in 1831, who succeeded his father, 

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

 lias six ministers, who execute his orders, and 

 whom he can consult, if he wishes, on important 

 questions of state. They are the Vizier, the 

 Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of the 

 Interior, the Chief Chamberlain, the Chief Treas- 

 urer, and the Chief Administrator of Customs. 

 The Sultan's army consists of 10,000 disciplined 

 infantry, 400 disciplined cavalry, a few batteries 

 of field guns, and 2,000 irregular cavalry. Several 

 of the governors of the provinces are ordered to 

 collect their forces to accompany the Sultan in 

 liis annual progresses between Fez and Morocco. 

 English, French, Italian, Spanish, and German 

 officers are detailed by their respective govern- 

 ment s for duty in the'Sultan's army. 



Commerce and Navigation. About half 

 of the whole trade is in the hands of Great 

 Britain, and France formerly controlled the re- 

 mainder, but of late years commerce with Ger- 

 many has been on the increase. The total im- 



ports in 1890 amounted to 1,793,689, and the 

 exp-.rts to 1,632,(J26. The principal import- h. 

 1 ^.HI were : Cotton goods, 695,308 ; sugar, i": 1 7. 

 i::*; tea, 74,604; woole,, cl,,th. L , 

 silk, 46,320 ; candles, 35,149; haiduan 

 !."><; iron and iron goods, 24,063; glass and 

 earthenware, 18,361; spices, 14,34!); manu- 

 factured silk, 12,325; wines and spirit?, 11,- 

 061; matches, 8,431; coffee, 6,8*1 : hide.-. 

 !'">.a")l ; linen goods, 4,475. Tin- principal ex- 

 ports for the same period were : Means. 281,- 

 331; wool, 218,280; chick peas, 200,755; 

 olive oil, 174,740 ; maize, 137,459 ; gout skins, 

 118,237; almonds, 92,711; oxen, 65.0(51; 

 eggs, 40,422; gums, 32,475; beeswax, 23.- 

 572; slippers, 19,342; woolen stuffs, 12,732; 

 dates, 8,382; canary seed, 5,712. In the 

 same year, 2,646 vessels, of 933,417 tons, entered, 

 and 2,472 vessels, of 921,571 tons, cleared the 

 ports of Morocco. 



The British Mission to Fez. The trade 

 with Morocco is carried on partly under an old 

 commercial treaty concluded with Great Britain 

 in 1856 by the present Sultan's father, and 

 partly under a treaty concluded with Germany 

 in 1890 by the present Sultan. Although these 

 treaties mitigated the restrictions on commerce 

 to some extent, yet regulations still existed 

 which made profitable trade difficult. To remedy 

 these shortcomings, the Government of Great 

 Britain decided to send a mission to the Sultan 

 to endeavor to negotiate a commercial treaty by 

 which all nations alike would profit. The com- 

 mercial reforms sought to be obtained were the 

 reduction of import duties on certain articles, 

 the reduction of export duties on the produce of 

 the land, and sanction for the exportation of 

 wheat, horses, and other produce which had 

 heretofore been prohibited. The restrictions put 

 upon Europeans which forbade their owning 

 real property without the permission of the 

 Sultan were to be abolished, and the gradual if 

 not immediate abolition of the protege system as 

 sanctioned by the European powers at the con- 

 vention of Madrid in 1880 was to be obtained. 

 Its original purpose was to protect European 

 subjects from the cruelties and exactions of the 

 Moorish authorities. It- was settled that all 

 Europeans, and Moorish subjects employed in 

 trade in partnership with Europeans, and all 

 Moors actually employed by European legations 

 and consulates, should be protected by the flag of 

 the European power with whom they were con- 

 nected. As the abuse of this system permitted 

 Moors to commit crimes and then elude justice 

 by buying the protection of some European 

 power, it was tnought desirable to effect a 

 change. Sir Charles Bean Euan-Smith, minister 

 plenipotentiary to Morocco, was the head of the 

 mission. The start was made from Tangier 

 on April 27, 1892, and after a journey of about 

 two weeks the mission entered the city of I-Yx mi 

 May 12, where great preparations had been made 

 for its reception. At first it seemed as though 

 the mission would accomplish its purpose, the 

 time up till June 13 being spent in the discus- 

 sion of the new treaty between the commis- 

 sioners appointed by the'Sultan and Sir C. Eunii- 

 Smith and his associates. On that date the com- 

 missioners informed the mission that they were 

 authorized by the Sultan to say that he accepted 



