Ass't-Professor ELLSWORTH HUNTINGTON, Ph.D..... .Yale University ....... Associate Professor A. L. KROEBER, Ph.D........University of California Professor GEORGE TRUMBULL LADD, LL.D.... ......Yale University Professor EDWARD C. MOORE, Ph.D.. K. NATERAJAN. JAMES A. ROBERTSON, L.H.D................. Professor WM. R. SHEPHERD, Ph.D..... Ass't-Professor FREDERICK W. WILLIAMS.... ..Harvard University ..Bombay, India ...Columbia University Associate Professor PAYSON J. TREAT, Ph.D........Stanford University Yale University PUBLISHER LOUIS N. WILSON, Litt.D..... .Clark University Articles intended for publication, and all correspondence relating to the editorial department of the JOURNAL, should be addressed to Dr. George H. Blakeslee, Clark University, Worcester, Mass. Books for review, exchanges, subscriptions, and all correspondence relating thereto should be addressed to Dr. Louis N. Wilson, Clark University Library, Worcester, Mass. Copyright, 1914, Clark University. The printing of this number was completed November 17, 1914. Vol. 5 RACE DEVELOPMENT OCTOBER, 1914 No. 2 THE DEVELOPMENT OF MOROCCO By H. Perceval Dodge, Former American Minister to Morocco On March 30, 1912, there was signed by representatives of the French Republic and the Sultan of Morocco a treaty by which Morocco became a French Protectorate. The passing of Morocco from its sovereign status, which thus reduced to Abyssinia and Liberia the states in the continent of Africa still retaining their independence, had long been foreseen to be merely a question of time. Covering a great territory lying but a few miles from Europe with a healthful climate and large undeveloped agricultural and mineral resources, it possessed a government which further invited European aggression by its weakness and its pretension to thwart all foreign development of the country. Further it has seemed clear for many years that Morocco would eventually become a French possession since geographically and ethnologically it formed the proper complement of Algeria and Tunis and France more than any other Power had the resources and knowledge of local conditions required for the successful regeneration of the country. This regeneration to be permanent and effective required the extension to the Sultan of very considerable military assistance to enable him to reestablish his authority then scarcely recognized beyond the vicinity of Fez; the complete reform of the corrupt and dis-organized administration and finally financial and technical aid for the construction of the most urgent public works in a country in which even the most necessary ones were non-existent. Unfortunately the development of Morocco by France was long retarded by the colonial rivalry of some of the Great Powers and this rivalry resulted on April 7, THE JOURNAL OF RACE DEVELOPMENT, VOL. 5, No. 2, 1914 1906, in the signature of the act of Algeciras by which it was attempted to reform and develop Morocco by a partial "internationalization" of the Sultan's government. The regeneration of Morocco however was not a task which could be accomplished by any such complicated and unwieldy a system of government and it was not long before this became evident. Accordingly immediately after the signature of the act of Algeciras, the French Government began negotiations with the Powers chiefly interested in Morocco with a view to securing for itself complete freedom of action. Satisfactory arrangements were made with England, Italy and on two occasions, after much difficulty, with Germany, each of these Powers being given compensation elsewhere. Arrangements with Spain were concluded on November 27, 1912, and were based upon a recognition of her historic rights in Morocco. They included the cession to her, as a "zone of influence," of the whole Mediterranean coast (excepting Tangier, which remained "internationalized"), a territory of about 28,000 square kilometres to a great extent mountainous but extremely rich in mineral deposits. This territory Spain is now endeavoring to administer as a Spanish possession but owing to the warlike character of the inhabitants, whose hatred of the Spaniards has come down from their wars in Spain during the Middle Ages, she has not so far been successful. Notwithstanding that she has an army of about 100,000 in her "zone of influence," warfare has been practically continuous and she has thus far been able to occupy but some 4000 square kilometres. France on the other hand, with 80,000 troops, has already been able to occupy over 200,000 square kilometres of her protectorate and has established practically complete security and orderly administration throughout this occupied region. The territory occupied comprizes two distinct parts, the one including nearly all the Atlantic coast and extending some 200 kilometres into the interior, and the other extending along the Algerian frontier. The territory still unoccupied includes chiefly the high mountainous regions of the Atlas, parts of which are practically unknown. That it has been possible to obtain such results in so short a time within this immense territory, hitherto exposed to brigandage, tribal warfare and arbitrary government, is a remarkable example of French ability in dealing with the North African races. The governing principle of the French Protectorate has been the avoidance, except in a few indispensable cases, of making any changes in the native system of government which is extremely simple and well-adapted to the present needs of the country. In this way serious offense to native susceptibility, the more acute because in Morocco as in other Mohammedan countries government and religion are practically inseparable, has been avoided and it has been possible to escape from arousing any extensive popular hostility. Over the native government, however, a system of control has been established with powers to oversee its work and to compel it to act in accordance with the laws. and customs of the country. For this purpose the Protectorate has been divided into two "zones," Western Morocco, in which the control is administered directly by the French Resident General, General Lyautey, and Eastern Morocco, including the territories adjoining the Algerian frontier, administered by a High Commissioner appointed by the Resident General. Each zone is divided into "regions," six in western and two in eastern Morocco, and each region into "circuits," each of which contains one or more "information bureaux" ("bureaux de renseignements") which keep closely informed in regard to the conduct of the native officials and to which natives and foreigners may bring complaints for investigation. The personnel of this control is practically wholly military. A General administers each region, a Colonel each circuit and junior officers compose the staffs of the information bureaux. The Resident General at present has his headquarters at Rabat. This French control has been accepted by the Moorish officials with surprisingly good grace and in most cases they have apparently welcomed the change to a régime of regular salaries and security of official tenure during good behaviour from one under which offices had to be bought, superiors had constantly to be propitiated with gifts and honesty was impossible. Formerly Moorish officials rarely received their salaries but were allowed practically a free hand in their exactions upon those whom they governed, limited only by the degree of favour which they enjoyed at the Sultan's Court. In addition to this administrative control, the French have already established a system of schools, hospitals and agricultural credits upon a coöperative basis for the natives. The administration of justice, so far as it affects only the natives, is left to the Cadis but a French official is present at all trials and all sentences to over one year imprisonment must be approved by the Resident General. Suits regarding title to real estate must still be adjudged by the native Cadi, but according to a recent decree, all land owners may now have their land registered and their titles definitely ascertained and officially declared, by a system closely resembling the Torrens Act. This will prove of inestimable benefit in a country where through the collusion of native officials and land owners it was formerly practically impossible for a purchaser to ascertain what he was actually acquiring. Although the new registration of land is optional, on account of its obvious advantages, it is expected that eventually all land will come under this system which also withdraws it from the competence of the Cadi and places it directly under the French judges. The administration of justice where foreigners are affected remains in the consular courts of the nation to which the foreigner belongs, according to the international treaties, except that the French have recently given up their consular courts and have established a regular system of French courts with a court of appeal at Rabat. It is hoped that foreign governments, appreciating the benefits of these courts, will also eventually renounce their extra-territorial jurisdiction in their favour. Perhaps the most important reform effected by France has been to reduce to something like order the chaos of Cherifian finance. When the Protectorate was established the Sultan's Government owed 200 million francs to Euro |