No. 506.
Mr. Mathews to Mr. Evarts.
Consulate
of the United States of America,
Tangier, March 8, 1880.
(Received April 15.)
No. 354.]Sir: I have the honor to inclose herewith a
translation of an unofficial letter addressed by me to the Sultan, through
his prime minister, on the subject of the recent atrocities committed on the
Jews of Morocco, with the object of ameliorating their present
condition.
The withdrawal of foreign protection from several Israelites, natives of
Morocco, who had enjoyed the same, unfortunately was understood by various
Moorish officials in the interior and by the populace as a sign for them to
commit their excesses and ill-treatment upon the Jews.
I beg to cite an instance of the unwise predisposition of the Moorish
authorities on the occasion of the Spanish minister withdrawing his
protection from an elderly Jewish merchant called Isaac Amar. The latter was
at once seized by the Moorish authorities, who, in their eagerness to pounce
upon their prey, quickly devised an accusation of murder against the man,
who was imprisoned, loaded with irons, and would have been summarily
executed, and his property confiscated, but for the timely interference of a
member of the Anglo-Jewish Association, who happened to be at Tangier, and
who at once proceeded to Casablanca, where the prisoner was confined, with
the object of being present should a trial have taken place. At the request
of several Jewish delegations, some of the foreign vice-consuls at
Casablanca were instructed by their ministers at Tangier to be present at
the trial. I also instructed our consular agent, Captain Cobb, to be present
and watch the proceedings. The Moorish authorities receiving intelligence
that their proceeding was going to be witnessed by foreign officials, and
having no evidence whatsoever that could be brought against the prisoner,
the latter was released after suffering four months of close confinement in
irons.
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Simultaneously with the news of the withdrawal of foreign protection from
some Jews reaching the interior towns, we received information of several
Jews having been murdered, flogged to death, and lately, at the capital Fez,
an old man, aged seventy, was burned to death in the street.
A committee of the “Alliance Israélite de Maroc” called on me, begging my
intervention on behalf of their coreligionists in the interior; upon which I
addressed my letter to the Sultan, and, I am happy to state, with apparently
the most beneficial effect 5 an express courier arriving this morning from
the court with the news that the Sultan, on receipt of my letter, at once
issued strict orders to the effect that any Moor found insulting or in any
way offending a Jew would be at once severely punished and imprisoned.
Intelligence reached Tangier from Morocco that the governor of that city, on
hearing of the withdrawal of protections from the Jews, immediately gave
orders that all the Jewish houses in the Ghetto having a second story from
which the Kashbah (Basha’s residence) could be seen were to be demolished at
once. It is further stated that fifteen Jews, having remonstrated against
this arbitrary order, were flogged and imprisoned, and subsequently released
on payment each of $30.
It is hoped that, should the International Congress at Madrid take place, to
regulate the protectorate of foreign nations over subjects of Morocco,
provision will be made to put an end to the excesses against the Israelites
of this empire in future.
The Moorish Government could easily do away with all foreign protections over
its own subjects by protecting them itself, by simply administering equal
justice to all.
My friendly intervention on behalf of the Jews of Morocco in this instance is
in conformity with the request of the president of the board of delegates of
American Israelites to you on the 15th June, 1878, and to your dispatch No.
132, dated July 2, 1878, to me (see Foreign
Relations, 1878, p. 685), and I hope it will meet with your
approval.
I have, &c.,
[Inclosure in No. 354.]
Translation from the Arabic of a letter addressed by
F. A. Mathews to the grand vizier of the Emperor of Morocco, on the
occasion of the recent atrocities committed on the Israelites of
Morocco.
Praise be to the only God!
To my good friend and gentleman, the wise counsellor, the selected
amongst the prudent and upright to interpret the decrees of His
Shereefian Majesty, the Vizir Sid Mohamed Ben Elarby Elmoktar
Dchami:
I desire that His Shereefian Majesty be convinced that, as the
representative of the United States of America in this country, not only
am I his best friend and of his people, but that I always pray for the
welfare and greatness of the empire, without the least self-interest,
being the firm wish of the American nation that this country may always
be independent, happy, and powerful, and that under no consideration its
power be weakened or its rights transgressed. Even without the kind
feelings that the American nation has always entertained towards
Morocco, it is against her policy and desire that any part of this
empire should pass to other hands. Having no ambition to acquire
territories, seeing that amongst our fifty-two States there are some
which can hold, not only the Empire of Morocco, but other large kingdoms
of Europe with all their inhabitants, and still more; therefore, what I
am about to expose is only for the utility, benefit, and welfare of His
Shereefian Majesty.
I inform you that considerable agitation has been excited in Europe, and
even in America, on account of news which daily reach them, one worse
than the other, of
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the
atrocities committed on and persecution of the industrious and peaceful
Jewish people from the hands of the subjects of His Shereefian Majesty,
without the least motive or provocation on their part; it matters not
whatever pretext or exculpation those who have been and are practicing
on them iniquities may attempt to invent. Of late we hear of nothing
more than at Mazagan they beat an old Jew to death on the streets; that
in Taza they shot another, and near by they cut the throats of others;
and now what has created more sensation, and has alarmed all classes, is
that, at the great city of Fez, the capital, the royal residence of the
Sultans, the city that should be without a stain, and where the
unfortunate should be protected under the shadow of His Majesty’s
presence, an inoffensive old Jew, aged seventy, was burned alive in the
streets.
Centuries past, a nation expelled from their soil Moors and Jews, and
these took refuge in this empire, where the reigning Sultan at the time
received them with kindness and induced them to make Morocco their home,
offering them protection and assistance. The country thus prospered and
became rich and powerful, the Jews introducing, in large scale, commerce
and arts, and in those days the Sultans always had for counsellor in
their foreign intercourse a Jew, who was a member of his court, and the
empire thus flourished. But of late years the persecution and
ill-treatment to which the Israelites are subjected is attracting the
attention and sympathy of the foreign nations, and this state of affairs
cannot continue without great prejudice and injury to the Empire of
Morocco.
In this country the Hebrews are despised and humiliated to the utmost;
they are obliged by compulsion to walk barefooted in many cities in
order that they may excite contempt, but in the eyes of the foreign
nations this mortification imposed on the inoffensive Jew brings the
ridicule to bear on the party sanctioning this persecution in a country
where they should be the first protected, being under the shadow of His
Shereefian Majesty, as a guest who is sheltered in a strange house
should be protected and well treated by the host.
You should be aware that in the greatest nations the Jews are found in
large numbers, and many of them occupying the highest positions in the
management of the government affairs, and they prosper and flourish,
they having the same rights and enjoying the same protection as the
other subjects or citizens, no matter how high be their standing and
position.
The Hebrews when they rise united are capable of doing much. The Hebrews
bring commerce and wealth to the countries where they establish
themselves; they are the most pacific, religious, and hospitable people
in the world; they never shed blood, and you are aware that they are the
most industrious subjects; these are facts that every one knows, and it
is also a fact that the nation that continually ill-treats them brings
its own ruin, as it is proved by history. God placed the Jews in the
world on a level with the rest of mankind, having the same form and
propensities as other men; they live and die the same as the Christians
and Mohammedans; then why should they be ill-treated and partially dealt
with in law? This is against God’s will. It is pretending to be able to
do more than God Himself, for the Almighty makes them equal to all other
men, and no one has the right to take away from them that equality
without being exposed to its consequences, as it is proved in our
days.
About three years since Turkey, that powerful nation, still persisted in
misusing her non-Mohammedan subjects, who, oppressed and worn, raised
their voice and they were heard; another nation came and emancipated
them, through which Turkey lost several principalities and territories,
larger than the Empire of Morocco, and all this Tiappened for having
persecuted those subjects who were not of their religious
persuasion.
It is necessary that you should remedy the evil at once and forever, that
it may not Tiappen again. It is essential that the world should know
that those who have murdered and burned the poor Jews have received
their merited punishment in proportion to the terrible crime by them
committed. It is indispensably requisite that the Israelites of Morocco
should be protected by the local authorities, otherwise it will not be
long before they will all be protected by foreign nations, as it cannot
be further countenanced that because of different religion they must be
ill-treated, trampled down, humiliated, and assassinated, and the
authors of these crimes receiving no punishment whatever, merely because
the victims are Israelites. Several representatives of foreign nations
as well as myself have already received instructions from our respective
governments to inquire into the condition of the Jews in Morocco, and to
consult for the amelioration of their status, using our friendly offices
on their behalf. If you do not at once put a stop to this continued
ill-treatment, God only knows how this matter will end.
The Jews have powerful coreligionists everywhere, and when these rise
united they are to be dreaded; yet still to the eyes of those
unacquainted with this fact they appear insignificant. Should you
properly protect your own subjects they will never seek for any other
protection, and when your subjects shall be protected and supported in
their rights they will be prosperous and happy, and the prosperity of
your subjects
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will undoubtedly
make the country and government prosperous and happy, as the subjects of
various creeds are the body or what compose a nation, and should they
flourish and become wealthy, then the nation itself is rich and
fortunate, and in this consists the great secret.
As the great disinterested and best of friends of His Shereefian Majesty,
for whose welfare and that of his people I always pray, I entreat you to
apply a speedy remedy to the evil, to severely punish those who so
cruelly have murdered and burnt the defenseless and inoffensive Jews,
that the world may know that we have laws and justice here, and that
lives and property are well protected, and thus put an end to all
misbehavior, in order that the suffering of these quiet people should
cease. It is necessary that you should let out criers to proclaim that
those who may ill-treat the Jews will be summarily chastised.
Should the Jew misbehave himself, there is the law, but no one should
take the law into his own hands.
I beg you to acquaint His Shereefian Majesty of all the foregoing as the
advice of” his best friend, wishing at the same time to His Majesty and
yourself all happiness, fortune, strength, and welfare.
Peace and friendship.
FELIX A. MATHEWS.
Tangier, 21st Saffar, 1297
(21st February,
1880).
