Delegates White and Gummeré to the Secretary of State.
Sir: We have the honor to present to you the following report concerning the organization and deliberations of the Moroccan conference up to the present time, as well as confirmation of telegrams dispatched to you, copies of which are inclosed herewitha The conference met for organization on the afternoon of January 16 at the Hotel de Ville, Algeciras, which has been handsomely arranged for the sittings.
Before entering the hall of conference the delegates were called to order by M. de Radowitz, first German delegate, who nominated the Duke of Almodovar, Spanish minister of foreign affairs, as president of the conference, who was thereupon unanimously elected. After this, with some ceremony, the delegates were ushered into the large hall, being seated alphabetically according to countries. The president opened the proceedings with a brief address, in which he suggested that the basis of the proceedings of the conference should be the restoration of order, organization of police, suppression of contraband, creation of revenues for public expenses, and the improvement of ports, dwelling especially upon the point that all reforms should be based upon the triple principles of the sovereignty of the Sultan, the integrity of Morocco, and the “open door.”
Mr. Revoil, French delegate, thereupon arose and said that he associated himself with the sentiments expressed by the president, and proposed that the conference should give its adhesion thereto. He was followed by Mr. de Radowitz, first German delegate, who said that he agreed entirely with the declarations of the president and Mr. Revoli, and hoped that the labors of the conference might have good results. Shortly afterwards the conference adjourned.
As a result of consultation among the delegates it was agreed that informal sessions of the conference should be held from time to time for an exchange of views on subjects to be presented at the regular sittings, and the first such meeting was called on the afternoon of the 16th instant, when the question of the suppression of contraband of arms and ammunition, the first subject to be presented to the conference, was discussed; and it was agreed that it be referred to a committee of experts, consisting of Count Tattenbach, second German delegate; M. Malmlisi, second Italian delegate; M. Perez Caballero, [Page 1471] Spanish delegate; and M. Regnault, French expert, who should report a programme of regulations to be presented for discussion and adopted at a formal sitting to be held at a later date.
This committee of experts accordingly drew up and presented a series of articles, 16 in number, which were submitted to the conference at a sitting held on the morning of January 22, and after considerable discussion 5 of them were adopted. The remainder were again referred to the committee of experts, and after further change and enlargement, to the number of 18 in all, were discussed by the conference at a sitting on the morning of January 24 and unanimously adopted, with the sole exception of article 14, which the Moroccan delegates desired to refer to the Sultan for his decision.
The next project to be considered is that of taxes, and an informal meeting to discuss the same is fixed for the afternoon of the 25th instant.
Copies of the lists of delegates plenipotentiary and of the official reports of the meetings so far printed are herewith inclosed, together with the articles embodying the regulations for the suppression of contraband in arms and ammunition, as adopted.a
We have the honor, etc.,
- Henry White.
- S. R. Gummeré.