Delegates White and Gummeré to the Secretary of State .
Sir: Referring to our dispatch No. 8, of the 27th ultimo, we have the honor to confirm the cablegram, of which a copy is inclosed herewith, informing you that an agreement had been reached by the conference on all the questions still remaining for settlement, at a meeting which was held at half past 5 on Saturday afternoon, the 31st ultimo.
At the close of our last dispatch we stated that there was some anxiety among the delegates when the conference adjourned on the 26th, owing to the words used by the senior German delegate in respect to the first amendment proposed by the Austrian ambassador, which provided for the control of the diplomatic body over the working of the police by means of the inspector, who would thereby, the French delegate maintained, have become practically the subordinate of that body, to which he strongly objected. During that evening this feeling of anxiety in no way diminished, and the next morning a private meeting was held by the British, French, Italian, Russian, and American senior delegates to see whether some means could not be devised [Page 1488] to bring the German and French delegates together in the matter, and thereby end the tension on the subject which, it was felt, being known to and shared by the numerous correspondents of French and other newspapers, might, if it lasted, create an unfortunate impression upon public opinion, especially in France and Germany, thereby further postponing the termination of the conference.
The delegates in question eventually asked their French colleague to draw up a paragraph which would meet his views, and to which Mr. White undertook to endeavor to obtain the assent of the German delegation. Mr. White thereupon went backward and forward between the French and German delegates, making modifications to suit each of them, until a final compromise was effected. Whereupon the paragraph agreed to was immediately proposed by Mr. Gummeré in the committee of experts which happened to be sitting, and it was brought the same afternoon by the reporter of that committee before the conference, where it was accepted by the French, German, and all the other delegates with the exception of the Moorish, who said they must refer it to Fez; a course which they have adopted in respect to nearly every proposal made.
At this meeting (March 27) several other matters were disposed of which are set forth in the accompanying reporta of that sitting. The British delegate suggested, for reasons which he stated, that in the police regulations it should be a question of a Swiss and not a Dutch inspector-general; whereupon, the conference being evidently of that opinion, the delegate of the Netherlands said that his Government had no desire that one of its citizens should have that post unless such should be the unanimous wish of the conference, and that he would refer what had been said to his Government.
The question of the number of censors for the proposed state bank was also discussed, the point at issue being that if Italy, which had intimated a desire to have the appointing of one, should be allowed that privilege, Austria, Portugal, and one or two other countries announced their intention of claiming it also. Whereas if Italy should not press her claim on that point, it was understood that there would be unanimous assent to the number of censors being limited to four, to be appointed by the banks of England, France, Germany, and Spain. Eventually the matter was referred to the next meeting, which took place on Saturday, March 29.
At this meeting the Italian delegate withdrew the suggestion that the Bank of Italy appoint a censor and proposed that the number of censors be limited to four, to be appointed as aforesaid, which was unanimously accepted, and Austrian, Portuguese, and Belgian delegates similarly withdrew the suggestions they had made in respect to the state banks of their countries.
The question of the “open door” and equality of treatment for all nations in the competition for the execution of public works was also discussed, chiefly in respect to phraseology; the Germans being in favor of detailed explanation in the proposed regulations as to the probable nature of the public works; whereas the French desire was that the phraseology of the regulations should be general rather than specific. Eventually the matter was left over to the next sitting of the conference, which the president said he hoped and [Page 1489] thought might be the last. After Sir Arthur Nicolson had presented a letter addressed to the president of the conference, whereof the purport was the restriction of the consumption of alcohol in Morocco, which he suggested should be sent to the diplomatic body in Tangier for its consideration, the conference adjourned until Saturday, the 31st, when the sixteenth meeting was accordingly held.
Prior to the date of this meeting all outstanding questions between the French and German delegates were settled by the mediation of a few of the others, friendly to both. When, therefore, the conference met on Saturday, the 31st ultimo, every remaining point had been settled, and its functions were limited to the formal adoption of agreements already reached privately. A full account of the proceedings will be found in the report of the sixteenth meeting.
The Dutch delegate asked that the name of his Government be withdrawn as one of those which are to submit names to the Sultan for the post of inspector-general of police, and the second Russian delegate announced that an understanding had been reached by France and Spain whereby officers of both nationalities are to act as instructors of police at the ports of Tangier and Casablanca; those of Spain alone at Tetuan and Larache; and French officers alone at Rabat, Safi, Mogador, and Mazagan. With regard to the state bank, it was agreed that two shares of the capital, equal to that reserved to the group of subscribers from each nation, be allotted to the syndicate of French banks, signatory of the contract for the loan of 1904. in compensation for the surrender by the syndicate to the Bank of Morocco: (1) The right of preference specified in article 33 of the contract; (2) the rights in article 32, paragraph 2, of the contract relating to the available surplus of the customs receipts, subject to the condition that the general privilege of priority conferred on bondholders with regard to the total yield of the customs, in article 11 of the same contract, be not infringed. The contract here referred to is to be found in the Yellow Book entitled “Affaires du Maroc,” 1901–1905, issued by the French foreign office.
An arrangement was made in respect to the board of appraisers of customs which will be found duly set forth in the report of the meeting. This had been one of the most difficult questions to settle throughout the duration of the conference, owing to certain rights of control over the customs possessed by the holders of the Moroccan bonds for which a large percentage of the customs is the security, and these rights could not be made over to the bank without the consent of the bondholders, to obtain which would have been a very complicated proceeding.
An agreement was also arrived at relative to the adjudication of rights in respect to the construction of public works, which will be found in the convention shortly to be signed embodying the result of the labors of the conference.
A further meeting was held on Monday, the 2d of April, to discus and settle the form which the convention should assume, and it was decided that the various declarations and regulations made by the conference, to the number of six, containing together 119 articles, should be embodied in the document, which should be designated as the “General act of the conference of Algeciras.” It was also decided that at the moment of signing the act in question a separate [Page 1490] protocol should also be signed by the delegates of all the powers except Morocco, to the effect that, in view of the inability of the Moorish delegates to sign the general act, distance from Fez not admitting of their receiving permission from the Sultan in time to do so, Signor Malmusi, the Italian delegate, be authorized to proceed to Fez as the representative of the signatory powers with a view to obtaining His Shereefian Majesty’s adhesion.
At this meeting Mr. White, in accordance with your instructions, requested the assent of the conference to the expression of a hope that the Sultan would see that the functionaries of his Government treat his Jewish subjects and all others, without distinction of religion, with justice and equity. Each delegate, including Count Cassini, thereupon in succession rose in his place and expressed cordial sympathy with Mr. White’s proposal, the British, French, Italian, and other delegates making short speeches, and even the Moors, after Mr. White’s words had been translated to them, saying that the Sultan would do his best to continue his father’s policy of kindness toward the Jews.
Sir Arthur Nicolson expressed a similar wish in respect to the abolition of slavery and the improvement of prisons, which was generally supported; but the Moors suggested pointedly that it was not one of the subjects mentioned in the programme of the conference.
A degree of good-fellowship, indicative of the general relief and satisfaction experienced by all the delegates at the successful issue of the conference, was prevalent at this meeting, which adjourned amid mutual felicitations until Saturday, the 7th instant, the date now fixed for the signature of the general act, the substance of which we have telegraphed you, and we await your instructions relative to the signature thereof.
It can not be too emphatically asserted, the accounts more or less sensational which have from time to time been telegraphed from here to the newspapers notwithstanding, that from the day on which the conference first met until now no uncivil or unkind word has been uttered by one delegate to another at any meeting, and at the present moment complete harmony prevails among them all in their personal relations with each other. This circumstance has been a by no means unimportant factor in the successful issue of the conference, of which we have never had any doubt, although we did not expect that its results would have been so satisfactory as they really seem to be.
It is to be regretted that this end could not have been attained in rather less time than has been occupied, but apart from the reasons—some of them unexpected—which have kept us here so long, we consider upon looking back that not very much time has been uselessly occupied. It requires a considerable period for two governments who came, as the French and Germans did, to this conference with distinctly opposite views in respect to many of the points to be discussed to realize (1) whether it would be more to their interest to retire from the conference rather than give way on any of those points, or, (2) if not, to which points it would be possible to adhere and on which it would be indispensable to make concessions in order to avoid a rupture. Our previous dispatches will, Ave hope, have made clear at what period of the proceedings the views of both France and Germany began to undergo modifications in the positions originally assumed by them and so long maintained.
[Page 1491]In any case, we venture to hope that you will consider, while we have missed no opportunity for impressing upon our colleagues the importance of arriving at a solution of all the questions at issue and the gravity of the international situation which would arise in the event of a rupture of the conference, that we have kept well within the instructions you sent us in November last without becoming in any way involved, much less involving our Government, in any of the political questions at issue between continental powers.
The general act appears to contain satisfactory provisions in respect to the questions set forth in your instructions, and with regard to the State Bank of Morocco provision has been made for the admission of an American bank or group of banks, to participate in a share of the capital equal to that accorded to any other nation save France, the special position of certain of whose banks, as we have explained, has been recognized.
In short, it may be said that while every principle of international interest advocated by Germany has been sustained by the conference, the position acquired by France financially in Morocco during many years past has been fully recognized without allowing that position to militate against the open door in matters of commerce, competition for the execution of public works, or the future development of the great mineral wealth of Morocco.
We shall have the honor to forward the general act, with a translation thereof after it has been signed, in another dispatch; and before concluding this one, we beg to express our appreciation of the services rendered to us by Mr. Einstein, secretary of the delegation, and by Mr. Iselin, who accompanied the ambassador from Rome.
Both of them have shown zeal and efficiency in the multifarious and varied work which they have had to perform for us. Mr. Einstein’s knowledge of the French language has been constantly at our disposal in the many translations from that language which have had to be made, notably that of the general act, which he accomplished in a very short space of time; Mr. Iselin by facility in the use of the typewriter, and both of them in the rapid enciphering and deciphering of the long telegrams in cipher which we have had to send you and which appear to have arrived with very few mistakes, as well as in many other ways, have rendered us valuable service, to which we deem it proper to call your attention.
We have, etc.,
- Henry White,
- S. R. Gummeré.
- Not printed.↩