FRENCH MOROCCO

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 152, 24 December 1929, Page 9

FRENCH MOROCCO

A ROMANTIC LAND

COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

SURPRISING FIGURES

By Dr. Julius Klein. (Copyright.)

Among the points of interest to which the crowds of Mediterranean tourists are rushed during thoir few hours' stop-over in Algiers is a room in the Bey's palace where that potentate once slapped the face of the French Consul with his fan. That was the culminating affront in a long series of more serious diflicultios which brought about. the I'rench intervention in Algiers almost exactly 100 years ago. From Algiers the French zono of inilttenco spread eastward into Tunis in 1881, and finally, just before the "World War, the greatest part of the old Moorish Empire of Morocco came under the protectorate of Franco. Morocco embraces about 225,000 square miles, and it has a population of four and a half millions, nearly all of whom are Moslems.

In many ways Morocco is the most interesting region iv Northern Africa. It has only rocently been brought into contact with European civilisation, and it therefore holds all the rare fascination of a pioneer region. '' POTENTIAL CALIFORNIA.' '

Morocco has been described (accurately, I think) as "a. potential California." It has, indeed, snowy moUn--1 tains corresponding to the Sierra Nevadas of the western commonwealth (possessing scenic grandeur quite equal to that of many famous spots in Switzerland), with, broad, fertile coastal valleys, and stretches of flat, stony desert matching the Mojavo and' Colorado

wilderness, and, above all, with a uiil'd climato, except in the southern interior, which has not" much to suggest the Goldea State.

In tho case of Morocco there is, in addition, tho amazingly picturesque (background of one of the least "tainted" cultures of our time—a pure strain -;with a minimum of hybrid influences; abounding in^ native artistry of rare charm and originality, and having befeind it a historical past that' seems like a dramatisation of the "Arabian flights." The history of> Morocco glows with the most vivid and contrasted colours. ,We hear tales of the desperate "Battle of the Three Kings," and the reign of the so-called "Golden Caliph"; of the conquest of far-distant Timbuctoo; of the ancient cultivation of philosophy, or, on the other hand, of the ruthless extermination ofventire dynasties. iWe are thrilled, beguiled, or appalled bystories of frenzied fanaticism and of Moslem "saihtliness"—the enslavement and torture of foreign seamen tho intervening periods of wise and gentle rule—the pageantry and pride * of countless Sultans who, mounted on Arab steeds under gorgeous "Imperial umbrellas," compelled the foreign ambassadors to approach them bareheaded and on foot. From the point of view of tourist interest there are few areas on the eastern side of the Atlantic so readily accessible as Morocco, so admirably served with motor and hotel facilities, and holding so much of surprising originality of appeal. How long this will last is a question, but to-day thero is no dubt that the inland cities of Morocco are unique in their wierdly fascinating, picturesque, primitive, but age-old usages, and in the astounding accomplishments of a venerable civil- ■ isatiou of extraordinary virility. If you think that the tales of Scheke* tezade are simply wild imaginings of a remote past, just step out into the vast open square of the great brown city of Marrakesh—ono of the ancient capitals of Morocco—with its 130,000 inhabitants, where you will find hundreds of fantastically-garbed natives, in groups clustered round some story-teller o' juggler, some mountebank or wildeyed Dervish from the desert—and scarcely a European (much less an American) in sight! It is a picture never to be forgotten. I need hardly say that the buying power and standards of living of the great majority of the four and a half million natives of French Morocco are far below thoso of a corresponding number of Europeans or Americans. Nevertheless, the needs of the country as a whole, in connection with its general development, afford most attractive trade opportunities for American merchandise.

THE COMMERCIAL SIDE,

Morocco's imports last year approach.cd £15,000,000, which is certainly a trade worthy of careful consideration. Among the leading items are sugar— about £2,000,000 a^year—which is consumed in great quantities by the natives in their favourite beverage of "mint tea." The cotton-goods trade amounts, also, to approximately £ 2,000,----000, largely supplied by England, with lesser quantities from the European Continent. Incidental household supplies, such as candles and soap, account jfor £1,000,000. One of our great opportunities appears to lie in the field of motor-cars which are greatly in demand on account of the lack of railways and the existence of an excellent system of new roads in Morocco. The donkey, which from time immemorial lias been the moans of locomotion for the Moor, is definitely being replaced by the cheap motor-car. And, incidentally, the latter is being just as hopelessly overloaded as was its patient fpur-f ooted predecessor. It iB indeed a picturesque sight to Observe one of the typical countryside market days which are held out in the open country, often miles from the nearest Village. On a given day each week the_ Moorish pedlers, merchants, and artisans drift in, most of thorn on donkeys, but not a few, on clattering, verymuch battered American cars. What was a completely empty piece of ground at, say, 7 o'clock, is covered in a couple of hours with two or throe thousand individuals, together with piles of produce «nd countless cheap supplies of all sorts. In a commercial sense Morocco is a new country and needs all that a new ion-manufacturing country ordinarily requires. Labour has always been plentiful and cheap until the summer of 1928, when a combination of circumstances (including extensive public works and fine crops calling for extra iarm labour) doubled the rates of wages. Morocco sho-ild soon bo ripe ior labour-saving machinery of certain kinds.

MOEOCCAN BXPORTS.

Turning to the exports of French Morocco we find them running to approximately £10,000.000 last year—a higher figure than usual because of the particularly good crop of cereals. In addition to barley, wheat, and seeds, as well as hides and other animal products, the country is developing its phosphate mines. The exports of phosphate started in 1921 with 8000 tons, but last year tho total was just under 1,400,000 tons. The mines are easily exploited, yield 74 per cent, quite uniform quality, can command abundant, very cheap labour, and are only a short distance from the port of Casablanca, where tho phosphates are delivered on what is practically a gravity railway. Consequently t.hs cost of production is low. The extint of these Moroccan^phoffphate fields

is greatly in excess of 1u0.000.000 tons.

Aside from the well-known Moorish leather and hides, there is also a curious fibre made from dwarf palms—valuable for motor-car upholstery. Canary bird seed, wild onions, cork, edible snails represent also considerable items in Moroccan exports.

Morocco is very much in the mating. It is a romantic land, but, coupled with its picturesque interest, 'there is also the very attractive phase of an awakening commerce.