III
The General had said that he would not "break the egg-shell"; but he
knew that this was not enough, and that he must make it appear
unbreakable if he were to retain the confidence of the natives.
How this was achieved, with the aid of the few covering troops left him,
is still almost incomprehensible. To hold the line was virtually
impossible: therefore he pushed it forward. An anonymous writer in
_L'Afrique Française_ (January, 1917) has thus described the manoeuvre:
"General Henrys was instructed to watch for storm-signals on the front,
to stop up the cracks, to strengthen weak points and to rectify doubtful
lines. Thanks to these operations, which kept the rebels perpetually
harassed by always forestalling their own plans, the occupied territory
was enlarged by a succession of strongly fortified positions." While
this was going on in the north, General Lamothe was extending and
strengthening, by means of pacific negotiations, the influence of the
Great Chiefs in the south, and other agents of the Residency were
engaged in watching and thwarting the incessant German intrigues in the
Spanish zone.
General Lyautey is quoted as having said that "a work-shop is worth a
battalion." This precept he managed to put into action even during the
first dark days of 1914, and the interior development of Morocco
proceeded side by side with the strengthening of its defenses. Germany
had long foreseen what an asset northwest Africa would be during the
war; and General Lyautey was determined to prove how right Germany had
been. He did so by getting the government, to whom he had given nearly
all his troops, to give him in exchange an agricultural and industrial
army, or at least enough specialists to form such an army out of the
available material in the country. For every battle fought a road was
made;[A] for every rebel fortress shelled a factory was built, a harbor
developed, or more miles of fallow land ploughed and sown.
[Footnote A: During the first year of the war roads were built in
Morocco by German prisoners, and it was because Germany was so
thoroughly aware of the economic value of the country, and so anxious
not to have her prestige diminished, that she immediately protested, on
the absurd plea of the unwholesomeness of the climate, and threatened
reprisals unless the prisoners were withdrawn.]
But this economic development did not satisfy the Resident. He wished
Morocco to enlarge her commercial relations with France and the other
allied countries, and with this object in view he organized and carried
out with brilliant success a series of exhibitions at Casablanca, Fez
and Rabat. The result of this bold policy surpassed even its creator's
hopes. The Moroccans of the plain are an industrious and money-loving
people, and the sight of these rapidly improvised exhibitions, where the
industrial and artistic products of France and other European countries
were shown in picturesque buildings grouped about flower-filled gardens,
fascinated their imagination and strengthened their confidence in the
country that could find time for such an effort in the midst of a great
war. The Voice of the Bazaar carried the report to the farthest confines
of Moghreb, and one by one the notabilities of the different tribes
arrived, with delegations from Algeria and Tunisia. It was even said
that several rebel chiefs had submitted to the Makhzen in order not to
miss the Exhibition.
At the same time as the "Miracle of the Marne" another, less famous but
almost as vital to France, was being silently performed at the other end
of her dominions. It will not seem an exaggeration to speak of General
Lyautey's achievement during the first year of the war as the "Miracle
of Morocco" if one considers the immense importance of doing what he did
at the moment when he did it. And to understand this it is only needful
to reckon what Germany could have drawn in supplies and men from a
German North Africa, and what would have been the situation of France
during the war with a powerful German colony in control of the western
Mediterranean.
General Lyautey has always been one of the clear-sighted administrators
who understand that the successful government of a foreign country
depends on many little things, and not least on the administrator's
genuine sympathy with the traditions, habits and tastes of the people. A
keen feeling for beauty had prepared him to appreciate all that was most
exquisite and venerable in the Arab art of Morocco, and even in the
first struggle with political and military problems he found time to
gather about him a group of archaeologists and artists who were charged
with the inspection and preservation of the national monuments and the
revival of the languishing native art-industries. The old pottery,
jewelry, metal-work, rugs and embroideries of the different regions were
carefully collected and classified, schools of decorative art were
founded, skilled artisans sought out, and every effort was made to urge
European residents to follow native models and use native artisans in
building and furnishing.
At the various Exhibitions much space was allotted to these revived
industries, and the matting of Salé, the rugs of Rabat, the embroideries
of Fez and Marrakech have already found a ready market in France,
besides awakening in the educated class of colonists an appreciation of
the old buildings and the old arts of the country that will be its
surest safeguard against the destructive effects of colonial expansion.
It is only necessary to see the havoc wrought in Tunisia and Algeria by
the heavy hand of the colonial government to know what General Lyautey
has achieved in saving Morocco from this form of destruction also.
All this has been accomplished by the Resident-General during five years
of unexampled and incessant difficulty; and probably the true
explanation of the miracle is that which he himself gives when he says,
with the quiet smile that typifies his Moroccan war-policy: "It was easy
to do because I loved the people."
THE WORK OF THE FRENCH PROTECTORATE, 1912-1918
PORTS
Owing to the fact that the neglected and roadless Spanish zone
intervened between the French possessions and Tangier, which is the
natural port of Morocco, one of the first preoccupations of General
Lyautey was to make ports along the inhospitable Atlantic coast, where
there are no natural harbours.
Since 1912, in spite of the immense cost and the difficulty of obtaining
labour, the following has been done:
_Casablanca._ A jetty 1900 metres long has been planned: 824 metres
finished December, 1917.
Small jetty begun 1916, finished 1917--length 330 metres. Small harbour
thus created shelters small boats (150 tons) in all weathers.
Quays 747 metres long already finished.
16 steam-cranes working.
Warehouses and depots covering 41,985 square metres completed.
_Rabat._ Work completed December, 1917.
A quay 200 metres long, to which boats with a draught of three metres
can tie up.
Two groups of warehouses, steam-cranes, etc., covering 22,600 square
metres.
A quay 100 metres long on the Salé side of the river.
_Kenitra._ The port of Kenitra is at the mouth of the Sebou River, and
is capable of becoming a good river port.
The work up to December, 1917, comprises:
A channel 100 metres long and three metres deep, cut through the bar of
the Sebou.
Jetties built on each side of the channel.
Quay 100 metres long.
Building of sheds, depots, warehouses, steam-cranes, etc.
At the ports of Fedalah, Mazagan, Safi, Mogador and Agadir similar plans
are in course of execution.
COMMERCE
COMPARATIVE TABLES
1912 1918
Total Commerce Total Commerce
Fcs 177,737,723 Fcs 386,238,618
Exports Exports
Fcs 67,080,383 Fcs 116,148,081
ROADS BUILT
National roads 2,074 kilometres
Secondary roads 569 "
RAILWAYS BUILT
622 kilometres
LAND CULTIVATED
1915 1918
Approximate area Approximate area
21,165 17 hectares 1,681,308 03 hectares
JUSTICE
1. Creation of French courts for French nationals and those under French
protection. These take cognizance of civil cases where both parties, or
even one, are amenable to French jurisdiction.
2. Moroccan law is Moslem, and administered by Moslem magistrates.
Private law, including that of inheritance, is based on the Koran. The
Sultan has maintained the principle whereby real property and
administrative cases fall under native law. These courts are as far as
possible supervised and controlled by the establishment of a Cherifian
Ministry of Justice to which the native Judges are responsible. Special
care is taken to prevent the alienation of property held collectively,
or any similar transactions likely to produce political and economic
disturbances.
3. Criminal jurisdiction is delegated to Pashas and Cadis by the Sultan,
except of offenses committed against, or in conjunction with, French
nationals and those under French protection. Such cases come before the
tribunals of the French Protectorate.
EDUCATION
The object of the Protectorate has been, on the one hand, to give to the
children of French colonists in Morocco the same education as they would
have received at elementary and secondary schools in France; on the
other, to provide the indigenous population with a system of education
that shall give to the young Moroccans an adequate commercial or manual
training, or prepare them for administrative posts, but without
interfering with their native customs or beliefs.
Before 1912 there existed in Morocco only a few small schools supported
by the French Legation at Tangier and by the Alliance Française, and a
group of Hebrew schools in the Mellahs, maintained by the Universal
Israelite Alliance.
1912. Total number of schools 37
1918. " " " " 191
1912. Total number of pupils 3006
1918. " " " " 21,520
1912. Total number of teachers 61
1918. " " " " 668
In addition to the French and indigenous schools, sewing-schools have
been formed for the native girls and have been exceptionally successful.
Moslem colleges have been founded at Rabat and Fez in order to
supplement the native education of young Mahometans of the upper
classes, who intend to take up wholesale business or banking, or prepare
for political, judicial or administrative posts under the Sultan's
government. The course lasts four years and comprises: Arabic, French,
mathematics, history, geography, religious (Mahometan) instruction, and
the law of the Koran.
The "Ecole Supérieure de la langue arabe et des dialectes berbères" at
Rabat receives European and Moroccan students. The courses are Arabic,
the Berber dialects, Arab literature, ethnography, administrative
Moroccan law, Moslem law, Berber customary law.
MEDICAL AID
The Protectorate has established 113 medical centres for the native
population, ranging from simple dispensaries and small native
infirmaries to the important hospitals of Rabat, Fez, Meknez, Marrakech,
and Casablanca.
Mobile sanitary formations supplied with light motor ambulances travel
about the country, vaccinating, making tours of sanitary inspection,
investigating infected areas, and giving general hygienic education
throughout the remoter regions.
Native patients treated in 1916 over 900,000
" " " " 1917 " 1,220,800
Night-shelters in towns. Every town is provided with a shelter for the
indigent wayfarers so numerous in Morocco. These shelters are used as
disinfection centres, from which suspicious cases are sent to quarantine
camp at the gates of the towns.
_Central Laboratory at Rabat._ This is a kind of Pasteur Institute. In
1917, 210,000 persons were vaccinated throughout the country and 356
patients treated at the Laboratory for rabies.
_Clinics for venereal diseases_ have been established at Casablanca,
Fez, Rabat, and Marrakech.
More than 15,000 cases were treated in 1917.
_Ophthalmic clinics_ in the same cities gave in 1917, 44,600
consultations.
_Radiotherapy._ Clinics have been opened at Fez and Rabat for the
treatment of skin diseases of the head, from which the native children
habitually suffer.
The French Department of Health distributes annually immense quantities
of quinine in the malarial districts.
Madame Lyautey's private charities comprise admirably administered
child-welfare centres in the principal cities, with dispensaries for the
native mothers and children.
