As we expected, the settlement between Great Britain and France
as to the future of Morocco included ample provision for satisfying both the interests and the pride of Spain on the Southern shore of the Mediterranean. By an arrangement not yet quite concluded she is to assume, as we suggested she should four years ago, the guardianship of the whole Northern coast, from Melilla to the Sebu River on the Atlantic. The Spanish Press is inclined to be indignant, declaring that Spain obtains nothing except a new responsibility; but the Court is satisfied, and, indeed, it is difficult to see what more the two great contracting Powers could have done. They have assigned to Spain functions which in the event of the dis- solution of the Shereefian Empire might easily be developed, if Spain is willing and strong enough, into a formal Protec- torate. They cannot undertake to direct the future policy of Spain, which may by that time be a Republic, nor can they invest her with a strength which of herself she does not possess. It must suffice that neither of them claims what she regards as her natural heritage, and that the really dangerous point of dispute, the overlordship of Tangier, will not belong to a Power which in time of stress might venture to close the Mediterranean. The statement that Germany has asked for permission to fortify a harbour on the Atlantic coast of Morocco is repudiated by Germany herself, where the best authorities admit that such a harbour, even if one could be discovered, would be very expensive to maintain, and of no practical value if maintained.
