The great German demonstration as to Morocco seems to
have produced no result, M. Delcasse remaining quiet and declining to open negotiations with the German Foreign Office. His steadiness greatly irritates official circles in Berlin, and the inspired and semi-inspired German Press is full of denunciations, based principally upon speeches uttered by the French Opposition. These denunciations, however, do not affect the position of M. Delcasse, every Frenchman thinking at heart that a Foreign Minister who creates such annoyance in Berlin must be at once competent and patriotic. The interview of the Emperor with the King of Italy at Naples has, it is stated, only elicited assurances that Italy, while adhering to the Triple Alliance, must keep friends with France and Great Britain ; and altogether the visit to Tangier has been only " a Kruger telegram." To make his indirect menaces more formidable, Count von Billow is sending a special Minister to Fez with orders to conclude a separate and special "commercial" treaty with the Sultan, which may or may not contain daitgerous clauses ; but it is not certain that the Mission will be successful. The Sultan himself, it must not be forgotten, has a hankering for Western methods, which, if successful, would restore his somewhat shattered authority; and perceives that as France will remain upon his Eastern frontier, and will always be able to send an army across it, friendly relations with France will always be eminently desirable.
