Reports multiply about the possibilities of peace in Morocco. We
suggested recently that France was much more ready than Spain to come to terms with Abd-el- Krim, and the latest news tends to confirm the suggestion. However, the two countries seem at last to have come much nearer together, and "complete agreement" 'is spoken of in that conventional language from which a certain subtraction is always made by careful persons. There were obvious reasons for disagreement. The Spaniards, as the Times correspondent points out, stand upon lines which are strongly fortified and are not far from their bases. The French lines, on the other hand, are long and are situated among tribes which are only doubtfully held in subjection. Again, the political situation in France makes a continuance of the war extremely incon- venient, but to Spain it is no more inconvenient than -usual. We can only hope that France will really convince her reluctant Ally that the time has come for peace, Although peace is not so necessary for Spain as for France; it is none the less true that if Spain could end the policy of draining her resources in colonial wars, and could concen- trate on organizing and developing her resources al home, she might become a very prosperous and progressive country instead of a backward one.
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