M. Jaures, the sensible Socialist Vice-President of the French Chamber,
affirms in the strongest way that the Government is preparing an expedition for the conquest of the Hinterland of Morocco. The Government point- blank denies this ; but it seems clear that the Governor- General of Algeria is making certain preparations, which ap- pear to be larger than those required for defence. Senor Silvela, moreover, the great Spanish Conservative, is quitting public life, avowedly because he has failed to secure to Spain from France her just influence in the settlement of the Moroccan question. It seems possible, though it is not certain, that these accounts can be reconciled, the French Government having resolved, not indeed to conquer Morocco, but to assist the Sultan against his rebels, and thenceforward protect his dominions. If, as is alleged, the coast towns, including Tangier, are to be neutralised, and English interests in them effectively guaranteed, there is no objection to that arrangement. It is evident from the dis- missal of all European officers from Fez that the anti-foreign feeling provoked by the Sultan's unwise preference for Western ways has reached boiling-point, and that forcible intervention may yet become indispensable as a precaution against massacre.
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