~ THE DAILY BRITI To i H WHIG SH W TUESDAY, MARCH 81, Where Britain Stands on Suar Ae a ae Lhe i AE Spain's Failure in Morocco -Causes Trouble for Britain and France. Germany Plots to Take Advantage. Pan-Islamic Ideal Plays a Part. For Spain disaster and Morocco are synonymous. Britain is trying to avoid a like situation in regard to her own North African interests. 80 is France. Italy wants to play & more important role in prospec- tive developments than France Jthinks she should, and German machinations help to-complicate the ' problem. A native chieftain, Abdel Krim, leader of the Rifts in the Spanish zone of Moroeco, is the immediate keystone of the situation. If he is captured or slain in battle, there may be a subsidence of the agitation that is worrying the powers. A per- fod of peace would probably follow, to be broken when ¥ome new chief- tain calls the tribes to holy war. Spain, according to the unpub- lished records of history, has made several overtures to Britain, in the last thirty years, looking to the sur- render of Gibraltar. They were not taken seriously in London. British military men, looking across the narrow Straits of Gibraltar, and British warships sailing that strip and adjacent seas, see and hear much. Their information must cause them to wonder whether Bpain could-hold the fortress long If she had it. 'To those who know of the Great Rock by reason of vis- its there, or from extensive read- ing about it, 'this may sound fan- tastic. The story of successive Bpanish failures in Morocco make It appear more plausible. But Spain Is not likely to get another oppor- tunity to hold The Rock. Britain is on guard across the Straits, and in. them, with force enough for any immediate emerg- ancy. It is not alone the prospect of a localised crisis that keeps her alert. Austen Chamberlain, British Secretary of Foreign Affairs put the case in brief in a recent statement in the Commons. No power with] interests in North Africa, he said, could consider as alien to itself what was passing in any part of North Africa. He added, "If one of us has trouble, our trouble may be the cause of trouble for the other." Several commentators have put the situation much more bluntly with the opinion that the succes- sion of defeats sustained by a white nation in Morocco, has added fuel to the flames of the Ran Islamic ideal. Leaders of that movement to put the Crescent above the Cross, are not only in close touch with Abdel Krim, but they have methods of bringing pressure to bear which he cannot and dare not ignore. He may be full of inspiration and en- thusiasm for their plans; or he may be controlled by nothing more ex- alted than lust for power. Having driven the Spaniards to seek shelter in strongholds by the sea, he has more recently been swatting Rai- suill, a brigand chieftain, who a few years ago was often mentioned in and they persuaded the Spaniards to demote him. They also threw Abdel into prison. Escaping in 1831 he started a war of vengeance that has never ceased. His initial sue- cess was the defeat of an army under General Silvestre, the Gov- ernor who dismissed him. It is sald that the Spaniards had 10,000 men killed in this battle. had many successes since then, every one of them adding much modern military equipment to his supplies, There are men in the British House of Commons who régard Ab- riots in a war for liberty, and they want the British government tp Warn France against actively inter- fering in "the event that Spain jeventually withdraws 'completely out of Moroeoo. Their support of ithe Riffs is based on the contention that whatever their present lead- He has, del Krim as a patriot leading pat-|. her "Moroccan adventure" is esti- mated at twenty-four millions of pounds yearly 2nd the country's revenue is but a few thou- sand more. The author, Ibanes, and other native Spanish critics, as- sert that graft and looting account for n half of the money spent oy and | the Spaniards; that that shameful incompetency in milf-| in the Moroccan campaigns, tary knowledge and leadership are their up; no wonder there is anxiety in' street, and the chancellor ies of Europe. . The accompanying map, not drawn to scale, gives an idea of the interlocking influences, * interests and possibilities, which maks the situation one of danger. Tangier, was British in the sixteenth cen- tury. It has had many vicissitudes since. These included, before the \ 'ALGERIA { TRIP N. ~N ~~ / b-- Moroccan army and navy headquar- are, and a strip of terri- tory along the coast, she will be lucky. For her a new menace is the rising of the Anjera tribes, who live in the territory between Tan- | sler to Ceuta. For many years they were on friendly terms with day appears to | be over. France has restored order in her ters now ,oorollaries. It is a queer mix- {sphere of Morocco, following some uprisings which were not bothered with during the world war, strong forces there and in The latter, her prize colonial pos- session, has a population of about|Britain six 'millions from which many na- tive fighting men are recruited. Tunisia, another French 'possession, with some two million people comes next. Then Italy in with Tripoli, a large territory, but with & population of not more than 600,- 000. It was taken from Turkey in OLT [T--- which would bave given her a um que base for both for Atlantic an nst | Mediterranean operations, wer agal Spain. Comparatively few of the fighting men in the Islamic coun- tries know that the military forces, p of Britain ce are Infinitely superior of Spain. They only know Algeria: | Grosse, tempt for others in every move she makes to emphasise ber claims. Germany's Alms Where does Germany come in? Spanish writers and statesmen who want to see their country in the f EGYPT & / La France in despatches as 'alternately fighting against and siding with the Span iards, according to the state of his treasury and the equipment of his forces. Krim a Good Fighter Abdel Krim is no mere raider. A graduate of the University of Madrid, he was at one time sup- reme judge at Melilla, under Span- ish jurisdictiop. 'He was accused er's views, these tribesmen were very friendly toward the British in the Great War, while Spain 'was not. The punctilliously éorrect at- titude of King Alfonso and his eab- inet is not overlooked, but the charge that Spain was actually hos- tile to the allies and very useful to the Germans, has persisted from the first year of the war. As a "neutral" Spain is declared to have made the equivalent of a billion dollars out of the war. But by the French of pro-Germanism to this day she geems 1nsapgbIg of balancing her budget. The of The map 'shows how Algeria a ts ste world war, an attempt on the part of Germany to establish it as her recognised possession. In Decem- ber of last year the town and the zone surrounding it were complete- ly neutralized under the convention between Britain, France and Spain. The latter and France have zones in Morocco outside of Tangier, but Spain, for fittsen years back and the last seven in particular, has reaped nothing but sorrow and e in her part of it the Riff sec- tion, a very hilly area. If she can hold Tetuan, at which port her the interests of several powers and Tunisia. Britain in Gibraltar, the alert because of the unrest due to EE, SON James Olivér Curwaxd et A LOVE EPIC OF THE FAR NORTH a JORIS. Nemes, trapper, and daughter, made the rounds of their ips to see what animals had been ight. Pierrot never left the girl for he was fearful of McTaggart, unscrupulous factor, who was de- ined to marry her. Baree, the wolf OF, always accompanied them... Ne- made a pet of the dog, but Pier: . §ecasionally strugk the dog. "If I ke Hits hats me, he will hae al " he explained. The fa was into the future--for Nepeese. CHAPTER XVII--Continued. ow the tonic-filled days and cold, frosty nights of the Red Moon brought about the big change in Baree. It was inevitable. Pierrot knew that it would come, and the first night that Baree settled back on his --haunches and howled up at the Red Moon, Pierrot pregired Nepeese for it. Y is a wild dog, ma Nepeese," he said ® her. "He is half wolf, and the Call will come to him strong. He will go into the forests. He will disappear at times. But we must not fasten him. He will come back. Ka, he will come back I" And he rubbed his hands in the moon-glow until his knuckles crack- d. e The Call came to Bareé like a thief | per to Nepeese. i 2 = entering slowly and cautiously into a forbidden place. He did not under- stand at first. It made him 'nervous and ufieasy; so restless: that 'Nepeese frequently heard him whine softly in his sleep. He was waiting for sorhe- thing. . What was it? Pierrot knew, and smiled in his inscrutable way. 0 bushes, his drooping, his ears aslantthe wolf as the wolf runs on the night trail." And then it came, It wasa night, a glorious night filled with moon and stars; under which the earth was whit- ening with a film of frost, when they heard the first hunt-ecall of the wolves, Now and then during the summer there had come the lone wolf-howi, but this was the tonguing of the pack; and as it floated th vast sile ence and mystery of the night, a 3 of savagery that had come with 3 Red Moon down through unendi ages, Pierrot knew that at last waiting. : In an instant Baree had sensed His muscles grew taut as pieces stretched rope as he stood up in moonlight, facing the direction | which flogted the mystery and thrill ihe sound. They sould hear him whi = tly; an errot, bending dow so that he the light of the properly, cou him trembling. It is he said in . |aslant--the wolf as the wolf runs on the "I night trail. The pack had swung due come that for which Baree had been! back at her side. But he had come, straight as a arrow, and he whined up.into her. ce, Nepeese put her hands to his ead. : Th ""You are right, mon pére," she said. "He will go to the wolves, but he will come back. He will never leave me for long." With one hand still on Baree's head, she pointed with the other into the pitlike blackness of the forest. "Go to them," Baree!" she whispered. "But you must come back. You must. Cheamao!" CHAPTER XVIII No longer, as in the day of old, did the darkness of the forests hold a fear for Baree. This night his h -cry had risen to the stars and the m , and in that cry he had, for the first time, sent forth his defiance of night and space, his warning to all the wild, and his ac- ceptance of the Brotherhood. He ran straight into the darkness to the north and west, slinking low under, the bushes, his tail drooping, his ears north, and was travellirig faster than Te, 80, that at the end of half an hour he could no longer hear it. But the lane wolf-howl! to the west wis nearer, and thrée times Baree gave answer to it. At the end of an hour he heard the r are interlocked. Spanish defeats by the Moors. 1912, and has since been reconquer- ed by the Italians who neglected it when they entered the world war. In Egypt and the Soudan Britain has interests which are swayed by every wind blown by Mohammedan unrest. Nominally, Egypt is independent; but its stra- tegic highway to India, and all of the Soudan are iu the hands of Britain. Across the narrow straits is Gibraltar, also British, while fn Arabia, British mandatory powers and possessions cover vast areas. For Britain, as much as for any ab aa pack afin, swinging southward. Pier- rot would sily 'have ' understood. Their i od found safety beyond water, or in a lake, and the muhekuns were on a fresh trail. By this time not more than a quarter of a mile of the forest-separated Baree from the lone wolf, but the lone wolf was alsoan old wolf, and with the directness and pre- cision of long experience, he swerved inthe direction of the hunters, com- passing his trail so that he was head- ing for a point half or three quarters of a mile in advance of the pack. This was a trick of the Brotherhood which Baree had 'yet to learn; and the result of his ignorance, and lack of skill, was that twice within the next half-hour he found himself near to the pack without being able to join it. Then came a long and final silence. The pack had pulled down its kill, and in their feasting they made no sound. . Baree had not forgotten Nepeese. A dozen times he turned his head back and whined, and always he picked out accurately the direction in which the cabin lay. But he did not turn back. As the night lengthened, his search for that mysterious something which he had not found continued. His hun- ger, even with the fading-out of the ~ SOUDAN of Morocco. Egypt, the Soudan and Arabis, are all on closést relationships with Britain and France above all others, point to the activities which are establish- ing the Krupps and other German concerns everywhere in Spain. These are not bent upon peaceful commercial penetration. They are getting control of iron works and shipyards throughout the country, and Zeppelin works are to be estab- lished too. Malaga and Algeciras, facing Gibraltar, are. two -of the places to which there activities are extended. German plans for mak- ing Tangier a huge fertified po; folled years ago by British am French co-operation. Berlin hai. never lost sight of them, and they are revived now with the blessing of an acquiescent Spain, a country which owes its very existence as a national entity to Britain. Recent revelations by Brigadier-General Morgan, a British officer who served on the Inter-Allied Mission of Cone trol, regarding German armament and military training./add signif. cance to these plans. Half a mil. ~|lion' newly trained men, with sev- eral times the requisite equipment and arms, is the estimate of Ger many's military strength exclusive of war veterans. The new army has been created by clever manipus« lation which keeps instructors regu larly on the rolls and calls others up for short but intensive training periods. O of 500,000 blacks, to be used in the next European war. Their trans- port mostly by land and part Way, by seas which she ean easily de- fend, is a part of the French mille tary program, , } . France Makes Ready If Abdel Krim carries out his fm< mediate professed intention of es tablishing "the Republic of the Riff," the French will face an in- creasingly 'difficult situation. Abdel professes friendship for them, but it has been shown that none of the Modrish revolutionary leaders can: ever restrain their. followers from! raiding any of the zones claimed by] European powers. A few raids in. to French spheres or protectorates/ would be followed by prompt action! on the part of France without re. gard to Spanish or any other feel-| ing. That is shown by the vote of] five million franes put at the dis-. posal of Marshal Lyautey, in com-| mand of the French in Morocco. {France could not afford to allo her millions of colored subjects to become infected with the virus of! belief in their ability to drive the Christian nations back to Europe.! In India and Arabia, Egypt and! the Soudan, and many other areas where her interests are: affected, Britain must keep closer watch and guard because of what is happen~ ing in Morocco. For the moment the countries bordering upon the Mediterranean and the Red claim the closest attention, - Admiralty and the War Office are In hourly touch by wireless with the centres whence developments may come. Britain knows how to guard her awn, * a n i \ AA Sr moon and the coming' of the gray dawn, was. not sufficiently keen to make him hunt for food. "It was cold, and it seemed colder when: the glow of the moan and stars died out. Under his padded feet, espec- ially in the open spaces, was a thick white frost in which he left clearly at s the imprint of his foes and claws He had travelled steadily for hours; a great many miles in all, and he: was tired when. the first light of the day came. At last it had come--the meeting with that for which he had been seek- ing. It was in an open, lighted by the cold dawn--a tiny amphitheatre tkat lay on the side of a ridge, facing the ro east. With her head toward him, and waiting for him as he carte out of the shadows, his scent strong in her keen' nose, stood Maheegun, the young wolf. There was not a fortnight's differ. ence jn their age and yet Maheegun was much the smaller of the two; her body was as long, but she was slim- mer; she stood on slender legs that were almost like the legs of a fox, and the curve of her back was that of a slightly bent bow, a sign of swiftness almost equal to the wind. Whén the sun rose, half an hour later, it found them still in the small nS 2 open on the side of the ridge, with a deép fringe of forest under them, and beyond 'that a wide, timbered plain which looked like a ghostly shroud in its mantle of frost. Maheegun, too, had sought the hunt pack: and like Baree had failed to catch it. They were tired, a little dis- couraged for the time, and hungry-- but still alive with the fine. thrill of anticipation, and restlessly sensitive to the new and mysterious consciousness of companionship. To the flesh-eating wild things of the forests, clawed and winged, the Big Snow was the beginning of the winter carnivdl of slaughter and feast ing, of wild adventure in the 'Jong nights, of merciless warfare on the fro- zen trails. The days of breeding, of mo- therhood--the peace of spring and sunither--were over; out of the sky came the wakening of the Northland, the call of all flesh-eating creatures to the long hunt, and in the first thrill of it living things were moving but little this might, and. that Avatchfully and with suspicion. Youth made it all new to. Bacee and Maheegan; their blood ran swiftly; their feet fell softly; their } cars were attuned to catch the slight- est sounds. ? (To. be continued) \.