France In North Africa.

New York Times 100 years ago today, July 26, 1912:
    With the protectorate of Morocco France becomes responsible for the rule of a territory in North Africa, including Algeria and Tunis, some two and one-quarter times as large as her own area and with a population nearly one-third as great. Of the population 4,500,000 are in Algeria, 1,800,000 in Tunis, and from 5,000,000 to 7,000,000 in Morocco.
    If the problem of Morocco were closely like that of the other two provinces, the success that France has had in these would be a fair guarantee of similar success in the new protectorate, but it is really quite different and much more bothersome. Algeria occupied the best energies of the French for nearly eighteen years before a firm hold was secured on the larger part of the country, and for ten years more before the Kabyls were subdued; but for the past half century French progress has been fairly steady and the country now has a remarkable degree of order and prosperity. Tunis was taken over in a more favorable manner in 1883, and, thanks to a pretty well-organized native Government under complete French guidance, and to the rich yield of nitrates, it has always been substantially peaceful and has been increasingly prosperous.
    The situation in Morocco is very different. Two considerable zones in the northwest are under the control of Spain, with which no arrangement has yet been made. The native Government is weak even where it is nominally acknowledged, and there are undefined areas in which the warlike Arabs do not acknowledge it. The Sultan is timid and untrustworthy, and would be glad to abdicate, and there is no better man to take his place. France has no special privileges, financial or industrial, and, despite the bargain with Germany and the agreement with England and Italy, is always exposed to the danger of provoking the jealousy of other European nations. The agricultural resources of Morocco are limited and somewhat scattered. The mineral resources are not thoroughly known and most of those subject to present exploitation are within the Spanish zones.
    Under these conditions it is undeniable that the task of France in her new protectorate will be onerous and by no means without risk, while the material returns are at present doubtful. To some extent the assumption of this task has been due to speculative promoters and financiers. But it could not have been carried through had there not been a strong supporting sentiment among the French people. This sentiment it is not easy to define, but it is in large part a growing consciousness of national vigor and a desire to give to the world convincing proof of that growth. It is the feeling that, despite sordid beginnings, has led to the movement of successful expansion in Tonquin, in Madagascar, and in Tunis, and which, earlier, under somewhat like conditions in Europe, inspired the bourgeois King Louis Philippe to undertake the Algerian adventure. All these enterprises express a certain element of restless aspiration in the ordinarily sober and laborious population of France. The friends of the Republic can only hope that the latest development may be as fortunate as, on the whole, have been those that preceded it.