Tunisia and Morocco

...Moroccan Army of Liberation troops are now engaged in serious skirmishing in Mauretania with French troops—action hardly likely to speed French departure...

...The only result thus far has been a redoubled effort to complete the American base at Seville, in Spain, and the promise of a trickle of American aid to supplement that supplied by France...

...As a result, women remain at home instead of being employed in the economy, and even most of the supposedly modern Istiqlal girls refuse to walk in the street without wearing a hideous tent-like garment...

...However, Bourguiba stood ready to negotiate with the French (who have learned to respect him as "a gentleman"), ambassadors have been re-exchanged, and talks are now under way with Seydoux and Maurice Faure for settlement of the troop question...

...Another positive factor, ironically, is the Sultan himself...

...It also gave the upper echelons a chance to learn the art of teamwork, to plan a post-independence program, and to train vital cadres in administrative fields...

...Morocco, with a population of nearly 10 million and a wealth of untapped natural resources, could become a thriving country and even a counterweight to Egypt in the Arab world...

...Take the question of the status of women-—a key one in any Moslem country today...

...and the conviction that enough tumult and shouting can produce almost anything...

...And, though lack of capital has prevented real industrialization, plans are ready for the construction of phosphate and iron refineries, canneries and other primary industries which could be made viable in a short time, given some foreign aid...

...Yet, Tunisia, which first received increasing participation in the protectorate regime and then internal autonomy before getting full independence, gives the definite impression of being able to take care of itself...

...The Istiqlal, on the other hand, has passed some vague resolutions favoring emancipation but has yet to draw up any law on the subject—or even discuss it seriously...

...Already numbering 600,000, it is affiliated (as is the Tunisian Workers' Union) with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions...

...Of course, there are other reasons for this inaction than the confused thinking of Allal A1 Fassi...

...The resultant fighting brought independence, while leaving all but the most sophisticated with little political philosophy except "Vive le Sultan...

...Balafrej has implied that the U.S...

...Habib Bourguiba, coupled with the organizational know-how of his brilliant Vice Premier (and probable successor) Bahi Ladgham, is making this country of less than 4 million function at top efficiency...

...Thus, the young women at least really feel emancipated and are now active in much-needed teaching and welfare work...

...Thus, the political genius of Premier Lohna Hahn recently returned from an extensive tour of North Africa...

...pan-Arab-minded party chief Allal A1 Fassi...

...Amid the general bleakness, there are some redeeming factors in Morocco...

...A united Istiqlal might have been able to get things under control...

...The war-born Istiqlal party always demanded full independence, yet it never aroused any widespread interest in nationalism until the French exiled the Sultan in 1953 and the entire country erupted in protest...

...salaries of the useless family of the Bey have been halved...

...Moreover, no one in Morocco has yet had the privilege of casting a ballot...

...In the case of Morocco, American assistance could prop up the few nascent democratic elements, direct some of the present aimless enthusiasm into constructive work projects, and pull the basically pro-Western forces, such as the Sultan, Balafrej and probably most of the politically unformed youth, into the Western camp...

...Take, too, the delicate question of mending fences with France—a crucial one since the former protectorates must have continued French financial assistance to prevent economic collapse...

...All this, however, is generally excused on the grounds that somehow "independence will solve everything...

...Its program is democratic and its outlook Western...

...Arab-Berber diflicnltu's often erupt in the south, many French and some Jews (who feel quite safe in Tunisia) are becoming nervous and trying to leave, and even the Sultan's authority—the one force which has managed to hold things together—is beginning to annoy the younger Moroccans...

...both have predominantly Moslem Arab-Berber people, with Jewish and French minorities...

...The Sultan, with Allah knows how many wives, would hardly push for abolishing polygamy...

...Also, since Morocco has refused to send an ambassador to France since the capture of the five Algerians, there is little hope of an early settlement...

...Bourguiba long ago made it clear that religious traditionalism would not stand in the wn\ of progress and was able to adopt a strictly Western solution with little opposition...

...First, there is the rapid growth, under the tutelage of Americans like Irving Brown, of the Union of Moroccan Workers...

...He is therefore willing to meet the liberal groups at least half way in an effort to curb the extremism of A1 Fassi and his followers...

...It might be expensive, but in terms of future strategy it would be a most worthwhile investment...

...What finally emerges is this: Independence in North Africa implies not only tremendous responsibilities for its leaders, but some for the U.S...

...both were French protectorates...

...as well...

...Since its Secretary General, Mahgoub ben Seddik, is Vice President of the Constituent Assembly, which is drafting Morocco's first constitution, and 20 of its members are delegates, it is in a position to correct some feudal abuses and make sure the Sultan becomes a truly constitutional monarch rather than the enlightened despot he now is...

...Workers have received a minimum wage (still only a dollar a day, but it's an improvement) and cheap public housing, while civil servants have accepted a 10-per-cent salary cut under an austerity budget...

...His government outlawed polygamy and gave women the right to vote on the same basis as men, subject to the sole condition that they drop the veil "as proof of their emancipation...

...The capture of five Algerian rebel leaders en route to a peace conference in Tunis last October also inflamed Tunisian opinion to the point of breaking off diplomatic relations with France...

...The extremist psychology has unfortunately enveloped even the pedantic Balafrej, who is now Foreign Minister, and has affected the negotiations on United States retention of leases on Morocco's six air bases...

...Where they have, however, it has more than paid off once the struggle has ended and the erstwhile agitators have turned to the less glamorous task of running a government...

...The latter would like, above all, to retain his throne and his title of "our beloved Sultan...

...In less than a year, projects have been launched for land reclamation and irrigation, particularly in the drought-ridden south...

...There have been many misunderstandings in the past year, chiefly over the presence of some 30,000 French troops along the Algerian border...

...He is also sincerely interested in making his country something of a world (or at least a Middle Eastern) power...

...France claims they are necessary to prevent Algerian fellaghas from escaping into Tunisia, while Tunisian villagers along the border claim their presence makes independence a sham—particularly since they have mistakenly killed innocent Tunisians while chasing Algerians...

...The big difference is that, while the Fabian nationalism of Tunisia's Neo-Destour party meant a continuous 22-year struggle, it taught people that the best results are achieved by hard, steady work...

...The trouble is that everything happened too quickly...

...It is hard to escape this simple conclusion when one contrasts the progress in newly independent Tunisia and Morocco...

...Instead, most of its energies have been spent on the quarrel between the Westernized Secretary General Ahmed Balafrej and the now dominant...

...In Morocco, moderation is conspicuously absent...

...But Morocco, which got independence in one fell swoop, has yet to produce much besides demonstrations of delight at how "we showed those French...

...Tunisia laid plans for its first national election even before independence and held it one month after, but Morocco is still talking the matter over in its Constituent Assembly, a group of 72 members selected by His Majesty himself...

...Refusing to be hobbled by dead-wood traditions, Tunisia's leaders have ordered thousands of acres of formerly unproductive religious lands nationalized and converted into small farms...

...To add to a similar problem of French troops, A1 Fassi has demanded that Morocco's southern border be extended to include the region of Mauretania, which is five times as big as present-day Morocco...

...may keep the bases, but only in return for a fantastic amount of economic assistance...

...His party, therefore, always managed to maintain an amicable relationship with certain key French officials, such as former High Commissioner Roger Seydoux, which has made it relatively easy to adjust differences subsequently on a man-toman basis...

...This means that he is against Nasser, who represents both anti-monarchial revolutions and unconstructive nihilism, and that he is anxious to remove sources of mass discontent such as extreme poverty and illiteracy...

...Bourguiba always adhered to the principle that he was not anti-French, only anti-colonialist...

...Both countries have the same basic problems of underdevelopment, unemployment and rapidly expanding populations...

...The latter's weird dream of preserving traditional Islam, destroying everything smacking of "imperialism" and still somehow modernizing the country has produced little that is constructive...

...In the case of Tunisia, American aid is needed to get its redevelopment program into high gear and to prove to the rest of the world that we recognize and will help a pro-American country when we see it...

...But squabbles within the dominant Istiqlal party prevent the drawing up of much-needed plans: the few trained administrators are constantly shuffled from one ministry to another, and strikes and parades arc detonated by even thing from Prince Moulay Hassan's birthday to Nasser's nationalization of (he Suez ('anal...