Paris, March 2

The provisional Franco-Moroccan agreement signed today by the Foreign Minister, M. Pineau, and the Moroccan Premier, Si Bekkai, has given such wide satisfaction to the Moroccans that at first sight it is difficult to see what the French have retained.

The agreement recognises that the Treaty of Fez, which created the Protectorate in 1912, has become outdated, and declares that negotiations will henceforth will be between equal and sovereign States, with Morocco having the right to an army and a Foreign Ministry of its own. It recognises the right of the Sultan to legislate without any French veto, and provides for negotiations for handing over parts of the administration hitherto reserved to the French.

France recognises the integrity of Moroccan territory and promises to secure that it is recognised by others - a reference to the Spanish zone and to Tangier. The Resident -General will at once become a High Commissioner. And Morocco is to be represented forthwith on the committee which decides monetary policy for the franc zone.

Ratification Question

The Moroccan delegates are jubilant, and in a public statement to-night declare that Morocco is now released form all traces of wardship. They say that the Sultan can once more be proud of his nation and that the French have shown themselves still to be people of the principles of 1789. They claim that the provision that the agreement is subject to ratification by the National Assembly is a mere formality.

The Sultan will be able to claim complete victory when he returns to Rabat with, for the first time in his life, the right to rule without anyone else's permission. But reports from Morocco indicate that he will need all the prestige that he can mobilise to overcome the drift to anarchy. Though France recognises his right to an army, at present he does not dispose of one.

In making these enormous concessions, the French Government is influenced by several considerations. First of all there is the collapse of the old class of notables with the disappearance of the Glaoui.

The Sultan undoubtedly needs an answer to his extremists, but he also needs an instrument of administration and for the maintenance of order. The French Government has obtained the following points: -

The French High Commissioner will still have a right to see all decrees affecting Frenchmen or foreigners. The status of the French Army in Morocco remains provisionally unchanged. The transfer of administrative services hitherto French is to be regulated by agreement. The rights and liberties of French citizens in Morocco are to be guaranteed. Finally: the Moroccan Government admits that foreign policy, security, economics, and cultural affairs are all aspects of the inter-dependence of the two countries which is to be regulated by the new treaty.

How interdependence is to be interpreted is, of course, an open question and many Moroccans will demand that it be whittled down to very little: but there is at least a starting-point here for negotiation.