Another subject with which Sir John was much occupied during the closing years of his residence at Tangier was a scheme of prison reform and the restriction of the period of incarceration for debt. Writing on this point in March, 1886, he says:—
As to prisons, they are no doubt very bad; and so, Mrs. Fry tells us, were ours fifty years ago. I obtained an order from the Sultan for cleaning them, and for bread for those who have no means to buy food; but such orders, though given, if they entail any expense, are soon disregarded. At Tangier I send a soldier of this Legation now and then to inspect the bread. The quality and quantity diminish, and the profits go into the pocket of the person in charge, so I have a constant battle with the authorities.
Unless the whole administration of the Government were reformed, it is a hopeless task trying to sweep this Augean stable.
English humanitarians are shocked to find no beds provided for prisoners. They do not bear in mind that the poorer classes can always take up their bed and walk—their bed, i.e. a rug, or piece of mat. They say how horrid it is that the prisoners should have fetters. At Tetuan the fetters were removed; one hundred and fifty prisoners rushed to the door, knocked over the guards, and fled into the mountains. This has often occurred when prisoners are free of fetters.
I have taken steps to put a stop to the arrest and imprisonment of debtors of British subjects without trial. Great cruelties have been practised upon debtors at the demand of the Foreign Representatives, often for claims that are either fraudulent or unjust. There is an outcry against me by British creditors because I do not back the Government in extorting money from wretched debtors, too often the victims of usurious Christians and Jews. I have just sent in a report to the Government on this subject.
The Jews are certainly an oppressed race, but many of those who have obtained protection conduct themselves in such an arrogant manner, and are guilty of such infamous proceedings in forging false documents about debts of Moors, or in putting forward preposterous claims based upon the grossest usury, that the Mohammedans are exasperated, and some day, when a revolution takes place or the Sultan dies, there will be a massacre and pillage of Jews in the interior.
When the chief Jews of Fas requested Féraud, during his mission, to obtain for them a grant of ground to add to the Mellah[65], they especially requested that protected Jews should not be allowed to inhabit the new quarter, as they said they expected some day an onslaught of the Mohammedans on these persons, and they wished to be separated from them. Féraud told me this.
The revision of the Commercial Treaty of 1856 might, perhaps, have been forced upon the Moorish Government by the united Representatives of the Foreign Powers. But, though on this point the various Ministers joined hands, the hope entertained by Sir John that a Convention might be framed which would abolish the system of irregular protection was not realised. Under the terms of the Convention of 1882, protection is still afforded to the numerous agents of European traders and agriculturists, who therefore are not immediately amenable to the jurisdiction of the Moorish authorities. On this point Sir John had been defeated by the action of his colleagues. But the wisdom of his proposals was abundantly justified by the course which was taken by the negotiations for a new Commercial Treaty in 1886. On the advantages of revising the Commercial Code of 1856 all the Representatives of Foreign Powers were agreed, and made common cause together. But their efforts resulted in failure, and this failure was principally due to their previous refusal to surrender or restrict their privileges of protection. The Moorish Government showed a natural reluctance to encourage European trade by an improved treaty, fearing that a greater influx of European merchants and agriculturists would only multiply the number of irregularly protected Moorish subjects as agents, and remove more natives from the direct control of the Moorish authorities.
Though Sir John might reasonably derive some satisfaction from this practical proof of the wisdom of his advice to his colleagues, his failure to obtain a revision of the Commercial Treaty deepened his sense of the impossibility of reforming the Moorish Government. He was weary of the hopeless struggle which he had carried on for more than forty years. In spite of his personal regret at severing his connection with Morocco, he longed to throw off the official harness under which he had so often chafed. His letters in the summer of 1886 are filled with expressions of his delight at his freedom:—
July 2, 1886. Eve of departure. The Jews have sent a deputation and address. Moors pour in with lamentations. Torras weeps in a letter. Even British subjects join in the wail, whilst I continue to sing, ‘O be joyful.’