After running the gauntlet of diplomatic guns for nearly 20 years, the status of Tangier, seaport and district on the coast of Morocco, was fixed by an agreement signed provisionally in Paris by Britain, France and Spain. The Spanish representative stated that he was signing the agreement only as a suggestion to his Government and not on its behalf.
After the three Governments have ratified the agreement it will be sent to all countries that signed the Algeciras Treaty of 1906 with the exception of Germany and Austria (i. e. the U. S., Sweden, Holland, Belgium, Portugal), for their adherence.
The terms of the agreement provide for economic equality for all Powers. The absolute neutrality of the zone is guaranteed and the building of any kind of fortification is categorically forbidden. No treaty concluded by the Sultan of Morocco can apply to Tangier unless concurred in by the local government (see following paragraph). Capitulations (extra territorial rights) are abrogated; natives enjoying foreign protection will be under the jurisdiction of European mixed courts. Moroccan francs and Spanish pesatas continue to be legal tender. The Debt Control Commission is to disappear, the Moroccan Government having guaranteed the interest payable on the 1904 and 1910 loans, the Tangier Harbor bonds and the Tangier-Fez Railway bonds, total of more than 4,000,000 francs a year.
The actual government of the zone is to be vested in an International Legislative Assembly and a Committee of Control. The Assembly is to consist of 26 members; three British, four French, four Spanish, six Mussulmans and three Jews, representing the native population, a representative of the Sultan, called a Mendoub, and the other five signatories to the Algeciras agreement. The Mendoub will be ex-officio President of the Assembly and will be assisted by three Vice Presidents of British, French and Spanish nationality. The Committee of Control is to consist of eight consular officers of the Powers which subscribed to the Algeciras agreement, and they are empowered to veto any legislation which violates the Tangier Statute, enacted by the Assembly.
The Tangier question has figured prominently in the history of the present century and twice before the War it nearly plunged the world prematurely in that inescapable cataclysm of 1914.