t
almost as vital to France, was being silently performed at the other end
of her dominions. It will not seem an exaggeration to speak of General
Lyautey's achievement during the first year of the war as the "Miracle
of Morocco" if one considers the immense importance of doing what he did
at the moment when he did it. And to understand this it is only needful
to reckon what Germany could have drawn in supplies and men from a
German North Africa, and what would have been the situation of France
during the war with a powerful German colony in control of the western
Mediterranean.

General Lyautey has always been one of the clear-sighted administrators
who understand that the successful government of a foreign country
depends on many little things, and not least on the administrator's
genuine sympathy with the traditions, habits and tastes of the people. A
keen feeling for beauty had prepared him to appreciate all that was most
exquisite and venerable in the Arab art of Morocco, and even in the
first struggle with political and military problems he found time to
gather about him a group of archaeologists and artists who were charged
with the inspection and preservation of the national monuments and the
revival of the languishing native art-industries. The old pottery,
jewelry, metal-work, rugs and embroideries of the different regions were
carefully collected and classified, schools of decorative art were
founded, skilled artisans sought out, and every effort was made to urge
European residents to follow native models and use native artisans in
building and furnishing.

At the various Exhibitions much space was allotted to these revived
industries, and the matting of Sale, the rugs of Rabat, the embroideries
of Fez and Marrakech have already found a ready market in France,
besides awakening in the educated class of colonists an appreciation of
the old buildings and the old arts of the country that will be its
surest safeguard against the destructive effects of colonial expansion.
It is only necessary to see the havoc wrought in Tunisia and Algeria by
the heavy hand of the colonial government to know what General Lyautey
has achieved in saving Morocco from this form of destruction also.

All this has been accomplished by the Resident-General during five years
of unexampled and incessant difficulty; and probably the true
explanation of the miracle is that which he himself gives when he says,
with the quiet smile that typi