Chapter XIV: The Acute Stage of Tunisian Politics

Signor Maccio opened his campaign of 1881 with three strategic movements. He made his peace with Mustapha, and gave the weak but willing Prime Minister the questionable benefit of his advice and counsel; he persuaded the Bey to send the son of his predecessor to meet the King of Italy at Palermo, and he gave considerable encouragement to the _Mostakel_, an Arabic journal which now began mysteriously to appear at Cagliari in Sardinia. On the 7th January, Prince Heussein, accompanied by Signor Maccio and a representative deputation from the Italian colony, embarked for Sicily on board the Italian despatch boat, “Stafetta.” Ten days later they returned to Tunis completely satisfied with the result of their mission. The king had assured Prince Heussein that Tunis could always reckon on the countenance and support of Italy, and had invested him with the grand cordon of the order of SS. Maurice and Lazare. In addition to the flattering tale told by the prince, the hints dropped by Signor Maccio were eminently calculated to raise hopes of the most fallacious description.

Although it has never been proved that Signor Maccio actually founded the _Mostakel_, his connection with it did not very long remain a secret. Signor Pestalozza, the interpreter of the Italian Consulate- General at Tunis, had a short time before brought from Syria two Copts named Zainzain and Bokhos, and these two worthies commenced to print a patriotic journal, the main feature of which was an Arabic hotchpotch of everything unkind which had been written about France in Europe during the few days preceding its appearance. Signor Pestalozza supplied some of the articles, and was trusting enough to leave his MSS. in the hands of General Musalli’s compatriots. The _Mostakel_ contained few original ideas, and certainly nothing to excite the smallest religious enthusiasm, but it was not pleasant for the French to have a weekly budget of their failings spread broadcast all over Algeria. They had a fair enough grievance against both Signor Maccio and his injudicious subordinate, but they tried to make a mountain out of the mole-hill. Europe was asked to believe in sober seriousness, that this insignificant Sardinian leaflet was calculated to excite a religious war against the Christians from Tangiers to Baghdad. The _Mostakel_ did not advance the Italian cause a jot, but it served to fan the flame which the success of Signor Rubattino had kindled, and to confirm the suspicions which the pilgrimage to Palermo had excited. When M. Roustan heard his Arab servants laughing over the accounts of his visits to Madame Musalli and his dinner-parties at Mustapha’s, he knew to whom he owed the annoyance and acted accordingly. The French troops had not got to Tunis before M. De Sancy awoke M. Roustan one morning to say that Zainzain had offered to tell the secrets of the _Mostakel_ for a consideration, while Bokhos repaired to Paris to make the best bargain he could for Signor Pestalozza’s MSS. A short time afterwards he sold his dossier to a patriotic banker, and it was finally published in the _Paris_ newspaper, but contained nothing beyond the veriest bathos. The only result of this department of Signor Maccio’s diplomacy was to irritate the French, to put money into the pockets of two Levantine adventurers, and to materially increase for three days the sale of a Parisian evening journal.

M. Roustan was not inactive during his opponent’s absence in Sicily. By his advice the parties interested in Tunisian commercial development, liberally subventioned a large section of the French press, and the _Agence Havas_ began to throw out _ballons d’essai_. As early as the 12th January the following telegram was circulated in Tunis:—

“PARIS, _11th January_.

“A letter from Algiers to the Havas Agency proves that a French Protectorate over Tunis is indispensable for the security of the Algerian frontier. France seeks no annexion, but she will never allow a rival influence to be established there.”

The _Temps_, commenting on this letter, indicates the services rendered by France to Tunis, asserts that an uninterrupted protectorate of fifty years constitutes _ipso facto_ a permanent protectorate, and concludes with these words,—“He who touches Tunis touches France!” On the 31st January M. Roustan had a long interview with Muhamed es Sadek. Almost as soon as they were seated the French _Chargé d’Affaires_ made a most astounding announcement to the Bey. “Mustapha,” said M. Roustan, “has been intriguing at Constantinople to succeed you. He has sent £25,000 to Sheikh Zafar, the Sultan’s _imám_, to get the succession altered, but the Sultan was so displeased with the proposal that he has decided to dethrone you in favour of your arch-enemy Kheir-ed-Din. France, your ancient ally, will protect you; are you prepared to accept her protection?” The Bey knew the first part of the statement was a diplomatic falsehood, and so doubted the whole. After a lengthy conversation he finally declined to alter the _status quo_. “We are all in the hands of God,” he said, “and if force is to overcome right and justice, all I can do is to leave my fate and that of Tunis to Him.”

England was not, however, destined to be a mere spectator of the game of chess between the French and Italian _consuls de combat_. The Enfida case soon threatened to make her also one of the parties to the dispute. The story of this fresh phase of the Tunisian question can be told in few words.

A British subject, Mr. Levy, had possessed, and successfully cultivated for many years, a large estate on the coast of the regency of Tunis, called the Suyah. Europeans holding land in this country, as in all others, are amenable in transactions concerning it to the _lex loci_, which, in this particular instance, is the Muhammedan code. One of the best known and most frequently practised principles of that law is called _shoofâ_, or pre-emption, which may be shortly described as the right of a partner or neighbour to acquire any property sold in which he has a share, or which is contiguous to his own estate, on paying down the purchase money agreed on by the original vendee. This right is as frequently resorted to through the local courts at Tunis by European settlers as by Arab proprietors. General Kheir-ed-Din was the owner of a very important domain bordering on Mr. Levy’s estates, and even surrounding a portion of his lands, which property is known as the Enfida. During the autumn of 1880 Mr. Levy entered into negotiations for its purchase, and obtained promises of support from his friends to raise the required capital. Suddenly the news reached Tunis that Kheir-ed-Din had sold his estate to the Société Marseillaise, the French financial company which had already succeeded M. De Sancy at Sidi Tabet for a large sum, but on the express condition that the sale was to be effected according to Muhammedan law. Mr. Levy then determined to invoke his right of _shoofâ_, and no sooner had the Société Marseillaise completed the formalities of purchase (which they did in the manner prescribed by the law and immemorial custom of Tunis) than he made the requisite declarations, and was, with the sanction of the cadi, placed in possession of the Enfida. The original purchasers were next obliged by the requirements of Muhammedan law to sue Mr. Levy before the cadi to test the validity of his right, and so conscious were they of this, that they had actually left a zone of land, one mètre in width, all round the estate still the property of Kheir-ed-Din, in order to place Mr. Levy out of the category of contiguous neighbours. It, however, transpired that this fiction must ignominiously fail on account of Mr. Levy possessing gardens within the Enfida, and a _coup d’état_ was hastily resolved on by M. Roustan.

Mr. Levy was put in possession on the 12th January. On the following day, he left his agents in a house on the estate called the Dar-el-Bey, and furnished them with a written authority to hold it on his behalf. He then proceeded to plant trees on different parts of the estate, plough fields, and perform other acts required by law of an exerciser of pre- emption in possession. During his absence the agent of the French Company arrived, accompanied by M. Roustan’s chancelier, a M. Robin, and an armed dragoman. In vain Mr. Levy’s agents protested, and exhibited their authority, which had been duly executed by Arab notaries; they were forcibly ejected from the house. Fortunately, however, for Mr. Levy, the Arab notaries who accompanied the French party refused to complete the deeds of sale, on account of Mr. Levy having legally exercised pre-emption, and this appears to have induced M. Robin to hesitate before extending his system of forcible ejectments to the workmen occupying for Mr. Levy the other portions of the estate. Mr. Reade, the British Agent and Consul-General, entered a vigorous protest against the conduct of M. Roustan, which had excited universal indignation throughout the whole European colony. This feeling soon extended itself to the Tunisian Government and its subjects, for M. Roustan hastened to announce that he regarded the Enfida also as a French property, and would admit of no interference on the part of the local courts, or no application of the local law. Mr. Levy appealed for aid to Lord Granville, and M. Roustan brought two additional French ships of war to intimidate the Bey in case of need, as well as to exercise a salutary influence on the cadi if he endeavoured to assert his legal authority. As soon as the facts became known in England, the English press warmly and unanimously advocated Mr. Levy’s appeal for assistance, and Mr. Montague Guest, M.P., in the House of Commons, and the Earl De la Warr in the House of Lords, called the attention of the Government to the conduct of M. Roustan, and the necessity of supporting the protest of Mr. Reade. Communications passed between the two Governments, and on the 7th February Sir Charles Dilke informed the House of Commons “that the English and French Governments had agreed that the question should be dealt with by the local tribunals, under whose jurisdiction the matter properly comes,” and Lord Granville made a similar statement in the House of Lords. Both Mr. Guest and Lord De la Warr had recently visited Tunis; they were both aware of the system of terrorism pursued by the French representative towards the Bey; and they had both carefully inquired into the merits of this particular case. On it being announced that the French ironclads had been sent to Tunis, Mr. Guest energetically remonstrated, and two British ships were also sent there. The French vessels were immediately withdrawn, and the “Thunderer” and “Decoy” returned to Malta. Mr. Levy was for the time being left in possession of the property, and his final discomfiture postponed to a more convenient season.

The Enfida dispute attracted great attention in Italy, and it was hoped that by adopting some common course of action the realisation of M. Renaud’s vengeance might be averted. The unreasonable conduct of Signor Maccio very soon placed any such combination out of the question. His next quarrel with the French was the “straw which broke the camel’s back,” and, as luck would have it, the Italians were entirely in the wrong. Ten years before the Bey of Tunis granted to Messrs. Tolmé and Mancardi the concession for a railway line to Hammám-el-Lif. Mr. Tolmé was dead, and Mr. Mancardi had quitted Tunis eight years before. The Rubattino Company, in its first flush of victory, got a transfer of his rights from Mr. Mancardi, but even he had lost the original grant. According to the spirit of the cession itself, it had long since ceased to have effect, and no reasonable man would ever have thought of reviving it. As soon as Signor Maccio learned that the French railway to Susa was to pass through Hammám-el-Lif, he conceived the notion of gaining one more advantage by stopping the works on the plea of an infringement of the Mancardi grant. To this end the dead and buried concession was brought forward, and in consequence of a vigorous protest from Signor Maccio, the Bey was induced to suspend further progress pending a search for the missing title-deed. Then, and then only, did M. Roustan determine to furnish the Government with some more tangible pretext for promptly extinguishing Italy and Signor Maccio, and at the same time putting the French political and commercial _prépondérance naturelle_ at Tunis beyond the possibility of further cavil.

The consul for the Bey of Tunis at Bone was one Joseph Allegro. His father had held the same post before him, and while eating Tunisian salt, had actually proposed in writing to raise such an insurrection as would amply justify a French invasion and annexation of the country. The young Allegro was the offspring of an Arab mother, and his life had been chiefly spent amongst the half-savage tribes of the Algerian frontier. Sidi Yusef Ben Ali (M. Allegro has since definitely assumed this name on openly professing the Moslem faith) had for years dealt almost professionally in border raids, and was equally clever either at exciting them or suppressing them. Before the arrival of M. Roustan the abilities of Yusef Ben Ali were almost hidden under a bushel, although the figure of his mother, in orthodox veil and _haick_, waiting for the arrears of her son’s pay at the door of the Bey’s treasurer, was a familiar feature to every one frequenting the Bardo palace. There was another kindred spirit still nearer to the border: M. Panariello at La Galle, knew perhaps even more about the Khamir tribesmen than Yusef Ben Ali. He was their factor, broker, general agent, and trusted friend on the coast, and had grown rich in buying their cork, wool, and grain, and selling them guns, powder, and shot in return. Although an Italian by birth, a well-distributed cross of the Legion of Honour had induced M. Panariello to link his fortunes with those of the Republic in general and the _Société Transatlantique_ in particular. I have seen both these gentlemen several times since the real nature of the _chasse aux Khamírs_ has become self-evident, and they both laugh very heartily over the deception practised. They have, however, no sympathy for each other. M. Panariello points out triumphantly that Yusef Ben Ali thought it prudent never to go amongst the Khamírs since he was appointed their Governor, while Yusef Ben Ali says that M. Panariello never ventures outside La Galle without an escort. It was to these humble but devoted friends that M. Roustan addressed himself, when the acute stage of Tunisian politics at length arrived.

I have in a former chapter spoken of the Khamírs and other tribes which inhabit the neighbourhood of the Algerian frontier. The boundary itself is tolerably well defined by a line of hills running southwards from Tabarca. The Arabs on the eastern slope of the range are subjects of the Bey of Tunis, those on the western owe allegiance to the French Republic. “I really cannot say,” said M. Panariello, “when I was at La Galle in September 1881, which of the two gives the most trouble. The Algerian Arabs are generally the thieves, and the Tunisian the receivers; they remain good friends as long as they are robbing third parties, and only quarrel when it comes to a division of the spoil. These border squabbles have occurred over and over again any time these thirty years, and nobody cared about them, _till_,” he added, “_it was convenient to do so_.” If the Tunisian Arabs have sometimes been the aggressors, scores of cases are on record in which the Algerians have wantonly violated Tunisian territory, but the Bey of Tunis never thought of invading Algeria “for the protection of _his_ frontier,” any more than France could justify the occupation of Belgium by a case of cattle- lifting having occasioned loss to some French subjects on the confines of that kingdom.

While Sidi Yusef and M. Panariello were arranging for an opportune fracas on the borders, M. Roustan was very active at Tunis. Although his own _entourage_ never contained a single Frenchman, he set in motion a purely legendary _côterie_ styling itself the French colony. Before the outbreak of hostilities, there were not more than a score of French residents of position and respectability in Tunis, and yet throughout all the recent events, the utterances of half-a-dozen individuals, headed by the deputy or representative, have been treated in Europe as if they expressed the wishes, ideas, and political feelings of some large and influential body of men, having a peculiar knowledge of the difficulties of the situation, and the largest, if not the only, stake in the future of the country. About the 20th March an Address was got up by “the colony,” and presented with a silver cup to M. Roustan. The former took the extraordinary shape of a sweeping bill of indictment against the Bey of Tunis. On its publication in Europe by the good offices of the _Agence Havas_, Muhamed es Sadek (who still believed in a Christian sense of justice and the amity of nations) hoped to counteract its effect by a letter to M. Roustan, of which copies were submitted to the agents of the “friendly powers.”

_“Letter of his Highness the Bey to M. Roustan, Consul-General and
Chargé d’Affaires of France.”_

“It is now some time that the press of Europe occupies itself of Tunis, and our Government has not deemed it advisable to pay great attention to the most contradictory news published in different countries. The Algerian press, more particularly, has not spared the most lively attacks against Tunisian administration and its functionaries. It has gone so far as to assert that the frequent quarrels which arise between the Arabs on the frontier were, if not the work of our Government, certainly rendered possible by our indifference _vis-à-vis_ of the culprits. Our Government has been able to face without the slightest apprehension, these attacks, being persuaded, as it has always been, that our sentiments of friendship towards France, and the acts by which we have been constantly enabled to manifest them, would have sufficed to justify our Government in the eyes of any one desirous of judging the real situation with impartiality. But now a manifestation of a most exceptional character has taken place, and our Government, fearing that a prolonged silence might misguide public opinion on the matter, has considered that it would be betraying its duty if it did not call the attention of the Government of the Republic to the real state of affairs at Tunis. In fact, by an address which has been officially handed to you, and of which nobody here imagines the contents, a great part of the French colony deplores that its interests are offended, that its rights of property are not respected, that personal security is compromised, and that, finally, the engagements contracted by the Tunisian administration with French subjects are not observed. It therefore asks that the Government of the Republic should be informed of the real state of affairs, and that ready measures, and if need be, energetic ones, should be taken to put an end to the inconvenience of such a state of affairs.

“Nothing is easier than to refute one by one all these accusations. No one, in fact, could contend that French citizens do not possess in perfect tranquillity in the Regency their landed property just as is the case with the subjects of every other power. Every one can verify in the clearest way possible that the complete absence of any criminal attempts prove how far the personal safety of foreigners in general run no risk. The countenance which our Government has always given to every enterprise in which Frenchmen are interested attests its desire scrupulously to maintain the engagements taken. In its situation with France and her representatives, our Government believes to have constantly demonstrated its desire to keep into good account the friendship of a powerful and respected neighbour, but it has likewise proved the importance which it attaches to this friendship, forwarding with marked deference, and often anticipating, its desires.

“The proof lies precisely in the innumerable undertakings accorded to Frenchmen, and the flourishing conditions of which exclude completely the assertion that efforts have been made to overcome the assertion of our Government. It is with pain that we enter into all these details, which we would have esteemed it useless to enumerate, had it not been for the act of public accusation which aims at discrediting our Government in the face of the French Cabinet, and to justify the ill- feeling of France. A step so unjustifiable on the part of the French colonists can only, however, offer to our Government the occasion to declare, as it now does, its sentiments, and to request the French Government itself to appreciate its conduct and to restore that tranquillity which, in the interests of all, it considers indispensable.

“Persuaded as it is of having never offended international obligations with the Government of the Republic, our Government ardently desires that its good intentions should not be ignored by anybody, and much the less misstated in a public document. It is in confining ourselves to the same principles, which have been the constant rule of our conduct, that we consider in their just value the French interests existing in this country. And it is in the presence of so undeserved an accusation, which aims at compromising our Government in the eyes of that of France, that we submit this to the equitable minds of the enlightened men who direct the affairs of state of the powerful French nation, our neighbour, and we cannot doubt that a conscientious and loyal appreciation of the situation will give us perfect justice. We trust that the Government of the Republic will not refuse us that mark of sympathy in the interest of strict justice, giving us on this occasion a fresh proof of the friendly dispositions which have always been shown us, and for which we feel truly grateful. We pray you, M. le Chargé d’Affaires, to communicate with your usual benevolence this letter to your Government.—_Written on the_ 24 _Rabi Ettani_ 1298, _March_ 24, 1881.

MUHAMED ES SADEK.”

Seven days after M. Roustan received the Bey’s letter, some sort of disturbance took place on the frontier, and the hitherto unknown Khamírs suddenly became famous throughout Europe. What really happened on the eventful 30th March near the confines of Khamír-land nobody will probably ever know exactly until we have the pleasure of reading the autobiography of either Yusef Ben Ali or M. Panariello. Fate unexpectedly came to M. Roustan’s aid, and while a few Khamír horrors were being hastily got together, Colonel Flatters perished with his mission in a real massacre far away in the Sahara. The two events became hopelessly confused, Colonel Flatters and the Khamírs were at once bracketed together under the common head of “Horrible Outrages” (_Observer_, April 3d, 1881), and everybody made up their minds that the “drapeau menacé de la France” (M. Roustan’s speech to the French “colony,” March 20th) must be promptly and efficiently avenged. While the newsboards of London and Paris were covered with the legends, “French Expedition against Tunis,” “Daring Raids of Tunisian Tribes,” and “Continued Fighting on the Algerian Frontier,” the Bey of Tunis was in blissful ignorance of what had taken place. As soon as he knew his danger through the medium of foreign telegrams, he immediately despatched one of his most trusted servants at the head of a small force to investigate into the real or imaginary offences of the Khamírs. Meanwhile the Havas Agency prosecuted its campaign with almost feverish activity, and between the 1st and 4th April the Parisian press was plentifully supplied with a series of fictitious but ferocious combats. Some of these messages are really inimitable, _e.g._, in a telegram of the 1st April we read: “A Tunisian Caid has collected about 3000 men of the Kegla tribe (?) and led them to Sidi Diamessi (?) on the frontier, for the purpose of surprising, on the pretext of a conference, the French commandant in the Soukharas district. The latter, however, having been forewarned of the Caid’s intentions, succeeded in effecting his retreat.” Here is another specimen: “According to intelligence just received, numerous Tunisian subjects have left Tunis to join the Khamírs. A case containing 100 kilogrammes _of ball_ cartridges, sent to the Khamírs by Tunisian Jews, has been seized by the administration of the Tunis Railway.” The third is a still greater geographical puzzle than the others, but even this was swallowed with the rest: “It is rumoured that on the Tunisian terms being rejected, the Bey has appealed to Italy. The Khamírs are endeavouring to obstruct the road to Beja, to prevent French occupation. The Governor of Beja has demanded reinforcements from Tunis, being in fear that _his_ town would be occupied by the marauders and shelled by the French!”

Within a week M. Jules Ferry had resolved to avoid _an interpellation on the part of M. Léon Renaud_, by the Government deciding to chastise the Khamírs on Tunisian soil. Not only was Tunis to be invaded by a French army, but M. Saint-Hilaire assured the representatives of foreign powers at Paris, in the most formal manner, that “the operations about to commence on the border-land between Algeria and Tunis are meant solely to put an end to the constant inroads of the frontier clans into Algerian territory, and that the independence of the Bey and the integrity of his territory were not in any way threatened.” This declaration was made with a full knowledge of the fact that M. Roustan had already endeavoured to coerce the Bey several times into accepting the “protectorate,” and will ever remain as a lasting blemish on the diplomatic integrity of M. Saint-Hilaire. The announcement of this disguised war against Tunis was very differently received in Italy and in England. Lord Granville believed “in the single-mindedness and thorough honesty of M. Saint-Hilaire,” and even credited the Khamír raids. He was good enough to advise the Bey to co-operate against the Khamírs, or in other words, to assist in the destruction of a portion of his own subjects by foreign troops on his own soil, and upon the flimsiest and most preposterous of pretexts. Italy indulged in tall talk, overturned her ministers, and did nothing at all. We will leave General Farre at Paris busily engaged in picking up stray battalions for the coming expedition, struggling feebly with the confusion worse confounded of the hospital and commissariat services, and driving a bargain for superseding the ordinary transport ships by the _flotilla_ of the Société Transatlantique, and return to Tunis.