Page:Scott Nearing - Stopping a War (1926).pdf/14

 plause from the extreme left). The war is here as a result of your policies. …

"Already two war aims are clearly expressed in all the papers. The first is to destroy the independence of the Riff State.

"The example of this Moslem people which, after Turkey, and with little means, has actually succeeded in revising the treaties of the imperialists is too dangerous for the imperialists to tolerate. …

"That is one of the fundamental causes of your war.

"The second cause of the war is this: the Riff is rich. The mines furnish a tempting bait for our bankers. The Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas is already involved all through Morocco.

"—You would prefer that it should be an English bank?

"—With what can we develop the colonies if not with capital? You would bring nothing but disorder. (Exclamations on the extreme left).

"—There are, I repeat, three fundamental causes that take you into the Riff: one, a military cause; … one, a political cause, and finally an economic cause, much more important than the other two.

"The President of the Council, who is supported by a press which demands the punishment of the guilty and an exemplary treatment of the Riffs, might oppose his still-born pacifism to these manifestations. He exhibits it every Sunday in official ceremonies. (Applause from the extreme left.) But he will hardly have a chance to use it now as we are already engaged in negotiations with Spain for a joint offensive, and we shall doubtless decide to enter the Riff and pursue the Riffians to their homes.

"We shall see what the future will bring. In any case, you are accepting the tactics of the military supported by the bankers. …

"—M. Doriot, do you also suggest the abandonment of Tunis?

"—We want Tunis to belong to the Tunisians. We do not want Tunis to go to Italy or to France. (Applause on the extreme left.)

"—And France to the internationalists?