On the 8th of April, 1904, an _entente_ which had settled all outstanding questions between France and Great Britain and gave to Great Britain a free hand in Egypt and to France a free hand in Morocco was formally signed in London. The German Government officially declared that the settlement between France and Great Britain concerned only these two countries; but the Pan-German Society, the Colonial Society, and the Navy League began so insistent an agitation that the government changed its attitude and the Emperor here declares in no uncertain terms that what Germany undertakes in Morocco will be done exclusively with the "_sovereign_ Sultan." Germany was evidently picking a quarrel with France over Morocco, with or without warrant, as the case may be, and was trying to ascertain, it is generally believed, the closeness of the relationship between France and Great Britain. The large commercial interests of which the Emperor speaks were fairly negligible; though he doubtless had the right to protect it, Germany's yearly trade there did not amount to as much as that of an ordinary department store or of a fairly successful merchant. For the previous eight years it averaged less than half a million dollars annually. Her course here has usually been regarded as unnecessarily belligerent. True to his policy of personal diplomacy, the Emperor suddenly appeared at Tangier and while there made his speech to the German colony. The whole question was taken up at the conference of Algeciras in 1906. Although the policy of "the open door," which protected Germany's commercial interests was guaranteed, the very general storm of protest in Germany, especially on the part of the war party and Navy League, showed that she had entered the contest with more serious intentions. World policy by aggressive interference had already been initiated when, in the Spanish-American War, the German Admiral Diedrichs started to hamper the operations of the American fleet at Manila. Morocco was looked upon by some, Doctor Liman, for instance, as a second defeat. In the Algeciras conference Italy sided with France and England. Italy had been continuing as a member of the Triple Alliance partly through fear that the French would annex Tripoli, which Italy desired. England and France had now privately agreed to give Italy a free hand. She sided with them and it was evident that her vital interests in the Triple Alliance had been considerably lessened. As England and Russia were also settling all their Eastern points of difference, Germany began to be conscious of her isolation, which had been largely a result of her attitude and unfortunate diplomacy. I am pleased to make the acquaintance of the pioneers of Germany in Morocco and to be able to tell them that they have done their duty.