Part 18

Yet many succeed. Conspicuous examples are not wanting. Three recent cases may be considered typical. There is J. H. Green, who came to Liberia from Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1902; a lawyer by trade, he had been interested while still in the United States in the promotion of Liberian immigration; he carried with him into the new region his paper, _The African League_, which is a monthly periodical largely devoted to the encouragement of Liberian immigration. At first in Monrovia, since then at Buchanan, he has continued to print his paper which has the longest continued existence of any genuine newspaper that has been printed in Liberia for many years; he has encountered constant opposition; he is a fighter from way back and has the courage of his convictions. He has made good. He practices law, has been a local judge, conducts a successful, influential, and outspoken paper, has his printing-house, and conducts a shop for trade. Judge T. McCants Stewart is justly respected as one of the leading men of the Republic. He first went to Liberia thirty years ago, in connection with Liberia College; he stayed but a short time, returning to the United States; while in this country, he published an interesting and useful little book upon Liberia; later he went to Honolulu, Hawaii; returning to America from our newest territory, he closed out his affairs in this land and went again to Liberia; as a newcomer, he necessarily had prejudice and opposition to encounter; he has rooted there, however, and, respected and influential, is now one of the associate justices of the Supreme Court. One of the most interesting men in Liberia to-day is Jeff Faulkner; he is active, enterprising, pushing, indefatigable; he is the only handy, all-around mechanician in Monrovia; he is absolutely one of the most useful men in the Republic; he is depended upon by the government in many a time of need; when “the Lark” goes to the bottom, Jeff Faulkner is the only man to raise her; he has a keen eye for business, and develops every opportunity; he has recently established an ice-factory, and his ice-cream parlor--a novelty in Liberia’s capital--is popular. This very useful man, though well appreciated, has literally had to fight his way to success. These men are well established, but they have succeeded only because they were men of ideas, conviction, purpose, determination. Weak men in their positions would have failed. Liberia is no place for weaklings; there is no demand for immigrants who leave America because they have been failures there.

For years Green has been agitating for “the negro city”. In the _African League_, in 1903, he carried a page announcement regarding it. From it we quote some extracts: “THE NEGRO CITY to be built in LIBERIA, AFRICA, BY 1000 AMERICAN NEGROES. LIBERIA CITY will be the name. Foundation to be laid upon the arrival of the great colony early in 1904. Let all be ready and fully prepared for the great corner-stone laying of a great negro town in a HIGH AND HEALTHY PLACE. Stones wanted for the foundation. What kind of stones? Stones in the form of men! Self-sacrificing, vigorous, fearless, strong-hearted, self-supporting, brainy, brawny, God-fearing men? Men fitted for the sub-stratum of the great town in the great country where lynching is not known, and freedom reigns supreme! Where your son may be a beggar or a ruler--at his own election. Come and make him a ruler. . . . A city built in a day. The foundation of this new settlement with the town as the centre, will be laid upon the arrival of the colonists from America upon the ground. . . . A high and beautiful location, too high for the coast fever that is so much dreaded by the one who has heard about it--a location for work in a country where gold and other precious metals abound. . . . This place is especially inviting to the mining negro. The artisans are needed, too, along with the farmers and other workmen, for all these are needed in building up a great republic; only let them bring some capital. This is a great place for merchants. . . . Let all who want to join this colony and want a town lot and a farm in the section, free of charge, write.” So far the great negro settlement does not actually exist. The idea has been often ridiculed; but it deserves consideration. At the time in question, Mr. Green made an extended journey in which he claimed to be looking for the best site for his settlement. Such a city, with anywhere from three hundred to one thousand inhabitants, would promise a more speedy and durable success than the trickling in of the same number of immigrants as individuals. There is strength in numbers; a common interest would bind the newcomers to each other; if they really represented a variety of trades and industries, the community might be sufficient to itself; individual jealousies of old settlers would be reduced to a minimum of harmfulness. There would naturally be, in case such a settlement were established, strong jealousy between it as a whole and longer established communities. Such has always been the case in Liberian history. There has always been feeling between Monrovia, Grand Bassa, Greenville, and Maryland. Such jealousies are natural and unavoidable. The only way in which they can be reduced is by the establishment of so many communities that the distance between them would be small; close contact would develop at least a fair degree of harmony.

There are prominent negroes in our own country who have urged an exodus of black men from the United States. The difficulties of transporting our millions of black men, women, and children to Africa, if they care to go, are so great as to render the scheme actually impracticable. Nor is the difficulty of transportation the only one. The limited range of promising occupations makes it unlikely that great numbers will ever go thither; more than that, pronounced success in the United States,--and pronounced success to-day is by no means rare among our colored population,--will hold the majority of colored people in this country. There is, however, room in Liberia for many thousands of settlers and opportunity for those among them who have no foolish notions and who possess the qualities which Green demands from those whom he invites to come. Bishop Turner and Dr. Heard urge migration on the largest possible scale; Dr. Ernest Lyon who, at the time when the excitement in regard to Liberia City was at its height, represented our government as minister to Liberia, discourages “indiscriminate immigration”. His report sent late in 1903 to Secretary Hay, of our Department of State, was a dash to the high hopes of the encouragers of immigration. His letter was called out by the proposed large emigration from the United States in 1904. He says: “From my knowledge of the conditions of affairs here, I beg to inform you that Liberia is not prepared for indiscriminate immigration in 1904. If immigrants come here who are unable to support themselves for at least six months, they will die from starvation and the rigor of the African climate--there are no houses here, even of a temporary construction, to protect them until they can build for themselves.” As might be expected, this report of the resident Minister called forth a vigorous reply from Mr. Green. He closes his answer with an actually able burst of feeling. He says: “As to indiscriminate immigration, it was that that planted the colony of Liberia; it was indiscriminate immigration which gave birth to a Republic to which the Rev. Dr. Lyon might be accredited United States Minister; it was this immigration scheme that gave us a President Roberts, a Benson, a Gardner, a Coleman. It reinforced, succored, perpetuated the Republic in its infancy. It was indiscriminate immigration which gave Liberia the grave and distinguished statesman, His Excellency, President A. Barclay, our present and honored incumbent. Yes, and more than that, even America is a child of indiscriminate immigration which yet constitutes the greatest increase of American humanity. It made America great. May it not make Liberia great?” Thousands of American black men might no doubt move to Liberia with advantage and profit to themselves and to their adopted country. The Republic offers a rich field. But it needs no idlers, no paupers, no criminals. No one should go without having clear ideas as to his plans; the questions of “receptacle”, location, temporary support, must be looked into and provided for. And the newcomer who is to be successful must be forceful, self-reliant, and ready to meet with temporary prejudice. While the conditions of many blacks might be improved by removal to Liberia, the black population in this country would be advantaged by the elimination; if a considerable number of emigrants were to go to Liberia, pressure here would be relieved and conditions would be improved.

There will of course be a constant trickling of newcomers from this country to Liberia; there may very well be a constant stream. Such a stream indeed is necessary, if the vigor and vitality of Liberia is to be maintained; new blood is desirable--whether welcome or not. Know-nothing-ism is not confined to Liberia or to any one place. In the United States we have a condition which is comparable to that which Liberia presents. Here, too, the old population is barely holding its own, if it is doing so; the old families of New England and the eastern seaboard have largely run to seed; it is absolutely necessary that a great and steady immigration of European whites pour in to maintain our life by the infusion of new blood. Such immigration of course is not welcomed by our “true Americans”. If rigid exclusion could be practiced, we should soon face a condition much like that of France. If we are to live and occupy a significant place among the nations of the world, we must accept this constant incoming of population from outside. The mixture of these newcomers with our own people, fagged and worn out by new and unfavorable conditions, produces a new stock with sufficient vigor to carry on our national development. The hope of Liberia lies largely in a considerable immigration of black people from our southern states.

One of the most serious dangers of Liberia lies in its isolation; it needs contact; everything that tends toward an increase of contact with the outside world is good. Liberia needs ideas, friends, interchange; otherwise stagnation is inevitable--and death. She must receive these aids either from Europe or from America; she will of course receive them from both; but the source of the greater part of her inspiration and ideals must be on this side of the Atlantic and from our people of color. Immigration from America, whether small or great, must necessarily be helpful. If great and constant, difficulties will be lightened and helpful bonds strengthened.

If the temporary management in the hands of others of a part of our governmental machinery will result in actual and permanent independence and international respect, which I firmly believe will be the outcome, then it becomes our imperative duty as patriotic citizens to make such a necessary and noble sacrifice.--DANIEL E. HOWARD.

THE FOREIGN DEBT OF THE REPUBLIC.

THE LOAN OF 1870.

On January 26, 1870, the Legislature authorized President Edward J. Roye to negotiate a loan not exceeding £100,000, at not more than 7 per cent interest; the bonds were to run for fifteen years, and three years’ interest advanced might be deducted. Of the sum to be received upon this loan £20,000 was to be used in buying up all the checks, scripts, currency debentures, and government paper of whatever kind then afloat; £20,000 more was to be deposited securely as a basis for the issue of a paper currency in what were to be known as Treasury Notes; the balance of the proceeds of the loan was to be deposited in some reliable bank as an emergency fund to be drawn upon at need by special act of the Legislature.

At the time when this action of the Legislature was taken, President Roye was about to go to England; it was supposed that he would attend to the business while in London, and that considerable expense would be saved to the nation by his personal attention to the details of the arrangement; for some reason or other, he did not take up the matter while he was absent. On his return to Monrovia, however, he proceeded to secure the loan. He appointed David Chinery, at that time consul for Liberia in London, Henry V. Johnson, Sr., and W. S. Anderson, commissioners--the two latter being sent to London for the purpose--to negotiate the loan. President Roye should of course have submitted this whole matter to the Legislature; there was considerable objection to the loan, and no serious steps should have been taken regarding it without the authorization of the legislative body. The commissioners succeeded in negotiating the loan for £100,000 at 7 per cent interest, at 30 per cent below par; three years’ interest were deducted from the £70,000, leaving a balance of £49,000 to be placed to the credit of the commissioners. “Then followed,” to quote the words of President Roberts, “a system of charges, speculations, and frauds unparalleled, I presume, in any public loan transactions of modern times.” No sooner had the news of the negotiation reached President Roye, than he commenced to draw against it for himself and others, not waiting for any part of it to be paid into the treasury of the Republic for the purposes specified in the act, and before the Legislature had accepted the loan or taken any action in regard to it. More than that, without legislative authority, he sent an order drawn by the Secretary of the Treasury--a member of his own family--approved by himself for £10,000 value of merchandise, alleging that this was on account of the government. Mr. Chinery, in filling this order, sent merchandise invoiced at more than £14,000, including transportation, shipping-charges, freight, insurance, etc., most of the articles being charged at amounts in excess of their market value, many of them inferior in quality, and some nearly, and others entirely, useless in Liberia. How much was actually realized of this loan no one knows; Sir Harry Johnston says £27,000; Ferguson (from whom we draw most of the particulars regarding this transaction) says £17,903. In return for it, at least £80,000 in bonds were issued--Sir Harry Johnston says perhaps the whole £100,000.

The moment was one of political disturbance. In 1869 there had been an effort to amend the constitution so as to extend the office of President from a term of two years to one of four; the effort failed. In May, 1871, when his two years had elapsed, Roye attempted to continue himself in power for two years longer; a shadow of an excuse for this usurpation was found in this attempted passing of an amendment. This bold coup, together with the dissatisfaction regarding the loan, led to his being hurled from power. Notice of the disturbed condition of the Republic was at once sent to the representative of Liberia in London, and to the bondholders; the newly established government ordered all drafts, etc., for money received on account of the loan to be stopped, countermanded the orders for goods, and demanded a _statu quo_ until the Legislature should have a chance to act; legal proceedings were taken against Commissioners Johnson and Anderson; Chinery was discharged from his office as Liberian Consul in London; Mr. John Jackson was appointed Consul-General in his place and took charge of matters. So palpable was the mismanagement of this whole transaction in London, and so extravagant had been the charges and other outlays connected with it, that Consul Jackson took legal proceedings to protect the interests of the Republic.

Through a period of almost thirty years, the matter of this loan was constantly agitated, and it was only in 1898 that the Liberian Consul, Henry Hayman, was able to bring about a final arrangement of the unhappy affair. At that time the Liberian Government recognized its responsibility to the amount of £80,000; it agreed to begin payment at once upon the bonds--paying interest at the rate of 3 per cent the first three years, 4 per cent for the following three years, and 5 per cent thereafter until both the principal and interest be fully paid; after that, the back interests would be assumed at 5 per cent. Since this adjustment, the Liberian Government has regularly and honorably met its interest payments. Sir Harry Johnston, in his great work on Liberia, speaks vigorously and frankly regarding this loan of 1870, which was a disgraceful operation for British financiers.

THE LOAN OF 1906.

It is curious that, in connection with the next financial undertaking of the Republic, which was little, if any, more satisfactory than the loan of 1870, Sir Harry himself should have played a significant part. When President Barclay and his companions were in London in 1906, they made arrangements for a new loan, also of £100,000. An interview was held at the office of Consul-General Hayman, at which were present Sir Harry H. Johnston, chairman of the Liberian Development Co., Limited, together with some of this company’s officers, Mr. Clark of the Foreign Office, Emil Erlanger, and Consul Hayman. Mr. Erlanger represented the brokers through whom the Liberian Development Co. were to secure a loan of £100,000 for the benefit of Liberia. Excellent discussions of this loan by Mr. Ellis, who was so long connected with our Legation at Monrovia, and Mr. Scott, who was a member of the United States Commission in 1909, have been printed. It is from these articles that we draw our details.

The proceeds of the loan of 1906 were to be applied in the following manner: (a) $25,000 was to be used for pressing Liberian obligations; (b) $125,000 was to be employed in the payment of domestic debts; (c) $35,000 was to be loaned to the Liberian Development Co.; (d) the balance was to be devoted to the development of banking, and for road schemes by the Liberian Development Co. in Liberia. As security for this loan, two British officials, as chief and assistant inspectors of customs, were to have charge of the Liberian customs revenue; the chief inspector was to act also as financial adviser to the Republic; $30,000 annually (in semi-annual payments) was to be turned in as interest until the whole loan was repaid; 10 per cent of any excess over $250,000 in customs revenue per year was to be received by the Liberian Development Co. The “company was charged with the responsibility of returning the loan to Erlanger and Co. by the payment of 50 per cent of the net profits derived from the exercise of the powers and privileges of the charter of the former company, together with profits from the banking and road schemes to be undertaken in Liberia.”

The loan was actually applied as follows: (a) to the extinguishment of domestic debts, £30,000; (b) loaned to the Liberian Development Co., £7000; (c) in carrying out road schemes, £32,776.11.3; (d) obtained by Liberia on ratification of tripartite agreement of 1908, £30,223.8.9; total, £100,000.

Friction soon arose in the administration of the customs. The Liberian Development Co. constructed fifteen miles of automobile road in the Careysberg District, bought a small steam launch for the St. Paul’s River, and purchased two automobiles; it then announced that its road fund was completely exhausted, after having spent, on an ordinary dirt road, about $163,882. Liberian dissatisfaction was great, and question was raised regarding the “balance of the £70,000 which had been entrusted without security to the management of the company.” In the investigation which followed in an attempt to rearrange affairs, considerable feeling appears to have been shown. Sir Harry Johnston had repeatedly ignored the requests of President Barclay for an accounting by his company; in the interview in which efforts at adjustment were made, he is said to have conducted himself in a supercilious manner and to have expressed his surprise “that the President should have required the company to furnish him with a statement of accounts, and disclaimed any responsibility for the manner in which the money had been expended”. Under the tripartite arrangement which was entered into between the Government of Liberia, Erlanger and Co., and the Liberian Development Co., Chartered and Limited, it was finally arranged that “Liberia assume direct responsibility to Messrs. Erlanger and Co. for the loan of 1906, and, aside from obtaining some advantages in the new Agreement, secured from the Liberian Development Co. the residue of the loan, amounting to £30,223.8.9, and practically dispensed with the future services of this company in the solution of the new Liberian problems.”

Mr. Emmett Scott makes some pertinent observations in connection with this affair. He says: “Sir Harry Johnston, in his book, quite spiritedly criticizes the agreements under the loan of 1871. It is hard to determine, however, how less one-sided they were than those of his own benevolent corporation, even if his company had in perfect good faith carried out their part of the bargain. The suggestion that the customs should be collected by European experts, Englishmen being understood, introduced, of course, the feature of external control into the customs service . . . of the so-called experts sent to Liberia under the agreement, the first one’s selection was, to say the least, unfortunate. He all but confessed his utter failure after two or three months to understand what he was about, although he had been granted a salary of about $3500 a year, much more than he had received in the British service in Sierra Leone. The second one appointed has developed into a somewhat capable official, although his chief claim to being called an expert was, it is said, that he had successfully raised oranges in California. He was certainly no customs expert, and, I learn, had probably never been inside of a customs house. He received £500 a year. The present chief inspector of customs is a wholly efficient man, but while doing similar service at Freetown, Sierra Leone, the neighboring country, he received a salary of £300 or $1500 a year, while the Liberians are called upon to pay him a salary of £1000, or $5000 a year. This salary, perhaps I should state, is twice that received by the President of the Republic. Efforts to reduce this salary to £700 or $3500 have recently been made, but with what success I cannot chronicle.”

Again: “The company’s high-handed manner of expending the money on hand, however, engendered so much bad blood, that at last President Barclay applied to Sir Harry Johnston, managing director of the Liberian Development Co., for an accounting. The latter, it is said, expressed the greatest surprise that such a demand should be made upon him, and disclaimed any and all responsibility to the Liberian Government for the way in which the money had been or was to be expended. He persistently refused to render any accounts until he found the position he maintained was so untenable that he could not depend upon his government for support; he also found that President Barclay was about to sever all relations with his company, maintaining, in the absence of any accounting, that the Government of Liberia would hold itself responsible only for the cash actually received. About $200,000 of the amount raised on the credit of the government, it is said, had been frittered away on badly managed schemes.”