Part 22

There is no question that Liberia has great natural wealth; her resources are yet almost untouched; she is the only part of the whole West Coast where large returns are certain for small investment. In order to secure her wealth of products, it is absolutely necessary that trails be opened up through the interior. Trails, of course, already exist, but under present conditions they are frequently intentionally neglected; little chiefs do not want too easy contact with the outside world. It is absolutely necessary, if Liberia is to advance, that the good will of the chiefs shall be secured and that all trails shall be kept open. In no other way can the produce of the forests find its way down to the coast. Foot trails, of course, are of limited utility, and as rapidly as they are improved they should become actual roads, presumably to be themselves developed in time into roadbeds for light railroads. It is only by the improvement of means of transportation that the Liberian Government can hope to increase its income, which comes almost entirely from trade.

For the present, and undoubtedly for some time to come, the chief source of income for the country must be by trade in natural products, collected in the forests. It is time, however, that serious effort should be made to develop the actual agricultural opportunities of Liberia. With a rich soil, abundant rainfall, tropical temperature, vegetation flourishes. Liberia should produce vast quantities of rice, corn, cotton, sugar, sweet potatoes, yams, bananas, plantains, ginger, coffee, cocoa, pineapples and other tropical fruits. There is no reason why in many parts of the country cattle, goats and sheep should not be raised in quantities. At present, a very large amount of foodstuffs is introduced from the outside world; fresh meat is to be had only when steamers pass; rice, even--of which the natives raise quantities--is imported. Formerly considerable coffee was exported; the coffee tree grows wild and is probably a native of the country, and Liberian coffee has a fair reputation in the foreign market; at present, very little is exported. It is curious that agriculture has never been a favorite occupation with the people. As long ago as 1826 and 1827 the famous agent of the colony, Jehudi Ashmun, complained bitterly that the people all desired to trade instead of to practice hand labor and develop agriculture. It is certain that if it is to be permanently prosperous, Liberia must encourage agricultural pursuits. It was natural enough that freed slaves should look upon manual trades and field labor as contemptible; that they should look upon barter and trade as desirable. Unfortunately, at the time of colonization it was easy for men to trade. This dislike for actual labor continues to the present day; it is possible to hire bush natives to do the absolutely necessary heavy labor very cheaply. In Liberian houses great numbers of native servants are employed. Trade and politics absorb the thought and time of the best men in the community. It is going to be a difficult task to place agriculture and hand labor upon a proper footing, but it must be done and soon.

We must not expect much more in the direction of education than we would find in our own country towns of six or seven thousand people. There are actually not many schools in the republic. The superintendent of education is a member of the Cabinet. The present incumbent is a native--a Bassa. He has general supervision of some ninety-one schools, in which number night schools and mission schools are included. The highest institution of public education is Liberia College, at Monrovia. It has done good work and most of the men of prominence in the Government to-day are graduates from it. It has, however, little more than the teaching force and equipment of a high school in one of our smaller towns. It needs strengthening in every way. New schools should be established, especially in the country among the native tribes, and special schools of agriculture and manual training are a crying need. President Howard, in his inaugural address in 1912, recognized the necessity of prompt development in education and agriculture. Besides Liberia College, there is in Monrovia the College of West Africa. This is a Methodist mission school, doing an excellent work for both Liberian and native students. There are also important Episcopal schools on the St. Paul’s River, and in the neighborhood of Cape Palmas.

The President of the republic was kind enough to give a reception in my honor. On that occasion I was asked to make a few remarks regarding Liberia. I stated that in my opinion Liberia’s greatest asset is her native population. Twelve thousand people, no matter how interested, wise and industrious, cannot possibly carry the entire burden. If Liberia is to prosper in the future, it can only be because the Liberians secure the hearty coöperation and friendly feeling of the million natives. If _they_ can be shown that their interest and development are to be gained only through friendship to and recognition of the Government, the prosperity and success of Liberia may be secured and her independence maintained.

SHOULD THE AFRICAN MISSION BE ABANDONED.

(_The Spirit of Missions._ August, 1913.)

The development of the Church mission in Liberia has been most encouraging. It began in March, 1836, when James M. Thompson, a colored man, opened a mission school at Mount Vaughan with seven native children. It has grown until, in his last report, Bishop Ferguson stated that there were 26 clergymen, 8 candidates for holy orders, 2 postulants, 25 lay teachers, and 46 catechists and teachers. During the year of 1912, 242 children and 237 adults had been baptized--423 of them being converts from heathenism. During the year there were 165 confirmations. The grand total of baptisms to date was 9,565; the total of confirmations, 4,856. The number of present communicants was 2,404, of which two-thirds were natives. The estimated value of buildings belonging to the mission was $121,250; 22 day schools, 19 boarding schools and 38 Sunday schools was conducted; 1,210 day-school pupils, 643 boarding-school pupils, 2,714 Sunday-school pupils were in attendance. It is a noble record of results for faithful service.

It has been suggested in some quarters that the American Protestant Episcopal Church shall abandon this promising mission field; or rather it is proposed that it shall exchange this successful and flourishing work with English brethren, for work started by them in Central America. It is possible that from the point of view of church administration such an exchange may be desirable; it is certain that from any other point of view it will be a great misfortune. The writer of this article has himself been in Liberia, and is profoundly interested in Liberian problems. He believes that any proposal to abandon work in Liberia could only arise through ignorance of the actual conditions in the Black Republic. He has no wish to interfere in affairs which in no wise concern himself. Deeply interested, however, in the progress of the only remaining country of Africa which is administered by black men, he desires to express his reasons for opposing the suggestion.

It is now seventy-seven years since the Liberian work was begun. It has been wisely directed, it has been nobly supported, it has been successful. Surely the ultimate aim in all such labor is to produce a self-supporting church in the mission field. The Liberian Church is already approaching the point of self-support. In his last report Bishop Ferguson says: “I believe the greatest joy of my life would be to be able to say to the Board of Missions, ‘The Church in Liberia will hereafter support itself. You need not appropriate any more funds towards its maintenance.’ That I am unable to do so as yet is not because of an indisposition on the part of the people to contribute to such a worthy object, but rather because of their poverty, through not having learnt to work profitably. It must be remembered that two-thirds of our communicants are native Africans who, as well as the majority of the class we call ‘Americo-Liberians’ making up the one-third, need to be trained in some remunerative industry. The fact is, that the financial burden of the Church in the district is resting on a comparatively small number. Taking this into consideration, the amount raised from time to time for the building, repairing, and improving of churches, and to meet other parochial expenses is rather creditable than otherwise. Besides expenses at home, they contribute annually toward missions in general in the shape of Lenten and Easter offerings and the missionary apportionment fund. Our quota of the last named has already been paid up for the present year. But as above shown, comparatively few deserve the credit. To make the work self-supporting, at least a majority of the members should be able to contribute to it.”

Certainly, it is a basic error to abandon a work which has been conducted for seventy-seven years, when it approaches the point of self-support. A change subjecting the mission to a new administration, would mean setback and delay in gaining the end desired.

The American Church is bound in a special way to Liberia; the original settlers in Liberia were American freed-men; they had been our slaves. As Americans we had been responsible for the dragging of thousands of helpless black people from their homes; we had held them for years in captivity. When finally we sent them back as freed-men to the shores of their native continent, our obligations by no means ceased.

When Bishop Lee preached the sermon at the consecration of Bishop Ferguson, he used the following strong terms: “To the millions of this race among ourselves, as well as to those beyond the sea, we should count ourselves debtors. If any branch of the evangelistic work of our Church has peculiar and sacred claims to general support, it seems to me to be our African Mission as well as our home Mission among our colored people. With glad and ready hearts should we enter this open door. With free and unclosed hands should we pour our gifts into the Lord’s treasury. And when we read with averted eye the shocking details of former injustice and inhumanity, well may we thank God that He has shown us a way in which we may send back to those sunny climes a benefaction, the value of which cannot be told.”

In 1893 Dr. Langford, General Secretary of the Board of Missions, said: “The lapse of time does not lighten by a shade the deep damnation of its curse. If America were to pay a million dollars a year for fifty years, it would not suffice to cancel a tithe of her debt to Africa.”

England has no such duty nor obligation to Liberia; she cannot be expected to take the same legitimate interest in that mission. Nor have the Missions of Central America anything like the same claim upon the interest and sympathy of the American Church as has Liberia. Nothing but blindness to the seriousness of our obligation could lead us to make the exchange.

It is true that the United States has at no time shown the hearty interest in, and sympathy with Liberia which she should have. It is, however, true that, as a result of all the past, the civilized Liberians are to-day far more American in spirit than English. The Liberians are different in their bearing and manner from all other blacks upon the coast of West Africa. This is not merely a personal claim. Travelers, ever since the early days of colonization, are united in their statements: the Liberian is more independent--he is more a man--than the black man in any of the European colonies. This spirit has been frequently criticised; it is no advantage to colonizing nations to encounter black men of spirit and independence; such are a bad example to colonial subjects. But, if Liberia is to remain a nation, this spirit of independence must be maintained. The transfer of this mission to England would dampen enthusiasm; it would check the independent spirit; it would introduce the element of weakness. No one who has seen the blacks of Freetown can fail to grasp my meaning. The attitude of the Englishman toward colored peoples may be fairly fair and just, but it is repressive. In the nature of things, administration of the Liberian Church by British leaders would necessarily lead to irritation and assumption of superiority on the one side and subservience upon the other; there would be less of self-respect and independence. If the Church held its own in numbers, it would be through the loss of its most desirable members and their replacement by people of less strong character.

The work of the Protestant Episcopal Church is not the only mission work within the limits of Liberia. There are also missions, more or less active, conducted by the Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal, Baptist, Lutheran and Presbyterian denominations. If these mission efforts are to be successful there must be fellow feeling between the different missions; harmony and unity should be the order of the day. We regret that there has not always been the most harmonious relations between the different branches of Christian efforts in the Republic. Surely, however, every mission there established should do its utmost toward harmony; surely it should be the policy of each separate mission to do nothing which could interrupt or destroy harmonious relations. But all these other mission efforts in Liberia are in American hands; the transfer of the Church mission to English hands would be certain, under the political and social conditions of the country, to introduce friction and enmity which would be destructive beyond the possibility of calculation. From the point of view of Christian harmony it would be a blunder to transfer the mission.

I believe that Liberia may have an important influence in solving our Negro problem. It is doubtful whether we shall send a large number of emigrants from our southern states to the Republic; it is likely that a small migration will constantly take place from us to Africa. But it is of the utmost consequence both to Liberia and to our American black people that there be intimate relations between the two regions. It is desirable that many black men from America should visit and know Liberia; it is most important that Liberians should find it easy to come to America and see our institutions. In this easy contact and intimate relation there is certainly ease for our black man’s troubles. Everything which cultivates close, frequent, repeated and continued contact will help us as much as it helps them. We ought, then, at least, to think a long time before we sever any connection already established.

In view of these conditions and tendencies, it seems to me that the proposed exchange would be a serious blunder. Motives of economy and ease of administration cannot excuse it. Duty, honor, enlightened patriotism, demand that the American Church continue to carry the Liberian mission until such time as it may become self-supporting.

THE PEOPLE OF LIBERIA.

(_The Independent._ August 14, 1913.)

There is no question that ultimately Liberia must depend upon her native population; the native tribes are the chief asset of the black republic. If it is to make progress in the future, there must be hearty coöperation between the “Liberian” and the “native.” The native must be aroused to realize that his interest is the same as that of the Liberian; he must realize that his country is the Liberian’s country; he must learn to know and to carry his part of the common burden. This is going to be a difficult lesson for both to learn. From the very beginning of the colony to the present time, the attitude of the newcomer toward the native has been that of a superior to an inferior being. It is and always has been the custom for Liberians to speak of themselves as “white men,” while they have considered the natives “bush niggers.” The Liberian has never indulged to any extent in manual labor; he has done but little even in agricultural work. The native has always been considered the natural laborer of the country; socially an inferior, he has been despised and neglected. He has done the heavy work, he has brought in the produce of “the bush,” he has been the house servant. While he has rarely been treated with cruelty, he has been looked upon with contempt. There is no doubt that, in the future, the native will continue to be the chief laborer of the country; something of prejudice must be expected to continue; but conditions ought to be such that it will be easy for a bright native boy to emerge from his own status and play his part in the mutual progress.

Under the circumstances, every individual case of a Liberian native who has gained a position of consequence in the community has special significance and importance. One of the encouraging facts in present day Liberia is that a considerable number of natives are occupying positions of influence and power in their community. At the present time a member of the Cabinet is a native of pure blood. The Secretary of Public Instruction, in charge of the educational system of the republic, is a Bassa; he is one of “Miss Sharp’s boys”--and does credit to her efforts. While the educational development of Liberia leaves much to be desired, he has ninety-one schools (including night schools) under his direction.

Another native who has gained position, reputation and influence is Abayomi Wilfrid Karnga, the son of a Kongo man, which means that he has risen against more serious difficulties than face the usual native of the country. The population of Liberia consists actually of three different classes of black men; first, the descendants of American or English freedmen; second, the actual natives of the country; third, descendants of recaptured slaves--very commonly included under the general term of “Kongo men.” The last mentioned people had been bought by slavers, taken on board slave vessels, and were being taken to Cuba or South America for sale when they were captured by British or American warships, taken to Liberia, and dumped upon the colony for care and raising. They have always been looked upon with contempt by both Liberians and natives, and for a Kongo man to rise indicates energy and natural ability. Mr. Karnga has been a school teacher and is now a practising lawyer; he is at present a member of the House of Representatives and is active in public affairs.

Another conspicuous native success is Luke B. Anthony, a Bassa. He received his early training under the Presbyterian missionaries and attended Lincoln University, in Pennsylvania. At one time he had high hope of conducting schools for his own people, but this hope vanished with the discontinuance of mission effort on the part of the board with which he has been interested. He loves his people and a year ago gave the commencement address at Liberia College upon the subject of “Bassa Traditions.” While in the United States he received medical training and is a successful physician. At present he is professor of mathematics in Liberia College and a teacher of considerable ability and force.

One of the most interesting of the Liberian natives who are playing a part in public life is Momolu Massaquoi. He represents the Vai people, one of the most important, enterprising and progressive of the score or so of native tribes in the republic. The Vai are a Mohammedan population and stand alone among African negroes in having in common daily use a system of writing with characters invented long ago by one of their own tribe. Mr. Massaquoi was an hereditary chief among his people. While still young he became a Christian, found his way to the United States, and gained part of his education in this country. After returning to Liberia he was paramount chief among his people for a period of ten years. He now lives in Monrovia, where he occupies the position of chief clerk in the Department of the Interior. He is now preparing text-books in Vai for use among his people.

The number of pure blood natives among the Liberian clergy must be considerable. Some of these, like the Rev. F. A. Russell, of Grand Bassa, minister to mixed congregations, with both Liberian and native members. Other native clergymen have charge of definite mission work among the natives. Thus, Rev. McKrae is in charge of the Kru chapel (Episcopalian) in Monrovia. The Kru and Grebo are close kin, both in speech and blood. In connection with such mission effort we are naturally reminded of Mr. Scott, a full-blooded Grebo, who is the architect and superintendent of construction of the Bromley School for Girls, situated upon the St. Paul’s River about three hours by steamer from Monrovia; it is said to be the largest building in Liberia. Mr. Scott has had no instruction in the builder’s trade beyond what he has picked up practically and through a course of instruction received from America by correspondence.

These are a few examples of native men who are doing something to help Liberians to solve their problems. There must be a considerable number of such. There is, however, another class of men who are helping in the advancement of the country, though in quite a different way. Those whom we have mentioned have practically severed themselves from the native life; they are living among Liberians and taking active part with them. Thomas Lewis, a Bassa, living in Grand Bassa, where his house, newly built, is one of the finest in the town, is a native of the natives. His father was a local king; Thomas was one of about a hundred children. Through missionary effort he gained the rudiments of education; coming then to the United States, he studied in various cities, finally taking his advanced work in Syracuse University. While there he devised a system of writing the Bassa language, which, like the system long in use among the Vai, consists of a series of phonetic characters standing for syllables. While in Syracuse he had a primer printed in the new characters for teaching Bassa children to read. Having studied medicine, he became a practising physician on his return to his own country. He has large influence with the primitive Bassa, and not infrequently is called upon by the Government to exert this in its behalf. He has taught a number of Bassa boys his system and takes great pride in their ability to write and read their language with his characters.