Our Government, however, had seriously taken Liberian matters under advisement, and on the 4th of March, 1909, an American Commission was appointed to visit Liberia and to investigate Liberian conditions. The Commissioners were Roland P. Falkner, George Sale, and Emmett J. Scott, with George A. Finch as secretary. The Commission sailed on April 24th, 1909, and arrived in Monrovia on the 8th of May. They spent thirty days in Liberia and Sierra Leone. The work they had to do was wisely divided up among the members of the Commission, in order to permit their accomplishing the utmost in the short time at their disposition.
Their arrival at Liberia was hailed with joy. In anticipation of their coming the legislators had come from all the counties to Monrovia and were in the capital before the arrival of the Commission. The cruiser Chester arrived in front of Monrovia on the morning of May 8th, and at once saluted with twenty-one guns; the salute was returned by the Liberians from the shore. Ernest Lyon, the American Minister, at once boarded the vessel. When he returned, the Attorney-General with a party of citizens went on board to escort the Commissioners to the shore. The city was gaily decorated. The Mayor, Common Council, and a crowd of citizens met the Commissioners at the landing where, under the first arch of welcome, the acting Mayor made an address. Mr. Falkner replied on behalf of the Commission. Two companies of the militia escorted the Commission up the hill to the second arch, where Mrs. Parker addressed them on behalf of the Liberian ladies. Sale responded, after which Mrs. McGill spoke on behalf of the county of Grand Bassa. At the third arch Miss Irene A. Gant received them on behalf of Sinoe County, and Miss Matilda Roberts on behalf of Maryland County. Passing now to the American legation, they were officially received by the American Minister. Few public occasions in the history of Monrovia equal this reception, which fairly deserves to be called a popular ovation. On the 13th, President Barclay offered the Commission an official reception at which the President and the Cabinet, the Commission and attachés, and the United States Minister with his Secretary were present. In the afternoon of the 12th, a general reception was given at the Executive Mansion. During their stay in Africa, the Commission visited Grand Bassa and Maryland, and in both regions they were treated with distinguished courtesy. The report of the Commission sent to the Senate and House of Representatives by President Taft on March 25th, 1910, was an exceptionally good public document. The Commission recognized the importance of the work entrusted to it and did its work with thoroughness. They made six recommendations to our government. They were as follows: (1) That the United States extend its aid to Liberia in the prompt settlement of pending boundary disputes. (2) That the United States enable Liberia to refund its debt by assuming as guarantee for the payment of obligations under such arrangement the control and collection of the Liberian customs. (3) That the United States lend its assistance to the Liberian Government in the reform of its internal finances. (4) That the United States lend its aid to Liberia in organizing and drilling an adequate constabulary or frontier police force. (5) That the United States should establish and maintain a research station in Liberia. (6) That the United States re-open the question of a naval coaling station in Liberia. Some of these recommendations the United States has carried through. She has made the loan necessary for the refunding of the public debt; she is lending assistance to the Liberian Government in the reform of internal finances; she is aiding Liberia in the organization and drilling of her frontier force. These are good things, and it is to be hoped that they will prove as helpful as has been anticipated. We should help Liberia, and help her handsomely; she deserves all that we can do for her. We must be careful, of course, in our assistance, not to accustom her to the notion of dependency. Muscle can only be developed in a body by the exercise of that body itself. No being can develop muscle for another. Liberia, if she is to prosper, must develop energy, force, independence; she needs help but must work out her own salvation. Exercise to be valuable must not be a death struggle; we must protect her from her foes, but we must insist upon her self-development. There are, however, still many things that we can do for the Republic without reducing her to a condition of dependency and pauperization.
We should energize every already existing bond between us. There are already missions established in the Republic; these should be handsomely maintained, without forgetting that the ultimate end is the production of self-supporting churches; the needs of missions and mission-schools should be carefully examined by the different Boards and liberal appropriations made to meet them; it is desirable that the Presbyterian denomination—so rich, respectable, and self-satisfied—should really look after its “little flock of humble black folk” with their splendid opportunity before them. The Boards which hold funds for the benefit of Liberia College should seriously recognize the importance of their responsibility; they should investigate with care, and act promptly and liberally; they must devise some method of more effective co-operation with the local management for gaining the great ends possible by combined action. There are funds in the United States intended to aid Liberia, which are tied up and have been tied up for many years through some unfortunate condition in the terms of the bequest; such funds, if possible, should be put to work; if they are actually unavailable, it is best that a final decision be reached, and public announcement be made of the unfortunate fact; it is better that Liberia should not be kept waiting in hope of aid that never comes. A considerable interest was aroused in the United States by the visit of the Commission in 1908; this interest was shown in the newspapers of the day; it is greatly to be desired that the American people should be kept constantly informed as to Liberia; information should not be spasmodically given out, but there should be a definite, constant spreading of facts regarding the Republic, whose heroic struggle deserves our firm and steady sympathy. The need was never greater for a regular line of shipping between the two Republics than now; this has been already sufficiently considered. It would be a fine philanthropy to establish and conduct such a line of communication for a period of time, even at a loss; in the long run, the line would lose its philanthropic feature and become a fairly paying business proposition. It is most important that the contact between the two nations be increased; Liberians have occasionally come to us under various circumstances; more Americans in course of time visit Liberia than the public generally knows; every opportunity of inviting Liberians to this country as students, delegates, visitors, business representatives, should be encouraged; and it should become a simple, natural, and frequent thing for Americans to visit the black Republic. Lastly, our government should adopt a clear and definite policy of sympathy; if we make it well understood that we look upon Liberia as related to us, and that we will permit no further injustice, we need have no fears of being involved in international difficulties on her account; the cry “hands off” will be sufficient. Let us quit internationalizing her problems. They are justly questions between us and her; they concern no other nation. But do not let us ever think of absorbing the Republic; let us guarantee her independence; we do not wish a protectorate; we have too many different kinds of national relations now; Alaska, Hawaii, Porto Rico, Cuba, Santo Domingo, Nicaragua, and the Philippines make our governmental policy to-day sufficiently complex. We want no more new and strange relations. Liberia is our sister nation—daughter, if you please—and very definitely such. She is brunette, but her virtues are our virtues, her vices are our vices. Let us admit and emphasize the kinship.
REPRINTED ARTICLES.
THE LIBERIAN CRISIS.
(Unity. March 25, 1909.)
In closing my The Truth about the Congo, I said: “If it is necessary for us as a nation to look for African adventure; if to give a strenuous President the feeling that he is ‘doing something’ we must meddle in the affairs of the Dark Continent, there is a district where we might intervene with more of reason and consistency and grace than we are doing by going to the Congo. We once established on African soil, whether wisely or not I do not intend to discuss, a free republic for the blacks. In Liberia we have an American enterprise, pure and simple. It has not been a great success. It is just possible—though I doubt it—that Liberia would at several times have profited and been advantaged by our instruction and interest. But it seems to possess little interest for us. Just now, like the Congo, it is attracting British attention. Whether it has large or little value, whether it possesses great opportunities or not, it is now a center of interest to Great Britain. She does not need our help in pulling chestnuts from the fire there, and there has been strange silence and ignorance in this country regarding it as a new sphere for English influence. If we assist England in expanding her African possessions at the expense of the Congo Free State, Liberia will be the next fraction of Africa to succumb to English rule. England’s methods of procedure are various. It might be a useful lesson for our statesmen and politicians to study Liberia’s prospects with care. We are still young in the business of grabbing other people’s lands. England could teach us many lessons. The latest one may well be worthy of our attention, since, in a certain sense, it deals with a district where we naturally possess an interest.”
At the time, these suggestions caused some surprise. Americans were (and are) totally ignorant regarding Liberia and felt that my remarks were due to prejudice. I have no prejudice against England, from which my ancestry chiefly came. A few months have proved the truth of my predictions. In May last a Commission appointed by the Liberian government called upon President Roosevelt and begged the intervention of the United States for the purpose of guaranteeing independence and “integrity against the encroachments of powerful European governments.” Among the reasonable ideas urged by this Commission was that disputes between Liberia and France, Germany and England should be settled by arbitration and not by a resort to force. We wisely refused to establish a protectorate over Liberia, but our government agreed to use its good offices with England, France and Germany. Considerable correspondence seems to have taken place and some interest relative to Liberia has been aroused. But on the whole no serious progress has been made and a few days since the newspapers contained the following item:
“Washington, D. C., Feb. 12.—Cable advices received at the state department today indicate that a climax has been reached in the Liberian situation. Conditions are grave, and great alarm is felt by foreign officials in Liberian employ.