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.