LIBERAL REPUBLICAN PARTY 



3399 



LIBERIA 



William E. Gladstone was the greatest Liberal 

 leader; later worthy successors have been Jo- 

 seph Chamberlain, Lord Rosebery, Sir Henry 

 Campbell-Bannerman, H. H. Asquith and 

 David Lloyd George. Since 1855 the Liberals 

 have controlled the English Cabinet consider- 

 ably more than half of the time. 



LIBERAL REPUBLICAN PARTY, an 

 American political organization, formed in 1872 

 as a party of protest against the reelection of 

 President U. S. Grant. It was composed of 

 seceders from the Republican party, who nomi- 

 nated Horace Greeley for the Presidency on a 

 platform of "universal amnesty and universal 

 enfranchisement," which meant the establish- 

 ment at once of civil governments in each of 

 the former Confederate states and the removal 

 of all political disabilities imposed on account 

 of the rebellion. The demands of the Liberal 

 Republicans expressed the view of those who 

 were dissatisfied with the administration's se- 

 vere policy toward the South. In the election 

 Grant received 286 out of 349 electoral votes; 

 the defeat of the new party was so severe that 

 there was no attempt to continue its organiza- 

 tion. Mr. Greeley died between election day 

 and the date of the meeting of the electoral 

 college. See POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE UNITED 

 STATES. 



LIBERIA, libe'ria, from a Latin word 

 meaning free, is a country on the west coast of 

 Africa, the only negro republic in the world, 

 and believed to have the hottest climate 

 known on the globe. The state of. Liberia is 

 the result of the 

 efforts of the Na- 

 tional Coloniza- 

 tion Society of 

 America, organ- 

 ized in 1816, to 

 establish in Af- 

 rica a colony for 

 free blacks from 

 the United States. 

 The first steps 

 toward organiza- 

 tion were taken 

 in 1820; twenty- 



then the United States has given Liberia gen- 

 erous financial aid, loaned it colored officers to 

 train its military forces, taken charge of the 



LOCATION MAP 



seven years later the society withdrew active 

 assistance from the negro settlers, urging them 

 to set up an independent form of government. 

 This was done, and a constitution, patterned 

 after that of the United States, was adopted. 

 It provided for a President, Vice-President, 

 Cabinet, Senate, Representatives, Supreme 

 Court, consuls and a standing army. Since 



STREET SCENE IN MONROVIA 



customhouses, and has stood as a friend, will- 

 ing to aid or advise whenever necessary. 



The Country. Liberia's area, 35,000 square 

 miles, is about equal to that of Delaware, 

 South Carolina and Rhode Island combined. 

 A narrow strip of coast land, seven miles wide, 

 is the only part developed. The interior is 

 high and fertile, with forests of valuable woods 



LIBERIA'S FLAG 

 Vertical lines are red ; horizontal, dark blue ; 

 star and alternate stripes, white. 



and deposits of rich metals, and gives great 

 promise of future agricultural possibilities. 

 There are two rainy seasons; the warmest 

 month of the year is January. 



People and Customs. Liberia's population, 

 divided, into three classes, consists of 12,000 

 negro descendants of American freed slaves; 

 30,000 English-speaking coast natives; and 

 about 1,000,000 half savage blacks who live in 

 the interior. The latter are heathen; many of 

 them are cannibals and all practice polygamy. 

 So far as their relation with the first two 

 groups is concerned, they might as well live in 

 another world. Divided into tribes living in 

 separate villages, each has its own chief, lan- 

 guage and customs. In spite of the. great nat- 

 ural wealth of the country, its people prefer 



