THE LAND OF THE FREE IN AFRICA 



By Harry A. McBride 



Author of "The Land of the Basques," in the National Geographic Magazine 



A SHORT while ago, on November 

 15, 192 1, to be more explicit, there 

 „ occurred at the Navy Yard at 

 Charlestown, Massachusetts, an incident 

 of note. The commanding officer and his 

 staff, in full-dress uniforms, stood at the 

 left of the main gate of the yard. At the 

 right a company of marines stood at at- 

 tention. An automobile arrived and dis- 

 charged its passengers, who greeted the 

 commanding officer. The marines came 

 to "present arms," while the Navy band 

 played a national anthem, beautiful and 

 full of swing, yet an anthem very unfa- 

 miliar to American ears. Its title was 

 "Hail Liberia. 1 ' 



Half an hour later, with the distin- 

 guished guests aboard, the United States 

 cruiser Denver loosed its moorings, glided 

 away from the pier out into midstream, 

 and turned its bow Atlantic-ward. Its 

 duty was to carry back to his country, in 

 far-away Africa, the chief executive of 

 the Liberian Republic, and at the same 

 time to bear messages of good-will from 

 this government to that small copy of our 

 own institutions which the world knows 

 as "Liberia." 



President Charles Dunbar Burgess King 

 had been in this country for several 

 months, appointed to bring in person to 

 the notice of Uncle Sam the appeal of 

 Liberia for financial assistance. Liberia 

 did not come begging with empty hands, 

 but proposed, as security for a credit of 

 $5,000,000, to pledge all her revenues, 

 which in themselves are more than ample 

 assurance of repayment. 



AMERICA RESPONDS TO LIBERIA'S APPEAL 



The appeal was not altogether in vain. 

 The United States recognized the neces- 

 sity, which arose because of Liberia's par- 

 ticipation in the World War and has 

 requested Congress to authorize the estab- 

 lishment in favor of Liberia of a credit of 

 $5,000,000, secured by proper safeguards. 



The Liberian plan is to use this money 

 principally for opening up what has al- 

 ways been considered potentially one of 



the richest corners of Africa, and no one 

 knows what hidden natural wealth will be 

 discovered when motor roads are blazed 

 through its jungle lands and palm forests. 

 To-day there are no civilized settlements 

 more than twenty-five miles inland from 

 the coast ; the vast interior is a blank, both 

 to Liberians and to the outside world. 



Immense palm forests are known to 

 exist — greater, perhaps, in productivity 

 than those of Nigeria and the Belgian 

 Congo — and if no other object is attained 

 than bringing these within reach of the 

 needs of present-day civilization, Liberia's 

 prosperity will be doubled and her name 

 will jump from a bottom rung to a much 

 higher place on the ladder of commercial 

 nations. 



PROBABLE MINERAL RESOURCES OP THE 

 COUNTRY 



Inasmuch as Liberia's neighbors, colo- 

 nies of European powers, explored and 

 developed with money from the coffers of 

 the mother countries, have been found to 

 be rich in gold, tin, coal, and other essen- 

 tial products, why not Liberia also ? Pres- 

 ident King's visit, among other things, 

 was for the purpose of having an Amer- 

 ican expert mineralogist sent to Liberia 

 to make explorations for the government. 



One day, in conversation upon the sub- 

 ject at the Department of State, he said : 



"We want to know what we have in 

 our country. For example, I think we 

 have gold. I have a sample of what is 

 believed to be gold, picked up in a certain 

 locality in Liberia." 



Putting his hand in his pocket he laid 

 on the American official's desk a rough 

 nugget larger than a chicken's egg, which 

 was found to be gold of marked fine- 

 ness. 



One day in Liberia, while speaking to 

 a Liberian, I also remember noticing that 

 he was wearing a large and very beautiful 

 diamond scarf pin made from a rough 

 stone which was picked up in Liberia's 

 hinterland and was sent to London to be 

 passed upon by experts. The stone was 



411 



