CONDITIONS IN LIBERIA 



735 



the coast towns and settlements along the 

 rivers Saint Paul and Saint John, but 

 in these towns and settlements law and 

 order prevail, life and property are ade- 

 quately protected, and crime is promptly 

 punished. Peace, good-will, and friendly 

 feeling prevail between these towns and 

 settlements and the native villages im- 

 mediately adjacent to them. 



However crude in many respects the 

 civilization of Liberia may be, the Libe- 

 rians have advanced, not retrograded, in 

 their civilization. In estimating the prog- 

 ress of the Liberian people it is well to 

 bear in mind their origin. The original 

 elements of the population of Liberia 

 were three : Free negroes sent out by the 

 Colonization Society ; Africans rescued 

 from slave traders by the LTnited States 

 war vessels during the period of the sup- 

 pression of the slave trade ; freedmen 

 who emigrated to Liberia since the war. 



Out of these materials, guided by the 

 traditions of life in America, the Libe- 

 rian people have developed a civilization 

 that compares not unfavorably with the 

 better element of the negroes in the 

 United States. It was the conviction of 

 the commission and their associates that 

 the Liberians had influenced the native 

 population by which thty^ were sur- 

 rounded far more than the natives had 

 influenced them. In the presence of that 

 great mass of uncivilized people they 

 have maintained a relatively high degree 

 of civilization, of which the well-ordered 

 home, the maintenance of law and order, 

 the quiet Sunday rest, and the well- 

 attended houses of worship are conspicu- 

 ous signs. 



It is the larger and more difficult tasks 

 of government which now confront Li- 

 beria, chiefly as a result of the partition 

 of Africa by European powers during 

 recent years, which Liberia finds too 

 hard for her. They grow out of the 

 increasing importance of her relations 

 with neighboring countries and the ur- 

 gent necessity of more effective control 

 and government of the native tribes 

 within her boundaries. It is with refer- 

 ence to these tasks and problems grow- 

 ing out of them that Liberia feels the 

 need of help from a strong power. 



Photo from Captain Cloman, U. S. A. 

 RESIDENTS OE A Vir.I.AGE: NEAR MONROVIA 



Specifically these problems are : 



1. The maintenance of the integrity of 

 her frontiers in the face of attempted 

 aggressions of her neighbors, against 

 whose might she can oppose only the 

 justice of her claims. 



2. The effective control of the native 

 tribes, especially along the frontiers, so 

 as to leave no excuse for the occupation 

 of her territory by her neighbors. 



3. The systemization of the national 

 finances so as to render certain the meet- 

 ing of all foreign obligations and to 

 establish the national credit on a firm 

 basis. 



4. The development of the hinterland 

 in such a way as to increase the volume 

 of trade and thus supply the resources 

 necessary for the increasing wants of a 

 progressive government and at the same 

 time enable the government to offer in- 



