CONDITIONS IN LIBERIA 



739 



been consistent and persistent in their 

 efforts to increase their boundaries. By 

 successive treaties with Liberia they have 

 deprived that country of territories long 

 claimed by her. France has based its 

 aggressions on the plea that the territory 

 which she had annexed, and then had 

 ceded to her by treaty, was not effect- 

 ively occupied by the Liberians, and 

 was therefore subject to acquisition by 

 another power. 



On the west Liberia adjoins the British 

 colony of Sierra Leone. Even while 

 Liberia was still a colony under the gov- 

 ernors appointed by the Colonization 

 Society she had trouble with Sierra 

 Leone. British traders contended that 

 Liberia had no right to impose customs 

 duties, and refused to recognize her 

 authority in this regard. The question 

 thus raised was one of the main con- 

 siderations which led to the formation of 

 the republic. 



Since Liberia has been an independent 

 nation it has at several junctures been 

 forced to make concessions to the am- 

 bitious designs of her neighbor. It is 

 enough to recall the long dispute respect- 

 ing the west boundary of Liberia, which 

 was finally settled by the treaty of 1885. 

 negotiated in its final stage at the can- 

 non's mouth, whereby Liberia lost to 

 Sierra Leone a considerable coast line to 

 which she had an equitable claim. 



The British Foreign Office has protested 

 that Great Britain has no designs on 

 Liberian territory. We find it hard to 

 reconcile this protestation with the acts 

 and attitude of her officials in Sierra 

 Leone and Liberia. Certainly there is 

 no difficulty in understanding Great 

 Britain's declaration that if France is 

 permitted to make successful advances 

 into Liberian territory she will be com- 

 pelled in her own interests to claim her 

 share. 



It makes little difference whether 

 Great Britain is the upper or the nether 

 millstone. Liberia is between the two, 

 and it is the conviction of the commis- 

 sion that unless she has the support of 

 some power commensurate in strength 

 with Great Britain or France, she will 



as an independent power speedily disap- 

 pear from the map. 



The public schools of Liberia include 

 Liberia College, in Monrovia, for higher 

 education, four feeders or * intermediate 

 schools between the college and the lower 

 schools, and the common schools. The 

 college lacks the barest necessities in the 

 way of equipment, and its courses of 

 study scarcely equal those of a high 

 school. The intermediate and common 

 schools suffer for want of school-houses 

 and efficient teachers. Annual appropri- 

 ations for the support of schools are very 

 small and are paid with much uncer- 

 tainty. A radical reconstruction of its 

 schools is one of Liberia's greatest needs. 

 So long as the appropriations continue 

 what they are, there can be little hope of 

 the development of a proper system of 

 public education. And so long as the 

 revenues of the country are not materi- 

 ally augmented, there is little prospect 

 that the republic will be able to make 

 larger appropriations for this service. 

 The best educational effort in the country 

 is at the present time under church 

 auspices, and some of the schools main- 

 tained by religious organizations are 

 commendable. ^. 



Liberia's great source of wealth is her ;j 

 forests, which yield her palm oil, palm 'i 

 kernels, piassava fiber, and rubber. The kj 

 gathering of these products is the work fl 

 of natives, who sometimes labor under 

 the direction of the Liberian, but more 

 frequently barter the results of their 

 independent toil with the Liberian or di- 

 rect with the foreign merchant. Liberia 

 fails to realize the full value of what 

 she exports, because crude and wasteful 

 methods of gathering these products and 

 preparing them for the export trade de- 

 prives them of a part of their value. 



The chief agricultural export of the 

 Americo-Liberians is coffee. At one time 

 the coffee industry was in a very flourish- 

 ing condition, but is now stagnant or 

 retrograde. The competition of other 

 countries, notably of Brazil, which has 

 brought to the world's market cheaper 

 and better prepared coffees, has brought 

 discouragement to the Liberian planter. 



