134 REPORT OF THE HARVARD AFRICAN EXPEDITION 
“The greatest pleasure is in doing something to help others to help them- 
selves. There is some small satisfaction in Just giving away money, but the 
ereat satisfaction is in giving others the chance to be independent. For instance, 
the opening of Liberia or the Philippines would be worth more than a life’s 
work,” 
The Firestone Plantations Company plans to develop centers in different 
parts of the country where the land is suitable for the cultivation of rubber 
and where labor is available. Roads are already being made and villages built 
at those centers. The company has also made it clear that it does not wish to 
prevent the native man himself from producing rubber on his own land and 
selling it to the company. Such natives as prefer to produce rubber in adjacent 
settlements will be encouraged to do so. 
Through this development of the rubber industry by Mr. Firestone’s rep- 
resentatives in Liberia, natives in the interior are being given the opportunity, 
apparently for the first time, to receive without government interference, not 
only regular compensation for their labor at a minimum rate of a shilling a 
day, but also opportunities to increase their general welfare. Not only are the 
authorities of the organization apparently alive to the advisability of treating 
labor well, but also evidently desire to improve the general conditions of living 
of the laborers. Plans have been worked out for the construction of model vil- 
lages, equipped with sanitary kitchens, latrines, a water supply, and a hospital. 
Gardens are also being planned for each individual house. Stores have been 
established where rice and other foods and articles desired by the natives may 
be purchased at cost. The customs and habits of the natives are being care- 
fully studied, and a trade school is being opened. Measures for child welfare 
and facilities for recreation are being planned for. ‘The social advantages in- 
herent in such plans are obvious, and Mr. Firestone’s intention to improve 
conditions in Liberia, as well as successfully to produce rubber there, are un- 
questionable. Already, as a result of these activities, it has been said that 
Liberia has awakened from a half century of stupor. More money is in cir- 
culation than ever before, business has taken on new life, and a new era of 
prosperity has begun. 
