A Liberian Journey

Creator

Richard Pearson Strong

Date

May-June, 1926

Coverage

London, England

Transcription

Diary
Richard Pearson Strong

I have been asked so often why I am going to Liberia that I am writing down my reasons for taking an expedition to Liberia at the present time.

(1) Maugham (Republic of Liberia, 1920) states –
The Republic of Liberia although normally only 12 (to 14)
days removed from the United Kingdom is nevertheless in
all probability the one portion of West Africa of which
today the least is known to us. Nevertheless Liberia has
for many years past been outdistanced by neighboring
divisions in the commercial competition of the latter
half of the 19th century and has not yet reached that
point of economic development which is hers by right of geographical position of latent resources and of the
ability and capacity of her people to derive and enjoy the
fullest measure of advantage from it.

Sir Harry Johnston (in his book “Liberia” 1906, which constitutes a compilation of our knowledge of this country) writes (p.8): “The interior of Liberia is still the least known part of Africa”. This statement is several times referred to in the later pages of his book.

Robert Durrant, special Commissioner in West Africa, 1924, says that Americo-Liberian civilization has not extended inland and the settlers have not succeeded in penetrating into the interior for more than about thirty miles from the coast. He says further that “Liberia has escaped the notice of all the story tellers and of most of the chroniclers. The few books that have been written about it present such a wide divergence of opinion that the reader is forced to the conclusion that some of them, at any rate, were inspired.”
Sir Alfred Sharpe, (in “The Black Republic”, 1923, p. 20) writes:

“In Monrovia there are few people who have been
thirty miles inland. This applies not only to Liberians
but to Europeans and is partly accounted for by the
fact that under existing Liberian laws no one may go inland
without a permit. Liberia is a rich country and is at
present the one totally undeveloped stretch of West Africa.”

(2) There is no record of any scientific medical expedition having been made into the interior of Liberia. A survey has even not been made of the diseases which afflict human beings, animals or plants. The fauna and flora have not been carefully investigated.
Last year Dr. Bouet, a physician and also the French Consul, reported the occurrence of eight cases of fatal yellow fever infection in Monrovia. It is important to know definitely if this is true. It is important to know whether yellow fever really exists endemically in Liberia.

(3) The seeds of the founding of the Republic of Liberia were sewn by philanthropic American societies and people in 1822 as a genuine effort to found a state where negroes should both learn and enjoy for all time the benefits of Freedom. The colony was primarily founded for American freed slaves and their descendants. Has the purpose of the colony failed? Has this experiment in negro self-government of Liberia been successful? If one can judge from what has recently been written of Liberia it would appear that negro self-government of Liberia as a country has failed, that the interior of the country has not been developed and that the condition of the inhabitants of the interior has not been improved.

Delafosse, who for a time was French Consul at Monrovia, complains bitterly of the treatment of the tribes in the interior by the Americo-Liberians and says of the government in Monrovia: “It is the spectacle of a nation in decadence.”

Reese (“The Black Republic”, 1923) writes: “Now that the Great War is over doubtless an opportunity will occur for Great Britain to take the lead as the oldest friend and protector of the African races in coming to the assistance of the little negro state and so arranging matters with the other powers as to have a free hand in the regeneration of Liberia.” He believes that intervention should be made between the present Government of Liberia and its indigenous African subjects and the duty of opening up her hinterland should be taken up.

Sir Alfred Sharpe, who has conversed with me upon this subject also believes that either the United States of Great Britain should do something in this connection.

At the commencement of the European war the finances of Liberia which arise mainly out of customs duties were under the control of an International Board of receivers composed of representative of the governments of Great Britain and Germany. Since the war, at the request of the Liberian Government with the approval of Great Britain and France, the American Government will hereafter be the sole adviser in Liberian affairs. If the United States had not in the past exerted in a manner a protecting hand over Liberia there is little doubt that either France of Great Britain would have taken a more aggressive action in the control of this republic and the development of its interior. Its very geographical position, lying between French and English territory makes this obvious. The recent activities of the Firestone Rubber Company in Liberia have aroused in the United States further public interest in that country. The United States has found it advisable to acquire territory in the Philippine Islands, Guam, Panama, Porto Rico, etc. Since there is need of intervention in Liberia for the benefit of the inhabitants of that country, should the United states take a greater and more practical interest in the Americo-Liberian Government and exercise a more stimulating influence upon the development of the interior of the country and its people?

These are some of the problems (1) to (4) and questions that I have had in mind in organizing the expedition to Liberia at the present time and in connection with them it would seem that a scientific survey conducted into the interior of the country so little known can not fail to be of value. A satisfactory report from Harvard University upon these questions might exert a favorable influence in the United States.

We have spent a busy month in England and Brussels and Paris in outfitting and obtaining information about Liberia and the Congo, and obtaining letters of introduction. Our tents andf general camp equipment were obtained from Edington and Co., who also, I read in Stanley’s “Darkest Africa”, outfitted him for his explorations. Our food supplies we obtained from the Army and Navy Stores and the arms and ammunition from Rigby and Co. They are all most satisfactory people to deal with and have of course had a very wide experience in outfitting expeditions.

In London in connection with our mission we were particularly helped by Ambassador Houghton and Mr. Taylor, Assistant Secretary at the Embassy; by Mr. C. W. Dresselhuys (a wealthy Dutchman), the Liberian minister in London; by Mr. Bottomley of the Foreign Office, Advisor for Kenya and Uganda, and Mr. Greene for Tanganyika Territory. Sir Alfred Sharpe, who has twice visited Liberia, also gave us valuable information. Lord Leverhulme, who has vast interests in the Congo, gave us a number of letters of introduction and told us much about conditions in the Congo. Mr. Leslie Couper, General Manager of the Bank of British West Africa, also supplied us with information and has cabled to his manager in Liberia that we were coming and to look out for us. I told him that Mr. Firestone had already cabled to his manager in Monrovia to secure a house for us as there are no hotels, but Mr. Couper says there are very few available houses in Monrovia and that Mr. Firestone has not been in Monrovia.

In Brussels, Mr. Phillips (the American Ambassador) was most helpful in making our arrangements with the Belgian Government. Mr. Arnold, the Secretary General, supplied us with letters to the Governor General of the Congo and hunting permits.

The most important work in Paris was obtaining of the new French preparation Fourneau 305 to try out in the treatment of sleeping sickness and obtaining letters of introduction to French officials in which much help was given by Dr. Brumpt. Returning to London three days before sailing we had time to pay all bills and complete orders after the arrival of the last couple from America – Allen and Linder.

Type

Diary

Citation