File No. 882.032/4.
[Untitled]
Note.—The message of President Daniel Edward Howard was communicated to the Liberian Legislature December 12, 1912, and was transmitted to the Secretary of State by the American Chargé d’Affaires, Mr. Ricard C. Bundy, December 19, 1912.
[Extracts.]
The first item I desire to call your attention to is the commission appointed by my predecessor to delimit the Anglo-Liberian boundary between Liberia and the Colony of Sierra Leone. Mr. J. E. Barnes, the then director of public works, was appointed as chief commissioner, with instructions to proceed to the field of operations of the commission and associate with himself Mr. J. W. Cooper, commissioner for the Tengea district, and the chief of said district. He was advanced £200 sterling for expenses and equipment, and instructed that he would be furnished with carriers and laborers by Commissioner Cooper, to whom orders to that effect had been sent. Mr. Barnes left for Sierra Leone in November, 1911.
On January 1 of the present ear he wrote your Executive that the previously reported unrest of the natives on the boundary had apparently subsided and the Sierra Leone Government desired that the work of the commission begin at once. On the 4th of the same month the whole commission proceeded to their work, as from the reports of Commissioner Barnes, and continued up to about the middle of February.
About this time it was reported that some of the cairns erected by the commission had been destroyed by Liberian officials, which caused a cessation of the work and created a very serious and acute situation, the details of which need not here be gone into. I may mention, however, that, growing out of the demands made upon us at the time to have Messrs. Lomax and Cooper off the Anglo-Liberian boundary within a given time, as it was alleged that they were determined to prevent by force the prosecution of the work of delimitation, we despatched the Honorable Isaac Moort to the border for the purpose of hastening the return to Monrovia of Messrs. Lomax and Cooper, who had, previous to any complaint being filed by the British Government, been recalled on January 27. Upon the arrival on the border of Colonel Moort it was discovered that these men were at Vonjama, on the Franco-Liberian boundary, and had been away from the Anglo-Liberian boundary since February 27, shortly after the arrival of the Secretary of State, who had been sent to that section for the purpose of inquiring into the alleged killing of eight native chiefs by Lomax and Cooper.
[Page 650]It was alleged by the British Government, owing to misrepresentations of Commissioner Barnes, that the Liberian Secretary of State, then on the border, had countenanced the destruction of the cairns already mentioned. The truth of the matter, however, is that, three or four days after the arrival at Kolahun of the Secretary of State, while at dinner one evening with the officers, he was inquiring as to the progress the delimitation commission was making, and Lieutenant Morris mentioned about the destruction of the cairns. He said that one of the British commissioners alone erected a cairn within six feet of a town where he had an outpost and that he had ordered its removal, since the Liberian commissioner was not present to sanction its erection. When the Secretary of State heard this he censured Lieutenant Morris and ordered him to return and immediately replace the stones he had caused to be thrown down.
In keeping with your resolution approved January 27, 1912, I despatched the Honorable C. D. B. King up to the Anglo-Liberian boundary to investigate the alleged killing of eight chiefs, as well as to inquire into conditions generally, and sent letters by him to Messrs. W. D. Lomax and J. W. Cooper, recalling them from their respective missions.
On March 23 I was informed by the British Government that unless Colonel Lomax and Commissioner Cooper were removed from the Liberian-Sierra Leone boundary within ten days, the Governor of Sierra Leone would be instructed to occupy all the territory claimed by Great Britain on the frontier in question; if necessary, repel force with force and the Liberian Government would be held responsible for all consequences. This issue was lengthily discussed by the British representative here and myself. Two days afterward Colonel Isaac Moort was sent to hasten the return of the officials complained of and already recalled. This step, together with the very friendly representations made by the Acting Consul General of the energetic steps the Government was already making to adjust the disordered state of affairs on the border, did much to relieve the tension then existing and to maintain that friendly feeling which obtains up to the present.
Secretary King, who, as I have stated, was sent on the border and who was represented as countenancing the destruction of cairns, was also required to return to Monrovia to make explanations, for I felt quite certain that he was innocent of the charge. My letter found him at Vonjama, whither he had returned from Zinta, on the Franco-Liberian boundary, to meet an appointment with Captain Le Mesurier. He wrote that he and both Lomax and Cooper left for the Franco-Liberian boundary on February 27, and that the latter two had not been on the Anglo-Liberian boundary since that date.
February, March, April and May passed and yet Lomax and Cooper did not present themselves at Monrovia. Distressing representations concerning the actions of Lomax and Cooper on the boundary were then made by the British Government to the American Government, who realizing that this unrectified state of affairs would inevitably imperil the loan negotiations then pending, urged your Executive to fulfill the promise to the British Government and have Lomax and Cooper to immediately return to Monrovia. I again despatched for them on May 23, sending the Honorable J. L. [Page 651] Morris who took with him Honorable J. J. Sharp and Captain A. A. Browne of the Frontier Force. By forced marches they reached Loma in the Belleh country, in fourteen days, Avhere it was reported that Lomax and Cooper were, but on reaching there it was found out that Lomax was at Labalaba, a day’s journey further up. Mr. Cooper was leisurely wending his way to Monrovia by another route, but was overtaken by Messrs. Morris and Browne, with Colonel Lomax. This special commission reached Monrovia with Messrs Lomax and Cooper on the 26th of June.
On the 1st day of August, in keeping with your resolution referred to, Lomax and Cooper were arrested, their cases examined, and they incarcerated to wait the September term of the circuit court. At the said term of court they were tried and acquitted by the jury of the Chargé of murder. The killing of the chiefs was proven and also admitted by the defendants, but a plea of justification in a military emergency was claimed.
The negotiations for the consummation of the loan agreement have been obstructed and delayed by many complex influences, which at times threatened to defeat the loan altogether. It has been no easy task on the part of those responsible for the launching of the loan to harmonize the various interests to whom the Government has been obligated. This task has been rendered the more delicate in view of the fact that these interests were more or less supported by their Governments.
The dilatory progress of the loan, with the consequent lateness of the organization of the receivership, is to be regretted by everyone. At times this suspense engendered discouragement in the minds of the people and has, moreover, mitigated [sic] against the inauguration of many of the plans of the Administration contingent upon the active institution of the receivership. It was fondly hoped that the loan negotiations would have been consummated on April 1 and the receivership in smooth working by the time your honorable body met. As it is, the actual completion of the negotiations is only a few weeks old and the receivership was only definitely organized on November 26.
Our internal affairs have played a part in arresting temporarily these developments, or at least threatening to do so. The disturbances on the Anglo-Liberian boundary in connection with the delimitation of that boundary, and the failure of Messrs. Lomax and Cooper to promptly return to Monrovia, already detailed, caused the bankers to doubt for a while the wisdom of proceeding further with the negotiations, believing, from reports given out, that investments here were insecure. Almost simultaneously with this alarm came a fresh rumble of fear from the bankers relative to what they considered an unreasonable increase in our floating debt, apparently accumulated since the report of the Internal Debt Commission. This debt, of something over one hundred thousand dollars, could in nowise be accurately determined, as it was not only made up of current accounts with the merchants, but of frontier force and miscellaneous claims unregistered by the Internal Debt Commission. We are glad to say, however, that explanations furnished the bankers were satisfactory.
[Page 652]In February your Executive sent out a circular letter, together with acceptance forms, to all citizens who held claims against the Government, apprising them of the terms of settlement which the bankers had agreed upon as the most equitable adjustment of these claims. We urged that these terms be accepted, and it is to be regretted that there was not a larger percentage of acceptances. It may be that many of our citizens were deterred in this instance by the thought that foreign creditors would be given more for their claims, but I can assure you now that the same classes of certificates held by foreigners and Liberians will be settled upon exactly the same terms; there is to be no differential treatment.
The loan of 1912 is now a fact, and without concerning ourselves with its history we can look forward hopefully for the accomplishment of those beneficial results contemplated at the time of seeking the loan. I feel certain that your honorable body will do all in your power to see that the Government faithfully comply with the obligations imposed upon it by this agreement.
The Secretary of War’s report shows an enrollment of twenty commissioned officers, including the three American officers secured to organize an adequate Frontier Force and Patrol Guard, in conformity with the stipulations of the loan agreement, and 540 enlisted men, stationed on the frontiers and elsewhere.
I desire to draw your special attention to the scheme for the reorganization of the Frontier Force which has been drafted by the commanding officer of the Frontier Force, Major Ballard, and which will be presented to you by the Secretary of War. This plan will give us a Frontier Force according to our needs and one whose efficiency can not be doubted, and I trust it will have your instant approval.