File No. 882.00/508.
Chargé Bundy to the Secretary of State.
Monrovia, October 14, 1915.
Sir: Upon receipt of the Department’s cable of Get. 4, 5 p.m., informing the Legation that the United States Cruiser Chester would arrive at Monrovia on or about Nov. 1, 1915, I acquainted the Liberian Government with this information in a note to the Secretary of State.
On October 12, the Secretary of State replied on behalf of the President expressing his sincerest thanks and most grateful appreciation for the prompt response to Liberia’s appeal for aid in dealing with the difficulties which at present confront the Republic.
Although the Chester has not yet arrived, her expected visit has gone a long way toward relieving the strain under which the Government has been laboring for the past few months in its endeavor to preserve the neutrality it proclaimed at the beginning of the war in Europe. It is generally felt in Government circles that the presence in Liberian waters of an American warship will have great value in relieving the tense situation that has been created by the unfriendly attitude of certain foreign elements as well as by the disorders on the Kru coast.
I have [etc.]