882.6176 F 51/188
The Liberian Secretary of State (Barclay) to the General Receiver of Customs of Liberia (De la Rue)56
Sir: I am directed by the President to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated October 20, 1926, transmitting a reprint of the proposed Loan Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Liberia and the Finance Corporation of America57 covered by a letter from Shearman & Sterling which, although stating that the Government should not consider this form of the Agreement as a “take it or leave it” proposition, nevertheless adds that “the stage of discussion and mutual concession has passed;” or, in other words, that the Finance Corporation having come to a conclusion as to what the Government of Liberia ought to accept require this Government to “sign on the dotted line” without further discussion.
- 2.
- You will understand how impossible it is for the Liberian Government to execute this Agreement, seeing that it not only ignores the fundamental conditions of acceptance prescribed by the Legislature of Liberia, but also repudiates without notice the understandings [Page 559] reached by you, acting for the Government, and Colonel Crews, acting for the Finance Corporation/when you were last in America.
- 3.
- The Government is still open to the consideration of an agreement based upon terms substantially in accord with the conditions prescribed by the Legislative Act of Approval, already communicated to you; but find themselves unable to accept the Contract in the form just communicated to them.
- 4.
- You are authorized to ascertain from the Finance Corporation whether or not there is any possibility of reconciling their point of view and the Government’s.
I return the document herewith.
I have [etc.]