751.8215/228

The Ambassador in France (Herrick) to the Secretary of State

Sir: With reference to the Department’s instruction No. 1862 of February 9, 1926,71 regarding the Franco-Liberian boundary delimitation [Page 602] and the settlement of future disputes, I have the honor to transmit, herewith, for the information of the Department, copies of a memorandum of a conversation between Baron Lehmann, the Liberian Minister in Paris and a Secretary of this Embassy, reporting the latest developments regarding the aforesaid matters, together with copies and translations of the communications exchanged during the month of January 1926 by the Liberian Minister and the French Foreign Office on the subject.

I have [etc.]

Myron T. Herrick
[Enclosure]

Memorandum of a Conversation Between the Second Secretary of Embassy at Paris (Miller) and the Liberian Minister in France (Lehmann)

With reference to the Department’s instruction No. 1862 of February 9, 1926, I called this afternoon on Baron Lehmann, the Liberian Minister, and for an hour discussed with him the recent developments regarding the delimitation of the Franco-Liberian boundary. When the Embassy, on November 20, 1925, last reported upon this matter, the French Government had signified its willingness to proceed, by the first of the year, with the delimitation of the frontier. M. Briand, moreover, had expressed, in writing, the opinion that the early settlement of the frontier questions which were pending between Liberia and French West Africa could not have a better complement than the negotiation and signature of an arbitration agreement between the two countries providing for the amicable adjustment of future territorial, political or juridical disputes that might henceforth arise between them.

Baron Lehmann said that following Mr. Barclay’s departure for Monrovia early in last December, the Liberian Government adopted a waiting policy, watching for an indication on the part of the French of their desire to proceed with the delimitation. The French Ministry for Foreign Affairs, on January 21, 1926, addressed a note to Baron Lehmann stating that the Lieutenant Governor of French Guinea had been invited immediately to proceed with the formation of the French section of the Mixed Boundary Commission, and that for this purpose a topographical officer had been made available. The Foreign Office requested Baron Lehmann telegraphically to inform Monrovia of the steps which the French Government had taken, and added that the French Commission had made preparations to be upon the scene by the 15th of January, The Liberian Minister pointed out, … that the French Foreign Office had conveyed this information to him on the 21st of January, or a week after the French Commission was supposed actually to have reported for the beginning of the work.

[Page 603]

In the same note of January 21, 1926, the French Foreign Office took occasion to observe that, according to information supplied by the Lieutenant Governor of Guinea to the Governor General of French Equatorial Africa, the village of Baragara-Batata (or Gbetté Dalala) was situated nine kilometers from Zinta, while Mr. Morris placed it at only three kilometers from that district. The latter estimate, the note continued, had determined M. Carde to recognize the provisional control of Liberian authority over the Baragara-Batata district. The statement followed, however, that in any event, it was to be understood that this concession was only of a provisional nature and that no particular advantage in favor of Liberia at the time of the delimitation could be drawn from it. The note contained a further statement that on the occasion of his visit to the locality, Mr. Morris, the Liberian Secretary of the Interior, had an opportunity to convince himself that his statement regarding the site of Baragara-Batata ought to call for rectification. The Liberian Minister expressed considerable doubt as to the possibility of Mr. Morris ever having made this statement.

The Liberian Minister, under date of January 22, 1926, formally acknowledged the above-mentioned Foreign Office note, the contents of which he cabled to his Government on January 23rd. The Government of Liberia replied by cable on January 26, 1926. The substance of this reply was embodied in a note dated January 26, 1926, which the Liberian Minister addressed to M. Briand, in which Baron Lehmann stated that Liberia approved of the agreement reached at Dakar between the Governor General of French West Africa, M. Carde, and the Liberian Minister of the Interior, Mr. Morris. At the same time, the Liberian Minister wrote that his Government had constituted a commission for the delimitation of the frontier and that Mr. Morris had been designated as President of this Commission. Mr. Morris would be assisted in his work by competent engineers (Baron Lehmann added, for my information, that all these experts were American citizens). This commission, the Minister continued, was actually en route and was fully empowered to deal with all questions of frontier delimitation, subject to the reserve stated in the conversation which Mr. Barclay had on November 5th with Mr. Berthelot and Mr. Ponsot of the Foreign Office, to wit: that in case any difference of opinion between the two commissions should arise on technical or other grounds, the delimitation of the frontier should not terminate but should continue in other parts of the frontier. The question in dispute would then be referred to the Governments to be settled by diplomatic means. The Foreign Office, on January 28, 1926, acknowledged this communication from Baron Lehmann, stating that the Minister of Colonies had been requested to inform the Governor General [Page 604] of French West Africa of the steps taken by the Government of Monrovia; and repeated the assurance that the French Government was desirous of reaching an early solution of this matter. Copies of the aforesaid communications exchanged between the French Foreign Office and Baron Lehmann were handed to me, for my further information, by the Minister.

With respect to the progress of the Franco-Liberian negotiations relative to the conclusion of an arbitration treaty, the Liberian Minister on February 25th telegraphed to Liberia that the Foreign Office, in response to his several inquiries, had informed him that it hoped to be prepared to submit by March 4th next to the Liberian Government a rough draft of an arbitration treaty.

G. Harlan Miller
  1. Not printed.