[Enclosure]
Memorandum of a Conversation Between the Second
Secretary of Embassy at Paris (Miller) and the Liberian Minister in
France (Lehmann)
Paris, February 26,
1926.
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.
