Papers relating to the foreign relations of the United States, 1929, Volume III

882.5048/34: Telegram

The Minister in Liberia (Francis) to the Secretary of State

Monrovia (via Akron, Ohio), June 13, 1929—9 p.m.
[Received June 20—11 a.m.]

18. Supplementing my 17, June 11, 10 a.m., received today reply as follows:⁷

“You were good enough on the 10th instant to hand me your despatch, dated June 8, 1929, by which I am advised of certain reports from several sources which have been brought to the attention of the Government of the United States bearing what, it would seem, the Secretary of State regards as reliable evidence of authenticity and which he considers as definitely indicating that conditions incident to the so-called ‘export’ of labor from Liberia to Fernando Po have resulted in the development of a system which ‘seems hardly distinguishable from organized slave trade’, and that in the enforcement of this system the services of the frontier force and of certain high Government officials are constantly and systematically used. You are pleased to add that the reports reaching the Department of State would indicate that the conditions of forced labor are not confined to labor exported to Fernando Po, but are general throughout the Republic of Liberia, particularly in the interior where forced labor procured with the assistance of the frontier force and high Liberian officials is reported to have become a common and usual practice.

2. You suggest the far-reaching consequences which, in the present temper of the governments and peoples of the world, their condemnation would have upon the future of Liberia if prompt and energetic action is not taken by the Government of the Republic to correct any such labor conditions as are indicated in the reports made to the Department of State.

3. In view of the foregoing, your Government, moved by its century-old friendship for Liberia, are impelled urgently to call for certain indicated reforms and actions with a view to correcting the alleged abuses which have been brought to their attention.

4. Before replying to the observation, suggestion and demands which you have been instructed by your Government to make, I desire you to be assured that the Government of Liberia do not underestimate the serious character of the international public opinion which has called forth from the Government of the United States so portentous a warning; and I must express the appreciation of my Government of the friendly interest and concern for the social wellbeing and political future of Liberia which the Government of the United States continue to manifest. It is hardly necessary for me to add that if the alleged conditions to which attention has been called did actually exist in the Republic, the Government of Liberia, having regard to their historical origins and traditions, would not hesitate immediately, and without any external compulsion whatever, to take measures appropriate to correct these abuses.

5. With regard to the specific allegations which have been made, I deem it my duty to record my Government’s solemn and categorical denial of the existence in the Republic of such labor conditions as would justify the characterization which has been applied to those conditions in your despatch, and to declare that the Government of the Republic will have no objection to this question being investigated on the spot by a competent, impartial and unprejudiced commission.

6. It is due to the honor of this Government that some observations, beyond a bare denial, be made upon the charges, which in recent years are becoming unceasingly more frequent, but which were first launched over a century ago, that slavery exists in Liberia, and is encouraged by the Government and participated in even by leading citizens.

7. With reference to the labor agreement with Spain and the Liberian Government’s consistent policy thereunder, it is necessary to note that that convention was the outcome of the Liberian Government’s efforts to ameliorate the lot of Liberian laborers who for a long period of years have resorted for economic reasons to the colonies of European powers to the south of the Republic, particularly the Spanish Island of Fernando Po and the Portuguese Islands of Principe and St. Thome. This movement of labor from the territories now under the joint jurisdiction of Liberia antedates the Republic and, until recent years, was unorganized, unsupervised, and regulated by no Government ordinances. In consequence of these conditions, the laborers, being unprotected and at the mercy of their employers, were gradually reduced to a state of peonage which may justly be described as hardly distinguishable from slavery. The terms of their engagement were ignored, and they were only permitted to return to their homes, if they returned at all, when broken in health or wasted by disease, they were no longer of value to their employers.

8. The Government of the Republic not unmindful of their duty in these circumstances took action to terminate so outrageous a condition of affairs and discouraged its citizens from accepting employment in these colonies. The result of this policy reacted disastrously upon the agricultural industry of the colonies concerned, and moved the Government of Spain to open negotiations for a convention which would assure to their colony of Fernando Po a continuous and adequate supply of agricultural labor under such guarantees as the Government of Liberia would require. This agreement, after protracted negotiations, was signed and carried the following provisions protective of the interests of the Liberian laborer.”

(He states nine points taken from 1914 agreement, viz., covering:

(1) Appointment of Consul at Fernando Po

(2) Recruiting

(3) Employment period

(4) Employment to objectionable persons prohibited

(5) Supervision contract by Liberian Consul

(6) Solvency of employer

(7) Payment guaranteed by colonial government

(8) One-half pay retained and paid to laborers on return to Liberia

(9) Transportation by employer)

• “9. In addition to these provisions, the Spanish Government were authorized to appoint recruiting agents and agencies who would contract for such persons who voluntarily desired to take service in Fernando Po. The recruiting agents are not servants of the Liberian Government, and the terms of their contract with the Spanish Government are neither known to the Government of Liberia nor inquired into by them, and surely they would have no authority nor have they been authorized or permitted to use the Liberian frontier force in their recruiting activities. It has never been understood nor admitted by the Government of Liberia that any compulsion could or should be employed to induce laborers to emigrate. On the contrary, this Government has publicly announced that in view of the increased economic needs of the country, there is a definite limit to the number of laborers who could with the consent of the Administration be permitted to contract for over-sea service; and whenever it has appeared that attempts have been made to mislead any person concerned as to the character of their engagement, the Government, when such facts have come to their knowledge, have promptly taken steps to make it known that no person could be compelled to contract, and so put an end to any abuse which may have crept up.
• 10. This is in broad outline the attitude which the Government of Liberia has consistently taken with respect to what is characterized in your despatch as ‘the so-called export of labor’. This policy is based upon a determination to protect the interests of the laborer both upon his recruitment and during his period of service, and to assure, so far as Government action can assure it, his complete liberty to contract or to refrain from contracting.
• 11. It is not easily apparent from your despatch what is intended to be implied by the statement that ‘these conditions of forced labor are not confined to labor exported to Fernando Po, but are general throughout the Republic of Liberia’; and no pertinent observation thereon can be made unless this Government be furnished with more definite specifications under this charge.
• 12. As this allegation, perhaps, has its origin in the policy pursued by the Government of Liberia in the construction of public roads, it is permissible for me to point out that the use of compulsory labor for public purposes is a fact not peculiar to the Government of Liberia. It has the sanction of the laws of the Republic; it is not repugnant to the slavery convention of 1926 and in Liberia is emphatically indicated by reason of the peculiar economic and financial conditions of the country. Moreover, the system approximates in no degree to slavery either as defined in the slavery convention of 1926 or in any sense, however loose or broad, in which that term may be employed.
• 13. A law as old as the Republic and in continuous operation since its foundation requires every male citizen to give a certain number of days free labor on the public roads annually, and in default of personal service to supply a substitute or be penalized. When it was decided to extend the road system beyond the littoral districts of the country, this law was of course applied to the hinterland districts. In fact, the chiefs of the various tribes, as anxious for the opening of these means of communication as is the Government itself, voluntarily offered to supply and do supply all the labor necessary for the prosecution of this public enterprise. These laborers do the pioneering work (the actual road-building being done by labor companies paid from money provided under budgetary votes) and the Government annually make a money donation to each chiefdom based upon the number of laborers furnished therefrom. These laborers are not recruited by the use of the Liberian frontier force. They are sent down by the chiefs under the leadership of their own headmen. Each laborer gives from one week to one month’s labor annually.
• 14. Such are the actual labor conditions as they exist in Liberia. Such are the facts an impartial investigation will disclose, and in the opinion of the Government of Liberia they do not justify the evidently exaggerated and uninformed reports which have been filed with the Department of State.
• 15. Nevertheless, the Government of Liberia will immediately examine the conditions which may likely give color to the charges and will take all proper measures to vindicate their good name.”

Respectfully suggest that offer in paragraph five be accepted without delay and Commission include an experienced investigator, and if agreeable to your wishes, Dr. Emmett Scott who served 1910 Commission,⁸ and an expert stenographer.

Francis

7. Reply from the Liberian Secretary of State, dated June 11, 1929. Text corrected on basis of copy enclosed with despatch Diplomatic No. 311, June 14, 1929, from the Minister in Liberia (882.5048/41), and corrections requested in despatch No. 13, January 26, 1943, from the Chargé in Liberia (026 Foreign Relations/1635).
8. See note of April 23, 1909, to the Liberian Minister for foreign Affairs, Foreign Relations, 1910, p. 708.