882.5048/58
The Liberian Consul General at Baltimore (Lyon) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 15.]
Excellency: There has been in certain quarters, and more recently from one Thomas J. R. Faulkner a Liberian Citizen of American birth persistent insinuations, alleging the existence of slavery and forced labor conditions in the Republic of Liberia, encouraged by the Government and practised in by leading citizens. In a recent cablegram I am authorized by Edwin J. Barclay, the Liberian Secretary of State to announce the Government’s determination to go to the very bottom of these charges, by the appointment of an international commission, to consist of one American, one Liberian and another to be chosen by the Secretariat of the League of Nations, upon the request of the Liberian Government. This commission will be furnished with wide powers to inquire into conditions, which have led to the persistent reports of Slavery in the republic. The commission will also inquire into the question of alleged forced labor conditions. This inquiry will finally put at rest any uncertainty on the question raised. The Liberian Government will ignore the charges of political irregularity made by a defeated candidate for the presidency. Matters of this kind are Liberia’s domestic affairs and can only be settled at home. But the charge of slavery possesses humanitarian features and Liberia as a civilized government is too sensitive to attacks of this nature to allow it to pass without official notice.
I have [etc.]