882.5048/308: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Chargé in Liberia (Reber)

[Paraphrase]

84. Your 129, September 25, 9 p.m., and 131, September 29, 10 a.m. Unless you do not deem it advisable on account of the situation when this telegram reaches you, you should informally confer with President King and refer to your conversation with him on September 25 and to the information he then gave to you. You should state that you have had reports of a Cabinet committee having submitted its findings and recommendations which promise a series of partial reforms, yet make no provision for measures of enforcement. You should ask if this is true, since it would disappoint your Government exceedingly to learn of any program of reform being contemplated without including at the same time provision for full authority to enforce and execute every measure of reform as stipulated. You may say that in the past the difficulties have been due largely to the fact that appointed officials were not given real or adequate authority to enforce their functions, and it is thought that further action of this incomplete nature would not serve to meet in any way the criticisms contained in the report of the International Commission, while your Government would not feel at liberty to respond to the assistance request, mentioned in your 129, should it not be predicated on a program which has every assurance of success.

Stimson