882.01 Foreign Control/243: Telegram
The Consul at Geneva (Gilbert) to the Acting Secretary of State
[Received May 6, 1932—3 p.m.]
175. From Reber. Department’s 73, May 5, 4 p.m. [noon.]35 The present tendency of the Committee appears to be a desire to conciliate insofar as possible the views set forth both by the Committee of Experts and in the Liberian memorandum. It is recognized that any concessions to the Liberian point of view should not however be of such a nature as to prevent any scheme of reform from becoming effective. As explained in my summary of this morning’s committee meeting36 there seems to be a desire to reduce where possible the number of foreign specialists called for in the experts’ report. In my opinion this will help to secure Liberia’s acceptance and should not prove an obstacle to our acceptance of a compromise scheme provided that adequate powers are granted the foreigners appointed.
There are in my opinion two notable omissions in the Liberian memorandum. One relates to the appointment of a single coordinating [Page 721] official who as Cecil suggested this morning might not necessarily have executive powers but on the other hand would not be a subordinate official of the Liberian Government. In this connection it will be important I believe in the committee to insist upon the powers of all foreign officials being defined prior to their appointment. The other point to which the memorandum fails to give adequate consideration relates to reforms in the judiciary which, while it might be considered to exceed the strict terms of reference, seems to be an important one.
As far as the individual points raised in the memorandum are concerned there should be no difficulty in reconciling the educational program proposed by both parties. The number of three foreign provisional [provincial?] commissioners seems to be inadequate although it might be possible to reduce in number the eight proposed by Brunot. In addition to the appointment of these officials it would seem logical that one be considered the principal foreign administrative specialist who should not be thoroughly subordinate to the Secretary of the Interior. The question of financial assistance depends very largely upon the negotiations in the committee between the committee and the Finance Corporation and Liberia’s acceptance of a workable plan of reform.
The program of the experts relating to point 4, health and sanitation, might be reduced during the present financial crisis but more than one foreign sanitary official should be provided and his powers carefully defined.
I feel that this memorandum provides a field for negotiation here which may lead to acceptance of the report by Liberia. I am however strongly of the opinion that too great concessions should not be made to gain this adherence. It might be possible, as suggested to me by Lord Cecil this morning, to devise a scheme whereby a temporary moratorium on loan charges will be granted Liberia on condition that it would immediately cease if the conditions of the agreement were not thoroughly complied with. In this way some funds could be diverted from the loan charges for a certain specified period to cover the expenses of reform but would later be repaid in full.
Do the Firestone interests still consider their draft proposal as establishing a condition precedent to any modification of their agreement? [Reber.]