882.01 Foreign Control/344
Mr. Ellis O. Briggs of the Division of Western European Affairs to the British Chargé (Osborne)
Dear Osborne: I have your letter of August 30, acknowledging the receipt of our Memorandum on the Liberian situation.
With respect to the communication from your Government urging the acceptance by the Finance Corporation of America of an invitation from the League to be present in Geneva at the time of the next meeting of the Committee on Liberia, I believe that you will find this point covered by implication in the final paragraph of our Memorandum.
While we share your Government’s earnest hope that a solution of the problem may not again be postponed, we are of the opinion [Page 751] that in this case the responsibility should not be allowed to appear to rest upon the American company, which has already expressed its willingness to cooperate, but should rest squarely upon the present administration in Liberia, which has thus far declined to grant the authority necessary to the successful execution of any “plan of assistance”. We believe that this question of authority is the crux of the matter, and that it would be futile to continue discussions of the details of a “plan” in Geneva, or for the company to send a representative to Geneva to discuss them, unless and until, as a preliminary measure, adequate authority had been delegated by Liberia, under appropriate international guarantees.
I should be pleased to talk over this latter phase of the matter with you in greater detail at an early date, particularly with reference to any steps which might be taken jointly by the Governments principally interested with a view to inducing the Liberian administration satisfactorily to settle the question of the delegation of authority.
Sincerely yours,