740.00112 European War 1939/2631
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Chief of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs (Villard)
Mr. Calvert2 called at my request in regard to the apparent difficulties in Liberia between the Bank of Monrovia and the British [Page 516] Chargé d’Affaires, as described in telegram no. 33 of April 16, 1 p.m., from the Legation at Monrovia. I explained to Mr. Calvert that, according to our information, the British Chargé d’Affaires had recommended that the Bank of Monrovia and the United States Trading Company, which were subsidiaries of the Firestone Plantations, should be put on the statutory list because the Trading Company had sold merchandise worth nineteen pounds sterling to a Liberian named P. C. Parker. The bank had facilitated the shipment and delivery of documents and had thus been placed in the same category as the Trading Company.
Having previously inquired of Mr. Walter F. Walker, Liberian Consul General in New York, as to his knowledge of Mr. P. C. Parker, I told Mr. Calvert that Parker was a small merchant who had possibly permitted the use of his name as a blind for German trading firms in Monrovia. However, according to the Bank of Monrovia’s statement, the shipment in question had been given a navicert by British officials in New York, and both the bank and the Trading Company were therefore acting in good faith when they accepted and sold the goods. I pointed out also that the bank and company were neutral concerns operating in a neutral country and that attempts of this kind on the part of the British to dominate or dictate transactions in Liberia were naturally resented. I explained that we had received no word from the Firestone organization on this subject, but that, in view of the importance of this American interest, as well as the difficult economic position in which Liberia found itself as a result of the war, we were naturally disposed to take an interest in these developments.
I also described to Mr. Calvert the information we had received some months ago to the effect that the British Chargé had demanded that the Bank of Monrovia cease handling the accounts of German firms or nationals. I said that, while I understood the matter had been locally settled, the attitude displayed by the British Chargé had caused great surprise. In this connection, I went on to say that we had received word from several sources that the particular individual now in charge of the British Legation in Monrovia was tactless, to say the least, and that his assignment to that post had not been welcomed by the Liberians. I further cited the statement in the telegram from Monrovia under discussion that the British Legation had declined to issue a navicert for a gold shipment to the United States and had only agreed to do so upon the insistence of the bank management, which apparently constituted another example of the difficulties between the Legation and the bank.
I said I hoped the British Government would do what it could to restore better relations between the Firestone officials in Liberia and the British Legation. I said that, in view of the very small trade [Page 517] which might still be left to the Germans in Liberia, the attitude adopted by the British Chargé seemed to be causing a great deal more trouble and ill feeling than it was worth. If the Legation could approach the matter in a more reasonable and friendly spirit, it seemed to me that the Firestone subsidiaries would be inclined to give consideration to British policy, in as much as this policy, in the long run, coincided with our own. At present, however, I could see that the British Legation’s attitude was causing considerable ill feeling and that the Chargé d’Affaires seemed to be exceeding his authority.
Mr. Calvert said that he would be very glad to look into the situation at once and that he would let us know promptly as soon as he had anything to report.
- A. S. Calvert, First Secretary of the British Embassy.↩