811.79682/37
Memorandum of Telephone Conversation, by the Assistant Chief of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs (Villard)
Mr. Firestone telephoned from Akron to say that he was sending a radiogram to his resident manager in Liberia approving a site selected for a landing field for Pan American Airways. This site had been chosen after a survey by the resident manager and embraced a piece of territory located just outside the leased land of the Firestone Plantations. Mr. Seybold, the resident manager, was being instructed to negotiate with President Barclay for a lease of this new land in the name of the Firestone Plantations, which would then sublet the property to Pan American Airways.
[Page 537]Mr. Firestone said that he felt that it was preferable to handle the matter of the landing field in this way and that he hoped it would not interfere with any negotiations which the Department was at present conducting with the Liberian Government. I said that as far as I could see there would be no objection to this procedure. Mr. Firestone said that it was an advantageous matter to have the landing field located outside of the Firestone Plantations, as this would make it easier to negotiate with President Barclay for the use of the land.
The only reservation in Mr. Firestone’s mind was that the site which had been chosen by Mr. Seybold was within two miles of the Firestone factories and machine shops. In the event of hostile operations or bombing attacks against the landing field, the Firestone buildings were therefore likely to suffer, but this was a risk which Mr. Firestone was nevertheless prepared to take. He said that no other site appeared to be readily available for a landing field in Liberia.
Mr. Firestone asked whether it would be possible for us to instruct the Legation at Monrovia to support the efforts of his representative to negotiate for the landing field with President Barclay. I said that we would send a telegram to the Legation along these lines and suggested that Mr. Seybold should be instructed to keep the Legation closely informed of his moves.