882.63A/15
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Liberia (Walton)
Sir: With reference to the Department’s telegram no. 128 of November 27, 1943 and your reply no. 197 of November 29, 1943, you are informed that Dr. Walter H. Newhouse, Dr. Thomas P. Thayer and Dr. Arthur P. Butler, Jr., of the United States Geological Survey, have been detailed to Liberia by the Secretary of State to assist the Government of that country in making a survey of its iron ore deposits, under the provisions of the Act of May 3, 1939 (Public No. 63, 76th Congress) and the regulations set forth in Executive Order No. 9190 of July 2, 1942,21 their assignments having been effected at the request of the Liberian Government for a period of not exceeding six months, including the time required to travel from Washington, D. C. to Monrovia and return.
Enclosed for your further information and guidance are copies of letters22 addressed to Drs. Newhouse, Thayer and Butler today which contain a description of the duties they have been instructed to perform, and directions concerning their responsibilities to you and the Liberian Government. You are requested to examine these enclosures carefully and to be guided thereby insofar as they relate to your responsibilities in connection with the Geological Mission. Among other things, it will be noted that Dr. Newhouse has been designated Chief of the Mission and that he will direct the work of Dr. Thayer [Page 677] and Dr. Butler; also that the areas in which the investigations are to be undertaken are to be selected in agreement between Dr. Newhouse and the responsible Liberian officials after the arrival of the Mission in Monrovia.
Members of the Mission have been instructed to obtain your approval of any informal recommendations involving questions of policy which they may propose to make to Liberian officials, and to seek your advice and counsel in all matters having to do with their relations with the Liberian authorities. You will accordingly render them all appropriate assistance in that connection. There is also enclosed a copy of a letter of November 27, 1943,23 to Walter F. Walker, Esquire, Consul General of Liberia, New York, New York, which sets forth the conditions under which the detail of the Mission has been effected.
Please note particularly that each member of the Mission will receive an allowance at the rate of $200 a month to cover the cost of quarters and subsistence during the period he is actually in Liberia, and that this allowance is to be paid by the Department of the Interior rather than by the Liberian authorities. The Liberian Government has agreed to reimburse the Government of the United States for the allowances but it is not desired that such reimbursement be tendered during the period the experts are in Liberia. After the assignment shall have been completed, the Liberian Government will be requested to make reimbursement to the Secretary of State for transmission to the Department of the Interior. The allowances will be used by members of the Mission to pay for their food as suggested in your telegram under reference, and also to defray the cost of their living quarters during the period of their sojourn.
The Liberian Government has agreed to provide the experts with means of transportation within Liberia without the transfer of funds to them for that purpose; to provide the services of necessary laborers and pay their wages direct; to designate a representative in Liberia to serve as liaison officer between members of the Geological Mission and appropriate Liberian officials; and to detail a Liberian geologist, Mr. Arthur Sherman, to work with the experts.
There is also enclosed a copy of Executive Order No. 9190 of July 2, 1942 which you are instructed to study and observe insofar as its provisions relate to the activities of Drs. Newhouse, Thayer and Butler during their sojourn in Liberia. Shortly after the Mission reaches Monrovia, you should submit a report setting forth the date and hour of the arrival of each expert and any other information that may be of use to the Department. Progress reports should be submitted at six weeks intervals thereafter, and you should inform the [Page 678] Department about three weeks in advance of the date on which the experts expect to return to the United States.
Very truly yours,