882.1561/9
Memorandum of Telephone Conversation, by Mr. Charles W. Lewis of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs
I telephoned Captain Struble, with whom we have been having conversations concerning the possible construction of a port in Liberia, and asked him whether the Navy Department had as yet received [Page 683] any directive from the White House with regard to the survey of port sites in Liberia. Captain Struble said that last Saturday, June 19, the General Board received a request from the White House for a statement as to where the Navy thought a port should be built. The Board replied that they thought that the port should be located where it could best serve the long-time commercial interests of Liberia, saying that navy needs could be fitted into any site selected on the basis of this consideration, but the Board did not indicate specifically where the port should be located. I said that it was our understanding that it had been the desire of the President that the Navy should make a survey for the purpose of making specific recommendations with regard to a port site and presumably, also, to prepare an estimate of probable cost. Captain Struble replied that he had not actually seen the communication from the White House to the Board nor the Board’s reply but that it was his impression, from what he had heard, that the facts were as he had stated them. Captain Struble said he presumed that the White House would inform us of the Navy Department’s report in due course.