882.5048/59: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Chargé in Liberia (Wharton)
32. Your 40, August 14, 9 p.m. Department does not fully understand the basis for Barclay’s contention that the Department’s emendation of paragraph (d) “appears to carry with it a conclusion of fact et cetera”. In the Department’s view there are two distinct questions for the commission to consider in this connection; one, to what extent compulsory labor exists in Liberia either for public or private purposes, and two, whether the recruitment and employment of such labor has been carried on in a manner consistent with Article 5 of the Anti-Slavery Convention of 1926. Of the two questions the Department considers (2) the more vital one and a failure to cover it in the terms of reference would, in the Department’s opinion, so narrow the scope of the commission’s inquiry as to render it largely nugatory. Please explain this point of view to the Liberian Government stating that for this reason the Government of the United States feels that some provision for (2) in paragraph (d) is essential. If, however, the Liberian Government feels that the wording proposed in the Department’s 29, August 3, noon, carries an implication to the effect that this labor has actually been recruited and employed in a manner inconsistent with Article 5 of the Convention of 1926, you may in [Page 299] your discretion suggest that paragraph (d) read “to what extent compulsory labor exists as a factor in the social and industrial economy of the state either for public or private purposes and in what manner it has been recruited and employed either for public or private purposes.”
[Paraphrase.] The Department has informed the Minister in Switzerland concerning the situation and has instructed him informally to discuss it with the League of Nations’ Secretary General. The Minister has been asked to ascertain if the League of Nations will cooperate in a similar manner to that of this Government. The Minister will be instructed further upon receipt of information that the League has actually received a request from the Liberian Government.
The naming by the League of a Spaniard would be considered by the Department as highly inappropriate, under the circumstances, since it is possible that, as a result of the commission’s inquiry, the activities of various Spanish officials and private individuals in Fernando Po and Liberia may be put in question. The Minister has been authorized so to advise the League’s Secretary General in strict confidence. [End paraphrase.]