882.01/15: Telegram
The Chargé in Liberia (Reber) to the Secretary of State
[Received 3:40 p.m.]
180. The act “permitting unrestricted trade in the hinterland,” as approved, seems only partially to comply with the Commission’s recommendations. Local merchants have expressed their dissatisfaction with it and state that under its provisions it will be difficult to engage in business without undue interference.
The act provides, inter alia, that the Secretary of the Interior is privileged to issue leases to cover one acre of public land; only in connection with Government grants will traders appear to be permitted to transport their own goods and under no circumstances will they be permitted to act as common carriers. Among other restrictions and under penalty of forfeiture of lease and loss of property traders shall refrain from molesting the natives in any way whatsoever. Such provision will be difficult of interpretation and provide unscrupulous officials with the means of hampering trade development and of discriminating against foreign firms. Moreover, local merchants state that one acre is insufficient for the establishment of stores or warehouses [Page 389] and that the period of twenty-one years with the option to renew only under terms then to be agreed upon does not provide ample security. In the act there is included no definition of the limits of the hinterland.
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