882.635 Neep/81
Memorandum of Conversation, by Mr. Henry S. Villard of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs
| Participants: | Mr. Robert Ridgway, Mr. E. W. Pehrson and Mr. Joseph H. Hedges, of the Bureau of Mines; Mr. Villard. |
I called today on Mr. Robert Ridgway of the Economics and Statistics Branch of the Bureau of Mines in order further to discuss with him the proposed Neep iron ore concession in Liberia. I said that in addition to the information which I had given him informally and confidentially on April 1, 1938, I now wished to bring to the attention of the Bureau of Mines the possibility that the Government of Liberia might seek to employ an American geologist to make a survey of the iron ore deposits in the Bomi area in Liberia. Mr. Ridgway thereupon arranged for me to meet Mr. E. W. Pehrson, Acting Chief of the Metal Economics Division, and Mr. Joseph H. Hedges, Assistant Director of the Bureau, and a conference followed in Mr. Hedges’ office. I referred to the bill which was signed by the President on May 25 authorizing the detail of any civilian employee of the United States Government who possessed special professional qualifications to the Governments of the American Republics, Philippine Islands and the Republic of Liberia, and said that, in view of the provisions thereof, we might expect to receive in the near future a request from the President of Liberia for the assistance of a geological expert. In this connection, I outlined the status of the Neep negotiations, the protracted delay and failure of the Neep representatives to furnish geological reports, and the possibility that the President of Liberia might wish to obtain the services of an independent expert to make an impartial survey of the Bomi iron ore deposits in order that a decision in regard to the concession might be intelligently arrived at. While no request [Page 799] had as yet been received from Liberia, I said I thought it might be well to be prepared, and that for this reason I was inquiring informally what the attitude of the Bureau of Mines might be toward a proposal of this nature.
Mr. Hedges said that he was familiar with the recent Civilian Employee Bill and that, in view of the limited personnel and appropriations of the Bureau of Mines, he would look with extreme reluctance on any request that a member of that Bureau be detailed for service in Liberia. He pointed out that there would be many expenses connected with a trip to Liberia, which the Bureau of Mines could not afford and that, even if the expert’s salary was continued out of existing appropriations, the Bureau would obtain no return for this money while the expert was out of the country. Mr. Hedges estimated that it would take between three and six months to conduct a survey, including travel time, and that the total expenses might run as high as ten thousand dollars.
Mr. Pehrson observed that the matter of expense depended entirely on the amount of data already available in connection with the proposed survey. He said that if it were necessary to conduct drilling operations in order to obtain samples, as well as to make a thorough estimate of the possibilities, an outlay of as much as half a million dollars might be required. However, if it was a matter of checking existing data and making a brief surface survey, without the necessity of importing drills and other technical equipment, the expense would, of course, be relatively small. I raised the question as to whether the Neep interests would be willing to turn over to an independent geologist whatever geological data they had already obtained, to which Mr. Pehrson replied that this was a usual and customary practice among mining companies. He seemed to be confident that if the Neep engineers had made a bona fide study of the area, they would raise no objection to making available their findings to any other geologist who was employed to check the situation.
Mr. Ridgway said that he could think of one expert in the Bureau of Mines who was qualified to undertake a survey of this nature but that he was extremely busy and that his services could probably not be readily spared. He mentioned another geologist from the Bureau who is now in Europe and might be available for work in Liberia, but Mr. Hedges said that, in view of the general European situation, he did not think that this expert could be sent to Liberia at present.
Mr. Hedges also raised the point as to whether an engineer or a geologist would be the most suitable type of expert to employ for the Bomi deposits. He said that if a geologist were required, the Coast and Geodetic Survey should be approached in the matter. I asked Hedges whether the qualifications of both an engineer and a [Page 800] geologist could not be found in some Bureau of Mines expert. Mr. Hedges admitted that this might be possible.
At the end of the interview I gathered that it would probably be possible to obtain the detail to Liberia of a geological or a mining expert from the Bureau of Mines, provided the Bureau were directed in that sense by the President, but that the matter of an appropriation to defray the necessary expenses would have to be obtained outside of the Bureau. In any case, it appeared, there would be little enthusiasm about complying with such a request. It was suggested by Mr. Hedges that if the Liberian Government could raise the funds, it might also be preferable from a political standpoint to employ a private mining expert rather than a United States Government official. He said that if an American company like Bethlehem Steel, which was interested in foreign ores, should be attracted to Liberia, it might send out an expert at its own expense to make the necessary survey.