882.635 Neep/134
The Minister in Liberia (Walton) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 12, 1939.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to my telegram No. 95, December 9, 3 p.m., and to report that there appeared in the Weekly Mirror of November 25, 1938 the following article:
“Arriving by the S. S. Maaskerk on the 19th instant was Mr. D. Caffe, who represents the financial group seeking to exploit the iron resources of the Republic. Iron has played such an important part in the progress of nations and the history of civilization, that Mr. Caffe’s mission in Liberia has seemed somewhat providentially timed. The new program of advancement needs the strength and endurance of the “Iron Horse.” Liberia has waited long for this day, and the opportunity that it offers may not come again soon. Seized now it will lead inevitably to progressive development, omitted Liberia may flounder another century in the toils of a poor and unbalanced economy. We welcome Mr. Caffe back to Liberia and wish for his mission the success it seems to deserve.”
Publication of the foregoing occasioned no little comment among Liberians and other nationals at this capital and was particularly disturbing to Mr. W. W. J. Croze, the representative of the United States Steel Corporation, who is heading a party of geologists and engineers in making a survey of the iron deposits in this country.
Mr. Croze had previously called at the American Legation and made reference to the presence of Mr. Caffe in Monrovia. In all probability Mr. Croze had heard some comment on Mr. Caffe’s intention to reopen conversations with the Liberian Government relative to granting Neep [Page 816] an iron concession. Mr. Caffe had been absent from the capital since June.
In the late afternoon of December [November?] 26, Secretary of State Simpson paid me a social call. I showed him a copy of the Weekly Mirror containing the article concerning Mr. Caffe, which he had not seen. Both of us were of the opinion that the article had been subtly written to give the members of the Legislature and the public in general a wrong impression as to the real status of the Neep application and why President Barclay no longer favored granting the company a concession.
As the Weekly Mirror is subsidized by the Liberian Government, Secretary Simpson and I surmised, and correctly so, that the article had been inserted without the editor having given serious consideration as to the probable unfavorable reactions it might provoke. Assurance was given me by Secretary Simpson that he would see both the President and the publisher about the article.
That evening I attended a social affair in Monrovia at which Mr. Croze was present. So was Mr. Caffe. For fully half an hour they were engaged in earnest conversation. After Mr. Caffe had left, Mr. Croze obviously perturbed, approached me and related conversation he had had with Mr. Caffe. Mr. Caffe is quoted as having said that the Liberian Government had given him “a dirty deal.” Mr. Croze informed me that he was transmitting via air mail a copy of the Weekly Mirror to the United States Steel Corporation officials in the United States. He thought something should be done to clear up what he considered a delicate situation, and expressed the hope that the United States Steel Corporation would not encounter a similar experience with the Liberian Government.
Earlier in the week I had sought to assure Mr. Croze that the status of the United States Steel Corporation was not analogous to that of Neep; and that the Liberian Government had taken the position that Neep was seeking to secure the concession to peddle, while United States Steel Corporation had sufficient capital to exploit the Liberian iron deposits, if the survey measured up to their expectations. In a similar vein I talked with Mr. Croze on the evening in question.
On November 30, I conferred with President Barclay, who had discussed the article in the Weekly Mirror with Secretary Simpson. The latter had also reported a conversation he had held with Mr. Caffe, who had called at the foreign office to register a protest against the position taken by the Government toward Neep and had complained that President Barclay had not seen fit to give him an audience. In the course of his talk Mr. Caffe is supposed to have said: “Neep cannot successfully cope with the United States Government nor the United States Steel Corporation, but we can voice our dissatisfaction through diplomatic channels.”
[Page 817]Secretary Simpson is reported to have told Mr. Caffe that as the Liberian Government had not granted Neep a concession, he did not see how it would be possible for Neep to precipitate a diplomatic incident between the Liberian Government and the Netherlands.
President Barclay informed me on the evening of November 30, he had invited the members of the Legislature, Cabinet and other prominent members of the True Whig Party to an informal social gathering at the Executive Mansion, which he was giving for the express purpose of creating an opportunity to discuss fully and frankly every stage of the negotiations between the Liberian Government and Neep. This he did, confidentially reading important communications and records bearing on the subject. I am advised that when the gathering broke up the Legislators assured the President they had a clearer picture of the situation and that the course he had pursued was the proper one.
Subsequently, President Barclay sent a special message to the Legislature recommending the disapproval of suggested modifications which were to have been a basis of acceptance for granting of Neep concession, and the repeal of the initialed memorandum. These recommendations have been favorably acted upon by the Legislature.
Respectfully yours,