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Show ? : ' : i Africa for the Africans? I I Ey Frederic J. HaaXin. j washing t ov. m a y " i n p rwn t a - t'.v s of t'ie AfriiM.!-. republic of Liberia. vvhi'h was founded by Ameiicart. and s-t t'if-d by American neirro-ei during ihe adininifatmtion of rre.-ldent Monro.-, arc r:ow in Washington tryirj; to o:-ta;n a lo.in (f ?;.,i.:uij,0v'J tnroug'h the stalo uo-pirtmcM. uo-pirtmcM. The Liberia ns want to ckvelop their oourv.ry, nnd they u ant to uive it from beiiic absorbed into the neitrhborin French and Hritish colon;, s a proco which has been going on for some years, and has already g:rcaUy reduced t.:e Librian teiritor-. "You are responsible f.r my existence." fas LiN-ria to the 1'niit-d Status, "What :fo you g-oing to do for me.V If the theory nf st If-de t ermlnAtion were to be applied liiemlly. not oniy Liberia but the wliole f Africa would co;no in for consideration. There are 1.0,0'JO.O''0 Africans and on'y 1 o,i.X,000 of thorn live under their own governments. The otheru live in vrrious 'Jurojfan colonies. Liberia and Abypslnii, are tiie only independent inde-pendent countries in Africa. Of course, a Ian,' percent a so of trn Africans 11-0 incapbls of self-determination and of clf-povernnient. If they are to learn civillzat ion they must live, lot-many lot-many i-'ene-rations, undt-r some sort of '.European supervision, whether that supervision super-vision be called a protectorate, a mandatory manda-tory or colonization. This relation is equaally necessary to the civilized nations. na-tions. Nearly h!1 . of the civilized countries coun-tries of the world are locatod In tho temperate tem-perate zor.c, and nearly t.11 of tho uneivt-1 uneivt-1 lized ones axe in tho tropics. It is only I necessary to mention rubber, siurar, cof-1 cof-1 fee and citrus fruits to show how completely com-pletely one zone of the earth is dependent upon tho other. Kuropo and North America cannot g-et these things out of the Uopics unless order is preserved there and modern methods of ' production applied ap-plied The relation between these two parts of the earth, therefore, Is one of mutua.1 people, being stronger, the uncivilized or partly civilized tropical peoples are generally exploited. This Is unjust, of course, and. furthermore. It does not pay. l.'i.loss well treated, tho natives becoma inefficient and gradually die out. Before we bought ihe Island of St. Croix, in the Caribbean, the l.mes had reduced its population 50 rer cent by paying starva.-tion starva.-tion wages. AVe are causing consta-iit troubles and unrest and producing a high death rate in Porto Rico by countenancing countenanc-ing the payment of starvation wnges there. En(;lrrnd. the most successful colonizer In the world, tries hard to give the natives a square deal because it pays. Tho important thing, therefore, is that the native should not be exploited, and that they should, ho encouraged in any tendency they display toward orderly self-government. self-government. That Is where Liberia comes in. ' Li-heria Li-heria is in bad shape, but the rebubhe still exists. Considering the difficulties under which It has struggled, that fact alone fihows that the Liberians have some capacity for self-government. "Tf you are sincere Jr. what you say about -the rights of weak peoples." says Liberia to the great powers, "I offer you a fine chance to practice what you preach." An active advocate of the Ltberian loan is Lieutenant William H. York, an American negro army officer, wlio, before the war, spent four years in the interior of Liberia as commar.der of the Liberian frontier force. He is one of the few Americans who really know something about Liberia, and he is to impressed wilh the justice of the black republic's claim for aid that he has toured the oast and south speaking in its behalf, and has aroused considerable interest. The Liberian frontier force was a native organization, led by a few American negro omceTs, cs a guaranLee tor tne stauuuy of the country while paying" off a small loan made to Liberia several years ao. Officers of the force state that the disorganization dis-organization of the ctmntry is largely flue to the ag-gresslons of the French and Knlish, who control all the territory bordering bor-dering Liberia. They say the presence of an independent stnt governed by negroes has Inspired many of the West Africa n natives w i th the hop, of f ree dom an d self-povernment, which the colonial pov-ernmeints pov-ernmeints of Great Britain and France do mt wish to encovrapre. In recent, years the, French and Knglish bordering colonies 1" tve quietly annexed a large portion of Liberian territory. This, of course, would not have been possible vrde-r a well organized govern-m govern-m en t . Joh n L. Morris, soexe tary of inter) in-ter) or and education in Liberia, who is now in the United States, believes that the main obstacle to progress is tho ignorance igno-rance of the na tlvcs, and particularly of those natives living far inland. Education Educa-tion is confined to a few thousand negroes, mostly of American extraction. In the towns along- the coast. Mr. Morris explains ex-plains that if the TJhitcd Pta.tes grants th requested, loan, the major portion of it will be used for purposes of education and Internal development. Educational facilities and agricultural equipment are probably the two things :nost needed in Liberia. Public schools arc few in the interior, and. those in, the port towns are very poorly equipped. There are many mission schools, but for the national development it would be far more satisfactory to have a good system of public education. There is a college at Monrovia, which is supported. parUy by the government and partly by gifts, and an a-grlcultura! school which needs a great deal in the way of buildings, ma- ! terlal and teachers. ! Although the exportation of products which grow wild in the jungles has al- : ways been the chief source of wealth in Liberia, there is a great opportunity for agriculture. Liberia is rich in natural resources. Oil palm is a leading product, and others are piassava fiber, calabar ; beans and ivory. Coffee, cacao and rubber rub-ber could be cultivated. The mineral deposits de-posits of the country have hardly been touched. Transportation presents a serious problem. prob-lem. There, ia great neod for good trails and reads from the interior to the coawt, and for improved shipping facilities. Mr. Morris and Lieutenant York, are anxious to see a direct steamship line established between the United Slates and Liberia in order that exports of lhat country might benefit the United States Instead of Kuropean countries, as is tho case at present. A ship carrying American desks, typewriters, text books, farm machinery and cotton goods could return with a valuable cargo of oil, piassava fiber and ivory. To artist in raising the educational standards of the country, Liberian of fi-cinls fi-cinls are anxious to obtain as settlers some of Ihe pi ogressive negroes In this country. Such colored lenders as Dr. Oeortro Ed ward Hayr.es, director of the divlmon of neirro economics In the department depart-ment of labor, and F;nmitt Koott, special assistant to Secretary Baker, have taken a great deal of interest in this subject, and feci that such colonizing, well organized, or-ganized, would prove of great value to the negro republic as well as to the United States. Dr. Haynes is of the opinion that some such scheme may be worked out. Ho points out that any colonizing must be don In art efficient manner and backed by a strorg organization. organi-zation. There have been several tragic failures at colonizing because small groups went out and then were forgotten and neglected. Liberian officials and colored leaders here are modest about tnir republic. They want the people of the United States to know of its poverty and of the fearful odds aga ! r.st which it is always struggling. strug-gling. Intell'gcnt negroes of this country are keenly interested in the future of ! Liberia. They feel the necessity for a well-founde1 negro republic in Africa. Liberia is democracy's only foothold in all Africa. If it is ever to become more tban a foothold, if negroes are ever to be self-governed, this black republic must not perish. |