882.20/453
Memorandum of Conversation, by Mr. Henry S. Villard of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs
| Participants: | Mr. Harvey Firestone, Jr. |
| Judge Fisher, attorney for the Firestone Company. | |
| Mr. Villard. |
Mr. Firestone and Judge Fisher called to say that they had received advices from their representative in Liberia to the effect that the Liberian [Page 580] Government was entering into an agreement with the Government of France for the national defense of Liberia. Mr. Firestone said that he wished to discuss the terms of the proposed agreement, in as much as they seemed to him quite out of place for a country such as Liberia. Judge Fisher had just returned from a three months’ stay at Monrovia, and was familiar with some of the original background of this question.
Mr. Firestone said that, according to his information, Liberia would undertake to recruit 5,000 soldiers and that 12 French non-commissioned officers would train the men. France would supply arms and ammunition to Liberia, on terms to be agreed upon. I said that this checked with our own information, although it was not entirely clear which side had commenced the negotiations.
Judge Fisher said that he did not wish to be quoted in any way, but that for our confidential information he would volunteer to state that the British Chargé d’Affaires in Monrovia appeared to have taken the initiative in these discussions. Judge Fisher said that the Chargé had approached him in confidence and asked his advice as to whether the Liberian Government would welcome negotiations for a tripartite defensive agreement between the governments of Great Britain, France and Liberia. In the opinion of Judge Fisher, the Liberian Government had no objection to such a proposal and would in fact welcome it. Thereupon conversations were begun in Monrovia by the British and French representatives. I observed that the French had been far more active in the matter and that, according to our information from London, the British Government was moving rather deliberately in the negotiations. This was in great contrast to the French, who had sent representatives to Monrovia by air and within the space of a few days had concluded a tentative agreement.
Judge Fisher felt that this activity of the French, as well as their demand that Liberia should raise an army of 5,000 men, was somewhat suspicious. He said that it amounted to France’s obtaining the services of a small army, at the expense of the Liberian Government, and that there was no good reason for setting up this defensive standing force in Liberia. Both Judge Fisher and Mr. Firestone were inclined to believe that there was some ulterior motive in this plan of the French.
A standing army of 5,000 Liberians, in the opinion of Judge Fisher and Mr. Firestone, not only would be incapable of repelling invasion but would actually constitute an invitation to attack. A Liberian army, even if it amounted to 50,000 men, would fall away like chaff before any small, well-armed force of European soldiers. Liberia’s best course would appear to be to rely entirely upon the assistance of her neighbors in case of hostilities, since the presence of a military [Page 581] organization in the country might be considered as a legitimate object of attack by a predatory European power. If Liberia had no army of her own, but relied for protection on Great Britain and France, the two latter countries would be compelled to defend her—to much better advantage than she could defend herself.
Mr. Firestone said that he felt very strongly that the French proposal was not in the best interests of Liberia. He pointed out that the expense of recruiting, training and equipping an army of 5,000 men was more than Liberia could stand, and that it would be necessary to obtain a foreign loan for the purpose. The furnishing of arms and ammunition, although the terms of this arrangement were not yet known, would undoubtedly constitute a further burden. I asked whether an expenditure of this kind would contravene the provisions of the Firestone loan agreement, to which Judge Fisher replied in the affirmative. Judge Fisher said that no expenditures outside of those regularly provided for in the budget could be made without the consent of the Financial Adviser (in other words, the representative of the Firestone interests). Mr. Firestone also said that the presence of French officers in Liberia might lead to incidents and unfortunate political complications. He asked whether it would not be possible to have American military officers instead of French, or at least to have the American Government assist in sending equipment to Liberia.
Mr. Firestone said that while President Barclay would, of course, like very much to have an American air base in Liberia, he was under no illusions whatever as to the extent of the military assistance which the United States was prepared to render to his country, and that the most he could really expect was American help in reorganizing or equipping the Frontier Force.
In Mr. Firestone’s opinion, all that is necessary for the defense of Liberia would be an agreement with the British and French governments under which British and French naval vessels and airplanes from the neighboring colonies of Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast would patrol the Liberian coast in time of need. Any attack, whether from without or within, could thus readily be nipped in the bud. In addition to thus assimilating the coastline of Liberia for defense purposes to that of the adjacent French and British possessions, the Liberian Frontier Force might appropriately be doubled from its present strength of approximately 650 men and furnished with a few modern machine guns. I told Mr. Firestone that this coincided with our own view and that we were inclined to agree it would be much more practical for Liberia than the French proposal. Mr. Firestone also suggested that the French and British governments might issue a declaration of mutual guarantee for the integrity of Liberia, somewhat along the lines of the British declaration in regard to Poland. He [Page 582] said that, in his opinion, this in itself would constitute the strongest possible defense for Liberia.
I asked Judge Fisher whether he had received any impressions as to the danger of Liberia from internal or external attack. He replied that to his mind there might well be a definite danger. There were now at least 100 Germans in Monrovia or vicinity and with the infiltration of perhaps 50 more in the near future it might be possible to seize the Government. It was quite possible that these Germans were supplied with smuggled arms and ammunition, which would be more than a match for the antiquated equipment of the Frontier Force. Judge Fisher said that he had positive information to the effect that a German wireless station was operating out of Kakata, and that the British Legation had definite knowledge of German submarines off the West African coast. Moreover, mysterious vessels and lights had been seen at Baffu Bay, where, it was thought by Firestone officials, a base for arms and ammunition might easily be established without the knowledge of the Liberian Government. In this connection, Judge Fisher said that while he was at Monrovia a group of Germans had staged a noisy and provocative demonstration one night in front of the Executive Mansion. President Barclay’s first inclination was to have the demonstrators arrested, but on second thought realized that this was undoubtedly an incident especially staged so as to give Germany an excuse to intervene for the “protection” of its nationals.
… I told Mr. Firestone and Judge Fisher in confidence of the information we had received from Geneva in regard to the reported plan for a German invasion of Liberia, which, they agreed, was not to be lightly dismissed.
In conclusion Mr. Firestone strongly urged that we attempt to persuade the Liberian Government not to adopt the French plan of assistance. He felt that the matter was one of some urgency and that steps should be taken without delay to suggest a more practical scheme for Liberia’s defense. I told Mr. Firestone that we were giving the matter our earnest consideration and that we would communicate with him as to any steps which might be taken. Mr. Firestone said that he would be very glad to come to Washington at any time to consult with us further on this subject.