The Indianapolis journal., 1890-01-11
heads and shoulders of the men aud

ncaus anu snoulucTs OF the men aud
women
"How large is the countryf"
1T lies between seven degrees, four min
utes and three degrees, twenty minutes,
north latitude. Bounded on the north by
the British province. Sierra Leone. and ON
the south by the French province of Lagos.
The stretch of sea coast is about $50 miles
and from the ocean it extends indefinitely
into the center-say from 200 TO 600 miles,
Il suppose the country is modelled. as far
as practicable. after the United Statesf"
Yes. the country Is divided into four
provinces. corresponding TO States. They
are called counties and In the order of I'M
p0rtanee are: Montserrado Bassah, Since
and Maryland. There is a Senate of eight
members. House of Representatives of
thirteen members, and the rest of the na-
tional officers, of which there are IN all
1.3S5. from the Cabinet TO the bailiffs. are
appointed by the President. The Presi-
dent. the Senate. the Representatives and
the Mayors of the towns are elected by the
2,375 voters. Just tthink. 1883 officers out
of 2 ,S15 voters. 1t is fact that every voter
or more Offices They have Secretary Of
War. but only one regiment. The flower of
the army is the johnson Guards, named in
honor of the present President. There are
In that company seventeen officers and two
privates, and the privates insist OH walk
ing by themselves. Then there are the
Newport Guards. named after Mary New
port, the heroine of Liberia. who fired the
surrection. The officers are promised. on
an average, $3.50 per month. They get
about S4.S5 per year, If they get anything.
You understand though, that English
might say that trade is all barter. Money
is very little used"
We'll. how does the country hang to-
gethers"
1T don't hang together always. The ma
tives acknowledge a vague sort of submis-
sion to the president of Liberia because it
is convenient to go to Monrovia TO ex-
change their palm oil and golddust Tor
cloth. hats and kettles. But occasionally
insurrection cost Liberia $1,000. The Vey
people killed two Liberians ard the gov
ernment troops fled in frantic confusion
without even returning the fire. There
was another lnsurrecti0n which cost the
government $4,000. This was Cape Palmas.
The government had purchased a lot of
canons from the United States. and when
the insurgents fired the Liberians ran,
| though not a soul was killed. The canOns
| fell into the hands of the insurgents. But
| it is convenient. you see, to acknowledge
the President, and most of them do so as
! long as he let's them alone"
The government troops don't amount to
much thens"
mo, they do mot. The captain of the
| Johnson Guards wears plug hat and an
| umbrella. The men are at liberty to wear
just what they. please. and they drill for
w
| to hold his gun. They hunt that way. too.
| The apprentices 60 behind and tote the
| gun till the master gets ready TO fire it off,"
What about educatiOng"
1.-The missionary societies of New York
| and Boston used to have some missions.
| There was also Liberian college, but this
/ is defunct. The schools are exceedingly
| few and weak. and used only by O very
| few of the 1900. The natives never at
/ tend"
| What about societyf.
| How do you meant Preiudicef There
| is more prejudice in Liberia between the
| Americans and the various classes of ma
| tives than there is in the United States be-
| tween the white and black. There is in
| finitely more. A native is not allowed to
| enter by the front door of a civilized mans
| house. The native children are not allowe
to enter the schools, nor to strike the child
| of q civilized man under any circumstances
/ whatever. The only connection that the
natives have with the church is when they
go to carry prayer-books or umbrellas for
| their masters, and sit on the doorstep and
| sleep in the sunshine until the sermon is
| over. You have no idea how many castles
there are. and how sharply they are de-
fined.o<
"And religion9"
Lots of it. lots of it. / boarded with a
| civilized man who had three children and a
| wife. The man belonged to one church,
the wife TO another and each of the three
| children to aditferent one. Whyf Oh he
| said, when the societies send over good
things we can get some of ALL That father
| had only one regret, and that was that he
had no more children"