The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1890-03-08
LIFE IN LIBERIA.
Slave Owners by the Thousand--A
Demoralixed Government.

AAOA. SA0A AO0 49, - q AVA - AAS
lanta, Ca, ex-Minister to Liberia,
was in the city the other day, says
the Louisville Courier-J Journal. Mr..
Taylor is opposed to the colonizing
of the colored people and sending
them to Liberia or anywhere else.
He advises the colored man to stay
here and learn we'll his duties as a
citizen. Should the negro stay
here and cultivate and maintain an
amicable relation with the people
of his particular section, and have
a proper regard for the rights of
others, he will never have cause to
complain because his next-door
neighbor is a white man. Speaking
of Liberia, Mr.. Taylor said to a
Courier-Journal reporter:
swell, Liberia is small place to
talk so much about, but there is
much that can tell"
"Why is it you were disgusted
with the country?"
"Let me explain that. There are
10000 civilized people-people
who have been sent from this coun-
try-and 988,O0O natives. Now l
am heartily disguised with the 12,-
600 civilized people, and am very
much pleased with the natiyes-the
heathen, you understand. The lat
ter are superior to the American
negroes mentally, physically and
morally. l say they are superior
morally, though the Americans are
Christians and the natives are
heathens. It's a fact! The Amer
leans are cheats; they preach and
convert nobody-they pray and get
rich off the natives. Twenty-Five
thousand people have been sent
from this country in the last sixty
six years, and yet to-day there are
only 10000 civilized people and
1915 voters. 1t is just this way
The $4,000 survivors of the $4,000
emigrants are virtually slaveowners
and are settled along the coast.
The tribes in contact with them
have adopted the vices of the new
comers without their virtues, and
are really slaves to the 10000. But
nine-tenths of the natives are prac-
tically independent of the Liberian
Government"
"What does the country look
like?"
Liberia is low, swampy coun-
try. The soil is wonderfully fertile,
and the country is rich in ores
gold, silver, iron and copper. The
choicest woods in the world-ma-
hogany, ebony, lignumvite and
scores of others-are found in Won
derful abundance. There are no
mines, no roads, even, that extend
over half a mile from any town
Even agriculture is in its most prim'
tive form. They have only five
plows in Liberia. They have bill.
hook with a fiat point, and they
tickle the earth with that and the
| harvests are wonderful. Why, q
fellow digs with the same bill-hook
that his great grandfather used
There are no mules, no COWS, nc
horses. The transporting is done
on the heads and shoulders of the
men and women"
"How large is the country?"
'It lies between 7 deg. 4 min. and
8 deg. 20 min. north latitude, boun
ded on the north by the British
province of Sierra Leone and on the
south by the French province O
Lagos. The stretch of sea coast i:
about 26O miles, and from the ocear
| it extends indefinitely into the cen
ter-say from 200 to 800 miles"
II suppose the country is mod
eled, as far as practicable, after the
United States?"
"Yes, the country is divided into
four provinces, corresponding tt
States. They are called counties,
and in the order of importance are
Montserado, Bassah, Since and Ma
ryland. There is Senate of eigh
members, a House of Representa-
tives of thirteen members, and tn
rest of the national officers, of which
there are in all 1888, from the Cab
met to the bailiffs, are appointed b.
the President. The President, tn
Senate, the Representatives and tn
Mayors of the towns are elected by
the 2375 voters. Just think, 1873;
officers out of 1915 voters. 1t is
fact that every voter in the countr,
is holding or has held one or NOR
Offices. They have a Secretary Q
War, but only one regiment. In
flower of the army is the johnson
Guards, named in honor Of the pres
ent President. There are in tha
company seventeen officers and tw'
privates, and the privates insist OF
walking by themselves. Then ther
are the Newport Guards, named al
ter Mary Newport, the heroine Q
Liberia, who fred the first gul
against the rebels in the last insur
rection. The officers are promises
on an average, $3.50 per month
They get about A.85 per year,
thew oct ANYTHING. You understand