The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-07
Ivey Realty & Securities Co.,, Pone37 p.Jr.. Iom ssohs& Bonds

them managed to return to this coun- try with money furnished by their where their condition Is much worse than 1t ever was in the South.
 There is no need of emigrants. The population is already in excess of the to do over there without some capital
 to work with. Land can be had for the asking and without limit as to acreage, and there is a market for any
 no one has money to buy tools or pay
 for the labor that is necessary to re,
 deem the land from the tropical vegetation that now covers it or to the roads to haul the crops to market.
 There are nearly 2.oo0.000 of unem-
 ployed people in Liberia living upon
 the bounties of mature.
 Consular Inspector Gottschalk, In
 recent report to the Secretary of State. speaks of the magnificent possibilities of the country, but deplores the in- efficiency of its administration. es- pecially in matters of finance and with regard to the judiciary. The aborigi- mes, he says. are not a troublesowe people. They are kept in a state Of peace and loyalty by gifts from the government. but produce absolutely
 nothing beyond their own food, The very poor and consequently pressed in upon by their British and French
 neighbors. The comparison between
 Liberia and the British colony. Sierra Leone, founded upon the same condi- tons with similar materials and hav- ing the same character of people and
 soil, is convincing that the republic Is
 rich in possibilities. Assistant Secre-
 tary O'Laughlin. fin a recent letter to
 Secretary Fassett. pleads for one more
 chance for Liberia. He says" Tt would be unfortunate for American
 rssss if weee so so that fa G h
 habitants. of Liberia might not become extinguished as nationality. and place upon their race the opprobrium
 of being unfit to govern themselves, well-known colored philanthropist,
 made an urgent appeal to the Presi-
 dent in behalf of Liberia. and gave
 very clear description of the situation "Liberia's present misfortunes arise out of the presence in Liberia of lazy. incompetent negroes. who went to that labor. Since the establishment of that | republic over 65.0O0 American negroes and not less than 15,000 from the West I Indies and other colonies have gone there. yet Liberia's present civilized than 30,000 souls. At the same time. there Is practically no immigration nor l Is the absorption of the natives occur ring with sufficient rapidity to make
  mass of the people being ignorant, im- moral and abjectly poor. are more or | less dependent upon the government, | and a few men have taken advantage l of the opportunity thus provided to | concentrate all the powers of the gov ernment in their own hands. It would seem that the government desires to be protected from territorial encroach- ments on the part of Great Britain: Nevertheless. its policy seems directed | toward enabling Great Britain to de- prive the republic of its independence; Though Liberia's only source of
 revenue is derived from the collection of import and export duties. the con- trol--of these collections is intrusted
 to British hands. Though Liberia
 complains that Great Britain does not
 scruple to deprive her of her territory.
 she nevertheless selects British mili- tary officers to command the troops policing her border between Liberia and Sierra Leone. The press Is in-
 timidated and the people. held in the grip of ignorance. poverty and im- morality, are forced to submit to the will of the executive.
 There are many other sad facts which could be mentioned. but those
 set out above are enough to show that
 unless a radical change be speedily years must lost its independence. This
 misfortune would seriously injure the American negro inasmuch as 1t would
 enable his enemies to point to the
 Liberian fiasco as proof of the negro's incapacity for self-government."
 The best thing that the United States can do to help Liberia is to join with Great Britain and France-whose ter ritorial interests are paramount-to
 reorganize and administer the govern
 ment honestly and intelligently and to
 induce men with money to undertake