Norwich bulletin., 1919-10-01
IN THE DAYS NEWS
L iberia, America's Only Colony.

Liberia, whose president elect has been touring the United States, is the subject of the following bulletin from the National Geographic Society:
 The African republic. Americas s only colony, has area equivalent to that of Kentucky, and a total popu- Iation estimated to be greater than that of any one of thirty states of the un- ion But of these two million or more inn bitants only about 50.00o, of whom one fourth are of American origin. may be considered civilized and take part in the government
 Liberia is situated on the west coast of Africa at the point where the coast line makes the great bend to form the Gulf of Guinea. It's position puts it directly on line of ocean communica- tion between Europe and South Africa and points reached by way of Cape Good Hope.
 Its southern boundary is it's At lantic coast line of some 350 miles. On the west is the British colony of Sierra Leone, where futile attempts at colonization were made before Liberia was reached. and on the east and north are French possessions of the Ivory coast and Niger basin regions.
 For some forty or fifty miles back of it's coast Liberia has been cleared and developed. but from the imaginary line inland there are dense forests. pri- mitive people, and Sir Harry Johnston encountered beasts. birds and reptiles living today which, he wrote are found fossil in Miocene formations of France and southern Germany.
 Thus there is the contrast of one of the most unique. experiments in poli- ticaI annals-Stevenson referred to Liberia as a footnote to history-set amid the least known region of the erstwhile dark continent
 Planned as a repara ton for the seizure of it's natives slaves. and an experiment in transplanting far flung race once more in their native soil, the beginnings of Liberia had many contact points with early American history.
 It will be recalled that the move ment for emancipating slaves had its beginnings a year after the Declara- ton of Independence was signed. with the abolition of slavery in Vermont, and that as early as 1908, the i'm portation of African slaves into this country was prohibited. Meantime George Washington having set the example. many slave owners made pro- vision in their wills for freeing their human property
 Thus il came about that the free dom's problem antedated the Civil War by half a century and Henry Clay pre- sided over meeting in Washington, D. C., in 1876 to form a colonization society. Bushrod Washington was the first president of that society formal ly organized on New Years day in 1917, and after several expeditions had met with misadventures through epidemics and opposition of natives. the Rev. Jehudi Ashmun, in 1921. founded Li- beria
 'The countrys name, signifying Land of the Free and that of the principal city, Monrovia, in honor of the then President of the United States are variously attributed to Rev Ralph R. Gurley. Ashmun's friend and bio grapher, who drafted the first Liberian constitution, and to Robert G. Harper of Baltimore, Md a patron of the col onization movement.
 Within decade of Ashmun's ar rival the American population had risen to nearly 1.500 a daily newspaper had been started, and a code of laws was in practical operation. Originally the Portuguese and the Dutch and bough gold, pepper and slaves from Liberia. Today, as then, it has vast. undeveloped resources, both mineral and agricultural. But before the war it exported goodly quantities of rubber palm oil, fibre, cocoa, coffee, ivory and spices.
 Liberia is asserted to have one of few areas have more rain. The yearly fall amounts to nearly 13 feet of water '"The colonists declared Liberia an in dependent republic in 19f7, and it was recognized within a few years by near ly all countries except the United States. Previously there had been a split. and Maryland, now the southern state to Liberia. It had it's inception from second colonization society from the state of Maryland, in the United States.
 Ten years ago President Roosevelt