Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-05-10
LIBERALS RECORD
president KING Of Tiberio wl

lDhESlDENT KING, of Liberia. who was
officially received in this city yesterday.
is touring the United States with the avowed
intention of securing helpful aids to prog
rcss in his native land This is laudable
ambition. but it does not cover the full sig.
niticance of his mission
When they think Of Liberia at all. most
Americans are quick to associate the word
failure with their opinion of that land. II
is recalled that the original colonization plan
was decidedly larger than the practical exc
cution.
From 1921 until the present day the
Negro migration from America TO Liberia
has been small There are now in the re-
public only about Is, 900 America. Liberians
But il the experiment did not realize the
philanthropic hopes of its designers. Liberia
can none the less point to an achievement
all the more creditable because Of the enor-
nous difficulties involved.
Independent since 1S4T. Liberia has pre-
served its sovereignty until today it shares
with Abyssinia alone the distinction of being
nm African state exempt from foreign con-
troll All the great remainder of African
soil is in the hands of the European Powers
France, Great Britain. Belgium, Italy,
Spain and Portugal.
The semi wardship, sentimental rather
than a legal tie, maintained by the United
States is. of course. in part responsible for
this exceptional condition. And yet with
ont evidences of a praiseworthy struggle
against barbarous peoples and obstacles Of
nature which are so formidable in the
tropics. Liberia conceivably might have for
feitrd this prospective interest
Tn" facts are that whatever assistance
has been rendered by the United States has
been amply warranted and is indeed incom-
mensuratc with the needs Of the case.
A handful of educated Negroes have pre-
served structure of republican government
in Liberia for nearly three quarters Of n
century. Education has been extended, pub
lie health improved. of late years commerce
and trade have been organized. roads have
been built and progress. though slow, has
been steady.
]. J. Roberts and Arthur Barclay we're
BibPrian presidents whose administrations
were grounded in the essentials Of sound
constructive craftsmanship. The authority
OF the republic has been extended inland to
the more hcalthful upland regions propled by
the primitive natives who form the bulk Of
the population.
The natural resources Of this portion Of
the territory are exceedingly rich. Liberia
has the possibilities of an interesting future
The state. which is about as large as
Pennsylvania. deserves sympathy and en-
couragement. 1t is no mean task for a
coastal community of some 10000 persons
to SOW the seeds OF progress among the
1000. 900 inhabitants nominally under the
Libcrinn flag.
President King need have no hesitation in
emphasizing record of facts rcdounding to
the credit of his race. The Negro republic
which has survived so MANY dangers. cs-
pccially The collapse on any large scale of the
original migration program, is unqucstion-
ably strong enough to go forward upon the
foundations already laid.
Americans who, view civilization broadly
cannot afford to ignore little Liberia