The monitor., 1928-08-03
NOTED CAPITALIST
AMAZED, PROGRESS
OF NEGRO REPUBLIC
Liberia in Process of Modernization
Moving So Rapidly That 1t
Astonishes Rubber
Producer.
LIBERIANs ARE PROGRESSIVE
Firestone Returns to United States
and Tells of Productivity of Land
and Efficiency of the
People.

view ioTk lily ne repuDHc OF
Liberia, on the west coast of Africa,
is making rapid strides toward mod
ern civilization, according to Harvey
S. Firestone, jr., who has just return
ed from an eight weeks tour of the
Firestone Tire and Rubber company's
rubber plantations there.
Zone of the first things that ! saw
reflecting the new day, was traffic
policeman wearing the short khaki
pants typical of Africa; the same
kind of pants our Boy Scouts wear,
Mr.. Firestone said, "but your African
policeman has fully as much dignity
as Fifth avenue policeman. A few
years ago Liberia had one automobile
and two dirt roads. Our company has
developed rs miles of good roads and
now there are perhaps 200 automo-
biles and trucks in the country. Some
of the well-to-do are buying cars and
running them on the new roads.
Their drivers and ours are natives
that are trained to the job since we
entered the country two years ago."
The Firestone enterprise means the
conversion of primitive world into
a field of modern industrial opera
tions. Not industrial alone, but en-
bracing agriculture, communication,
rubber culture and great social ex-
y pertinent as well. The human factor
one of the most interesting of the
hole undertaking. With $4,000 ma
yes employed and other thousands
be added, the Firestone manage
tent has been studying the Liberian
.iative intensively.
B "When the first American settlers
arrived hundred years ago the west
coast was an untouched land. These
settlers established towns, fought the
slave traders and hostile tribes, set
up democratic government and laid
the foundations of what is now the
republic of Liberia. Their descend
ants number about $4,000 people,
many of them we'll educated, who
make up the ruling class. The re-
mainder of the 100000 population
lives in a primitive or semi-primitive
state. We find them to be naturally
intelligent and good tempered, peo-
pie quick to learn.
"They have taken to rubber culture
as if it was natural vocation. And
they are learning many crafts be-
sides. In addition to automobile
drivers we have trained masons and
carpenters, some of them having had
little experience previously. They
are running concrete mixers, turning
out the blocks for houses, while 9TH
ers put up houses of the concrete
blocks and lumber with surprising
skill. We have also established
trade school to teach boys trade and
this is making progress. In time the
school will have a fairly large capaci-
ty and we are cooperating with the
government and the American advis-
ory committee on education in Lii
IBERIA to extend public school instruc.
ton. In this connection, a special
issue in textbooks is being printed,
adapted to the native mind.
II may say that Liberia is on the
move in every direction. AS result
of our need for rubber-or the need
of the American people--we have had
to create an organization of broad
scope to supply the men in the field.
From the day we started one of our
pressing needs was prompt communi-
cation. But it has taken us two years
to develop and install radio service.
During my visit / sent the first mes
sage from our own station on the Du
river to the station that we have put
up in Akron, 1900 miles across the
United States, the middle Atlantic
and part of Liberia. The stations
are in regular communication, oper-
ated ON short waves, and we are
learning new things daily about radio
operations in tropical latitudes.