TTuirsday, February 2, 1928
AMERICAN DEMAKI OR RUBBER OPENS AFRICAN EMPIRE
Progress of Plan to Create Our Own r i \c<
of Supply in Liberia Foreshadows
Freedom from Foreign Control
— ' .
The business of building a new empire in Africa is well advanced American
♦tmergy and American methods are converting one corner oi that primitive
liitts something like a miniature America. Before long the lar land ot Libena W
nvlK -have modern schools, power plants, motor roads, chain stores and other - i % : A
familiar institutions of American life. Already our movies afford the native- SIIP
a glimpse of us at home. Engineers, agricultural specialists, medical mer
;and more of many crafts make up this army of empire builders. All ot this
♦possible because, for the first time in the march of the centuries, organized
progress has come to a land that endures almost as it was in the beginning
Even the name of Liberia tails strangely upon tne s r + 0
i ear in this hurrying world of ours. But the man with a = V***
smattering of his geography still in mind will recall that ~“T^
•the country lies a degree or two above the equator, almost
cat the western tip of Africa. If his history is as clear *
JO : AgMwaaac~j V / rV
;ias his geography he will remember that Liberia was the \ lIBYA eC n*T
tfirst and continues to be the greatest of the negro re- I|| P\ JL. l ,yP\ I
—-Vo<o | ■■ l V \
Colonized a hundred years ago by some of our io4g 1 tgr —
itreed slaves, it was soon to become the scene of the black |||p\ W£sT ][ (Spi
sman’s original experiment in self government. y A j\ * " /---
That he has justified many hopes is proved by the |'/*«L i
iposition of Liberia today, a country stirred by the touch e
of Western progress. Its resources are a guarantee of -g QT/y A &
future development. Politically it is well established
When the League of Nations convenes Liberia has a seat ' #
s\' \W f / ANQQi * i—*
rat the round table. Relations with our own country have j MmSM C
been especially close; in fact Liberia looks to America as ~pN ‘ ) j)
its best friend. But in spite of old ties and natural friend- »ffpi*
«hip, we never took an active part in Liberian develop- j| j^
snent until the last year or two. ? gV;$ : ”
Thus the little republic founded j -if-.--EEI
lirsder suet) stress has pone along I * , 0 -
ct«. way, doing as best it might. Re- 1 1 ~ ~ , 3 "~ :1 ~
seas been accomphshed. Descendants
’measure of civilization to the 2,000.- [A ff f fWL
00U natives. F3ut s he task was a |f '•::i i’•
6»uge one indeed and progress limited : |s |
Africa, would have continued it?
urn America had not turned interest
indirectly the automobile was \V • / I^3
destined to alter the course of his- \•. "•'/•' '' J' ' y
tory. With the lutomobile came the
vwrld need for rubber. Although ••—■
tlfics precious substance was first Inspecting opening up of groove in rubber tree to facilitate flow of Latex,
tftvnd in the \mazon valley, control __
development long since passed to I |
Middle East, where British and
Smutch planters now raise practically
whole supply. Ir an effort to
this supply the British gov
ernment passed a restriction measure
*tbat has cost the American automo
:bilist untold millions since 1922.
Apparently there was no means of
1 relief; certainly no early relief. It
takes five years for a rubber tree to
'become productive and such trees can
be cultivated only within a few de
grees of the equator. Seemingly the
American consumer could do nothing
but pay the bill. Yet there was some
thing that might be done. Harvey S
’Firestone, president of the Firestone
Tire & Rubjer Company, sat down in
his private office at Akron, Ohio, and
wondered now he should undertake
the job.
Mr. Firestone was one of the pio
fleers In tire manufacture. He prob
ably knows as much about the sub
ject as any other man. And he rea
soned that the increasing need for
meant complete surrender to
■" foreign growers unless a new source
v could be found. But how to find it ?
’The amwer involved a world search
-of more than two years, which ended
"in Liberia. Climate, soil, govern
ment, people—everything invited to
the biggest industrial enterprise
cknown to western Africa. It really is
nr.uch more than that—the conversion
-of the primitive.
< In this way the empire builders
' turned eastward, instead of westward,
as the course of empire has been said
to travel. They were a force of young
• men, carrying surveyors* chains; of
l young doctors, bearing their instru
'■Tnents; of experts in soils, digging
• everywhere; of trained “rubber
r men” and every trade needed to hew
r the empire from its pristine fastness.
Surely American business never
• Jmew a richer romance. Not since the
' winning of the west have we engaged
\tn such an enterprise. Where the
west was won by many men, a genera
tion of men engaged in a national ef
fort, the new empire is to be the crea
tion of a single organization.
Once convinced Liberia met Ameri
needs Mr. Firestone launched the
taking with a vigor that has ac
quired much in a short time. The
beginning was not made \ ithout omi
nous predictions. Voices overseas and
at home pronounced the climate “im
possible,” the labor supply undepend
able, the plan visionary. Yet the
facts were plain enjugh. Climate
soil, government, people, were friend
ly. Only that long five years lay be
tween the first planting and the first
rubber. Then the Firestone planta
tions would be a whole month nearer
to New York than the Middle East
rubber ports. An American-owned
American-raised supply would replace
one arbitrarily controlled, subject to
foreign dictation at any time.
It is now almost ,«two years since
the rubber pioneers went into Africa
They took over 2,000 acres of trees
planted some years before, a planta
tion that has yielded well. This small
acreage merely proved the possibili
ties of the Liberian concession, grant
ing 1,000,000 acres anywhere in the
republic’s boundaries. The real task
was to locate suitable plantations and
get them started toward cultivation
The statement conveys no hint of
the difficulties. We must think of a
country without railroads, highways
or river craft big enough to serve any
worth while purpose. A few miles
from the coast lies the jungle; the
jungle that was in the beginning <»1
time, a place of mystery, vast depths,
unknown things. It even encroaches
down to the coast, awaiting the white
man, ready to mock him.
Into this jungle went the “rubber
men.” They ventured two years ago,
but the span of their effort is hardly
longer than a year. And monumen
tal year it has been, filled with
achievement, golden in promise. So
far they have established two planta
tions. One of them includes 50,000
acres about forty miles from the Li
berian capital of Monrovie, a city
named for our own President, James
Monroe. This plantation on the Du
River has a flourishing American
town as its center. •
The visitor might think himself in
any typical western camp of the
“boom” days. But it is rather better
• than a “boom” camp. A central pow
s er plant supplies light and current and
• operates a refrigeration and pumping
> system for the community. The
American staff has a recreation field
and comfortable quarters, ilving in
the counterpart of American bunga
lows transplanted io Africa. A hos
pital serves American and native
workers; hygiene goes hand in hand
with industry. Here it is that the
American staff comes in the evening
t< read last month’s papers and talk
about home. But their new home is
not so very different from those lef 1
behind in America. It is not hard t<
foresee gravel streets and traffic po
licemen for this town by the Du. A)
ready a system of chain stores oper
ated in connection with the largei
mterprise supplies every need that
one may have in a far land. Thing*
like American soap, tooth paste
matches that really strike, with hurt
dreds of other incidentals necessary
to the art of living, can be bought
over the counter on the Du as easily
as on Main Street. In the past Li
beria’s cost of living has been some
what high. English and Dutch trad
ers have set the prices just about as
they pleased and always with a lib
eral profit to themselves. The new
stores will soon make it possible tc
buy almost any ordinary article a'
American prices. This intervention
has been of wide benefit to the Li
berian population.
Laving out a rubber plantation in
volves more human effort than anj
simple description could convey First
the land must be cleared of its great
old trees and undergrowth. Then
comes the burning and the stumping
—just as a farmer dears new ground
Next the ground must be levelled and
prepared for planting After over
coming these varied difficulties the
American forces have planted 15,000
acres within the year, a record for
any organization in any country.
Five years from this writing the
rubber seedings will be sizable trees,
an the rubber fluid (latex) will soon
be converted into tires for the Ameri
can automobilist, right from his own
farm, so to >peak. Nexi year it is
hoped to .\*ise the record several
notches higher. But how many years
will be required to lant 1,000,000
acres is a matter that nobody guesses
about. The point of importance was
planting the first 15,000—a long step
toward the greater goal. q
About 150 miles from the Du pian
■ tation is the second big field of opera
THE CHATHAM RECORD
7 Above—bUU natives who heard about the Firestone
fp/"" development and walked from the interior for 10 days I
70 to obtain work on a Firestone Plantation. They have I
ggL*: just been examined and vaccinated by doctors and are |
IHI Left—Liberia's place in Africa and (in the smaller
i 0 map) the Firetsone concessions, which are indicated by
--/O' - -
j? 0
4? Li 7o tion, at Cape Palmas, twenty
-7/-:= five miles inland on the Cavalla
River. Although the average
—-- j K -leared and the organization en-
EE; gaged is somewhat smaller this
IHjs operation practically duplicates
eeeeJ 4 ' the other. Additional planta
time there must he stores, power
plants, hospitals and all the other es
sentials of ilfe—created in the wild
erness.
With both of the new plantations
cn rivers, but considerably removed
! from one another. it became neces
, sary to join their activities by water
1 transportation. The first of the Fire
-1 stone fleet is the Duvalla, a hundred-
foot schooner to ply along the coast.
Others will follow as needed and the
■ day seems not far distant when a
| trans-Atlantic service oust be opened.
’ Progress has arrived in Liberia; the
past gives way rapidly to the present
The staff of Americans carrying on
this empire building has direction of
1 ....
15,000 natives, a number certain to be
largely increased as the work has
hardly begun. Every article used in
development up to this time has been
transported thousands of miles
Scarcely a tool could be bought in
the country. Each nail and screw had
to be brought from home In the work
Jof hygiene these problems are multi
p|ierl and inten ..fled. Evervone
knows that tropical countries have a
arge quota of diseases Liberia :s
nore fortunate than many, though be-
A?t by common ailments. A Firestone
endowment fund granted to Harvard
University has made it possible for
D A W Sellards of the Tropical
School of Medicine to study the Li
berian
giene, fever control, adequate hospi
tals are in prospect.
For some time American mission
aries have contributed largely to edu
cation, as their funds and workers
made it possible. But a comprehen
sive plan was needed, beginning with
the youngest youngster and advanc
ing to the adult. Representative edu
cators and organizations are co
operating to that end Meanwhile the
Firestone interests have sent an ex
perienced vocational instructor to Li
beria for the purpose of establishing
such education. The present year
should see the first of the trade
schools founded.
All observers agree that the Liber
ian native is reliable in character and
quick to learn the white man’s ways.
The possibilities of uplifting the na
tive population are considered excep
tionally favorable. Each step lavs its
own special burden on the pioneers
Text books have been prepared for
elementary instruction covering the
principles of physiology, arithmetic,
geology and a suggestion of history.
This instruction must be fitted to the
native mind Suppose we should tell
a native child that Jack Frost came in
the night and blew his breath on the
window pane. That would be a mean
ingless bit of pleasantry as the Li
berian youngster heard of Jack
Frost or saw his breath frosted on the
glass or even a window pane itself.
One by one these difficulties are be
ing overcome. Hardly any other en
s rprise of this scope ever advanced
so far with such good >.■
fortune. We may m- •■•■•■' r f^
stantly recall the first SHHli^^«4,««Sfc.vr....
failure at the Panama JSz ‘ X.' ' .
Canal, followed by the ||||pgO vv\ . -v ' >••••• •••; -*\.-
struggle o* later years - ..
later years to complete . s 't!' „ r" v
“the big ditch.” Or we
may think of the first
tunnel under the* Alps. iv'ature rubber trees on Firestone Phuuaiions
We have yet fresh in ' n Lib^ia
mind our difficulties in •
4 he Philippines, in Porto Rico. Neve*
before has an American industry un- j
dertakeu foreign pioneering on any
thing like this scale. It is empire
building in the first person singular.
This latter ua> pioneering goes for
ward in the way of a big husiness
enterprise. It is just another denar?
ment of the ndustry One of thes*
days radio communication will be
opened between Liberian p'.rr’mticno
and the Akron factory. Then the
head of the business may well say to
his operator, Mr. (ones for
> me if he is in his office down on the
Du.” If Mr. lores himself cannot he
i transported by any sort of magic we
i know, yet his words, his thoughts,
hi 1 personality can be whisked across
i those thousands of miles by the magic
I of the speaking wave.
It is inter*.*'ting to note that the
Liberian government has embarked
* upon a sori..: of improvements, along
with chose of private e* ternrise The
pioneers, having laid miles of good
roads and planting many more, are
■ encouraged to find the government
1 working upon a system of its own
■ Then we may exnect the busy motor
c: ’ to flit along African roads in the
way that we see it on our own. This
public and private co-operation ex
tends to education and public works
of many kinds. The leaven is at
work, Liberia is on the move.
Here, then behold the miracle that
rubber wrought. If A had not been
for the automobile there would have
been no need of tires Without tires
t ere could have been no vast store
of wealth in Eastern rubber. Then
we should have had r British re
striction act and no occasion to ope*'
the latest empire. But since each of
these things had to be in the course
of progress it naf brought much good
of light, of the new day to a far land
During the week Harvey S. Fire
stone. Jr., who has personal direction
of the Liberian development, sailed
for Monrovia on a tour of inspection.
Mr. Firestone expects to return in
about two months, ready to carry on
and broaden the undertaking.
While in Liberia, Mr. Firestone
will travel by the ompany’s own
ship, visiting the several plantations
and other sites considered favorable
for planting. It is honed to improve
upon the record of 1927 in the year
to come. Rubber trees already set
out in the first stage o : operation are
reported as making rapid progress,
which encourages the belief that pro
duction from the trees will easily be
gin within the 5-vear period. The
area cleared in 1927 was about 20,000
acres and the 5,000 acres yet to be
planted will soon come under cultiva
tion. Other extensive areas are to
be cleared during the coming season
and planting pushed forward with all
possible speed. **
Mr. Firestone will not only inspect
and organize the field force, but ex
pects to give special attention to the
task of supplying this force through
the -stores now being established,
j "his later enterprise enough
l. oblem.. to keep any man busy It
fa*~es a nice judgment to know what
sor».s of hairpins should he ordered
for lie Liberian trade, along with the
thous. nd and one articles demanded
by na.’ves and Americans As the
stores d 7 dop their plan of operation,
they will handle almost any article
that err? l„.? in r. 2 •? ?,::i ten
ant store it home, added L. thou
sands of nec« ssary articles sold by the
hardware dea= the druggist and the
F_ 4.1 mi ■ 1
grocer. In effe *t, they will be depart
ment stores transplanted, on a smaller
scale.
An effort to inf oduee hygiene and
medicine also will come under Mr.
Firestone’s attention. So far the un -
dertaking has been attended by little
sickness among the white force and
precautions will be taken to maintain
this record. It is also hoped to im
prove the surroundings of the native
workers and to gradually instruct
*hem in benefits of sanitation. As
are a people quick to this
hone seems well founded. The medi
~al staff looks to the health of all
hands at all im?s. j
Considered from any sta* l -; dot.
the Liberian development hes he°n
well launched and the day of nroduc
*ion on a broad scale is a matter of
rime. The stens taken, having been
laid so far towards the goal, it only
remains to intensify efforts and bring
every acre under cultivation that the
field foro e is able to clear That
force will he increased in the next
vnar as rapidly as the administrative
staff can train and accommodate na
tiv_ workers. The 15.000 acres al
ready planted should be measurably
ir.f>-eased before another January
During Mr. Firestone’s stav over
seas, he will be accompanied by a
moving picture operator who is to
ake a nature record of this adven
ture in empire building. Films will
how a range of Liberian activities;
how the natives live and work, the
character of the country and the jun
gles, its towns and homes. Rubber
planting in its many stages opens an
other interesting subiect. Glimpse'
of the country’s wild life will be sbowi
upon the screen. There are mountain*
to be film-d, jungle rivers and their
strange denisons, the remote tribes
that have hardly more than seen a
white man. Here is an opportunity
worthy of the camera. This old globe
of ours has but a f ew spots left
where we can encounter the primitive,
the unknown. Such a land becomes
fascinating indeed when the ax of the
pioneer is ringing only a step behind
the movie operator.
When it is remembered that Li
beria’s zoology, its plants and trees,
are almost unknown to science, the
value of such a film becomes appar
ent. Heretofore the country has not
been examined to any great extent
because of remote situation and the
difficulty of penetrating its fastnesses.
But the new day is bringing changes
innumerable to Liberia. Before long
its name should be familiar wherever
th? automobile goes, because a large
number of the American people will 1
be riding upon Liberian rubber.
PAGE TWO