JANUARY, 1957
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PAGE 7
FIRESTONE IN WEST AFRICA
Plantations Build Goodwill;
Shape History In Liberia
☆
The Firestone Company was cited in December
as an outstanding example of an American com
pany which, through its operations in an under
developed country, has achieved both profits and
goodwill.
The operation of Firestone’s rubber plantations
in the independent Negro republic of Liberia
and the Company’s direct and indirect contribu
tion to the social and economic development of its
host country are analyzed in the fifth Case
Study of the National Planning Association’s
Policy Committee on U. S. Business Performance
Abroad. The study, entitled "The Firestone Op
erations in Liberia," was conducted by Wayne
Chatfield Taylor. It is the product of a firsthand
investigation in Africa. The author has had a
long career of public service. Among other public
offices, he has served as President of the Export-
Import Bank, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury,
Under Secretary of Commerce, and Assistant to
the Administrator of the Economic Cooperation
Administration.
NPA Study Reports
Have Two Purposes
Charles J. Symington, chairman of the NPA
Policy Committee, in releasing the study, said
that these NPA reports have two basic purposes:
“First, we hope to prove that U. S. companies,
while operating profitably, can and do contribute
to the over-all development programs of many
foreign countries, and that they are popular in
their host aountries. Second, by intensively
studying the policies and methods of a few
industrial and commercial operations, we hope
to discover patterns which will provide valuable
guides to other U. S. companies abroad and to
potential private investors. A by-product, but
an important one, is that the series of objective
investigations, carried out in foreign countries by
well-known economists and sociologists, also will
provide useful guides to the U. S. government,
prospective host countries, and international
agencies.”
Mr. Taylor points out that 1956 marks 30 years
of Firestone activity in Liberia, during which it
has had an impact “that extends far beyond the
boundaries of the plantations and, in fact, per
vades almost every aspect of Liberian life.” The
company, he estimates, accounts for nearly 39
per cent of the government’s total revenues, over
70 per cent of the value of its exports, and 35 to
40 per cent of its dutiable imports.
Company A Pace-Setter
Of Liberian Progress
It is the largest employer—its average annual
payroll numbering 25,000 Liberian workers—
and the largest trainer of productive skills in
the country. It has been the pace-setter in deter-
ttiining wage levels and labor relations, in estab
lishing rising consumption patterns and health
and educational standards, and in stimulating
productive efficiency, research, and development.
addition, as the largest importer of many
^onsumer-type goods, Firestone also has exerted
^ restraining influence on retail prices and con
sequently on the cost of living.
“Part of this impact,” he notes, “has been the
Result of a conscious effort by Firestone. The rest
^as been the unintentional though inevitable
Consequence of the presence of the company in
country, of its attitudes, and of the ways in
^hich it has conducted its business.” One im
portant result of the goodwill established by
firestone is the “open door” policy of Liberia’s
president William V, S. Tubman for private
foreign capital, Mr. Taylor observes.
Mutual
Benefits Derive
Private Capital
In a letter prefacing the report, President Tub-
*^an comments: “The success of the Firestone
^^nture in Liberia is proof of the part enlightened
^^ivate capital can play in the development of
^Merdeveloped countries on the basis of mutual
j Liberians are aware of the need for further
investment in Liberia and realize the
☆ ☆
benefits to be derived by the country from this
type of investment.”
During its 30 years in the country. Firestone
has created two modern plantations, considered
by independent rubber experts to be the most
efficient in existence. The plantation at Harbel
produces more rubber and processes more latex
in its factory than any in the world. “All of this
has been achieved,” Mr. Taylor notes, “in what
was impenetrable, uninhabited, and disease-
ridden jungle, with a labor force that knew
nothing but the most primitive hand tools. More
important, this costly and difficult transforma
tion has been achieved with profit to the Com
pany and its employees and without brutality,
depersonalization, or loss of essential human ana
social values on the part of Americans and
Liberians involved.”
Humanitarianism Guided
Use of Opportunities
“Perhaps the greatest praise that Firestone
merits,” he says, “is not because of its positive
achievements but because of its success in re
sisting the temptation to misuse its preponderant
wealth and power. Certainly until World War II,
the company could have exploited its labor,
milked the Liberian consumer, corrupted the
Liberian government, and run the political life
of the country without encountering much ef
fective resistance either from the Liberians or
from the U. S. government. That it never con
templated—much less attempted—any of these
things, despite numerous opportunities to do so
and the comparative ease with which they could
have been accomplished, is a tribute to the
integrity, self-control, and common sense of
the company’s officials.”
Instead, the company made a number of direct
contributions toward economic and social prog
ress in the country. One of these activities is
designed to help Liberians grow rubber on their
own farms, and thereby greatly increase their
own incomes as well as the rubber supply avail
able to the company. For this purpose Firestone
provides not only free trees but free technical
services as well.
Research And Development.
Production Encouraged
Firestone has actively tried to stimulate Li
berian production and productivity generally. It
encourages local farmers to produce vegetables,
fruits, poultry, and other foodstuffs for sale on
the plantations.
It conducts several research and development
programs which benefit Liberia as a whole. One
is its effort to develop a breed of disease-resistant
cattle which can feed on local grasses and can
be fattened to an economically worthwhile size.
Much of the health problem in Liberia is a
partial result of protein-deficient diets as a
consequence of the scarcity of meat animals and
fresh water fish. Another program is aimed at
increased rice production.
Both the company and the Firestone family over
the years have made a practice of giving sub
stantial gifts for the support of charitable,
educational, cultural, and religious activities and
institutions. In 1947, Harvey S. Firestone, Jr.
made possible a gift of $250,000 to the Liberian
government for the construction of a research
institute of tropical medicine. Other recipients
have been such as the Liberian YMCA, the Boy
Scouts of Liberia, the Samuel Grimes Maternity
Center, the Antoinette Tubman Child Welfare
Center, the Baptist Hospital, the Booker Wash
ington Institute, and others.
Plantations Aided Social,
Economic Transformation
Mr. Taylor concludes that “the coming of Fire
stone three decades ago was a decisive event in
the modern history of Liberia. It was the catalyst
that started an accelerating process of economic
and social transformation. It was a major factor
in hastening other indispensable preconditions
for progress—the airfield, the port, the road
system, and continuing aid frona .the U. S. gov
ernment.”
TOP 4-H SOIL SA VERS OF 1956
In late 1956, eight young soil conservationists were picked as
national winners of the 4-H Club Soil and Water Conservation Con
test. Each was awarded a $300 college scholarship and an all-ex
pense trip to the 4-H congress, by the Firestone Company, sponsor
of the project for the past 13 years. Here, Executive Vice President
Raymond C. Firestone (center), indicates the 352,360 acres of
neglected American farmland that had been brought under good
soil-saving practices in 1956 through the 4-H Club project. From
left: Doran L. Bollman. Pulaski, Iowa; Arden Collette, Longmont,
Col.; Roger Payne, Barbourville, Va.; Andrew J. Reinert, Fairmont,
Okla.; Mr. Firestone; Darrell Gibbs, Moultrie, Ga.; Rolland D.
Christianson, Viroqua, Wis.; Fred Brown, Baxter, Tenn.; and David
Bradway, Monson, Mass.
Thompson A
Member Of
Honor Society
Donald Morris Thompson, son
of Otis Thompson, Ply Twisting
second hand, and Mrs. Thomp
son, was recently initiated into
membership of Scabbard and
Blade, national military honor
society. Thompson, along with
16 others, was received into
Company G, Third Regiment,
North Carolina State College
chapter of the society in late
1956.
Membership in Scabbard and
Blade, regarded as one of the
highest honors attainable by an
ROTC cadet, is selected from
third-year Army and Air Force
ROTC students who possess the
five qualities of loyalty, obe
dience, courage, good fellowship
and efficiency.
Young Thompson is in the Air
Force ROTC at State.
Company Chairman Remarks
On NPA Plantations Report
We at Firestone are highly honored to have been chosen
by the National Planning Association as the subject of one of
its case studies on “American Business Performance
Abroad.”
And I would be considerably less than candid if I did
not tell you that vjq. are tremendously gratified at the con
tent of this report.
However, although we are pleased, we are not prideful.
Too often, it seems to me, American firms are inclined to
take all the credit for the success of their international enter
prises in the name of superior American technical knowledge
and all-round know-how.
All the know-how in the world would do us no good if
we could not get the chance to use it. And we would not have
had that chance to use it in Liberia unless the basic attitude
towards American investment had been friendly, and the
economic climate favorable.
The friendly attitude and favorable climate have con
tinued to exist down to the present day.
Indeed, President Tubman and his government today
are providing the leadership, the guidance and energy, not
only for the greater economic development of their country,
but also for its increasing recognition by the free nations of
the world.
We at Firestone are well aware of the many contribu
tions to the advancement of our enterprise that have been
made by the people of Liberia.
Their hard work and their ability to adapt themselves
to the use of modern equipment and machines, where re
quired in our operations, have been essential to our progress.
We look forward to future years of mutually beneficial
association with the Liberian government and the Liberian
people.