The_Open_Door_deel1

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and he proposed the construction of a port merely to get the
approval and support of the U.S. State Department. He did not
really need a port to export the rubber from Liberia (hence he
quickly abandoned the plan when the estimated cost of
m construction of the port exceeded the amount of $ 300,000). It is
|| significant that when Firestone decided not to build this port in
III the 1930's, the U.S. Government entered into discussions with
|| President Edwin Barclay on the construction of a port which would
II be pre-financed by the U.S. Government,
II
Under pressure of the U.S. State Department the Liberian
Government, represented by Edwin Barclay (Secretary of State at
the time), continued its negotiations with Harvey Firestone which
in September 1925 resulted in three agreements with the
Firestone Plantations Company, as well as an agreement with the
Finance Corporation of America. As the Liberian Government rejected
the idea of granting a one million acre concession to a
foreign industrialist and taking a loan from the same source
because this would concentrate too much power In one hand, a
compromise was reached whereby the Finance Corporation of America
would grant the $ 5 million loan. The fact that this corporation
was a wholly-owned Firestone subsidiary, especially created for
this purpose, makes this decision fully incomprehensible.
After some minor modifications had been made the agreements with
the Firestone Plantations Company were signed by the representatives
of the Government and of the Firestone Company on October
2, 1926. When the bill granting the Firestone Concession was
introduced in the National Legislature for approval it met with
tremendous opposition. However, President King, former President
Arthur Barcl-ay, Secretary of State Edwin Barclay, and Senator
Tubman staunchly advocated the bill, support for it was rallied
. even by threatening opponents with impeachments. Among those
threatened with impeachment was Senator Van Pelt who opposed the
proposal but who ultimately voted in favour after pressure had
been exterted upon him. It is worth mentioning that former
President Arthur Barclay and Senator William Tubman had been
hired meanwhile by Harvey Firestone as his company's lawyers in
Liberia (13). Eventually, the bill granting the Firestone Company
unprecedented privileges in Liberia was passed, and "the greatest
concession of its kind ever made", as Harvey Firestone qualified
it (14), was realised.
The Loan Agreement between the Liberian Government and the
Finance Corporation of America was signed on September 1, 1926.
It received the approval of the Legislature in December of the
same year, and came into effect on July 1, 1927 (hence it is
sometimes referred to as the 1927 Loan). Liberia's Public Debt
of which almost 90 per cent carried an interest rate of 5 per
cent or less (15) was eliminated and replaced by a $ 5 million
loan which was placed at a rate of 90 per cent, had an interest
rate of 7 per cent, and a maturity of 40 years.
This loan put the country virtually under the control of American