1939: Liberia

In 1939, as in earlier years, Liberia continued to progress slowly and without extraordinary incident, while remaining aloof from the current of world events. The country ended the year 1938 with a budget surplus, paid all obligations on its funded debt and made substantial payments on its internal indebtedness. Work on the great Firestone rubber plantation went forward. The Government is steadily building more roads — although there are only about 50 automobiles in Monrovia, the capital — and encourages the construction of new houses and sanitary facilities. The sympathetic interest of the United States in the country's welfare did not abate during the year. The closeness of the diplomatic ties between the two nations was signalized by the conclusion, on June 17, of an agreement giving American airplanes the right to land in Liberia. While establishment of an air service across the South Atlantic was not planned for the immediate future, the agreement does give the United States a strategic position along the Europe-Africa-South American route which may some day prove important. Much less significant was the proposal made by Senator Bilbo of Mississippi, in April, to colonize large numbers of American Negroes in Liberia. The country was originally founded by the United States as a homeland for Negroes, but the idea of re-settling American Negroes in Africa has met with virtually no response in recent years.