THE LEAGUE AND LIBERIA.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 306, 24 November 1932, Page 9

THE LEAGUE AND LIBERIA.

(By Oliver Bell.) The very breath of stark reality runs through the recently published League of Nations report oil Liberia, which was prepared by Dr. M. D. Mackenzie, the special Commissioner sent out by Geneva to investigate conditions on the spot. Dr. Mackenzie made the trip oil board a warship which the British Government had placed at the disposal of the League. He penetrated some distance into the interior and discovered that the conditions on the Kru coast were as bad as rumour had indicated. But not only did lie investigate, lie set about the gradual building up of the Liberian governmental administration as well.

Last year, he says in his report, a number of the Kru tribes took up arms against the government. Later intertribal quarrels occurred with the burning of towns and fighting in wricli no fewer than eighteen tribes were involved. When lie arrived upon the scene four of them, comprising 12,000 men, women and children, had been driven into the bush and were in a state of advanced starvation. It was clear that unless something was done and was done quickly that a large number would die within the next few months. So without more ado, Dr. Mackenzie set out to act as peacemaker. A truce was patched up between the Dio, Wissepo, Niffu and Soho tribes. The conditions show the extremely primitive state of the people. These are some of them: “Sobo will return to three of the five captured canoes, tho remainder being retained by Sobo in return for tho canoes destroyed by Wissepo. Sobo will return to iVissepo the village bell.” Tho final scene must have been a great occasion. “At the conclusion of the meeting an inter-tribal peace ceremony was held, during which all four chiefs ate kola nut with pepper and salt on the edge of a razor blade and swore to observe the conditions of the truce.” But these were not all of Dr. Mackenzie’s accomplishments. He divided up tho land once more between many of the other tribes. His report contains numerous sketch maps of the way in which the boundaries were fixed. It was all done in a rough and ready manner reminiscent of the tales of the buccaneers and their directions for finding their buried treasure, and in the process new geographical discoveries were made as to the course taken by the Fish town River. The offer of the League of Nations to assist Liberia to set her house in order has produced excellent first results. It is a notable piece of international co-operation.