The People of Liberia. — (The Independent. August 14, 1913.)
There is no question that ultimately Liberia must depend upon her native population; the native tribes are the chief asset of the black republic. If it is to make progress in the future, there must be hearty coöperation between the “Liberian” and the “native.” The native must be aroused to realize that his interest is the same as that of the Liberian; he must realize that his country is the Liberian’s country; he must learn to know and to carry his part of the common burden. This is going to be a difficult lesson for both to learn. From the very beginning of the colony to the present time, the attitude of the newcomer toward the native has been that of a superior to an inferior being. It is and always has been the custom for Liberians to speak of themselves as “white men,” while they have considered the natives “bush niggers.” The Liberian has never indulged to any extent in manual labor; he has done but little even in agricultural work. The native has always been considered the natural laborer of the country; socially an inferior, he has been despised and neglected. He has done the heavy work, he has brought in the produce of “the bush,” he has been the house servant. While he has rarely been treated with cruelty, he has been looked upon with contempt. There is no doubt that, in the future, the native will continue to be the chief laborer of the country; something of prejudice must be expected to continue; but conditions ought to be such that it will be easy for a bright native boy to emerge from his own status and play his part in the mutual progress.
Under the circumstances, every individual case of a Liberian native who has gained a position of consequence in the community has special significance and importance. One of the encouraging facts in present day Liberia is that a considerable number of natives are occupying positions of influence and power in their community. At the present time a member of the Cabinet is a native of pure blood. The Secretary of Public Instruction, in charge of the educational system of the republic, is a Bassa; he is one of “Miss Sharp’s boys”—and does credit to her efforts. While the educational development of Liberia leaves much to be desired, he has ninety-one schools (including night schools) under his direction.
Another native who has gained position, reputation and influence is Abayomi Wilfrid Karnga, the son of a Kongo man, which means that he has risen against more serious difficulties than face the usual native of the country. The population of Liberia consists actually of three different classes of black men; first, the descendants of American or English freedmen; second, the actual natives of the country; third, descendants of recaptured slaves—very commonly included under the general term of “Kongo men.” The last mentioned people had been bought by slavers, taken on board slave vessels, and were being taken to Cuba or South America for sale when they were captured by British or American warships, taken to Liberia, and dumped upon the colony for care and raising. They have always been looked upon with contempt by both Liberians and natives, and for a Kongo man to rise indicates energy and natural ability. Mr. Karnga has been a school teacher and is now a practising lawyer; he is at present a member of the House of Representatives and is active in public affairs.
Another conspicuous native success is Luke B. Anthony, a Bassa. He received his early training under the Presbyterian missionaries and attended Lincoln University, in Pennsylvania. At one time he had high hope of conducting schools for his own people, but this hope vanished with the discontinuance of mission effort on the part of the board with which he has been interested. He loves his people and a year ago gave the commencement address at Liberia College upon the subject of “Bassa Traditions.” While in the United States he received medical training and is a successful physician. At present he is professor of mathematics in Liberia College and a teacher of considerable ability and force.
One of the most interesting of the Liberian natives who are playing a part in public life is Momolu Massaquoi. He represents the Vai people, one of the most important, enterprising and progressive of the score or so of native tribes in the republic. The Vai are a Mohammedan population and stand alone among African negroes in having in common daily use a system of writing with characters invented long ago by one of their own tribe. Mr. Massaquoi was an hereditary chief among his people. While still young he became a Christian, found his way to the United States, and gained part of his education in this country. After returning to Liberia he was paramount chief among his people for a period of ten years. He now lives in Monrovia, where he occupies the position of chief clerk in the Department of the Interior. He is now preparing text-books in Vai for use among his people.
The number of pure blood natives among the Liberian clergy must be considerable. Some of these, like the Rev. F. A. Russell, of Grand Bassa, minister to mixed congregations, with both Liberian and native members. Other native clergymen have charge of definite mission work among the natives. Thus, Rev. McKrae is in charge of the Kru chapel (Episcopalian) in Monrovia. The Kru and Grebo are close kin, both in speech and blood. In connection with such mission effort we are naturally reminded of Mr. Scott, a full-blooded Grebo, who is the architect and superintendent of construction of the Bromley School for Girls, situated upon the St. Paul’s River about three hours by steamer from Monrovia; it is said to be the largest building in Liberia. Mr. Scott has had no instruction in the builder’s trade beyond what he has picked up practically and through a course of instruction received from America by correspondence.
These are a few examples of native men who are doing something to help Liberians to solve their problems. There must be a considerable number of such. There is, however, another class of men who are helping in the advancement of the country, though in quite a different way. Those whom we have mentioned have practically severed themselves from the native life; they are living among Liberians and taking active part with them. Thomas Lewis, a Bassa, living in Grand Bassa, where his house, newly built, is one of the finest in the town, is a native of the natives. His father was a local king; Thomas was one of about a hundred children. Through missionary effort he gained the rudiments of education; coming then to the United States, he studied in various cities, finally taking his advanced work in Syracuse University. While there he devised a system of writing the Bassa language, which, like the system long in use among the Vai, consists of a series of phonetic characters standing for syllables. While in Syracuse he had a primer printed in the new characters for teaching Bassa children to read. Having studied medicine, he became a practising physician on his return to his own country. He has large influence with the primitive Bassa, and not infrequently is called upon by the Government to exert this in its behalf. He has taught a number of Bassa boys his system and takes great pride in their ability to write and read their language with his characters.
Living in the same neighborhood with Dr. Lewis is Jacob Logan. His father was a Liberian, his mother a Bassa; his father represented a class of which we hear much in the writings of authors who criticize Liberian affairs—civilized Liberians who relapse. He lived the native life and his son Jacob was brought up amid purely native surroundings. Jacob Logan today speaks excellent English, writes and reads the language perfectly well, knows Liberia and the outside world, having been to Europe. Yet he maintains the state of a native chief. He has an excellent house, which he calls “Native Vindicator’s House;” he is legally married to one wife, but has the reputation of maintaining a considerable body of native women; he has a quantity of dependents, known everywhere as “Jacob Logan’s boys.” They work for him, and when they hire out to others he receives their wages; they are subject to his orders; they live in his house or on his property until married; after they are married they still retain relations with him. On his part Jacob owes them advice, shelter, direction, assistance; when they wish to marry he provides the money, for they must pay for wives; if they are in trouble he must help them; if they get into legal difficulty he must pay their fines. These two men are representative, no doubt, of a large class. They have great influence and it certainly is to the advantage of Government that their influence be utilized in its favor. If they are well informed in regard to governmental policy and favorable to it, they can do much.
Is it desirable that Liberians and natives intermarry? It is certain that the native endures the climate better than the newcomers; it is true that he has far more energy, vigor, enterprise—in case his interest is once aroused. There can be no question that close breeding among the little handful of Liberians is fraught with danger; mixture with the native stock would give, in many cases, good results. There is always, of course, the danger in such mixed marriages of relapse to barbarism. The Liberian who marries a native woman might lead an easy life among her people in the bush. This danger is a real one and needs to be avoided.
It is only five minutes’ walk from the heart of Liberian Monrovia to the center of Krutown on the beach. It is a purely native town; most of the houses are true Kru houses, with thatched roofs and matting sides. The streets are narrow, the houses crowded, the people swarm. The Kru have force and vigor; they are splendid canoe-men and fishers; they are the chief dependence of coast commerce, loading and unloading the steamer cargoes. The men and boys almost all know English, some have a smattering of French or German; the women confine themselves largely to their native language, though girls in school all learn English. The Kru are workers; they like activity. There are schools in Krutown, but the Kru boys, after they have finished their studies in them, go up to the College of West Africa, in Monrovia. This is a mission school, supported by the Methodists, in which all the teachers are colored; most of them Americans.
One day I visited the class in arithmetic, consisting of about thirty scholars. Sitting in the midst of them, when a lull came, I said to my nearest neighbor, “But you are a native boy?” “Yes, sir; we are many of us native boys. He is a native, and he, and he, and he.” In fact, I was surrounded by natives, Kru boys. “Well,” I asked, “and how do you native boys do in your classes?” “We do better than they do, sir,” he said. “Do you, indeed?” said I; “it would sound better if some one else said that; but how is it so?” “I can’t help it, sir; we do better anyway; we love our country better than they do, too.” However that may be, it is certain that these Kru boys will outrun the Liberians unless the latter are careful. No one else in all Liberia is so anxious to learn as they.
It is interesting how generally they look toward us for education. One who called upon me one afternoon told me that a Kru boy had started for America only the week before. He told me, then, that he himself was one of five boys in their town and school who had agreed together that, in some way or other, they should get to America for education. They will do it, too. They earn good money from the steamers and know how to save; after they had been hired two or three times for a coasting voyage they make friends with steamer officers and have no trouble in being taken to Antwerp, or Rotterdam, or Hamburg, earning something more than passage by their work. If they can work their way from Hamburg to New York they are glad to do so, but most of them realize that that is an uncertain chance and start out either with cash upon their person or a little ivory for sale to provide resources beyond Hamburg.
There has been considerable discussion in regard to the location of Liberia College. Should it remain at the capital, Monrovia? Or should it be transferred to some point in the interior? Just now there is so much talk about manual training and agricultural instruction that there has been considerable effort made to change the character of the school and to place it at some point in the interior. I believe that Liberia College ought to remain in Monrovia; it should continue to be an institution of higher education—cultural in character. To locate it at any point in the interior would be to confine its field and value to a single district and a single tribe. There are perhaps a score of native tribes in Liberia, each with its own language, its own territory, its own customs, its own chiefs. Between the tribes there is little contact and no bond of interest. To put Liberia College into the interior would benefit perhaps a single tribe. Other tribes would not patronize it—they would look upon it as of no value or interest to them. What is needed is the establishment of a good central school within the area of each native tribe. It should give thorough rudimentary instruction. It should serve as a feeder to Liberia College; its best men, those who become interested and are ambitious, would go up to the capital for further study. There they would meet representatives of all the other tribes sent up from the other local schools. A wholesome rivalry would rise between them; tribal spirit would be maintained, but acquaintanceship and respect for others would be wholesomely developed; in Monrovia, the capital city, they would be made to feel a national interest and develop affection for their common government. In such a system only can the elevation of the whole people and a genuine coöperation be developed.
Manual training and agricultural instruction are of high importance, but form a question by themselves.