that the political authority of the President is exercised in the counties and territories by a governor appointed by the Executive, who is called Superintendent. In the interior the President is represented by a Commissioner, who presides over each commissioner-district, and who associates with himself the native chiefs in the control or government of the native peoples in his district. In some instances this Commissioner has judicial functions, from which an appeal lies to the Quarterly and Supreme Courts. The authority of the Commissioner is supported by a detachment of the Liberian Frontier Police Force, with head-quarters at the Monrovia barracks.

11. In the matter of lesser courts there are Quarterly, Probate, and Justice courts, for each of the counties and territories. The judges can only be removed for cause, the President suspending, and his suspension meeting the approval of the Legislature. Monrovia recently abolished the Justices of the Peace and established a Municipal Court with a special judge, whose tenure of office is during good behavior.

12. Politics is in great vogue. The Liberians have never liked to work. Since the establishment of the colony, agriculture even has had but slight attractions for the people. It is not strange, all things considered. The ancestors of these people used to work hard in the fields before they went over there; one reason they went was that they wanted to escape fieldlabor. They had always been accustomed to see their masters live in ease, without soiling their hands with toil; when they became their own masters, they naturally wanted to be like the men to whom they had been accustomed to look up with respect. Trade has always been in high repute. It was easy for the newcomers to trade with the natives of the country and rapidly acquire a competence. So far as work was concerned, there were plenty of "bush niggers" to be had cheaply. There is, however, another way of escape from manual labor besides trade-that is professional life. Everywhere people who do not wish

to work with their hands may seek a learned profession; it is so here with us-it is so there with them. The Liberians would rather be "reverends" or doctors or lawyers than to work with their hands. Of all the professions, however, law seems to be the favorite. The number of lawyers in Liberia is unnecessarily large, and lawyers naturally drift into politics; they aim to become members of Congress or judges of the Supreme Court or members of the Cabinet or President of the Republic. It is unfortunate that so many of them are anxious for that kind of life; but they are skilled in it, and we have nothing to teach them when it comes to politics.

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13. Ellis says: the most notable characteristic of Liberian government is the existence practically of only one political party. The reasons for this no doubt are many, but important, if not chief among them, is the economic depression which followed the decline in the price of Liberian coffee. Coffee was the overshadowing industry of the Republic. The Liberian planters had invested all the capital they had in the coffee industry, and when coffee went down in the early nineties, the different Liberian communities were thrown into such a paralysis of hard times that they have not recovered to this day. Disheartened and financially distressed, formerly strong, self-sustaining, and independent, Liberian planters one after another abandoned their plantations and transferred their time and attention from coffee and the farm to politics and office-seeking. And while something is due to the ability of the administrations to undermine opposition by capturing its capable leaders through the charm of political preferment, something due to the smallness of the civilized population and the disposition of voter and leader alike to be on the winning side, yet, economic depression is at the foundation of the one-party system which now obtains in Liberia.'

14. Still there has ever been a nominal division into parties. Again we quote from Ellis: "Thus

after the adoption of the Liberian constitution the people divided themselves into two parties under the same names as those which obtained at the time in the United States-the Republican and the Whig parties. For some time the Republican Party has ceased to exist in Liberian politics. The opposition to the Whig Party has been for the most part unorganized, without wise and resourceful leaders, and without funds adequate to compete with the dominant Whig administrations in national campaigns. But like the present Republican Party of the United States, the Liberian Whigs have met all the Liberian difficulties during the past thirty years or more. The Whigs had been progressive, and inspired by wise and distinguished statesmen, the Liberian Whigs have repeatedly addressed themselves with success to the Liberian voters. Opposition to the Whig Party in Liberia at the polls seems now to have little or no chance of success, so that nomination on a Whig ticket is equivalent to election."

15. All this is true, but after all, at the last election there was a considerable awakening of party spirit; it was a bitter political contest. The cry of fraud was loudly raised; seats in Congress were challenged by more than half the total number of membership; the question was seriously asked how an investigation would be possible on account of the lack of unimplicated to conduct it. This outburst of feeling and this cry of fraud, came at a bad moment; the nation was appealing for our financial assistance; it was feared that a bad impression might be produced by the condition of disharmony; under this fear, personal feeling was for the time suppressed and the demand for investigation dropped.

16. We have already said that the Liberians are skilled in politics and that we have but little to teach them. They know quite well what graft means. In fact, graft of the finest kind exists and has existed among the native Africans from time beyond the memory of man; if the Americo-Liberians could

have escaped from our own republic without ideas in this direction, such would quickly have been developed through contact with their native neighbors. Unfortunately there is considerable opportunity for graft in the black Republic. The actual salaries of public officers and congressmen are very small. Important concessions are, however, all the time being demanded by wealthy outside interests. English, German, French, American promoters have always something to propose to that little legislature, and they never come with empty hands. One of the greatest dangers which the nation faces is found in these great schemes of exploitation offered from outside. The natural resources of the country are very great; but they should be, so far as possible, conserved for the benefit of the people and the nation. The temptation to betray the nation's interest for present personal advantage is always very great.

ECONOMICS-1. We have already called attention to the attitude of the Americo-Liberian toward manual labor and have shown that it is, on the whole, natural under the circumstances. Where there are sharp contrasts between the elements of society, as there are in Liberia between the Americo-Liberians, the Vai, the Kru, and the "Bush Niggers," there is bound to develop more or less of caste feeling. This was inevitable with people who had themselves come from a district where caste was so marked as in our southern states. The natives have never been considered the full equals of the immigrants nor treated as brothers; they are "hewers of wood" and "drawers of water"; they are utilized as house servants. It is convenient to be able to fill one's house with "bush niggers" as servants, and the settlers have done so. from the early days of settlement. Why indeed should one himself work where life is easy and where money is quickly made through trade? This feeling of caste showed itself in various curious ways-thus the colonists soon fell into the habit of calling themselves

"white men" in contrast to the negroes of the country.

2. For the present and for some time still the chief dependence of the country is necessarily trade in raw products. Wealth must come from palm nuts and oil, piassava, rubber, and the like. In such products the Republic has enormous wealth. These can only be secured from the interior through native help. In order that this kind of trade develop, it must be stimulated by. legitimate means. At present it is not as flourishing as it might be. The natives are not steady workers; they bring in products when they feel like it or when they have a pressing need of money; trails are bad, and transportation of raw products for great distances is hardly profitable. Yet, if the country is to develop, this production must be steadily increased.

3. Ultimately Liberia must depend on agriculture. With a fertile soil, a tropical climate, abundant rainfall-its possibilities in the direction of agricultural production are enormous. This industry will be the permanent dependence of the country. It must be the next in order of development. Serious development of manufacturing appears remote. Agriculture has always been neglected; Ashmun pleaded with the natives to go into it and prepared a little pamphlet of directions applicable to the local conditions; friends have begged the people ever since to pay less attention to trade and more to cultivation; all in vain. It is true, however, that ever since the days of early settlement, there has been some attention given to the matter of field culture. There was a time when there were extensive plantations of coffee and fields planted with sugar-cane. For a time these plantations were successful, but hard luck came; foreign competition arose, careless and wasteful methods were pursued, and a paralysis seems to have fallen upon the industry. Sons of those who once were successful planters have moved into Monrovia and entered politics. In the old days there were native vil