AFRICA'S DANGER SPOT.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 191, 14 July 1916, Page 4 (Supplement)

AFRICA'S DANGER SPOT.

LIBERIA, LAND OF WEALTH UNTOLD. GERMAN INTRIGUE AND DIPLICITY. INFLAMING THE NATIVES. (From tha "Sydney Sunday Times.") Liberia, the African Republic on the West Coast-of the sub-continent, is one of the danger spots that has to be reckoned with in the world's war. Mr. A. B. McPhee, who has been a Special Commissioner to Liberia and Togo Land since the Boer War, has no manner of doubt on this point. The story, which he told "The Sunday Time," emphasises anew the thoroughness with which the emissaries of the Kaiser carried on the game of panGermanism and intrigue in pre-war days, right under the noses of the representatives of Gi-eat Britain, the whi'e they bleated of peace the bettor to. conceal their warlike designs, and the propaganda of discontent and unrest which they were disseminating. Mr. McPhee knows his West AfrtM as few men know it. He describes the natives from an intimate acq la-intar.ce with them, for he speaks their language fluently, and is .onveisunt With their stranga customs and beliefs. He is the only white man who w;.s <vtr initiated into the mysteries ->f the (.re gory bush, which is a <-ealed regio.i In this strange land will ue found ntts almost replicas of Masonic fights, while in some districts similar laws to these to be found in the Mosaic code, especially in connection with maTiijjo* arid the purification of women are fn force. Mr. McPhee has nlso seen i g< M deal of fighting in West Africa, and he accompanied the late Sir Ueary Rawson, a former Governor of New Soi.th Wales, on his famous Cano-Sol:«to expedition, having been attached to a West Indian regiment under Liiutea-ant-Colonel Lamonfc.

A LAND OF BirSRUY. "It has been the fashion for years past to speak of the mystern.is fY.tt." said Mr. McPhee, "but che m/suiv ef the East is as a child of \est»nh.v to the mystery which shrouds in impenetrable darkness tho blood- odden l.'i-ds of West Africa. True, ihe ancients knew of these strange lands, r-r:l Salomon, no doubt, drew much of r-he ivory and precious woods with Wiiicii \c !•"- decked his great temple fr- m their gloomy iforest jfafi'tniesses. But they have remained unchanged since then, even as they had remained iincn.ii.ged and unchangable for uacHi.itel 1 entities bejfore Sollomon reigned. The civilisation of the natives is the civilisation of a forgotten past, and their god is the mighty ju-ju—whico isihov. for the uninitiated to touch. "But it is not so much of the mtves that I would now speak, ih mgh I may have something further to say about them on a future occasion. ' What 1 am most concerned with is 'be complete ascendancy the Germans iiave aeon ;cd over the native mind. THE WORLD-CONQUEP'Vi KING. "Completely in the Ileal! -f tuperstition and eredu'ousness, Germ\;i missionaries, both lay and cieivd, fond ready listeners to their peremiul of uie mighty white king who was pre-desun-ed to conquer and subdue the whole earth, and whom it would be utterly impossible for black or white to <ppse. By every means in their power the Germans impressed on the nat-ves the irresistible might of their war-hvd. And not only this, but they stre;eliod forth their commercial tentacles and captured tho business of the country, so that when the war broke out trade was almost entirely in their hands. "The great German shipping \\vi.< ot Woerman, by putting on snore luxurious boats, had succeeded in ■ tc. r.< ting the great bulk of the passer,; >r trade to and from the Gold Cot.<"i, wTiile German merchants., sich as Wickers and He'm, Jansen, Myerc r.nd a score of others, had acq 1 red -ji octopus grip on the vast but andeu-.'oped wealth of the country. NEUTRAL IN NAME uN'LY. "Tho Republic of Liberia is a t-.'Ta incognito. There is no portion of Africa less known. My official duties permitted me to see more of it than probably any other white man. With regard to the American blacks and their descendants, who have made their home in that country, I will say without fear of cdntratjictdon that they are German partisans to a man. They live under the nominal protection of the United States, but they are neutral in name only. "Immediately before hostilities broke out Liberia sent a. deputation to Eng* land to interview the Secretary of State, Sir Edward Grey, nominally in connection with cable and postal matters. The deputation consisted of the State Secretary. Ch 'ie King; t • Posfcmasuter-General, Colonel Mort; Chief Justice Dousen; Attorney-Gen-eral Sam Ross; and County Attorney Cooper. They were all coloured men. "The outbreak of the war cut the visit short. There is no shadow of doubt, however, that the deputation was sent, at the instigation of Gcr-. many, fully seized of the value of Ergland's weakness for granting cor.''JsMor.s to the black brudder. "Shortly after the departure of the coloured visitors Sir Edward Grey advised the Liberian Government that it would probably be necessary for England to occupy the. terminal cable station running from Liberia to Pernahucca, in South America, if not to annex Liberia ( ; tself. Tfylhing further was done in the matter, no doubt in deference to American susceptibilities. SANCTUARY FOR GERMAN WIRELESS. "Before the war the German shipping magnate, Herr Woerman. erected a powerful wireless plant Mi Liberia, costing £75,000. It is the second most powerful installation on the West Coast. That plant lis still standing, and it undoubtedly constitutes a very serious menace to our shipping in that portion of the Atlantic dominated by it. It will be remembered that about a year four wireless stations were destroyed in Togoland. Liberia, being rated as a neutral State, still maintains its un-ncutral wireless. 1 wonder just how long Germany would have permitted an English wireless station to remain in republican Liberia had she been, like Britain, in command of the v-ea, and within striking distance of the offending s'.ation. "Some time before the declaration of war I wrote to Sir Fdward Grev, placing at bis di'po-al all the information T had regardim: the machinations of Germany on the Wc=d Coast, (specially in connection with Liberia, which was rapidly becoming a dependency of Germany; in fact, if not in name. But beyond receiving a. letter of thanks I doubt if anything practical .nvullcd from my efforts A VERITABLE EL DORADO. "Hero is an instan.-" of the thoroughness of Germany's exploitation of things usually supposed to be valueless. For years the residue of pn'm

kernels, after the oil had been extracted, had been dumped as valueless. It remained for German chemists to discover the value of this residue as the basis of the famous disinfectant known as lysol. "I have no hesitation in describing Liberia as a veritable El Dorado. Nobody knows the wealth in gold and precious stones which it contains. The indications of vast riches are patent to the least experienced in mining matters. I know of places in Liberia which are alike, in every detail of formation to th« Kimbcrly diamond fields. "But the West African native has no interest in gold or precious stones — unless he is persuaded that they are 'medicine' of some sort—and he would not dig four feet down to unearth a King's ransom otherwise. Besides mineral wealth, the soil produces in abundance eoffeie, cocoa, oil palms, kola nuts, and scores of other valuable products in profusion. Liberian coffee is the finest in the world, and realises the highest price on the London market.

"Unfortunately, Liberia is now being used as a haven of refuge for German plotters. These men do not hesitate to incite the inflammable negro mind to any deed, however dark, which may in the remotest way tend to the accomplishment of their end. I say distinctly that the danger lurking in Liberia is acute, and I speak with knowledge and a full sense of responsibility."