The_Open_Door_deel1

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itself, upon acceptance of the other two'agreements by the
Liberian Government, to construct a port near Monrovia, within
five years, whereas the Government accepted the obligation to
repay a sum not exceeding $ 300,000 for the construction of this
port. The agreement is vague as to whether this meant that the
cost of construction was not to exceed f 300,000 or whether this
sum would be the maximum amount refundable by the Government of
Liberia. It was considered very unlikely at that time that such an
amount would be sufficient to finance the construction of a port.
However, as early as 1928 it became clear that Firestone would
give up this venture because of the high costs of construction
(18).
The 1926 Planting Agreement
Under the Planting Agreement the company was also granted the
exclusive right upon the lands selected to construct highways,
railways, "or waterways, the right (though not exclusive) to
develop for its own use natural water power and hydro-electric
power, as well as the right to construct and establish highways,
roads, waterways, railways, telegraph lines, telephone lines and
wireless stations outside the 1 million acres concession area and
to construct and use powerlines over any public land in order to
convey power from one tract of land which had been selected to any
other tract selected.
Exemption was granted from the payment of any internal revenue or
any other imaginable charge on the products of the plantation, on
all the machinery, tools supplies, and buildings which the company
would establish, with the exception of the Emergency Relief Tax,
a tax on vehicles, the payment of a rental to the Government at
the rate of 6 cents per annum per acre selected and upon a minimum
of 20,000 acres after five years (to be paid in advance each year),
and of a revenue tax, starting six years after the acceptance of
1he agreement, equivalent to 1 per cent of the value of all rubber
and other commercial products shipped from the plantation,
calculated on the price of these products prevailing in the New
York Market at the time of arrival of the shipment in New York.
The company also acquired the right to cut and use all timber upon
the lands covered by the agreement whereby it was agreed that it
would pay a royalty of 2 cents per cubic foot to the Government
for the lumber exported if it were to engage in the sale of lumber
from these lands. Firestone's obligations under the Planting
Agreement apart from the above mentioned ones were limited to the
collection of any taxes that could become payable by virtue of the
laws of the country by any person or persons carried on its
payroll, the interdiction of the importation of unskilled foreign
labour for the carrying out of its operations except in case the
local labour supply should prove inadequate to its needs, and the
restriction of the total number of white people that could be
employed at one time to 1,500. The Liberian Government, on the
other hand, accepted the obligations that it would encourage,
surpcrt or assist the efforts of the Firestone company to secure
and maintain an adequate labour supply, and that it would warrant
to the company the title to all lands selected by it and would
defend and protect such title for the benefit of Firestone.