The_Open_Door_deel1

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eleven persons were:
Vice-President of Liberia, William R. Tolbert, Jr.
Secretary of State, Gabriel L. Dennis
Under-Secretary of State, J. Rudolph Grimes
Assistant Secretary of State, George A. Padmore
Secretary of the Treasury, William E. Dennis
Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, John W. Cooper
Secretary of the Interior, Harrison Grigsby
The Postmaster General, McKinley A. DeShield
Director of the Bureau of the Budget, L.A. Marvey
Acting Secretary of Public Instruction, Ellen Mills
Scarbrough
The Financial Advisor, Karl C. Olsen
With the concession agreement granted to BFG in July 1954, the
Government granted the company
"the exclusive right and privilege, (..,), to engage in
agriculture, forestry, and farming in all their branches,
and all activities in connection therewith" within the
concession area of 600,000 acres, "the exclusive right
and privilege to cut and use any timber, and to collect
and use any water, stones, rocks and other materials,
which it may consider necessary or useful for all or
any of its operations under the Concession (...) and
which may be found within the Development Area or any
lands occupied, (...) and the exclusive right and
privilege, within the Development Area (...) to engage
in any activities (...) including the carrying on of
mining in all its branches, and all aciiviiies in
connection therewith"
such as selling and exporting. Mining operations and the harvesting
of timber for export purposes would, however, require
additional agreements with the Government. The company was further
granted the right, though not exclusively,
"to use any timber, water, stones, rocks and other materials
within the public domain and at a distance not
exceeding three (3) miles from such Development Area or
Accessory Uorks and Installations." (2)
It is noteworthy that the draft which was, sent by President
Tubman to the Group of Eleven Officials only mentioned the
granting to the company of the exclusive rights to carry on
agricultural and related operations within certain areas for a
specified number of years. Yet the company was granted exclusive
mining rights. The granting of any mining rights, even if they
were not exclusive ones, to BFG was rejected by five of the
eleven officials (viz. Vice-President Tolbert,- State Secretary
Dennis, Secretary of the Treasury Dennis, Interior Secretary
Grigsby, and the Acting Secretary of Public Instruction Mills
Scarbrough). Even the granting of an exclusive right to engage in
agriculture, forestry, and farming was too broad for some, such as
Gabriel L. Dennis (Secretary of State), Ellen Mills Scarbrough
(Acting Secretary of Public Instruction), and Rudolph Grimes
(Under-Secretary of State).
Commenting on the extension of rights within a three miles zone
beyond a Development Area or Accessory Works and Installations,
only two persons rejected the whole idea (Vice-President Tolbert
and John W. Cooper, the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce),