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difficulties which had to be overcome if these deposits were to
be exploited. When the Dutchmen and the Liberian Government could
not agree on the amount of royalty and taxes to be paid
|j negotiations were discontinued. However, after the failure of Wm.
|i H. Muller & Company to obtain a mining concession, another Dutch
I] company showed interest in the Bomi Hills iron ore. This company,
| the Noord Europeesche Erts en Pyriet Maatschappij (N.E.E.P.),
| conducted in 1936 and 1937 extensive surveys and explorations in
the Bomi Hills area and in August 1937 succeeded in concluding a
mining concession agreement with the Liberian Government which
gave it the right to prospect and develop the Bomi Hills iron ore
deposits and obliged it to construct at its own expense port
facilities either at Monrovia or at Cape Mount, (in the early
1930's President Barclay had tried to realize the construction of
a pier at Monrovia - through a Danish-Liberian Syndicate - but
this attempt had failed (3)).
Ships belonging to the N.E.E.P, were to pay no harbour and other
dues and the company agreed to pay a royalty of 4 cents for eachton
of iron ore exported though if the f.o.b. Monrovia price were
to rise above $ 3.00 a ton every twelve cents increase would
raise the royalty with one cent (4). However, suspecting the
N.E.E.P. to be a front for German financial interests the Barclay
Administration discontinued the company's operations in the
country. (In reality the alleged German financial interests
consisted of the capital of German Jews who, before fleeing from
Nazi-Germany and settling in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, had
run an ore company in Silesia, in Germany (5)), This decision to
expel the N.E.E.P. may appear strange as, first, Liberia had
always claimed a neutral policy in international affairs (and
continued to do so) and secondly, at the time the decision was
taken, in 1937, German nazi-philosophy and hostile attitude
towards neighbouring countries had not (as yet) reached the stage
of outright war activities. Yet the official explanation for the
cancellation of the concession agreement with the N.E.E.P. always
mentions the involvement of "Nazi-funds" (6). One specialist in
United States - Liberia relations, however, has reported that the
discontinuing of relations between the Liberian Government and
the N.E.E.P. and the cancellation of the concession were the
result of pressure by the U.S. State Department on President
Edwin Barclay (7).
Subsequently, at the suggestion of the American State Department
(8), the U.S. Steel Company was in the following year given the
right to make further geological explorations in the area but
mainly because of the absence of a harbour the company gave up
its rights after having sent a team to Liberia in 1938. It should
be noted that Edward Stettinius (see Chapter 4) was Chairman
of U.S. Steel in 1939 (9).
The outbreak of the Second World War postponed further progress
in respect of the development of the Bomi Hills iron ore
reserves. When in 1943 President Barclay, accompanied by Presidentelect
William Tubman, visited the U.S.A. the matter was raised
again. At the same time he requested and obtained the services of
a United States geological mission which would survey the
country's iron ore resources.