The_Open_Door_deel1

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The concessionaire became exempted from all taxes (or any other
payments to the Government of Liberia) in lieu 6f this exploration
tax, surface tax, and royalty. It should be borne in
mind that at the time of signing of this concession agreement
II there was no income tax legislation in Liberia. A rather singular
provision in respect of the principles of the Open Door Policy
which was propagandised by Tubman, and which stands for equal
opportunities for all nations, provided that at least 60? of the
shares of any corporation whieh may acquire the concession must
be owned by citizens of Liberia and/or the U.S.A. (22). (See for
further details of the 1945 mining concession agreement with
Lansdell Christie Annex 12.)
It is important to note that a group of Liberian citizens
objected to this agreement and notably to its terms which could
only result in a strictly limited sharing of the national
Treasury in the benefits of the venture. Tubman 1 s method of
dealing with the criticism is of equal significance. The
opponents included members of the judicial bench, e.g. the judges
J.A. Giffens, H.N. Gibson, and T. Gybli Collins, journalists
(Albert Porte and C. Frederick Taylor - the latter being a
naturalized Liberian citizen), and others. They drew up, signed
and presented a petition. Subsequently, the judges were dismissed
and Albert Porte sentenced to one month in jail (23).
As Christie lacked the capital and the expertise to develop the
concession he contacted the former explorers of the Bomi Hills
area, Wm.H. Muller & Company from Holland, who accepted his offer
to participate and to engage in a project which ten years earlier
they had contemplated. However, a substantial Dutch investment
was prevented by the Dutch Government's exchange restrictions
which had been imposed at the end of the war. Yet Muller's
participation in the Liberia Mining Company, a company which
Christie in the meantime had created, resulted in the recruitment
of mainly Dutchmen for the technical and administrative positions
in L.M.C. whose first resident General Manager, J. Van de Velde,
was also a Dutchman (24). In 1948, L.M.C. and Wm.H. Muller &
Company signed an agreement making the Dutch company the
exclusive sales agent with respect to countries other than the
U.S.A. and -non-exclusive agent with respect to sales in the
U.S.A.
The setback which the venture suffered because of the inability
of the Dutch participants to transfer money abroad made the
solution of one of the major problems, the transportation of the
ore from the mining site to the Port, more acute as a bridge over
the St. Paul river had to be constructed. This problem was solved
when it was decided that this bridge would be built as part of
the port project, financed with U.S. funds. In late 1949 the
bridge was officially opened by President Tubman (25) and named
in his honour. The decision to construct the bridge with U.S.
funds, which were made available under the 1943 Port Agreement,
gave cause to questions raised by the U.S. Congress (26).
Aided by this public funds from the U.S.A., which however had to
be repaid by the Republic of Liberia, in early 1949 Christie
organized a conference in Bomi Hills to which he invited the
Export-Import Bank of Washington and the Republic Steel
Corporation.