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payments were much higher as (I) a certain portion of the money
never reached Monrovia due to (i) payment to the tax-collector
of a commission varying between 5? and 10? of the amount of hut
tax collected (as from 1936) and to (ii) corruption; (II) as the
large majority of the tribal population was still engaged in the
subsistence-economy payment of this per capita tax was
frequently made "in kind": rice, coffee, cane juice, palm oil
or other products (10) (also see Table 28-B). On the other hand,
the League of Nations reported that:
"The real estate tax, nearly all of which is due from
Americo-LiLerians, amounts to only approximately $ 4,000
a year, of which 80% is delinquent each year, the arrears
never Leing collected because of the failure to prosecute
on the part of the. Department of justice" (11),
The assistance from the League of Nations was never realised as
the Barclay Government rejected the League's proposals which
would have resulted in the appointment of numerous white experts
to strategic positions in the country, e.g. in the
administration of the interior. Already the fiscal affairs of
Liberia were "supervised" by American Agents appointed under the
1926 Loan Agreement). In May 1934 the League Council formally
withdrew its offer of a plan of assistance. However, Barclay's
request for external assistance is noteworthy, as it was one of
the first clear signs that the country tried to get out of a
situation of international isolation which for so long had
formed an obstacle to its development. Therefore, when the
League assistance did not materialize Barclay hired the service
of two independent experts, one being a Polish national, T.J.
Brudzinski, who became the President's Economic__Advisor. In
December of the same year the country's first Three Year Development
Plan was adopted. Under this Plan eight specialists,
mostly from the U.S.A., were engaged but their activities in
Liberia were not very successful, largely due to the lack of
harmonious relations between them and Liberian government officials.
When the Development Plan expired in December 1937
their contracts were not renewed (12).
Edwin Barclay's ambitious plan to develop the country failed to
materialize. He realised important legislation during his Three
Year Development Plan period, e.g. the Civil Service Act of 1935,
a Cooperative Societies Act and an Agricultural Societies Act in
1936, and an Internal^Revenue Code the following year. However,
he failed to implement the Cooperative and Agricultural Societies
Acts. Also a Pension Scheme which was adopted never came into
force. In 1937 he still contemplated a Second Three Year
Development Plan (13), which plan was doubtlessly influenced by
the favourable revenue performance of the Treasury. With revenues
of over $ 1 million the country had risen to the level achieved
prior to the Great Depression.
But in 1938 Barclay considered that the financial situation was
becoming increasingly difficult with the international
(financial) obligations taking first place (14). Indeed, as can
be seen from Tables 28-A and 28-B, interest payments and debt
amortization constituted the largest single expenditure item in