The_Open_Door_deel1

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a loan of $1,700,000. The conditions of this loan, however,
were even worse than those of the 1906 loan. Barclay acted -
most remarkable - contrary to his own statements and beliefs,
since in 1909 he had stated that:
"Loans will not under present circumstances help the
Republic unless they be. invested in reproductive works,
likely to lead to a large increase in revenue, through
the development of the country, Obtained purely to assist
the. revenue by increasing receipts they are simply
ruinous, and will augment, not ease, the financial
strain" (107).
Shortly after the 1906 loan was received Liberia was forced by
the British Government to appoint additional British Customs
Officers and to create a "Frontier Force" with a British Major
as its commanding officer. The financial consequences of this
decision is best illustrated by the fact that the amount spent
on the Frontier Force exceeded those for health and education
(108). Liberia's deteriorating financial situation increased
the country's political vulnerability. Yet, as early as 1904
the British Government had (again) tried to establish a Protectorate'
over Liberia. In 1907 Liberia officially ceded an
area of approximately 2,000 square miles to France and accepted
the Cavalla River as the official boundary between Liberia
and the neighbouring French Colony, Ironically, as the
Liberian Government did not know the exact course of this river
the loss of territory later proved to be far greater than
was initially thought.
The Liberian negotiator of the Franco-Liberian Boundary Treaty,
Edward Blyden, in 1905 proposed an "Anglo-French Protectorate
over Liberia", This proposal of Blyden, however, was his personal
view and did not have the support of the Barclay Administration
(109). Four years later Blyden, who was known for
his prcj-British point of view, was accused of involvement in a
coup attempted by the British Major of the Frontier Force, Major
Cadell (1909) (110). In the same year the Kru in the eastern
part of the country (Garawe) hoisted the British flag during
one of their numerous revolts against Liberian authority
(111). At Cape Palmas the Prophet William Harris raised the
British flag too (112). Edward Blyden, who visited Cape Palmas
in 1909, is reported to have told the Krus and Gregoes that
the Republic was on its last legs. He advised them to ask Great
Britain to annex the country (113) •
The introduction of the Hut Tax (one dollar per hut) in 1910
failed to ease the financial situation but led to an increased
political instability.
Everything seemed to work against the Liberian Government, It
had been forced to create and pay for a Frontier Force to protect
itself against seizure of its territory by European Powers
but it could not pay the military regularlv owing to an empty
Treasury. The Frontier Force was sent into the interior of the
Republic to collect taxes which had been introduced to fill the
Treasury but the soldiers of the Frontier Force started to loot
the (tribal) villages when the Government failed to pay them