File No. 768.72/6870
[Enclosure]
The Liberian Secretary of State
(
King) to
the Acting Spanish Consul (
Hoenigsberg)
249/C. F.
Monrovia,
July 17, 1917.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge
the receipt of your note of the 3d instant, in which you inform
me that you have been instructed by your Government to say that
the Imperial German Government, referring to the treaty of
commerce between the Republic of Liberia and Germany, dated the
31st of October, 1867, and with respect to Article 2 thereof,
insists that this treaty is not abolished by a simple rupture of
diplomatic relations, and that in consequence liberty of sojourn
as well as of commerce remains guaranteed to subjects of the two
contracting parties. Therefore, deportation or internment of the
German subjects in Liberia against their will, as well as the
liquidation of their businesses is inadmissible; and in view of
the foregoing, you are ordered by your Government to
“energetically protest” against any arbitrary action contrary to
the stipulations of said treaty of commerce, and to formally
declare that the Imperial Government has to render Liberia
responsible for any damage that might result therefrom.
The Liberian Government, after a very careful consideration and
study of the view taken by the Imperial German Government of the
Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation, between Germany and
Liberia, and the effects of the present rupture of relations
between the two Governments upon the provisions of this treaty,
as set forth in your said note, now begs to submit the following
as its reply thereto:
1. While it is conceded by the Liberian Government that all
subjects of the German Empire have the right under Article 2 of
the
[Page 487]
treaty of 1867,
between the North German Confederacy and the Republic of
Liberia, to reside and carry on trade in Liberia, yet it does
not admit that by said treaty Liberia divested herself of the
right inherent in her, as a free, sovereign, and independent
state, to close her doors at any time to any foreigner or group
of foreigners who for social, political, or economic reasons,
she may deem expedient to exclude from her territories.
Realizing this inherent right, the Legislature of Liberia at its
session of 1915–16 enacted a law regulating the residence of
aliens within the Republic. This law provides, inter alia, that—
The President of Liberia is hereby invested with
authority to deport or cause to be deported from the
Republic, any alien permanently or temporarily residing
therein, whose presence would by the authorities be
deemed a menace to public security, or who is otherwise
or in anywise undesirable as a resident within the
borders of the Republic.
The validity and soundness of such legislation, on the part of
the Legislature of Liberia, has never been questioned or
contested by the Imperial German Government as an infringement
upon the treaty rights of German subjects in Liberia; but, to
the contrary, the German residents, with the knowledge and tacit
approval of their Government, have most cheerfully and willingly
complied with all of its conditions and provisions.
The right, therefore, of the Government of Liberia to expel from
the Republic such foreigners whose presence are a menace to its
security and political safety being thus tacitly admitted by the
Imperial German Government, it only remains to show in what way
would the continued presence of the Germans in Liberia be in any
way a menace to the Republic’s present safety and security, in
order to justify their expulsion.
In the President’s proclamation of June 28, 1917, copies of which
were duly forwarded you, it is stated that the engagements
growing out of the definite alignment of the Republic of Liberia
with the Allied powers now at war with the German Empire render
the continued residence of German subjects within the borders of
the Republic a source of embarrassment to the Government of
Liberia. This fact alone renders the Germans undesirable in
Liberia, and, therefore, in the opinion of the Liberian
Government, would justify their expulsion.
2. The Liberian Government regrets its inability to follow the
Imperial German Government in its conclusions that Article 2 of
the treaty of commerce between Liberia and Germany, concluded
the 31st of October 1867, “is not abolished by a simple rupture
of diplomatic relations.”
[Page 488]
In the consideration of treaties and their binding effects it
will be discovered that there are several circumstances under
which a treaty may be modified and abrogated. As for an
instance: “When a state of things which was the basis of the
treaty, and one of its tacit conditions no longer exists.” (See
Moore’s International Law Digest, volume
5, page 319, paragraph 720.)
… By reference to the treaty of 1867 between Liberia and Germany
it will be discovered that said treaty is not only a treaty of
commerce, as would appear from the observations made upon the
same by the Imperial German Government, as set forth in your
said note, but also a treaty of “amity.”
The title and Article 1 of said treaty read as follows:
Title
“Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation between the
Republic of Liberia and the North German Confederacy,
concluded October 31st, 1867, ratified by the Senate
December 20th, 1867, ratifications exchanged April 28th,
1868.”
Article 1
“There shall be perpetual peace and friendship between
the Republic of Liberia and the North German
Confederacy, their subjects and citizens.”
From the above-quoted title and article of said treaty, it can
not but be apparent that the basis of the treaty was that of
“amity” or friendship between the Republic of Liberia and the
North German Confederacy, their subjects and citizens.
The announcement, by the Liberian Government in its note
addressed to the then Acting Imperial German Consul at this
capital on the 8th of May last, of the rupture of its relations
with the Imperial German Government was not intended as a mere
empty diplomatic statement, but as a solemn declaration on the
part of the Liberian Government of the breach, by Germany, of
that “amity” or friendship which, according to the terms of the
treaty of 1867, should be the basis of the relations between the
two Governments.
Therefore, it is the opinion of the Liberian Government that the
rupture of that friendship, which was the basis of the treaty
between Liberia and Germany, operates as a suspension of Article
2 of said treaty until the resumption of friendly relations
between the two Governments.
Furthermore “If a treaty,” says Mr. Taylor, an eminent authority
on International Law, “is consistent at the outset with the
right of self preservation it is an implied condition that it
shall remain so. …
“Therefore, a treaty which was not intended to be a menace to the
life or independence of a state at the time of its execution
becomes voidable the moment subsequent events invest it with
that character.”
[Page 489]
Now, the progressive destruction of that system of rules which
have for centuries given security to international relations;
the denial to neutrals the right freely to travel the ocean
highways of the earth; the repudiation, without just and legal
causes, of international engagements, are all acts committed by
Germany in the present world’s war, which seriously menace the
life and independence of Liberia, and therefore at once render
voidable, on the part of the Liberian Government, the treaty of
1867 between Germany and Liberia.
As to the request of the Imperial German Government, made through
your Government, that a safe-conduct for every German without
distinction of age and sex who would be willing to leave Liberia
for Spain, or any other neutral country, be procured by the
Liberian Government, I beg also to say that in view of the
position taken by the Liberian Government upon the treaty of
1867, as herein above indicated, it is not conceived that such
obligations rest upon the Liberian Government, except in the
case of the former Acting Imperial German Consul and the German
Receiver of Customs.
With the continued assurances of my high esteem and profound
respect,
I have [etc.]