The Republic of Liberia. By R. C. F. Maugham. (Allen
and Unwin. 18s. net.)—Mr. Maugham, who has served as Consul- General at Monrovia and has spent most of his official life in Africa, has written an excellent account of Liberia, the American negro Republic which was founded a century ago. The American element, including the children of mixed marriages, numbers no more than 50,000 out of a total population of 600,000 or 700,000, but it has sufficed to introduce the rudiments of Western civilization. Mr. Maugham criticizes the Liberian law forbidding aliens to buy land. Inasmuch as Liberian citizens must be Africans born of negro parents, Europeans are thus unable to invest capital freely in Liberia. The Republic, however, seams to be a peaceful and contented country, though its natural riches are undeveloped. Mr. Maugham devotes an instructive chapter to the different native tribes, some of whom are cannibals, -while most of them practise domestic slavery. Few negroes emigrate from America to Liberia, but American influence is potent there. Indeed, under the recent Agreement, Liberia has virtually become an American Protectorate, much to her advantage.
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