Message to the Congress Recommending an Increase in Salary for the United States Minister to Liberia.

Note: The text of the Acting Secretary of State's letter, dated the same day, follows: The President:

The undersigned, the Acting Secretary of State, has the honor to bring to the President's attention the matter of the salary of the Minister Resident and Consul General of the United States to Liberia and to recommend that Congress be requested to enact legislation which will authorize an increase thereof to $10,000 per annum. In support of this recommendation, the following facts are submitted:

The salary of $5,000 now appropriated for this office is inadequate and is disproportionate to the salaries paid to the classified Foreign Service officers of the United States and is less than that received by any other foreign representative in Monrovia, none of whom has a higher grade than Charge d'Affaires, as those who do not have salaries equal to that of the American representative have the benefit of allotments and prerequisites. Thus, in 1925-1926, the British consul general and the German consul at Monrovia each received a salary of $7,500 per annum, and in addition, entertainment and household allowances. In 1926-1927, the British consul general received $9,272 salary, $2,196 local allowance, amounting to $11,468, more than double the entire compensation of the American minister and consul general, and in addition thereto, a house is provided for him. The British vice consul, a subordinate official, receives, if married, only about $400 per annum less than the American consul general, whose salary is $5,000.

The British Legation, owned and furnished by the British Government, is an elaborate two-story concrete building with 14 rooms and appurtenances. Germany, France and Spain also provide quarters for their representatives.

The United States has a number of definite interests in Liberia, all of which the American minister must maintain and advance. Liberia began under American auspices, having been colonized by slaves freed in this country. Liberia has always regarded the United States as her next friend and on numerous occasions the United States has employed her good offices to assist Liberia politically, financially, and economically. There are also extensive American missionary interests involving about 100 American missionaries, both white and colored, with an estimated investment of $500,000 and a yearly budget of $300,000. American capital is being invested on a large scale in the development of rubber plantations. An American concession permits the planting of one million acres which is now being developed at the rate of about 20,000 acres per year and at an approximate cost of one million dollars annually. There is a $5,000,000 loan to Liberia placed in America and secured by American receivership of customs under the direction of an American bank and assisted by an American financial adviser.

The American minister and consul general to Liberia is required to perform both diplomatic and consular functions, and for this dual service he receives a salary of but $5,000 per annum, which is $5,000 less than is paid to any other minister of the United States, $4,000 less than is paid to Foreign Service officers of Class I, $3,000 less than is paid to Foreign Service officers of Class II, $2,000 less than is paid to Foreign Service officers of Class III, $1,000 less than is paid to Foreign Service officers of Class IV, and is equal only to the salaries paid to Foreign Service officers of Class V, which comprises no consul general and no diplomatic officer of higher grade than that of second secretary. That a minister accredited to a foreign government should receive a salary no larger than that received by a second secretary of legation is an anomaly in the Foreign Service of the United States, which, in the view of the undersigned, should, in fairness to the minister and for the sake of uniformity in the Foreign Service, be corrected.

The duties of the American minister resident and consul general are in all respects similar to those performed by other American ministers and may be fairly compared to those performed by such ministers at posts in the smaller Latin American countries. These ministers all receive $10,000 annually.

Moreover, with the cost of living at Monrovia for a foreigner being even higher than it is in the United States, it is impossible for the American minister, unless he be a man of large independent means, to meet the requirements of diplomatic life and his family necessities on the small salary now granted to the post.
Respectfully submitted,
J. P. COTTON
Acting Secretary of State
Department of State,
February 13, 1930,
Washington, D.C.