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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 1912)
ww prrsr rr3 14 The Commoner. VOLUME 12, NUMBER 51 v" 'jjjffs'Qfyi, it if L bs- ;l Old Glory Old Glory! Say who By tho ships, and tho crew And tho long, blended mnks of tho Grey and tho Blue Who gave you, Old Glory, tho name that you bear With such pride everywhere, As you cast yourself free to the rap turous air, And leap out full length, as we'ro wanting you to? Who gave you that name, with tho ring of the same, And the- honor and fame so becoming to you Your stripes stroked in ripples of White and of Red, With your stars at their glittering best overload, By day or by night Their delightful light, Laughing down from their little square heaven of blue Who gave you the name of Old Glory? Say who? Who gave you the name of Old Glory? The old banner lifted, and faltering then In vague lisps and whispers fell silent again. Old Glory, speak out! We are asking about How you happened to ' "favor" a ' name, so to say, That sounds so familiar and careless and gay, As we cheer it and shout in otr wild, breezy way We, the crowd, every man of us, call ing you We, Tom, Dick and Harry, each swinging his hat, And hurrahing "Old Glory!" like uR-"f- you wero our king, A When, Lord, we all know, we're as common as sin; And yet it seems like you humor us all, And waft us your thanks, as we hail you, and fall Into line, with you over us, waving us on Where our gloried, sanctified betters have gone.. And this is the reason we're want . ing to know (And we're wanting it so! Where our own fathers went we are willing to go.) Who gave you tho Glory? Oho Who gave you the Glory? name of Old name of Old The old flag unfurled with a billowy thrill For an instant; then wistfully sighed and was still. Old Glory, tho story we're wanting to hear Is what tho plain facts of your christening were; For your name, just to hear it, Repeat it, and cheer it, is a tang to the spirit, As salt as a tear; And seeing you fly, and the boys marching by, There's a shout in tho throat and a blur in the eye, And an aching to live for you always or die; If, dying, we still keep you waving on high, And so, by our love For you, floating above, And the scars of all wars and the sorrows thereof, Who gave you the name of Old Glory, and why Are we thrilled at the name of Old Glory? Then the old banner leaped like a sail in the blast, And fluttered an audible answer at last, And it spake, with a shake 'of the voice, and it said: By the driven snow white and the living blood red Of my bars. Lnd their heaven of stars overhead; By tho svmbol conjoined of them all, skyward cast, As I float from the steeple, or flap at tho mast, Or droop o'er the sod where the long grasses nod; My name is as old as the glory of God. So I came by the name of Old Glory. James Whitcomb Riley. were destroyed, so that this latest shock comes less severely. In Balti more, where tho negro was anything but a curiosity, fifteen yeaTs after the war I was told by more than one black man that he would be mighty glad to have his old master back; he never used to worry about his food and clothes. But always the masters were white men. The fact that negroes were placed in poverty by the act that made free all other negroes in the land is a chapter in American history only re cently obtained with difficulty by Calvin Dill Wilson. The facts were gathered for the Carnegie institu tion of Washington from documents in courthouses, historical societies and libraries, and appear in a recent issue of the Popular Science Monthly. Ancient history shows people were placed in bondage frequently with out regard to color or previous con dition; in fact at one period in hu man progress being made a slave was evidence of kindness on the part of your captor, whose natural inclina tion was to kill and possibly eat you. Without going into the sub ject, which might readily lead to great length, it may be recalled that in Greece free parents sold their children into slavery, and that per sons hopelessly in debt sold them selves to their creditors. If there were any justice at any time in the custom or privilege the negro With equal rights in America has as much right as another to hold slaves, par ticularly negro slaves. son Jacob was free. Aided by his mother, young Jacob managed to purchase his father at a reasonable price. Later the old man had occasion to reprove the youth, and the latter, disgruntled, went to a negro speculator, who bought the old man at a high price and shipped him to a distance. Young Jacob boasted the old man had been sent to the corn fields near New Orleans, where he might learn some manners. John Carruthers Stanley, a negro born in 1772 in Craven county, North Carolina, was emancipated in 1808 by the legislature of the state upon petition of his mistress, Mrs. Lydia Stewart, whose husband was dead. Stanley advanced rapidly in proper ty, according to his information, until ho was the owner of sixty-four slaves and forty-two other negroes were bound to him by law for ser vice. - Dilsey Pope owned a house and lot in Columbus, Ga., was her own mistress and also enjoyed the luxury of a husband, whom (thrifty soul) she hired out. He offended her and she exercised her right of owner ship, selling him to a Colonel Sea born Jones. Dilsey Pope recon sidered and pleaded with the colonel to reconsider. She wanted to buy Asthma I'llESCIlirTIOJf FRKH. Knflos Stamp. INUVOLDSTAD'S IMIAlt. HVY, Colorado Spring, Colorado Indian Hunner Dark averaging 240 white ccrs annual'y, Grand prize record. Extra large Mammoth Hronzc Turkeys. (Satisfaction truarantced.) Marion Schlotzlmuer, Specialist. I'llot Grove, Mo, MANY NEGROES OWNED SLAVES AND LOST THROUGH EjMANCIPATION Before slavery was abolished in tho United States 18,000 slaves had negro masters. That is a small number compared to a total of 2,- 000,000, but it is startling to. those of us who were saturated in our youth with tho idea that all owners and masters of slaves were of tho kind pictured in Mrs. Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin." When the head of our house returned in a faded blue uniform after a year spent in a hos pital in Frederick, Md., ho was credited wit;h having put down the rebellion and with having given liberty to the negro, who must, be regarded as a brother. In our town the only negro was John Smith, the baTber, and he was only about one quarter negro; but it seemed to me at that time I should have been happy to have 'had so much fuss over me as was being made in the north over all the black men. Later some of the romantic conclusions of youth 9- BARGAIN OFFER for Limited Time to New or Renewing Subscribers THE COMMONER and THRICE-A- WEEK NEW YORK WORLD, both One Year for Only One Dollar. Address Orders to THE COMMONER, Lincoln, Nebr With slavery as a part of our social fabric the negro who had acquired property or capital might no longer be content with the pro verbial, horse, clean shirt and shill ing; he naturally desired to own slaves as evidence of his standing, and as the customs of the country did not require slaves with white faces he could not but choose those of his own race. "The negroes brought with them from their native land African ideas and customs." says Mr. Wilson. "They were used from immemorial times to slavery. Many of those brought thence to America had been slaves in Africa. In boti cases they were used to slavery. It did not therefore seem to them unnatural for a negro in America to hold his brethren in bondage, when he had become free and able to buy his fellows. William Pitt, the younger,, in a speech, April 2, 1792, in the British parliament, on the abolition of the slave trade, said: 'Some evi dences say that the Africans ar,e ad dicted to the practice of gambling; that they even sell their wives and children and ultimately themselves.' The black man in America has al ways been imitative, and his desire to do what the white man did doubt less also Influenced him in this mat ter. Moreover, there were in his country tribal differences and an tagonisms which continued to obtain in America; the Guinea nigger was looked down on by members of su perior tribes, and one of a higher race often felt that a Guinea negro was fit only to serve him." Official figures are lacking from nearly all the states until within comparatively recent years, but Mr. Wilson ha-s found interesting inci dents bearing on this almost un known phase of American history. The Connecticut Historical society has a bill of sale from Samuel Stan ton, atonington, Conn., Oct. 6, 1783, io r-rince, a iree negro, of a slave woman named Binar. On the reverse of the document is a bill of sale of tho same Blnar, a Blave, to Isaac Denison. Among the stories told is of a Jacob, slave of a Mrs. Gaskeri, at Now -Bern, N. C. His wffe was a free woman, and consequently their PATENTS gJgSSffi1,?" l-'rco report as to 1 atcniablllty Illustrated (Juldo I'ook. ami List of Inventions Wanted, sent Iree. V1CTOK J. EVANS & CO., Wasuinetou. D.O. 6.ERNMENT Positions are easy .to eet. My lre BBltf booklet X1016 trlli how. Write today NOW. y jf KAltl, llOl'KINS, Wailifuzlon, II. I'. fril 1 ELlW I S Pntcntl5wyer,Va9hlnglon! Vtt H KaBTi H W D(jt Advice and books Iree. Hates reasonable. Hluhest references. lieBtBcxvIccn. Dnpcv TREATED, usually pivca quick Hvr"1 relief and soon temoves all swolllnir and short ureal h. Trial treatment sent Irco. Dr. H. H. Greens Sons, Box N, Atlanta, Ga. 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