Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 29, 1910)
V OVEDTON HE Hrst Idea of a "Liberia" set tlement of free negroes arose with the foundation of the Brit ish colony of Sierra Leone. Aft er the close of the American War of Independence in 1783 It became necessary to provide for the negro troops who had served Great Britain faithfully in that unhappy struggle. They were at first deported to Nova Scotia , but had no place there In the body politic of white men ; they were no longer slaves , but the Idea of granting the suffrage to negroes was then displeasing to the dominant race. There was also the problem of the free Maroon negroes of Jamaica , who were Irksome to the authori ties In a land of slavery. So the Idea of foundIng - Ing a free negro state or community In West Africa for the reception of enfranchised Amer ican negroes came into being about 1781 , and In 1787 the colony of Sierra Leone was found ed under a chartered company and taken over by the crown in 1808. Early In the nineteenth century the same difficulty arose In the United States , namely , the presence of thousands of free negroes whose case had not been sufficiently provided ( or by the American Constitution. Somehow i pffiffis f' < . ' * v * ' ' " M ' ' * . i I F C LTj3//tr//YO THF UBttfAff fNDEPEHDFNC I ui uiiivi i uun uiia Brewing Impatient of being taxed without rep resentation must bo provided for. So several philanthropists , remembering Sierra Leone , thought to promote by private enterprise and philanthropy a similar colony ncijjss the sea x which might provide for the return to West _ Africa ( whence most of them had come ) of the freed slaves of the United States. Indeed , there was a strong disposition to adopt Sierra Leone for this purpose , with the assent of the British government ; but the local authorities of Sierra Leon showed themselves vfry averse from receiving American negroes , who might owe a divided allegiance. Accordingly the American founders of "Li beria" ( this name was not given to the Infant state until 1824) ) who v.'ero mostly white men with n few mulattoes and negroes selected the Grain Coast , Immediately to the south and east of Sierra Leone , for their experiment. It was some weeks before the hostility of the natives , who were wedded to the slave trade , cculd bo overcome , but In 1S22 active operations were begun. A thirty-acre tract was allotted to each man with the means of cultivating It. The National Colonization soci ety's agents became discouraged nt the diffi culties that were met .and returned to Ameri ca with a few faint-hearted ones ; but the others rallied about n determined negro , Elijah Johnson , and remained. The colony was en larged by the addition of new tracts. New settlements were afterward formed at Capo Monte and In the newly acquired Bassa Land , In which , In 183-1 , a town , was founded and called Edina , In acknowledgment of pecuniary aid sent from Edlr.'jurgh. Many of the neigh boring chiefs were received into the colony , and others were subdued. Trials of many kinds , deprivations nnd dissensions wfro the lot of the colony , managed by n society which did not fully know whether Its alms were sen timental or practical. In 1S47 Liberia was loft to Its own resources and declared an inde pendent republic. The colony immediately be gan to show more prosperity , numerous churches and schools were founded , newspa pers were established , and slavery In the neighboring states was abolished. The first president of Independent Liberia was Roberts , an octoroon. He was a most able , and cour ageous man nnd the country made rapid Btrldes in civilization and other material lines of progress under his administra tion. The constitution of the republic Is framed after that of the United States. There are a president , vice- president , a council of six ministers and a house of representatives. Voters ers must bo of negro blood and own real estate. The natives gnerally do not avail themselves of the suf frage. No foreigner can own land without the consent of the govern- ernment. The coast territory Is formed into the counties of Bassa , Capo Palmas and Slnoe , with one superintendent each , and Montserra- do , with four superintendents. The capital is Monrovia , named after President Monroe. English money Is'used , but American money figures usually In the keeping of accounts. There is a Liberlan coinage and a rather largo paper currency. The official language of the country Is English. The civilized Inhabitants - . habitants are orthodox Protostnnts , mostly Episcopalians. During the littles and sixties of the last cen tury the Americo-Liberlans did much to explore - ploro the Interior and enter into treaty rela tionships with the native chiefs. But thirty years ago their administration began to get into financial difficulties. It is not an easy thing to create a well-ordered , well-governed state In tropical Africa without a consider able capital to draw on. Consider for n mo ment what Great Britain has spent on Sierra Lcono since 1787 , and on the Gold Coast wars , the opening up of Nigeria ; or the outlay of France on Soncgambla or Dahomey ; and then Imagine how the government of Liberia could without any reserve of capital bring law , order and civilization Into a denfaely foreated terri tory nearly the size of England , with a prob able population of over a million warlike sav ages and semi-savages. So long as Britain nnd France the control ling powers contented themselves with the mere occupation of a few coast towns on the seaboard of their West African dominions or protectorates , the Monrovia government could afford to do the same. But when thebo great European powers were compelled by force of circumstances to occupy and administer the regions behind their coasts the Llberlans found themselves in a position of great diffi culty. They had been allotted theoretically by Franco and England a considerable hinter land more than fiO.OOO square miles and were hold responsible for the doings of the native tribes In that extensive interior. Now those tribes had never been subdued by the government of the republic. They were many of them In treaty relationships with the Mon rovia administration , and such of them as had heard of the civilized negro government on the coast ( nnd it must bo remembered that much of the Interior Is dense forest , Inhabited by tribes who for ages have been isolated in that forest , and wore and are quite ignorant of the world outside their tribal land ) were quite willing to regard the Llberians as the ruling power on the seashore. But they were very disinclined to obey orders from Monrovia If contrary to tholr own desires. The tribes farthest inland looked upon the British'and French the "White men" as ag gressors who were putting down' ' by force a most lucrative slave trade , who were forcibly disclosing the secrets of sacred streams llko the Niger near its sources , who , in short , were not only to bo opposed , but whose organized territories offered a most profitable field for raids and robberies. More than this : the Im port of guns , gunpowder , rifles ( above till ) and alcohol was being restricted or forbidden by the Europeans. The Liberlan coast , especially where it was slenderly guarded by the Libe rlan administration , offered the one loophole through which these forbidden goods might bo smuggled. Accordingly a great trade sprang up between thebo uncontrolled hinterland tribes nnd the Kru ponpln on Ihn roast , who affected a sort of detachment from the govern ment by the American-Negro republic. In these ways the Lihorlnn hinterland became a positive source of danger and expenae to the British protectorate of Sierra Leone and the French possessions of the Sudan and Ivory Coast. Consequently the Liberlan government has been forced of late years to live somewhat beyond Its means In organizing a police and a marine , In fed East Africa The "servant problem" is bad enough in America , and the experiences mistresses have to relate are many and varied ; but an Infinite ly wider range of possibilities Is opened up when more man and a bachelor at that tackles the servant and other household prob lems in an East African bungalow. Anything can happen and does happen ! Native house servants of a sort are plen tiful enough around the chief towns of Brit ish East Africa , Nairobi and Mombasa , and the slightest rumor lhat the Muzungu ( white man ) requires a "boy" or m'pezi ( cook ) fills one's compound with cooks , "generate" and raw niggers , representing every tribe under Africa's sun , a writer In the WIde World says. The average bachelor contents himself with four servants a head "boy , " a cook , n "toto" ( youth ) to assist them , and a m'shenzl ( raw , untrained native ) for odd jobs , gardenIng - Ing , etc. It Is no easy task to make a selection from the host of eager , voluble applicants. Dirty , carefully otuck-togother "baruas" ( testimoni als ) are examined and the owners questioned , but it is unwise to put much faith in these documents , for it is no unusual occurrence for a "hoy" on the principle of "tho more the merrier" to proudly present you with three occupying the Kru coast nnd in attempting to construct roads to places of importance In the Interior. It has from time to time engaged Euro pean officers for ita services ; but whereas some of these engagements have been of noteworthy success , others have been the reverse , and It Is difficult to locate the blame. European capital is somewhat shy of Liberia , partly owing to the turbulence of the Interior natives ( though this has been exaggerated , for white men very seldom really incur danger from the Indigenes ) , but more on account of the irresponsible fickleness of the leglnlaturo , which is given too much to the hasty making and unmaking of laws and to conflicts of opinion with the executive. Yet the country is extremely rich. Its rocks and river valleys produce both gold nnd diamonds , some of the coast districts ( especially In the east ) even give Indications of the existence of , bitumen , or oil-bearing strata , while the forests of the In terior are remarkable for their wealth of rubber- bearing trees nnd lianas , tholr ebony , African teak and "mahogany , " and the plassava fiber ( derived from the raphla palm ) , which Is used for so many purposes connected with the making of brooma and brushes. Then there Is the oil-palm , with HSJ two kinds of oil , both valuable to commerce the oil of the husk and that of the kernel. The extraction of this last and Its great value for special Industries are said to have been dis covered some seventy-five years ago by an American nagro , < ono of the early colonists of Liberia. A great deal was done by these freed slave settlers , for which they have never re ceived sufficient credit. Unfortunately the attempted colonization of Liberia has boon hindered by the American negro colonists proving almost as much llnblo to malarial fever and other African diseases as Europeans. They seem to have lost the relative Immunity from those blood-germ mnl adles which tholr African ancestors enjoyed. The modern America-Llberlan docs not stand the climate of Liberia much better than the white man from Europe or America. The country Is not unhealthy In the Interior ; It Is the coast bolt which , with Its eternal heat nnd moisture'Its very short dry seasons , nnd tor rential rains ( conditions which suit admirably the cultivation of rubber , coffee and cacao ) saps the vitality of residents not of African birth. And the hinterland , with Its superior conditions of climate , has already a some what largo Indigenous population , who are not eager for foreign additions to their numbers. testimonials , every ono bearing a different namn from the ono under which ho Introduces himself ! These gentry are always greatly offended when you kick them off the veranda and tell them they have bought or stolen the docu ments from otjicr natives ! Upon ono occasion a wouldbo cook brought mo a "barua" signed by a well-known settler and worded : "To whom It may concern ; The bearer of this 'barna' Is an Infernal rogue and thief. Please kick him out. " By the time I hod stopped laughing the nig ger had arrived at the conclusion that some thing was wrong and was doing record time down the path , so I vns unable to avail my self of the kind 1-ivltntlou. HORSE TRADE IN MISSOURI. In St. Charles last week Lester Ingraham traded A. SOsborn a horbo for a motor boat. A few hours later Osborn discovered that the horse was worthless , ho he went to the boat nnd removed the engine and the horao died as ho was hauling It away. A Jury In n jus ; tlco's court atvarded fngrnham the engine anc | 1 damages. Detroit Free Press. PtU-S I vrnnt nny pernon who suffera with 1)11. lounncqa , consUimlloi ) , Indigestion or nny liver or blood nllmcnt , to try tar Fawl'nw Liver Pill * . I Kiiaruntco they will purify tlia l > lnoil nn ( I put tlio lUt-r r.r , . ' fctvm ; U tutu n hrnlthful coiulltlon nnil will jioiilllvely ourn biliousness and constipation * or I > vlll refumi your money. Munjon's llo-noopalhlc Homi Homedy Co. , G3rd nnd Jefferson Mi. . Phlla. , Pa , TRY FflUfK EYE REMEDW H For Red , Wtsk , Weary , Watery Eye * and Rj I GRANULATED EYELIDS N MurinoDoesn'tSmiu't-SoothcsEyePain DwiUlJ Sell Mnttno Er Rtoedr , LlqiU , 2Se , 50c , $1.00 Murlno Eya Snlvc , In Aseptic Tuliet , 25c , $1.00 CYI ) BOOKS AND ADVICE FREE IlY MAIL MurincEyoRcmcdyCo.Chicnso Absence makes the pjcturo post cards nccuuiulntc. Onnstlnntlon causes many nerloui ( llntnucn. I ti tliorouiihly curml njr Doctor IMercii'n 1'loaunl I'olk-ts. Olio a lAxatlt , tliruu for calliartlo. The years write tholr records on men's hearts na they do on trcos Inner circles of growth which no eye can BOO. Saxo Holm. When Rubbers Become Necessary And your shoos plnclti shako Into your slioca Allcn'u Knot-Ease. the atitlsoptlo powder for the foot. Cures tlrcil , nclilnc foot niul tnUcs the stlnir out of Corns unil Bunions. Alwnyn usn It for Ilrcnklnir In No ' shoes nnd for danclni ; parties. Hold everywhere 2Gc. Sninplo mntlod KRIS 13. Address , Alton S. Olinatud. Lo Roy , N. V , 1 Distinction. Mllly Is this picture llko your fa ther ? Tilly Of course not , Billy ! It la llko father when ho has his pictures taliou. Puck. How's This ? Wo otter Ono Hundred Dollars Howard for anj CMO of catarrh Hint cannot bo cured by Uall'l Cuiarrli Cure. F. J. CNKNEY A CO. . Toledo. O. We , the undcrslfrnctl. lm\o knotCn 1' . J. Cheney for the last 15 years , and bellovo him perfectly , lion , orablo In nil builnc&i transactions and llnnnclally oblo to carry out any obligation ! miulo by lilt Orra. WALDINO , KINNAN A : MARMN , Wholcmla Urusslit . Tulcdo , O. Halt's CAtnrrli Cure la taken Internally , actlnil directly upon tha blood nnd mucous itirtucra o ( the yste.ni. Iritlmonlata > ent free. 1'rlco 70 ccnU pel bottle. Bold by all Drueeliti. UaU'i Family I'UU ( or constipation. Undo Allen. "If you're getting old nnd don't know It , " philosophized Uncle Allen Sparks , "you'll find it out when you go back to the town whore you grow up and look around for the boys you used to play with when you were a kid. " ' Taken at Hla Word. "Since you are BO busy today , " said the urbane Journalist , "will you kindly tell mo when and where I can meet you lor an Interview ? " "Go to blazes I" exclaimed the Irate pollllclam "Thanks. I'll consider It an appoint ment. " True Independence. You will always find those who think they know what Is your duty bettor than yon know it It Is easy In the world to Hvo after the world's opinion ; It Is easy In solitude to-llvo after our own ; but the great man Is ho who , In the midst of the crowd , keeps , with perfect sweetness , the In dependence of solitude. Emerson. Tribute-to Hold-Up Artist. "Tho train doesn't stop nt Crimson Gulch any more. " "No , " replied Three-Finger Sam. "I'm afraid the town doesn't get much respect from the railroad. " "Respect ! Why that railroad la jloan torrlQed. Ever since tho' news rot around that Stage Coach Charley jad settled hero that train jest gives fcno shriek and jumps out of sight. " Beware the Dog ! A family moved from the city to a suburban locality nnd wcro told that they should got n watchdog to guard the premises at night. So they bought the largest dog that was for sale In the kennels of a neighboring dog fan cier , who was a German. Shortly afterward the house was entered by burglars , who made n good haul , while the big dog slept. The man wont to the dog fancier nnd told him about it. "Veil , vat you need now , " said the dog merchant , ' 'is a leodlo dog to vako up the big dog , " Everybody's. Let Us Cook Your Breakfast ! with cream or milk and notice the pleasure the family finds in the appetizing crispness and flavour of this delightful food. "The Memory Lingers" rostxun Cereal Co. , LW. Battle Creek , Mich.