Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1899-07-07
Something in a Name.

\ very cranky crank, wants To sub
Stltute i new name for the United
States of America. 1t is Professor
Watcrhou>c, OF Washington Univer-
Sity, who has discovered that the title
10y which our nation is designated is
altogether missioner, quite mislead-
Ing to foreigners and so ambiguous as
to include about the whole of the
Western Hemisphere. Some of the
objectionable points he attempts to
establish, stated in his own words, are
a. follows:
At present there is no proper name
that diStnctively describes this country
/ Columbia and America apply to the
whole Western Hemisphere. The peo-
pie OF Canada and Mexico, Of Central
and south America, are all Americans,
and might Justly resent the pretensions
which claim that title exclusively for the
inhabitants Of the United States OF
Nn,;'i imcica. The United States is
an awkward expression. 1t is plural in
| form and singular in sense. 1t does not
afford personal or adjective derivatives.
United States men and United Statesian
are inadmissibly harsh. United States
OF North America is an exact designa-
| ton OF this country The first letters of
these words form the word 'Csona.'
This term is agreeable to the ear, singu-
lar in number, and precise in definition
Its introduction will substitute for the
incomplete United States an address so
full and exact that no foreigner would
misunderstood it."
Now the learned collcgian seems to
ignore the significant fact that when a
live Yankee speaks or writes United
States" he means not only our little
handful of States and Territories be-
tween the Atlantic and Pacific, but a
good part OF the habitable globe on
the outside. Every schoolboy knows
that the United States OF to-day COM
prehends Porto Rico, the Sandwich
and Philippine Islands. Thus the
Professor entangles himself in a web
OF his own weaving when he makes
"Csona" signify the United States of
North America and no more. The
Sandwich Islands, to-day, are as truly
part and parcel of the sovereign Union
as our own Washington, or any other
of the older States, not excepting
either of the original thirteen colonies.
Thus it will again be seen that if our
nations title is ambiguous, the Pro-
fessor's proposed substitute is a seri-
ously defective one, in that it fails to
comprehend the whole of our public
domain. When an Englishman
speaks of Victoria he alludes to her
not only as the ruler of the British
Isles, but the sovereign of Canada,
British Columbia, Australia, as we'll as
the Empress of the Indies.
Who knows but the term United
States" may one day designate the
whole OF North America? Every as
pirant for fame should remember that
it is as hard to change old names as it
is to remove old landmarks. When
the Ethiopian can change his skin or
the leopard his spots; when Jemima
says we may call her Sally, then some
unborn crank may hope to change the
name OF the greatest nation on earth.
When Cassius said, "To be Roman,
is to be greater than king" he did
not express the superlative of earthly
greatness. To be citizen of the
United States, is to be an American,
and to be an American is TO be a SOW
ereign of the world.