The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-01-29
NEGROES SENT TO LIBERIA
THE BLACK REPUBLIC OF AFRl-
 CA.
The Contury's Work of the American
Colonization Society.

1 Colonization Society.
 A negro from one of the southern
 states was this week placed on board
 a steamship sailing from New York for
 England. In addition to his ticket he
 had s75 in his pocket, and was bound for Liberia, on the west coast of Africa,
 where he is to make his home with thousands of others of his race who
 have been sent out from this country
 in like manner. The immigrants pas
 sage and money were given to him by the American colonization society of this city, which, for almost 100 years,
 has been engaged in the business of finding homes in Liberia for destitute
 negroes who want to join the little re- | public on the coast of Africa. During
 the years immediately preceding and
 following the civil war the American
 colonization society sent out a great many negroes, but in recent years it has
 been unable to do much in this direction
 because of the absence of funds There
 is no lack of candidates who want to go
 to Liberia, or of cases that would be i helped if it were in the societys power i to do so; but without money it is im- 1 possible to keep up the work of former l years. The old rooms in the coloniza-
 tion building, which have been occu- ] pied for the past 50 years, are still re- 1 tained by the society, and every few months one or more negroes are sent
 to the republic, where no white man can
 own property or hold office.
 The organization and work of this so- eiety are exceedingly interesting, for connected with it have been some of the notable men of the country's history. Among the officers of the society at
 various times were Henry Clay, Bush rod Washington, nephew of George | Washington; Charles Carroll of Car rollton, Md, and James Monroe. The
 establishment of the colony in Africa
 was brought about by the wish of some
 broad-minded patriots to return ne-
 groes to the homes from which they had
 been forcibly wrested by slavery, and
 at the same time to use them as an in
 strument for civilizing and evangelizing
 Africa. The scheme was talked of as
 early as 17S7, when pr. William Thorn
 ton issued an address to the negroes of
 Massachusetts to accompany him to the
 west coast of Africa. Nothing came of
 this movement, however, From that
 time until 1915 there was more or less talk of providing some way for the col onization in Africa of free negroes and those that might be emancipated there after The first actual step in this di- rection was taken in 1916, when Paul Cuffee, a free negro of New Berford, | who had shown marked ability as a business man and was the owner of a | ship, carried out 40 negro colonists from Boston to Sierra Leone, at an expense | of $4000, borne entirely by himself. In | the fall of 1916 small but notable meeting, Henry Clay being chairman ! and John Randolph of Roanoke a par ticipant, was held at Davis hotel. in this city when a committee was ap- | pointed to draft a constitution and | rules for the government of a coloniza- tion society. At second meeting, held January 1, 1877, the constitution and rules were adopted, and the American colonization society was established with Bushrod Washington, nephew of George Washington, as president
 Apeals were made to Congress for aid ' from the government, but although they were renewed a number of times in after years, nothing came of any of them. A commission was sent out in 1917 for the purpose of reporting on va rious sites in Africa that would be suit f,,. | island named Sherbro, near the coast, about 40 miles southeast of Sierra Le- one. Although the traffic in slaves had been prohibited by Congress some years the nefarious business was continued in by great many men. In March 1919, bill was passed and sign ed by President Monroe providing that all slaves illegally imported or taken at sea should be held in the custody of the United States government until they could be returned to their native shores, and that agents should be ap- pointed on the coast of Africa to receive them for which purpose an appropria- ion of $100000 was made. A shipload I of slaves was sent in the same year to ( the island of Sherbro, but the island | proved to be unhealthful, the agents lied and most of the colonists left for l( Sierra Leone. In 1921 agents of the so- ,iety sent an exploration party along ', he coast southeast as far as Cape 6 and here obtained by pur- ,hase from the king and head men a u arge tract of land. This territory was r made over to the two agents of the so- ,iety, and all the subsequent acquis- 5
 ions were made in the name of the s society by purchase. The la settlement rapidly grew into a we'll or lered town, with regular streets and attractive business and residence build lr ngs, school houses and churches. At he annual meeting of the society in S24 the colonial territory was named S liberia, term intended to signify the ountry of freedom, and the town on 1 he cape was named Monrovia, in honor | T f President Monroe. As fast as the unds in the hands of the society would r ermit ships were fitted out with cap h ured slaves who were liberated in the olony. This work was kept up regular y and on a large scale as late as 1870, lr, ut since that time comparatively few
 egroes have been sent out. The soci- II ty is still active however and whom |