Weekly independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1887-1914, 1902-02-07
ruE UGLY DUCK.

England. Russls, Germany, in fact,
well nigh all tie Powers Of ihe Old
World, protest their friendship for tho
American Republic. and the new world
Power cannot help being tiattered by
these tributes. The eagle is so large.
SO strong, in such excellent condition,
that one ls tempted to forget that he
was once u very small eugler, and thni
the larger birds pecked ut him as the
barnyard fowls pecEed at the ugly duck.
School teachers and patriotic speak.
ers keep alive the memory OF the
colonial troubles and the sufferinRs Of
the Revolutions. There ia u curious
mixture oi the glorious and the horrible
about those early daye; but it is mortit,.
ing to think Of the wretcheduess that
followed the peace Of 1883. Nominally,
we were independent; actually. the
wrangling and poverty stricken States
were so miserable that il seemed more
than possible that they would return to
their British allegiance. Ragged sol.
diers, cursInG I'M ~ungrateful Govern.
ment, a long sea-coast without q pro
tecting navy;a western frontier con-
siautly exposed to Indian atiacke; II
credit conspicuous by it's abseLce;
practically nothing Of what we now call
Americanlsm. but an extreme English
faction. which considered the Fourth Of
July vulgar. aud u radical French fac.
ton, which excused the worst deeds Of
the Parisian Revolutionists; these are
time u MedIterraneag commerce was
protected because Portugal was mt wal
with Algiers. but after Portuguese pro-
lection was withdrawn our Be amen
Jared badly. II we urged England a.
fulnll the conditions OF the treaty, we
heard unpleasant reminders Of de bts
Tint were still unpaid. Our French nj
lies lnsulted us. r~rprUached us, asked
for bribes and captured our merchant.
men until we we're driven to fight. Ap
parently every Power which knew tie
eaglet pecked him; but some remote
powers did not know him. When Balm.
bridge sailed to Con stantionple(ordereh
thither not by his own Government, but
by Algiers), he found that nobody knew
the United States OF America, and was
forced to explain that he came from the
New World discovered b.! Columbus.
So ended the eighteenth century. and
the nineteenth ope ned under worse
rather than better auspices. An Ameri
a vessel could scarcely enter a Euro
pean port without being liable to cap
turc under a British or French decree.
II m English cruiser was short Of men,
she merely stopped nm American mer
chantman and looked Tor deserters. 4
good seaman named John Smith was
seized Ms undoubtedly IN Englishman; II
sailor named Hugh Mcdonald was
claimed gs a Scotchman. and james
Murphy was ne = ssarily an Irishman.
The mans father and grandfather
might have been horn in America, hut
that made no difference. During our
second var with Great Britain the In-
dams hoped to secure about half nf the
S"uthi the Spaniards played into the
hands OF the British aud Indiana, aud
the Algerians resumed their former
hostilities. Long after 1912 the South
and the Middle West were still battle
grounds for the red man and the pale
face. For several decades we endured
all SORTS Of i'll treatment FROM the Span
ish authorities in the West Indies.
Tho Republic started without money.
without arms, without manufactures
and without dignity. 1t hal territory.
but il was jeered ut as lnud poor. Now
it is surprised at it's own size. The
scars are still visible, or wonld he il one
lifted the feathers, but the eagle feels
nc pain because no was Knocked or in.
suited eighty or ninety years Y
While the mythical eagle reuews his
youth, tile American eagle does not de
fire to do so. He was the victim Of The
worlds barn! ard. and now he is receiv
my compliments on al sides. WheI
Han Anderson wrote q The Ugly Duck"
he never dreamed how admirably h.
was tracing tho history OF the United
States OF Observation-Disclosures Public
Ledger.