The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-04-26

in blood All through the colonIaI
davs new waves of immigration from
time TO time swept hither across the
: ocean. now from one country, now
from another. The same thing has
gone on ever since our birth as a ma
ton; and for the last sixty years the
tide of immigration has been at the
1 full The newcomers are soon ao-
/ sorbed into our eager national life,
and are radically ana profoundly
changed thereby. the rapidity of their
/ each group OF newcomers. as it adds
its blood to the life. also changes it
somewhat. and this change and
growth and development have gone on
eaGily, generation, by generation
throughout three centuries.
The Early Pioneers.
The pioneers of our people who
first landed on these shores on that
eventfuI day three centuries ago, had
before them task which during the
ger and difficulty. The conquest of a
new continent is iron work. People
who dwell in old civilizations and find
that therein so much of humanityS
lot is hard, are apt to complain against
the conditions as being solely due TO
man and TO speak as if life could be
made easy and simple if there were
but a virgin continent in which to
work II Is true that the pioneer life
was simpler, but it was certainly not
easier. As a matter of fact, the first
work of the pioneers in taking possess
sion of d lonely wilderness is so rough,
SO hard. so dangerous that all but the
strongest spirits fail. The early iron
days of such a conquest search out
alike the weak in body and the weak
IN soul. In the warfare against the
rugged sternness of primevaI nature.
only those can conquer who are
themselves unconquera bic 1t is not
until the first bitter years have passed
mat the life becomes easy enough to
invite a mass of newcomers, and so
great are the risk, hardship, and toll
of the early years that there always
exists threat of lapsing back from
civilization.
The history of the pioneers of
jamestown, of the founders of Vir-
g1n1a, illustrates the truth of all this.
Famine and pestilence and war mem
aced the little band of daring men
VINO had planted themselves alone on
the edge OF frownine continent
Moreover, as men ever find. whether
in the tiniest frontier community or
IN the vastest and most highly organ
led and complex civilized society.
their worst foes were in their own
bosomS- DisseESion, distrust the m
ability of some to work and the I'M
Willingness of others, jealousy ar
rogance and envy, folly and laziness
in short all the shortcomings with
which we have TO srapple nov. were
laced by those pioneers. and at mo-
mentS threatened their whole enter
prise with absolute ruin. It was some
time before the ground on which thew
had landed supported them. in snite
or its potential fertility and thew
looked across the sea for supplies At
one moment so hopeless did thew be-
come that the whole colony en-
berked, and was only saved from
abandoning the country by the op-
perfume arrival of help from abroad.
Colonizing in the South.
At last they took root in the land
ana 6it were already prospecting when the
Pllgrlms landed at Plymouth. In a
rev years great inflow of settlers be-
gan Four of the present states of
New England were founded. Virginia
waxed apace- The Carolinas grew up
TO the south of it. and Maryland to the
north OF it. The Dutch colonies be-
tween, which had already a absorbed the
swedish, We're in their turn absorbed
by the English Pennsylvania was
founded and. later still, Georgia. There
were many wars with the Indians and
with the dauntless captains whose
banners bore the lilies of France Att
last the British flag flew without a
rival in all eastern North America.
national Independence
For half a century after We became
a separate nation there was com para
lively little immigration to this coun-
try Then the tide once again set
htther. and has flowed in ever-increas-
ing size until in each of the last three
years a greater number of people came
TO these shores than had landed on
them during the entire colonial period. |
Generation by generation these people
have been absorbed into the national
life Generally their sons. almost al |
ways their grandsons- are fndistin-
gufshable from one another and from
their fellow Americans descended from /
the colonial stock For all alike the
mentally the same. and for all alike
these problems change from genera |
ton TO generation
In the colonial period. and for at
least a century after its close, the con- /
quest of the continent. the expansion I
of our people westward to the Ale /
ghenies. then to the Mississippi. then
to the Pacific, was always one of the /
most important tasks, and sometimes /
the most important. in our national 1
life Behind the first settlers the con- !
ditions grew easier. and in the older |
settled regions of all the colonies life /
speedily assumed much of comfort |
and something of luxury; and though /
generally it was on a much more
democratic basis than life in the Old /
World. it was by no means democratic /
when judged by our modern stand /
ards: and here and there. as in the 4
tide-water regions of Virginia. a genu- /
inc aristocracy grew and hourished- /
But the men who first broke ground 1
in the virgin wilderness, whether on
the Atlantic coast, or in the interior, !
fought hard for mere life In the /
early stages the frontieFsman had to /
do battle with the savage. and when /
the savage was vanQuished there re-
manned the harder strain OF war with |
the hostile forces of soil and climate.
with food, fever. and famine There |
was sickness and bitter weather: there |
were no roads: there was a complete |
lack of all but the very toughest and
most absolute necessarles Under
such circumstances the men and wom-
en- who made ready the continent for l
finU BILE themselves 10 [