The Washington bee., 1908-01-18

erica from 1910 to I847. During those
! thirty-one years the American Govern
lment sympathized and co-operated. In
I847 Liberia was organized and mod
eled after the United States Since
then, while America has had no official
responsibility for the new nation, it has
in all OF its diplomatic relations with
the world recognized its paternal N
terest.
The motives which induced leading
men both in the South and in the
North to cooperate in the African col
onization work were various; extend
ing from extreme selfshness in the
South. which sought TO ger rid of its
free Negroes as an element of danger
in the midst OF slavery, TO a phiian-
thropic purpose to help the Negro back
to his fatherland In 1870 there were
about two million slaves in America,
and nearly two hundred thousand free
Negroes. Many of the latter class were
men and women with large infusions of
Anglo-Saxon blood in their veins There
were many who were fairly educated
people OF high spirit and purpose, who
had grown up in the years before Am
erican slavery had beome so fully set
in the laws OF the country, before the
! complete surrender of the nation TO
slavery, whereby the Negro was made
an absolute chattel, A very large pro-
[ portion of the first Negro emigrants
! from America to what is now Liberia
were people Of fine character.
What has been the outcome Of this
sixty years of organized national life,
and what is the outlook for future in
dependence and growth? These ques-
ions are being asked by more people
| today than ever before
1t is doubtless true that there ha, no.
been as great a success as our hopeful
friends expected 1t must be stated that
very many friends. both white and
black, are greatly disappointed. But
we are to remember how often the
| friends of new and difficult enterprises
fail TO estimate Alright the elements OF
time and the necessary evolutions that
are brought about by ever changing
conditions, and are, therefore, unrea
sonable in their expectations | doubt
which has hurt Liberia the more: IL
out-and-out enemies, who have gross
ly misrepresentsd the country and lis
people, or injudicious and foolish
friends, who have failed to understand
the difficulties or overestimated favora-
bic conditions, and have spoken or wri,
ten unwisely.
Have we not expected too much
These people were without wealth, most
of them without experience in govern
ment and they were surrounded and
pressed on all sides by barbaric hea-
thenism. There were several times, had
it not been for the manifest interpos-
ton Of Divine Providence, they would
have been wiped out or driven INFO
the sea by surrounding savage hOrdes.
1t Is but few years since Sierra Le-
one, the British colony to the west, ov-
er a hundred years old and backed by
all the power and wealth of the British
Empire, has begun to make any pro-
gress worthy Of the name in opening up
the hinterland More than this: there
occurred there a few years ago mas
sacre led by few disaffected natives,
which cost over twelve hundred lives.
Had there been any unity and leader I
ship among the uncivilized tribes, even
Freetown itself, the capital of Sierra |
Leone. might have been sacked and ev-
cry European in it murdered.
According TO Sir Harry H. Johnston, |
the AmericO-Liberian population, tha;
Is American Negroes and their descend
ants, number about twelve thousand |
He also estimates that, including these,
there are probably ten thousand civil |
lied Liberians, mostly Christians, OF |
mixed and indigenous races. The same |
authority estimates the approximate
population of the Republic as 100000,
and that Of these probably 100000 are
MOhammedans, 10000 Christians, as
mentioned above, the rest being pagans.
[ think these estimates are too large, |
especially those of the total andMoham-
medan populations The Americo-Libe- |
rian population of 1900 claims to be
based on an actual census.
The territory Of the country includes
5000 square miles. This IS not quite
as large as the State of Illinois.
In 1904 the combined export and i'm
port trade amounted to a little over
100000. OF his amount 10000 was
with Great rBitain; $525,oOo with Ger