Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-10-31

fion. He dreamed and he planned te
make himself emperor of the West In
dies IN levy toll upon all the commerce
of the gulf and to break the power Of
Spain in the western world
If Morgan had any virtue other thar
courage there is no record OF 1t. NOT one
kindly act, not one good deed Is creolteo
10 him. On the other hand. there ars
charged against him more atrocities' more
horrors. more terrible crimes asalns'
women and against defenseless men thAn
nerhaps any other man in history. The
men he led were Of his stripe and kino
No more Iawless. vicious. savage ana ue-
launched creatures could be found IN the
world. They were the offscourinss OF
all nations. men in whom conscience was
dead and TO whom violence and blood
meant little.
II was in 1877 that Morgan arrived III
the West Indies. He had been Dorm III
Wales and his father was q weh-to-oo
farmer. but agriculture had no cnarih
for the young man. He thirsteo lot az
venture and the stories he hearo Oh ,hs
wonderful new land across the ocean leo
him to leave home. They had pieasan,
habi, in those days. IN order TO sweil
immigration to the colonies anu p'oNiu
servants and laborers for the T1cn ,,,sh 20.
of shanghaiing young men In british sea
ports. BY charging fabulous prices ~.
passage, food and clothing ana Iorcins
them to work out the debt In the new
world they practically made s'an n;cked uu
I'm one OF the English seaports, was
taken TO Barbados and there had 10 VOTE
for two years before he had cleared Mis
debt and won his freedom Maybe tne
injustice of this KIDNAPPING. mayoe 'n ,',-n n
terness of the years of servile toll turned
all that was good in Morgan into venom;
At any rate from the day ne was ,reSu
in Barbados until the day he dieo MS
life was one Of unbridled crime.
tH
From Barbados he went to Jamaica
which at that time was one OF the prI"-
cinal stations of the buccaneers. Not
many years before buccaneering had been
respectable. The original buccaneers were
the men who slaughtered the wild cattle
O, the West Indies, cured the meat and
sold 1t.
The Spaniards, jealous OF the number OF
English and French in the business, and
unable to control or tax the industry. did
the usual stupid thing Of trying to break
II I'D by force of arms. The butchers, bit
ter and vindictive by reason Of this wrong.
made reprisals wherever they could.
on the land they went to sea and grad
uaIly the buccaneers developed into FULL
f1edged pirates. Not only did the French
and the English authorities wink at this
piracy, but they sanctioned 1t. France
and England were at war with Spain al
most constantly. and as the buccaneers
centered their attention on Spanish craft
they saw In the pirates activity harass-
ment for the common enemy.
All the world was against Spain just
then. The nation that had been the most
powerful and the richest on earth was
crumbling. America was Its treasure
house and Spain was drawing on II to
meet the heavy drain made by war, ex-
travagance and folly at home. The
wealth Of the Incas and the mines OF
Mexico were made to yield heavy tribute.
Across the isthmus were brought the gold
and silver that came from Peru and the
whole Pacific coast of South America and
loaded on galleons bound for Cadiz. From
the mines OF Mexico the precious metals
We're carried to Vera Cruz and there
shipped to Spain. What did it matter to
the buccaneers II the treasure ships were
guarded by Spanish ships Of war? II the
odds were too great the buccaneers might
be loath to attack. but In case Of storm or
disaster the pirates were like sharks.
Some of the captures made by the bucca-
neers In the twenty years of their as
cendancy 1880 LisO) are almost beyond be-
lief. But what they gathered In prizes
and plumber they quickly got rid OF by
riotous living. drink and gaming being
their passions. Had Il not been for this
they would have swept the gulf clean OF
an open license to piracy. the islands OF
the gulf attracted hordes of desperate.
adventurous spirits, who saw in this SUBJ
tropical country paradise. The climate