The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1911-01-19

MtsFuIe Ran q Seck-and-Neck Race
-peeIaration of Independence
Caused a Serious war-A Great
Land Company Dsspossessed on Ae-
count OF Tyrannical Conduet-an
Earthquake Put Republic Out OF
Commission.
(Correspondence OF The Caucasian
Enterprise.D
BIlkinsvIlIe. y. C., Jan. l6.-Co-
lcmbla IL the first State in our sister
country. South America. Colombia
IL nov and hez bin fer long time
republic, and wuz formed from three
other districts These districts were
once called quito" New Grenada
and "Carraca. Quito wuz q part
oy the Peruvian empire. New Gren-
ada il q. part CIV the coast country
found By Columbus durni hiZ fourth
voyage and lies on the Caribbean Sea.
Caracas, or Venezuela another por-
ton ov the coast country, wuZ awlso
discovered by Columbus. II Column
bus had kept awl ov the land he dis
covered he or hiz descendants would
hev bin he largest landowners in the
world. But Christopher never could
find time TO look after hiz real es-
tate. Hes discovered America first,
and then left hit in the hands ov the
cd
the politicians. Then he began to
make regular trips and discovered
one or. two new countries every time
he turned hiZ back upon the coast ov
Spain, and, il / mistake not, died
without ownin' a foot ov land. The
Spanish government once owned a
part or possibly awl ov this territory.
but lost hit in 1922. One district in
Colombia IL called Terra Firma,"
which sounds familiar.
Ojeda and Amerigo Vespucci visit
ed Colombia soon after Columbus re-
turned to Spain and explored some
CIV the coast country. In the year
1903 Ojeda and another Spaniard Sc
cured extensive land grants near the
coast.
About the year 1914 the province
ov Terra Firma and the grants own
ed by Ojeda and Nicuessa were given
to Pedro Arias de Avilia. This man
with a long name, explored much
ov the country, goin' az far north az
Cape Blanco and the town ov Pana-
m founded In no 10
de BenalcaZar effected the conquest
and colonization ov the country
while another official captured the
northern portion. After many ups
and downs the entire country wuz
consolidated and put under one ruler
in 1547. After this and until 1913
the country had anvil sorts ov rule
and misrule, mostly the latter, and
but little relief came until the French
invaded Spain. The people ov Co
lombia then decided that hit wuz a
guide time to set up government ov
their own, and they did. In 1910
they began to publicly talk the mat
ter and 1911 the formal declaration
wuz made. French troops had over
run Spain at that time and Spain
could not give much attention to any
ov her colonies. But civil war fol-
lowed the declaration ov independ-
ence, for the population wuz divided
into those who desired freedom and
those who called themselves royal
lists. The quantity ov bloodshed that
followed can never be estimated.
There wuz some appearance ov a
form ov government, but a continual
civil warfare over-shadowed it. In
1916 decisive battle wuz fought be-
tween the Independents and a Span-
1sh army under Morillo. The indie
pendents were scattered and their
Congress put out ov business. But
this lasted only three years, for Co
lombia wuz invaded by Venezuelan
army and the Independents effected a |
union with Venezuela in 1919.
The Spanish government had made
several attempts to colonize different
portions of the country and the sue
cess had been poor. The Spanish
nnally sold the rights ov colonization
to the Weltsers. a German merean-
tile company. Under this manage
ment the conditions became unbear-
able, and the company wuz dispos-
sessed in 1850, and a supreme gov
ernor win the title ov captain-general
wuz appointed. Ov course, the gov
eminent wuz practically military in
form, but hit liz claimed that there
Wuz some slight Improvement in the
way things went on. Let us hope so. /
Early after the beginnin' oy the
eighteenth century Spain stood upon
her toes and tried to see how badly
she could treat her colonies, especial /
~ the inhabitants ov Colombia. On
the 9TH ov July, 1911, the people ov
Colombia, or that portion ov them
who had gotten tired ov the Spanish
yoke, made formal declaration oy
independence. A liberal constitu- /
ton wuz adopted and affairs looked |
bright for time. But the people oy
Colombia just missed hit by one dav