COLONEL 



1481 



COLONIES AND COLONIZATION 



Cristobal, an American town, the eastern ter- 

 minal headquarters for the great Panama enter- 

 prise of the United States. There are located 

 the shops of the Panama Railroad and a won- 

 derful cold storage plant of the Isthmian Canal 

 Commission. 



Colon has an extensive harbor accommoda- 

 tion, and although it had an important transit 

 trade before the Panama Canal was begun, the 

 place has since been transformed. A long 

 breakwater was erected, and the city is now a 

 port of call for over a dozen lines of steamers. 

 From a population of about 3,000 negroes and 

 Spanish-speaking natives of mixed blood, Colon 

 grew to a population in 1914 of 26,000 through 

 the work of the Panama Commission. From 

 a place of filth and disease it has developed 

 into a city of wide, regular streets, better 

 homes and good sanitation, due to the work 

 of the sanitary engineers of the United States 

 army, under Colonel (later Major-General) 

 Gorgas. 



For a number of years Colon was called 

 Aspinwall, in honor of William H. Aspinwall, 

 one of the six New York promoters of the 

 Panama Railroad in 1849. These men founded 

 the town in 1850. 



COLONEL, ker'nel, the title of a military 

 officer, borne in the United States army by an 

 officer who holds rank between lieutenant- 

 colonel and brigadier-general. The correspond- 

 ing rank in the navy is that of captain; the 

 pay of a colonel ranges from $3,000 to $4,000 

 a year, determined by length of service. A 

 colonel is the commanding officer in a regiment 

 of cavalry or infantry, and there are also 

 colonels in charge of artillery corps. Staff 

 colonels, who hold no command, are assigned 

 to the various staff corps ; that is, to the several 

 departments or bureaus into which the War 

 Department is subdivided, such as the medical, 

 pay and engineering corps. In the English 

 army the title of colonel is held by the officer 

 in active command of artillery and engineers. 

 See RANK. 



COLO'NIAL DAMES OF AMERICA, a 

 patriotic society of women, who, following their 

 original purpose, have done much toward the 

 preservation of places and things of historical 

 interest which otherwise might have been de- 

 stroyed. This society was organized in 1890 in 

 New York City in commemoration of the 

 success of the Revolution, and to collect manu- 

 scripts, traditions, relics, etc., of colonial and 

 revolutionary times. Membership is obtained 

 only on invitation of one already enrolled, and 



is restricted to women directly descended from 

 a distinguished ancestor who resided in America 

 in colonial times. One of the most interesting 

 and valuable collections of the society is in 

 Van Cortlandt Park, New York City. 



COLONIES, 'kol'oniz, AND COLONIZA- 

 TION. The word colonist is derived from two 

 Latin words meaning a farmer and to cultivate. 

 Even in the days of early history the resources 

 of a country were sometimes in danger of 

 becoming exhausted as the population in- 

 creased. Added to the necessity of acquiring 

 more land on which to raise necessary crops 

 for food, was also that desire for expansion 

 which is implanted in the ambitious human 

 breast. The result was that bodies of men in 

 various nations set out in search of new lands 

 which they might cultivate while still enjoying 

 the protection of the mother country. The 

 object was not necessarily to found a new 

 nation, but to go out into the world where 

 opportunities were greater and new land 

 awaited the plow. These men were strictly 

 colonists. They set out to cultivate the soil 

 and develop commerce and defense. There is 

 a considerable difference between a country 

 that is colonized, and one that is subject only 

 to military occupation. The term colony is 

 now often mistakenly used for possession. 



Within comparatively recent years coloniza- 

 tion has become of vital importance to most 

 of the world's nations. Many nations have a 

 surplus of population, which must somewhere 

 find an outlet. Year by year it becomes 

 harder for any country to be self-supporting. 

 In this respect most of the American countries 

 have great advantages. Their resources are 

 unimpaired; their population is not over- 

 crowded; colonies are not yet needed. It is 

 otherwise with European nations. Europe has 

 been overcrowded for centuries, and year after 

 year sons and daughters of its countries have 

 gone forth to seek in new lands what over- 

 crowding denies them at home. 



The Greeks were ahead of all other nations, 

 ancient or modern, in the fine art of coloniza- 

 tion. Their colonies became nourishing com- 

 mercial centers, and iu time assumed such 

 importance as to rival Greece itself in power 

 and culture. The Romans established military 

 posts only, and their influence over conquered 

 territories lasted only as long as their military 

 occupation. Britain can show little of the 

 results of Roman conquests and less of Roman 

 colonization. The Normans also conquered 

 Britain and were promptly absorbed by the 



