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Liberty - Gee Vaucher via

“Liberty enlightening the world”, indeed! The expression makes us sick. This government is a howling farce. It can not or rather does not protect its citizens within its own borders. Shove the Bartholdi statue, torch and all, into the ocean until the “liberty” of this country is such as to make it possible for an inoffensive and industrious colored man to earn a respectable living for himself and family, without being “ku-kluxed”, perhaps murdered, his daughter and wife outraged, and his property destroyed. The idea of the “liberty” of this country “enlightening the world”, or even Patagonia, is ridiculous in the extreme.

 - The Cleveland Gazette 27 Nov 1886