Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1852-12-18
THE CUBAN CORRESPONDENCE.

interests IN submitting this correspondence to Cor
gress, and through Congress to the public?
frank examination of this question is due alike b
popular sentiment and to the President himself. |
will be remembered that the correspondence wa
laid before Congress by the President, in answer Ii
aresolution offered by Mr.. FAULKNER, of the Hous
of Representatives, the 4th day of February last
For years back the country has been agitated OF
the subject of the acquisition of Cuba. Private ex
petitions have been fitted out to achieve its con
quest The Government has been compelled t.
extraordinary diligence to prevent people from
engaging in private war for its acquisition
The failure or defeat of one scheme has been
but an incentive to fresh attack The Filibuster.
ing spirit, encouraged by reckless Adventures and
stimulated by private ambition, rife from Maine
to Louisiana. Not that the rejecting portion OF
our citizens countenanced it, that it eheered
on by those who regard National faith and Govern
mental honor as things worth preserving. Bus thou
sands, whose fortunes were at low ebb, rho are
too INDECENT to labor and too proud to beg, looked
upon its forcbe acquisition as field of adventure
which could not make worse and might better their
condition; some ambitious of military distinction
saw in Cuba an arena where laurels might be wen ;
others saw in its rich soil, its tropical productions
sources of wealth while still more numerous class
regarded it as broad field for plumber. The South
courted its acquisition to keep up the balance of
power between the slave and the free States; while
fanaticism at the North, full of morbid sympathy
for colored people held in bondage" regarded its
conquest as another means of extending the bless
ngs of political freedom through the instrumentality
of the bayonet and the sword. Political dema-
gogues, looking for official spoils were gathering
these elements of evil and making them auxiliary to
party strife
The failure of the Lopez expedition and the dis
astrous consequences which were visited upon him
and his followers but gave new energy to the
schemes of these advocates of acquisition. secret
society was organized, composed of over twenty
thousand INSCRIPTIONS and intriguing members,
scattered through the cities of the eastern and
southern coasts This secret organization, having
for its cognomen g The Order of the Lone Star"
has ceased to be the subject of jest. It's object is
the forcible acquisition of the Island of Cuba Its
power is felt in the keeping up of public excitement
and shaping public opinion in accordance with the
objects of its organization 1t speaks through more
than one press, and reckops among its numbers men
distinguished for reckless speculation and adven-
ture, as they are for their energy and wealth.
Such was the situation of things when this cor
respondence was laid before the House of Represen-
tatives by the President. It's developments are Of
a startling nature, of the greatest Importance and
profoundest interest to the whole people. They
were well calculated to make the reckless pause in
their efforts to force the Government into conflict
with Spain. 1t appealed to the business interests
of the country, to the sober judgment of all just
men, whether the value of the acquisition equalled
the tremendous hazards of its cost. 1t developed
the startling fact that one hundred millions had
been offered for its purchase and scornfuly refused
1t brought out the other startling fact that England
and France had guaranteed to Spain her dominion
over the island against every Power in the world
Looking at this condition of things, was it I'M
wise on the part of the President to let the people
know, if Cuba was to be acquired by purchase, the
price would be at least one hundred millions, and
as much more as Spain might insist upon demand
ing? On the other hand, was it unwise to let them
know that its forcible acquisition would involve a
war, not with Spain Alone but with her in conjunc-
ton with France and England, the two most pow
erful nations of the earth E?
The creation of great public debt is among the
heaviest of public curses To meet it, taxation
must be laid on labor to palsy the efforts of indus
try, and hang like an everlasting incubus upon it.
Such great public debt is one of the alternatives of
the acquisition Of Cuba Its amount may be calcu-
lated from the fact that one hundred millions has
been rejected, as price so inadequate as to be un-
worthy of consideration on the part of Spain.
War, in its most glorious aspect, is fearful visi-
In 10 It's obstruction OF commerce,
the reyulsions of business, the creation of great
national debt to sustain, it has in its destruction of
human life range of private desolaton and indivi-
dual anguish too wide to be contemplated without
the profoundest dread Parents protest against it
wives tremble at its approach children shudder at
its mention; good men throughout the world de-
nounce it. Every noble and generous impulse of
the human heart execrates it.
War was the other alternative involved in the
acquisition Of Cuba and towards which the country
with suicidal energy, was madly rushing war,
too, of conquest in plain terms, Of robbery against
a neighboring nation war utterly causeless, in
cited only by lust for conquest, in defiance of ma
tonal treaties and in violation Of national honor
more than all that, war with two great nations,
either of which is our equal at least in maritime
strength, and which, when combined against our
commerce. would sweep it from the ocean. Drag
CARTS may boast of our strength self-conceit may
date upon the magnitude of our resources and the
bravery Of people but history demonstrates that
those two great Powers are our peers in all these
Their skill is as great, their arms as strong, and
their courage as high as our own. They deal heavy
blows when they strike and, when opposed to such
adversares, two against odds too great to be
encountered short Of some great overwhelming ne
cessity. Was it not wise to lay before the people
the cost of for the acquisition Cuba? Should
not commerce be shown its peril, and industry the
taxation that was impending? Should not those
who guide public opinion, who WELD for good or foi
evil the popular will, that mighty power that syay'
our country like reed, that compels war or pro
notes peace, bewell informed before they incur The