Washington sentinel., 1853-10-23
Icommunicated.l
The Question of Cuba.

Il Wouiu respectfully auNise you 70 repuDIsn
the whole of the following article from the
Washington Union, of Thursday last ! have
no doubt it speaks " as if from authority" and
what is more, it speaks the language of truth.
The facts on which it rests are as strong as the
policy which it recommends is bold and wise.
Shakespeare says that the better part Of valor
is discretion;" but the reverse of the maxim is
also true in many cases; that " the better part of
must meet the question boldly-tace the danger
when it first appears, and resist it with all the
energy which God has placed in our hands.
The case before us is one of them.
Let me say at once that, as an American
statesman, | would rather not step my foot from
off this continent, at least for some time, If we
could honorably avoid it. would rather fill up
the territory which we already own, from the At
lantic to the Pacific, and gradually acclimate the
foreigners who take refuge under the wings of
our eagle, to our free and glorious institutions,
than enlarge in any considerable degree the
bounds ofour territory. ! would rather let the
islands alone. would rather let Cuba remain
in the hands of Spain if she will use it wisely
and we'll But will never consent for Great
Britain to control the destiny of Cuba, SO as to
fill it with hordes of native apprenticed Afri-
cans, and plant by degrees another black re-
public, like degraded Hayti, on the borders Of
the southern States. If Great Britain is deter
mined to strike at us by this insidious policy,
or if she is so insane as not to profit by her own
nischievous policy in running the island Of
Jamaica by her hasty and fanatical scheme of
emancipationk-or if she will reverse the proper
destiny Of the population Of Africa by bringing
some of her unfortunate people from their own
continent to blur the face of Cuba, instead of
sending those back to her, who can be reached
by a,wise system of colonization, to colonize
and christianize her shores, we must at once
take our stand, and tell Great Britain that we
will not permit her to tamper with Cuba. We
must tell her that her mischievous policy COM
pes us to change our course and that we must
have Cuba at the hazard of war with her.
1t is said that she is already operating upon
the court of Madrid, and upon the greedy
and opulent planters of Cuba, to introduce the
system of apprenticeship for ten years tocome,
to be followed by a total emancipation in fifty
years. / have no doubt the article in the
Union is founded upon this species of informa-
tion--and, in fact, alreadywe hear that measures
have been taken by one of the richest planters
of Cuba, to introduce five thousand apprenticed
slaves from Africa, with the prospect of making
a million of dollars by the operation. The same
appeal is to be made to the avarice of all the
Spanish cultivators--at the hazard of barbara
zng this beautiful island, and disturbing the
tranquility of the southern States. Such thing
must not be. / have no doubt that the Presi-
dent will do his duty in this emergency. /
have no doubt that instructions of the most
decided character have gone out to London
and to Madrid-and that when it is time
to act, Franklin Pierce will be found at his
post, the faithful sentinel on the watch tower
the redoubtable champion of the rights of the
nation. | differ with him on the New York
question, whilst admit the honesty and purity
of his motive. All my sympathies are with
the lizards" whose past conduct deserves our
confidence on every ne,o phase of the slavery
question: and sincerelyregret that the admins
tration has permitted itself to mingle at all with
the State concerns of New York. Thoroughly
disapprove of Mr.. Guthrie's letter, and of the
prescription Of Bronson and O'Conor. Such
| movements cannot abate the fury Of factions
nor inure to the benefit Of the administration.
tive of the federal government has no essential
connection with the elections in the States but
should be false to my own feelings, and false
to what believe the Presidents general posi-
ton, if | did not express my warm confidence
| in the principles of the man. He will be true
| on the great measures of the democratic party.
He will carry out the State rights strict con-
| struction doctrines of the Jeffersonian school.
He will lend no countenance to the unconsti-
tutiona! scheme of the Pacific railroad by the
agency of the federal government. He will
enlarge our navy according to the spirit of the
age and the growing wants of our country. He
will introduce wise economy in the expendi-
lures of the government. He viii continue to
protect our rights abroad, with the same vigor
with which the Secretary of State, in his admi-
rabe and invincible reply to the Austrian min
lister, has yindicated the bold and chivalrous
conduct of Ingraham. Above all, he will stand
up on the subject Of Cuba, for the tranquility
of the south and the honor of the Union. On
that important point there can be, to use his
own language, "no north, no "south.
! These hasty remarks are drawn from me by
the editorial article which has appeared in this
mornings National hteltigencer. / am pleased
with its spirit, so far as it goes, and my object
is to draw it out one step further But let the
HteHigencer speak for itself:
"The movement disclosed by the Union is GER
tainly of deep interest 10 this country, especially
TO our southern States, and will arrest universal
attention. Ii is calculated to starte, but it should
hardly surprise u.s. When we consider at what
immense pecuniary cost England abolished slavery
| in her West India possessions; that anti-slavery
is great and ever active principle in her govern
mental policy, whenever and wherever there is
opportunity for its exercise; when we add 10 this
that slavery has been long extnguished in the
large French Island of Hayti, it would have
cd inevitable event, in the law of progress, that
sooner or later slavery would share the same fate
in the great contiguous isant OF Cuba, containing
a population of eight hundred thousand colored,
bond and free. We may regard the knell Of slavery
| in the Antilles TO have been sounded the day that
| the Parliament Of England rashly, unwsely, and
unfortunately enacted its extinction in her West
| India colonies. Circumstances might retard but
nothing could prevent its final consnmmation
| through some nstrumentality or other II, as is
now stated, the initial steps are taken against
slavery in Cuba backed by the power and influence
of England, the event has approached sooner than
| exDectpd and has been accelerated by the