Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1853-01-08
The Gtar1estOn Mercury On the
AcnirIsItIjh Of Gt6fia,


i Acquisition Of Cuffs.
i Tho Charleston Mercury, bc it bont
In mind, says the Nashville Wing i
The chief organ Of the extreme Soat1seft
Rights Denloeraey. Ii its issue Of tllt
9Th inst, having referred to the indi+pp
sition Of Spain 10 sell. To tile obvohs inter
est bf all Eiitope I'd maintain her right d
possession Do agaiiist the United statts
If Its acquisition shall be attempted by
conquest, to tile obvious advantage Of hae
is at leaat no European power Interested
with us IN protecting and vindicaing the
Institution Of slavery in tile popular estii
NATION df the world. aud I'd the fact tliai
in the event OF war Spafi would probably
eniancipnte the slaves heFore she would see
the isla,i1 pass IiidespoIed into the hands
of her adversary the Mercury says:
"Bnt, aside from bill the difficulties aid
dangers that surround the acquisition
Of Cuba, whether by war between Gov
ernmeDts, or by covert poison Of danger
olis and ever disturbing ileighb5rlood,
and even supposny all these objections
obviaed, salid the acquisition allowed to
be made without war and without Cost
there are reasons against the measure
strong enough to make the Southern peo-
pie pause il tho pursuit.
We do hot now allnde to The m6rar.
c1ial habits oil the people, which would
render a Standing army for the presetva.
| ton Of orler Indispensable tior to the
/ ri H.tr, rfr .s,Iitt tt,rittH tT,uitd II
the hardest of all things to introduce our
| political institutions there nor to tile fact
| that there has always been an established
religion in the Island, Ieagued with the
Government, claiming universal ohedi.
ente, mud supported by tytfe Of the pro-
duce of all lands nor to tile equally iu-
| posing fact that with its present com
merce, and with the habits OF smuggling
| that have grown up everywhere, Cuba
must be filed, With ctistomhotlse police
as well as standing army, and thus lie.
| come mere creatures of Federal Govern.
ment, aud its natural ally in every aggres-
sion upon the South4-we pass over all
tlltse weighty considerations, and fnd
it The sole coi,dtion of slavery III Cuba II
powerful argument against its annexation.
The present white population Of Cuba
is 100000; the free coored population
somewhat more than 100000, and the
slaves about 42O,00U.---Cuba is but little
larger tllsn South Carolina, aud has al
most twice the population! il has grown
through centuries Under d Act Of laws and
customs little changed Ita habits, ideas,
aud whole sotinl spirit, are far more fixed
tlian those Of any State of the Union
Now, olle radical feature OF slavery in Gu.
Iva Is the slave tfhde with Africa, and an.
other is iucessant emancipation, and this
through the operation OF All established
law - Every slave has the right 10 buy
his freedom, aud the masium price which
the master can demand Ii $500. More.
over, the law allows the slave to have his
value fixed, and then TO take his own
time to pay 1t, giving to bin a portion Of
bis time corresponding to the portion Of
tile price which he has paid Thus, all
the dissatisfied, and ali the ambitious,
among the slaves, are In perpetual transit
ton towards freedom, aud the duss of free
colored people, which ordinarily increases
very slowly, isin Cuba The most rapidly
advancing ofall. 1nthe last ten years it
hasincrsosed 90 per cent.
1.-The slave population is kept up by
the African slave trade. The annexation
of Cuba would be death blow to this
trade. Our laws, and the universal feel
ing Of our people, ore opposed to it; and
il this were not enough, our Government
is now in tile hatidso Of the Free States and
ii league with England tnd France for
the suppression of the trade.
!" With this suppression of the slave
trade OH one side, and this incessant
emancipation on the other, what chance
would Cuban slavery have Of escaping
from the Aboi,ionists OF the North, and
the free negroes with whom it is tbrong-
ed !? Moreover. there is an additional OBJ
strustion to the preservation of' the slave
population, inits actual condition. The
male population exceeds the female in the
proportion of about o to 9, and this has
been tile case for period dating back to
the earliest census of the Island which we
have seen. It Is said, indeed, that such is
the severity Of labor that this enormous
ifreyularty of the sexes produce lutte Of
that ifreguarity Of conduct that would
nearly destroy all natural increase under d
mild system, but it is an essential consider
alton ii, estimating the prospects of the
slave population; and we are bound to
conclude that without the slave trade, all
the great planting interests of Cuba must
undergo steady and fatal decline.
!" We vainiy hope that the laws thus
destructive Of il would be changed by the
annexation OF Cuba. We should not be
her legislators, were she State of the
Union Cuba Il already peopled, and BY
a race that would retain It's jealous exclu-
siveness with all the fervid tenacity of re-
lig,ous bigotry, and national and social re-
pulsion.
The AMERICAN CHAHAcTER.-- "A for
eigner draws the following of.hand sketch
Of US: The American sets less value
on fife than Europeans-that Is, He does
not think the loss Of life. the greater loss
the nltimatun. When man dies, You
see none Of that sentiment which sur.
rounds sncll an event in older counties.
The American is silent in manner, embar-
rassingly 80 at first, extremely accurate in
his observation Of human nature, and any
man that cannot bear to be scrutiniked
lad better NOE go there. The American
judges much by the eye, and has a most
enyiabIe power Of estimation your tenn. |