The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1853-01-26

i ID Il Is EPU Blu.
It was followed by an order Of the Cuban authori-
other person Ill venturssso publish in the Ame.
rican papers my thing telating4 10 Cuban a(fairs,
the 4sses ha4lpg such persons on board shall Be
Mr.. Smith be allowed to return, aad the steamer
| returning withshim on board si&4 be dismissed
! the port. Her6a Spanish official Ia Cuba defines
and providesA punishment for an offence which,
if committed at all, is committed within the terri
tories of the United States including in that pun
ishment the disnfssa of the vessel from that port
The proprietors of the steamers determined to
maintain and insist upon their rights as American
citizens, and those privileges which they were not
amounting to crime.
Mr.. Law, the president of the company, applied
the Secretary of State for light and information
as to what course should be pursued; and while he
was thus applying for Information, the Postmaster
General issued an order that no mails of the Uni
ted States should be sent out in any steamer hav-
ing on board Mr.. Smith, the obnoxious purser.
Shortly after Lieutenant Davenport was dismissed
from the command of the vessel. As early as Oc-
ober last Purser Smith, in affidavit, disclaimed
Eall connexion with the matter. This affidavit
communicated to the Government, and by them,
| it is presumed, that it was communicated to the
Cuban authorities through the Spanish minister
In November the Government of the United States
suspended its contract with the steamship compa-
ny for the transportation of the mails; while five
| days after that order of the Postmaster General
| was made the Spanish officials in Cuba expressed
themselves perfectly satisfied with Smiths afida.
Wit which had been but shortly before received by
| them he could not give his assent to the course
OF the Administration insiding with Spain through
out these difficulties; could he yield his com
mendations to it for its conduct towards the Ameri
can citizens complaining of wrong. 81
In the unfortunate expedition of Lopez it would
| be found that our own citizens were left without
| protection, and not awarded those privileges se-
| cured by treaty; and that when Commodore Parker
| approached the Spanish authorities, to know what
course he intended to pursue, the Governor said to
him, why your own President has denounced them
| as pirates. And when Consul Owen appeared be.
fore him to plead for mercy in their behalf he was
told, you know what you doing here is against
the wishes OF your President He was not prepared
| to hear Democratic endorsements of such conduct.
| He was not willing to commend the conduct of
| President Fillmore in the case of the murder of
| young Crittenden and his companions. The Sem
| ate was accustomed to hear, again and again, the
| epithets of marauders, pirates, &c., applied to
those young men in newspapers which devotedwhoe
! columns to the condemnation of all who sought
| the acquisition of Cuba Marauders! Were they
marauders-those young men who congregated in
southern city, and who embarked upon an en-.
terprise, expecting to be met and sustained by an
| army of twenty five thousand men? Were they
| marauders, whom Spain to this day has not been
able to pronounce as having been guilty of any
| Mr.. SEWARD asked if those persons had been
| termed pirates in any official document of this
Government?
strictly to terms. He select ed the meaning of the
document. Declare man to be beyond the pro-
lection of the law, and whether he be called pirate
outlaw, or marauder, he is doomed. Was young
Crlttenden marauder or robber, who, when told
| to kneel. said II never knelt but to God?'' Was
| he robber who said ssyou may kill me but you
can't kill that hope which is within me, and which
tells me shall arraign you for your cruelty at the
bar of the future?"
He read from the message OF the President his
reasons for being at present opposed to the incorpo
ration of Cuba, and said that the same reasons
were repeated in Everett's letter to Champion; the
reason is that it would be hazardous at this time
for domestic reasons, and account of the cond-
ton of the inhabitants of the island. What were
those domestic reasons which now should prevent
the incorporation of Cuba into the Union, and
which hereafter may not constitute any obstacle
to that end? He would tell Southern Senators to
ask themselves the question, but they need not
answer now. He did not intend to become COM
mentator upon the language of the President; but
he intended to place before the Senate startling
facts which might have some bearing upon the
question. 1t was admitted by all that Cuba was
bound 10 become ours, but now now. The Senator
from Virginia was for letting the fruit rpen and
fall into our lap; the President was willing to pur-
chase, but not now, for domestic reasons -
He read letter from Lord Palmerston to Lord 1
Howden, dated October 20, 1851, to tell the Span
lsh government that the slaves of Cuba formed
their emancipation would accord with the wishes
OF England, and that if they were freed it would
create powerful element of resistance to annex
ing Cuba TO the United States. If Senators wait,
and if Eng land has any controlling power or in
fuence with Spain, they will see W hat condition
the island will be in. If they waited much longer
they would discover the condition Cuba has in the
mean time been placed in. He read. also from the
Herdtdo of Madrid, that it ia well for all to know,
whether native or foreign that the Island of Cuba
can only be Spanish African When the day
comes when the Spaniards should he bound to
abandon her, they will do so by bequeathng their
sway to the blacks. Let southern Senators weigh
this But were Senators on his side serious when |
they spoke of purchasing Cuba? Did they mean
that they would purchase it at any COST and under
any circumstances? Statesmen have asserted they
would purchase Cuba in any emergency that |
would make it evident that Spain could not pre- |
serve her dominion over it. @ ~ LID
He was against purchasing Cuba. Whoever
knew any thing of Castilian pride must be aware |
that the Spanish government can never be brought
to sell it,
1t seems strange to speak of purchasing it when
Spain says she is unwilling to sell it. Indeed, |
some OF her ministers have said they would prefer
to see that beautiful possession sunk to the bottom
of the ocean than fall into the hands of any other
power II any exigencies of the Home government |
should render sale advisable, the wrong mode to
accomplish it is to publish it to the world II |
would be humiliating also to the suffering Cubans
who, though unfortunate, have their pride and |
ambition; he would not offend them. The idea of |
purchasing Cuba is therefore obsolete one, and |
must be abandoned. From the surrounding cir
sumstances he thought its purchase would be at !
tended with equal dangers as taking it..
England assumes that under no circum-
stances should we take possession of Cuba, and we
are called buccaneers for desiring it. England |
had not always been scrupulous on the subject I
OF taking possession of that island. AS early as
1879 British project for getting possession of that
ialand was planned. He read it. The land forces
we're to be raised IN the American colonies, rem
dezvous at Charleston, take San Augustine, land |
at MatanEas, and invest Havana. A fleet was to
before intelligence could Be sent to Spain. The
Senate would see that our flibusters and maraud-
ers, who have attracted the attention Of the world
had aprecedent, and it did not become England to
denounce them when she had entertained a sitli-
lar project In l74c, Sir William Poultney wrote
to, England recommending her to stake and holds
Cuba, for that was the principle of the day. Some
six years ago General Flores went to Spain where
Queen Mother Christina furnished him with funds |
to enable him to organize strong force, and be |