The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-05-15

ted States or its expected alliance with Great
Britain will induce the people Of this country
to abate one ot or little Of their pretensions in
reference to commercial rights or international
intercourse, the Spanish government is most
egregiously mistaken. And if Captain-General
Pezuela or any other Governor Of Cuba believes
that he can 60 on providing quietly for the
emancipation of the slaves in Cuba, and throw
ing all the obstacles he can in the way of Amer
can commerce, Captain General Pezuela COM
mits as gross blunder as it is possible for him
to do Throughout the whole of this business one
grave misapprehension has lain at the bottom
of Spanish policy, and from this error Others
such as these we mention, are quite likely to
arise The Spanish government cannot getrid
of the idea that we are all filibusteros here. 1t
has been 90 often said in England, Spain and
Cuba that this country is exercised by iilibuste-
70 propensites, that it would not be surprising
if the Sartorius ministry among others believed
it, So much has been written on the Lopez expe-
dition and such infinite pains have been taken to
identify the outlaws who were concerned in
that affair with the government and people OF
this country, that many Spaniards may very
honestly attribute to the latter designs, views
and principles which, as we all know here are
confined to very small and comparatively in
significant class of the community. 1t is quite
possible that the rulers of Spain may believe
that we are all Of us ready for descent upon
Cuba with or without the sanction of our own
government and that nothing would be likely
to astonish them more than the discovery that
in reality we count no more filibusteros among
us than the Cubans do in their island. The
delusion rests of course on the exaggerated
accounts which have been published in the
British journals, on the impotent prosecutions
of theflibusteros here, and above all, on the
indisereet language of men who, like Mr..
Soule, sought to make name by pandering to
a dishonest sentiment among certain classes of
the populace. And as no attempt to set them
right, coming from this quarter, would be like
ly to meet with success, we see nothing for
Spain but to pay the penalty of her mistake
Senior Calderon de la Barca, who knew bet
ter, was overruled in the council when he at
tempted to draw q line Of distinction between
the lawless designs of buccaneers and the firm
demands of a strong and honest nation. The
Queen snd her ministry treated the latter as
though they were dealing with the former. II
II Lopez mad been the petitioner, and the usur-
patton of Cuba his object, the reply could not
have been different
Part OF this negotiation on the part of Spain
is blunder, and part intrigue. Spain blunders
when she attempts to interpret our position.
our motives. our character. She tries to cheat
us when size enacts decreeo under the dictation
of England. and stealthily pnrsues her African
ization scheme. The one will be as costly as
the other in the end.
There are, people who ask Wat cause of COM
plant we have against Spain. The friends of
the administration, especially, while the organ
at Washington is prating about blockading
Havana, are very actively engaged in circuat-
ing the notion tina. no legitimate ground of COM
plant exists. Poor Mr. Pierce is terribly fright
ened that he will be forced into position where
the defects of his head and his heart will be
conspicuous and he, too, would give worlds to
close the alteration at once He cannot shirS
the danger however. Even if none of the
twenty outrages enumerated in the documents
recently laid before Congress had been commit
ted, the policy now fairly inaugurated by Spain
with regard to the emancipation of the slaves
in Cuba affords ample ground of quarrel. 1t
would be suicidal on our part to tolerate the
erection Of a free negro State in so rich and
fertile an island as Cuba within few miles of
our Southern frontier. No prudent govern
To-, ,.lc
scheme for moment. Yet it is now fairly set
on foot and commenced. On the very day on
which the American courier left Madrid with
the dispatches for our government, Lord How
denis DEGREES are published; and no sooner have
they reached Havana, than the Captain. Gen
eral declares it lawful to search estates for ne
groes illegally detained. 1t has already been
shown that the effect of the system Of registers
will be to swell the number of free negroes to
very large number: and, as the DEGREES are
worded this number must be constantly in
creasing from the legal manumission of slaves
whose registers have been lost or destroyed.
| nder ten years operation of the DEGREES, the
free negro population of Cuba will be able to
control the Island in case of emergency. In
view of so menacing danger our obvious
course would at first appear to be to demand
from Spain some security against the ultimate
Afrcanizaton of Cuba. But what security
would suffice in such casef Would England
in whose hands Spain now is, be aparty to any
for the maintenance and perpetu-
alton Of slave labor? Even if Spain gave the
pledges we required what guarantee have we
that they would be fulflleds SPANS history
for the last half century has been little else but
a succession Of broken pledges and perjured
men. In word. we can conceive no other
for the United States bat definite
OF Cuba from the control of both
Spain and England. lfany one can devise bet
ter plan than this we should be glad to hear of it.
The same class which would continue to ex-
claim against the adoption of firm policy witt