New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1854-09-30
A Southern Convention.

g IF there ever was @ time when congress u
Convention of Southern minds, well matureu,
was required to deliberate. upon certain qnes
tions vitality interesting to all the people ct TINS
Union, but imminently so to all the people sonsll
of Virginia, 1t isl notD. am no advocate TOT
Conventions under ordinary circumstances, ansi
do not recollect having proposed one, except
once in my life. and that was during the poils'-
cal crisis Of Notification in South Cafehna'
when, in 1882, as editor Of the leading union
newspaper in Charleston, suggested the exper
diency Of " Southern Convention, 20 aeter-
mine what measures it BECAME the states OF tne
South to adopt in opposition to the odious tariff
of,1S28, rather than that single state shouid |
nrecipitate itself into the horrors Of civil war
The circumstances Of that epoch. gloomy and
threatening as they certainly were, did not
come up to the portentous overshadoEing OF
manifold evil that is now discerned in the hori
zon Of our future, if the great questions con
nected with the position of the Island Of Cuba
are really impractioable to American states
manship
The commercial and manufacturing interests
of Europe harmonic with those OF this country
1t is only when we descend to politics--not what
We understand BY that term--but what IS meant
under the head Of monarchical policy OF King.
eraftand pfiesteraft united-that the interests 81
our people are regarded as antagonistic to these
Of other nations. That much of this antagonism
Wis beginning to be felt, admits of no doubt. In
might be checkmated, without waging open war
upon the republican principle, has hitherto
proved insoluble. But we have an organization
Of labor in the South, which, though not estab-
lished by the American people, but rather pre-
served and disciplined BY them, is regarded az
q vulnerable point in our otherwise lnvulnef-
| able union That point was assalled by the
revolutionary insanity Of France, when French
philanthropy sought the overthrow OF order, and
| the substitution Of millennium of anarchy all
\ the world over, instead of endeasoring to con-
solidate civil liberty by the diffusion of uniyer-
I sal intelligence and a.quiet obedience to good
| and equal laws: the fruit came In the St Do
mngo abortion in this hemisphere, and the
| reign of despotism at home ever since.
| Subsequently came the experiments Of the
British Parliament upon the colonial vassalage
Of Jamaica, which ended in the philanthropic
expulsion Of a respectable white population,
| English in all its Instincts and character, to
\ make room for the ascendaney Of African bar
harism an exchange Of governmental an
thorty, Of civilization and oil its blessings, for
savagism and all its curses. There is no en-
lightened Briton, at home or abroad. who does
not see this as plainly as we do: and yet, as If
in the fable Of the fox who lost. his tail, there
are thousands philanthropists every where in
Europe, and some Of their echoes even 10 this
country, who are most anxious Of all things to
convert the whole West Indian Archipeiagointo
Il al AITlCau u6h6rC--it WAlNCitAc6o u pshA
barism.
i These experiments, here briefly adverted to,
were so distant from our shores that they at
tracted bnt comparatively little attention. But
now, something like them, upon grsnder SCALE
| is in the course Of preparation within sight Of
the light houses upon our own coast Ought we
not, then, upon the well settled axiom that
self preservation is the first law of nature
/ to act with the promptness and energy which
comport SO well with the wisdom that sees
and the intrepedity that repels danger and
that being ferewarned of the threatened evil, We
become also forearmed' The possession of
Cuba, as a simple question, apart from the
measures Of policy which are daily crushing out
its adaptability as q home of the white race. IS
Of small consequence. There are many ques-
tions connected with the moral, political and
Industrial characteristics Of the Island, which
interpose serious obstacles to the acquisition Of
it, with q design of annexing it to the American
| Union. All the sugar region OF the South, were
selfshness its ruling passion, would assuredlys
Il combine all its power and influence against it..
But the real question at issue is not that of cot
ton, sugar or any other agricultural product or
interest--it is one far higher and broader,
| deeper and stronger-that Of self-preservation.
Rather than tolerate any farther Authorization
of Islands so near to us as Cuba and the BAHIA
mas it would become the States of the South to.
consult in the persons of her maturest statesmen,
with view to deFising the most practicable
plans for resisting the wicked Vaccinations Of
Il q villainous Anaoharss Clpotz propagandism:
and their measures, once devised, would CONF
mand million of armed men to carry them
into effect, with or without the cooperation of
the Federal Government as at present organized
Better for the South that the Island Of Cuba
were obliterated from the map Of the world and
from the memory of man, than that it should be-
i Jamdicaized by negrophilism. Better for the
i South to expend millions Of treasure in can
ounce of prevention now, than wait to be called
H on in the future to expend thousands of lives in
Il applying sspound of cure"
II Aside from all political considerations, viewed
commercially, there are many aspects in which
| the question Of acquiring the Island Of Cuba
might be readily demonstrated as calculated to
exert most injurious effect upon several of our
seaperts, and upon none would the evils contem-
plated fall more speedily than upon our own
lofty. Few persons in this country are aware
of the transcendently superb advantages Of
Havana for Contemplating the oyergrown tend
enoies Of New York, in monopolizing the import
trade of this Union, were Cuba annexed. As
an entrepot Of all the vast and rapidly increas-
i ing trade Of the Gulf, and looking forward to
i the immense augmentation of traffic that must
in few years come from China, Japan, British
India, Australia, and our own shores of the Pa
i cific Havana, as an American city, would beun-
Irivaled. The citizen of New0rleans who sup
poses that any trade passing into the Gulf, seek
ing o market in Europe from an entrepot, would
come here, with an American flag flying on the
Moro battlements, is simply in error Havana,
of all points any where in the Gulf Of Mexico,
is best situated and best adapted, by a thousand
advantages Of position and climate, to become
the great Southern city of the Union, if it did
not become the greatest city Of all America As
magazine for all the fine fabrics of silk, cotton
and linen, required by Florida, Alabama, Lou
isiana, Texas, all Mexico, Central and South
America, it is probable that Havana, by reason
Of the comparative dryness of Its climate,
would afford the best site Then there are other
/ incidents connected with the position Of that
city, and its security in the hands of q warlike
power, against the combinations of.belligerents,
| which would recommend it to the merchants of
all the world as a safe depository of their capt.
tai and merchandise. Under the liberal and en-
oouraging auspices of self-government, as that
would be administered under the @gis of this
( Union, the amount Of trade and commerce
which would be concentrated in that port, it
4 would be deemed fabulous now to estimate.
, This city, from the day of annexing Cuba, will
\ become Subordinate to Havana; and, though
the present size and Importance of NewOrleans
may not be diminished, it is easy to see that
the splendid diamond of the Gulf, as an Ameri-
can gem, could not fail to dim the lustre of
every other maritime city of the two continents.