Washington sentinel. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1856, 1856-06-14

From the N. Y. Journal OF Commerce, June IL.
MIR. Buchanan and the Ostend Conference.
The prompters OF armed resistance to law,
and the fomenters OF civil war in Kansas, call
upon the Democratic press of the country 10
vindicate the claim it asserts in behalf Of Mr..
Buchanan to conservatism, by reconciling that
assumption with his participation in the Ameri-
can Diplomatic Conference at Ostend and AK
La Chapelle, and with his adoption and indorse-
ment jointly with the Ministers of the United
States to France and Spain, of the views and
recommendations addressed by the three Ambas-
sailors to the Department of State, on the 18th
of October, 1854, in the letter commonly known
as the Ostend Manifesto. The circumstance
that the organs of the various factions which
constitute the opposition to Democratic pre-
dominance, meet the nomination Of Mr.. Buch-
anan with no other objection impugning his
qualifications for the Presidential trust, cannot
fail to confirm the popular belief in the Justice
and wisdom of the judgment that governed the
Convention, in selecting statesman SO I'M
assailable in the record Of his political life and
so little obnoxious to personal censure and
distrust, as the candidate of the great national
party of the Union for the highest dignity in
the Republic For we shall proceed to show,
that an erroneous impression exists as to the
purport of the AK La Chapelle letter; and that
the policy therein declared by Mr. Buchanan
and his associates, is identical with that which
has uniformly been regarded and avowed as
the policy of the United States in respect to the
Island of Cuba.
The Conference at Ostend had its origin in
the recommendation of Governor Marcy, who
justly conceived that the mission with which
Mr.. Soule was charged at the Court of Spain,
might excite the jealousy of other European
powers, and that it was important for the pur-
pose of facilitating the negotiations there to be
conducted, that explanations should be made
to the governments of England and France, of
the objects and purposes OF the United States
in any movement that events might render
necessary, having in view the ultimate purchase
or acquisition by this government of the Span
ish Island of Cuba. The object of the consul
tation suggested by Mr.. Marcy was, as stated
in letter to Mr.. Soule, ito bring the common
wisdom and knowledge of the three Ministers
to bear simultaneously upon the negotiations
at Madrid, London and Paris" These negoti-
atoms had not necessarily in view the transfer
OF Cuba to this country; though that was one
of the modes indicated, and seemingly the most
effective, of terminating the constantly recur-
ing grievances upon the commerce of the
United States, upon the honor of its flag, and
the personal rights of its citizens, which dis
turbed the cordial relations of the two coun-
tries and infused acrimony into their inter-
course connected with the prosecution of COM
merce. Another expedent which Governor
Marcy regarded with favor, was the indepen-
dence of the Island under the Creole sover-
eighty. At that time, in the summer of 1854,
apprehensions OF some important change in
the social and political condition and relations
of Cuba, were generally felt in this country.
Ru ad ed he thar
DEGREES and notifications of law pertaining to
the servile condition, that it was in contempla-
ton to establish the domination of the Blacks
in the Island; that the slaves were to be freed
and armed, and that an extensive introduction
of native Africans was to be resorted TO as
means of reinforcing the strength of the domi-
nant sway. The execution of such a scheme
was regarded as eminently dangerous to the
peace and safety of this country, and Mr.. Soule
was instructed to ascertain whether it was in
contemplation, and, If so, to seek TO prevent
it from being carried out, and to avert its
baleful consequences to ourselves, by nego-
tiating first, for the purchase of Cuba, and
If that were impracticable, then for the in
dependence of the island. 1t was not the
greed of territorial expansion that prompted
the instructions which convoked the Ostend
Conference; nor was that sentiment the con-
trolling one that prompted the adoption by its
members of the recommendations embodied in
the AK La Chapee letter. We say the con-
trolling one; for it may have influenced Mr..
Soule, who subsequently, on receiving instruc-
lions from Governor Marcy to negotiate in a
spirit Of amity with the Spanish Government,
resented the Secretarys admonition and re.
signed his post. But his colleagues in the
Conference are not to be precluded by any
Interpretation which bis fiery and impetuous
spirit may have put, either upon the design of
the Government in inviting, the consultation,
or upon the policy adopted at the meeting,
from the right of being judged by the tenor of
the document itself The document is too
long to reproduce at length; but that portion
of il, which, according TO the Express, consti-
tutes the most material passage" and which
that paper quotes after stating that the Journal
of Commerce commits itself warmly to Mr..
Buchanan's foreign and domestic policy" and
complacenuy asking us what we think of his
report Of the doctrines Of the Ostend Congress"
we copy entire from our contemporary:
"But if Spain, deaf to the voice of her own
interest, and actuated by stubborn pride and
false sense Of honor, should refuse to sell Cuba
to the United States, then the question will
arise, what ought to be the course of the
American government under such circumstan-
ceS Oel-perSerVauOn is tne Hrst law oil ma
ture with States as well as with Individuals
All nations have at different periods acted upon
this maxim. Although il has been made the
.pretext for committing fragrant injustice, as in
the partition Of Poland, and other similar cases
which history records, yet the principle ITSELF
though often abused, has always been recog
nized. The United States has never acquired
foot Of territory except by fair purchase, or,
as in the case Of Texas, upon the free and
voluntary application Of the people Of that in
dependent State, who desire to blend their
destinies with our own. Even our acquisitions
from Mexico are no exception to the rule, be-
cause, although we might have claimed them
by right Of conquest, in just war, yet we pur-
chased them for what was then considered by
both parties full and ample equivalent. Our
past history forbids that we should acquire the
Island Of Cuba without the consent of Spain,
unless justified by the great law Of selfpzeser-
walton. We must, in any event, preserve our
own conscious rectitude and our own selfrc-
pect
."While pursuing this course, we can afford