New-York daily tribune., 1858-12-17

are therefore EFF 10 conjecture what sum Dir.
buchanan j. willing the country shall Py. Ihe
tn asury i. undenlably very mu,h poorer than u
vas in 1854, and th, people, many of whom have
been living from hand to mouth for a year or Two
past, will prob ,blJ think that the present Is poor
tine fer the purchase Of new Slave state', OF which
We have quite enough now. The needs OF SPAN
may be "a urgent a. they were IN IA, but there
is small resson IA believe inst she is any more reidy
to .eIl thsn she was then. The intrinsic value OF
Cuba has no. probably declined. Stocks and trass
companies, and wooden factories have fallen, bur
Cubas stand fr1p, With perhaps an upward tend
ency.
Our causes Of quarrel with Spain are not more
numerous than they used to be, though far more
numerous thsn they ought to be- when the fact is
considered that Spain and the United States of
all the world the two natl ms most deeply impllca-
ted in the business Of Slavery and the slave-tra!e.
The danger to our Union and our peculiar institu-
tion from Cuba being in the neighborhood Of the
southermost slayeholdng Staes, is not so great as
it WAS in 1854. This can be proved by quotations
from the Ostend Manifesto, if anything can be
proved by document as false as that. AS Mr.
buchanan ssid in that remarkable reproduction: " Tue
Union can never enjoy repose, nor possess relia.
4" bic security, so long as Cuba is not embraced
"withn ts boundaries" Considerations exist
(which render delay in the acquisition of this
" leland t1ceedingiy dangerous to the United
States "Tbe system of emigration and
{" labor lately organized within its limits, and
the tyranny and oppression which characterize
"its immediate rulers, threaten an instruction at
"eroy moment, which may result In direiul con-
sequences TO the American people. Cuoa ha,
"tbus become to us an uneeasing danger and q
"ptrmanent cause Of anxiety and ALARM" For
these reasons, Mr. Buchanan was in favor of steal
irg Cubs ia case Spain refused to sell it, "Wrest-
ing it from Spsiu" was his mode Of expression.
but it is ali the ssme. We should be justified in
"wIestiDg it he said, upon tie very same
"principle that would justify Individual in tear
ing down the burning house Of his neighbor if
"tieIe We're 10 other means Of preventing the
flames from destroying bis own home.'
Now, in le5s however, the case is not 30 bad.
The President says that . We do not now antcl-
:" pate that circumstances will occur" which will
render departure from an honest policy neces-
sary. /" under the imperative and Over-ruling law
" Of seEpreserva.ion. There being less excuse
for Wrestling, or stealing, of course Spain will hold
on, and Cuba will "rue high, As the commercial
circulars have it, for the present. Other circun-
stances are pretty much the same as they were in
1854. The locality of Cuba, commanding the
"mouth OF the Mississippi" is supposed to be
Al ..l .In
no worse, nor quite so bad, in Mr.. Bu,hanan's es-
tmation; for we find that writing from Ostend,
i'll 1854, be styled it an Infamous traffic, which
is ga source of immense profit to needy and av-
- ariccus officials, who. to attain their ends,
I" scruple not to trample the most sacred prin-
e;pLes under foot" Now we are mildly
told that Cubs is 90 the only spot in the civil zed
"world where the African slave trade is tolerated"
On the grounds Of locality and slave trading, there
fore, no increase or diminutiOn Of price need be
reckoned on. 1t is therefore, after all, somewhat
difficult II tell now much the President is willing
to give for Cubs. Considering the hardness of the
times, he would perhaps Insist upon knocking of
twenty millions from his Ostend proposition, and
makiug the offer cool hundred million. 1t can
give as much as he advised Mr.. Pierce to give.
Sydney Smith long ago remarked that benevolence
ran cunously in some people. "a never sees b in
"distress but he is very anxious that shall help
"him.r-
In 1856, Mr Buchanan seemed disposed to 20
for the acquisition of Cuba not SO much as mea
sure Of important and wise public policy as n
nieeus of bringing glory to his Administration.
Hetold Senator Brown and the other gentlemen
who were pres at bis house when he notified
that The Cincinnati mob had selrc;ed him the
standard. bearer Of the Democracy, thit-but We
will let him speak in the first person, and then
there will be 10 mistake: If | can be instru-
mental u setting The Slavery question upon the
"terns hsve named, ard then add Cuba to the
Union, shall, if President, be rRling to
..gire Up the ghost and let B,.ekinridgc
"t0ke the GorUnmsni." This was said 'play.
fully" the Mississippi Seaatcr ieforms W,
ind therefore We DO Lot lay much stress
upon it. The desire to add Cuba was no doubt
genuine, but the proposition to die and let Breck
inIidge have the government was unquestionably
bogus. ltwas merely strong figure of speech,
designed to Impress his hearers with the strength
of his Cuban coyetousness; playful converse
tiopsl touch, which shows the old gentleman to be
not wholly lacking in bumor Of certain inferior
sort, and which makes US regret that lie does not
address Congress in conversational way at the
openir of each session, intead of inficting upon
the Houses and the people message like the last
We suppose we are to conclude that The President
reckcus that the first part of his allotted task is
completed end that he thinks 81 the Slavery