New-York daily tribune., 1858-12-02

;mmsn,e prog gsc,s she has maoe ~ late years. ou'
low dreauers, Ike Sc a,oI Brown. -Hhp'" v's'p -
darkered by negroes ana whose knO SlcL"r ~. ~,
tied to the paitry politics of Mississippi, talN ~
fippaDt cooluess Of the wOrm-eaten throne
Spain. But there il ro rcason TO believe ID 1t
Spain was ever absolutely very uch stronger thtn
she 10 tt the present time. Rcirf vey. shc wis
stronger in the reign of Philip H., because the
other La,ions were weaker than the! are p0w.
Germany Engl,Id and France were distracted by
religious dissension. AID Germany and England
had not one fourth the population nor QUE
tenth the wealth thes now have; nor had France
one-bslf ber presert population. Spain 81. adily
declined 10 populati'n, wealth md orgarizi-
tion ill she reached her l'west depth Of
weakness fifty yeSrs ago, when Napoleon
ATTEMPTED to reduce her to ali appange of France.
In l.l,s the Spanish nation numbered but 900 OOO
and had neither army nor 1eet. But even then the
pride and spirit and warlike habits of the people
tbough they were betrayed BY their King and
mobiles, led them TO offer more effective resistance
10 the French than any nation Of Continental
Europe had yet done Now, Spain has nearly
5000, 900 of people, has army as large tn At
of Great Britain, and navy about equal to our
own in point Of number, n stable though corrupt
Government, and rich, loyal and p0pulOus colonies
--cOlOnies wLicb, Unlike almost all others, afford
revenue 10 the mother country instead Of drawing
il from her Spain, under the Romans IL said 10 have
contained 4DOuD,V'V Oi ptopit-uouDlt-- n gross
exagfeTntiOn, for the nature OF the country is not
such as to admit of the greatest density popula
ton. But how weyer that may be, the best Judgment
We can form Of the condition of Spain in mo1ern
times does not lead to the conclusion that at the
hight OF her power in the 10Th and l1th centuries
she numbered more inhabitants or was stronger in
internal elements of power than she s now. She
has lost her rank among the nations, not much
because she is weaker than che was but because
other nations have grown stranger. Her CONNER
cial marine and her navy, once the first M the
world, have dwndlod fr"m their former magnlil-
ceDce but they still of respectable extent. In
war with this country Spain could nlict immense
damage on our commerce by privatecrs. Her only
available point to ia is Cuba and that point req
Cute Captaln-Gcneral can efectuslly and forever
defend, simply by lberafiog and armiog the slaves.
Mr. Webster, IN biz private correspondence when
Secretary Of State, declares that he had positive
and reliable information that the Captain General of
Caba had instructions tICm the Home Government
to emancipate and arm the blacks whenever tue
island should be seriously endangered by INVASION
from this country. Such step would render the
conquest of Cubs impossible, and worthless f it
were possible. The example of IIayti shows the
difficulty, the impOsslhility, of sUbdul0g people
who are fighting for persOnL freedom. people
may be conquered where the conquest entails only
the loss of political freedom. But the attempt to
duce tO personal slavery population set free
and with arms in their hands will result only in their
determination, or in the failure Of the attempt.
Cuba is lsrger and more doiensible than Ha!ti;
the population is twice great as that Of Havtl at
the beginning of this century, and the emanciptted
blacks would be armed by the Spanish Government
and led by Spanish officers. The capacity OF enian-
cipated Cuba for defense would therefore be much
greater than that Of emancpated Il"yt And yet
the greatest and best appointed army that ever
crossed the Atlantic was bafled. and destroyed in
the ATTEMPT TO subugate nayt
War may grow out of the present complication
in the Cuff but how why one can say with
precision. What is to happen il uncertain; what
we shall do in case anything happens is uncertain.
The Administration has no definite policy in lhe
premises, and has no established principles out of
which definite polcy csn be oduced. Al present
it seems to be the intention Of the President TO
leave the subject Of our relations with Mexico to
Congress with whom, indeed, il properly belongs.