The Kanzas news., 1858-08-14
Annexation OF cnba.

- Line ", i. s1Tfo4ae Has VIC tOtloHink ePc-
cial despatch from Washigton;
sThere Is good reason to believe. from re-
gently received information, that our Gov
ernrnent Is in a fair way to acquire the Is
land of Cuba. This is derived from an un-
a-o questionable source. ~ sdE 3
We don't believe word of it. The
q. ssfair way" would be to purchase Cuba;
the ''foul way" to flibustef. rob or steal it.
The Administration wish to have the peo
pie think of something besides Kansas, for
"a little while, row that Lecompton is reeeiY-
2 ing its death stroke; hence this giving out
about Cuba. We disbelieYe the story.
mainly for two reasons 1st, Spain won't
sell Cuba: I'd. Uncle Sam. couldn't buy it
2 If she would seIl-cause why, Uncle Sam
issishort.' . His strong box is empty. He
is living on what he can borrow; and can
: hardly borrow fast enough. With Fort
!, SneIling swindles, Willetts Point swindles.
. Army Contract swindies, and paying off the
sooundreliy Congressman who betrayed
their constituents by voting for Lecompton
last winter. the Treasury is harder run than
it has ever been before since the war of
s 1919. If Spain could be induced to trade
p off Cuba at all, it would be for ready mon
ey-not promises. But Buchanan wants
Cuba, desperately longs and bankers for it
as Ahab did for Naboth's yineyard---and
the slave power, black Jezabel, urges him
on. He offered one hundred and twenty
millions of dollars for it when he was See
retary of State under Polk. He signed the
Ostend Manifesto, which maintained that
81 the United States ought to take it by force
if Spain refused to sell-on the plea of self
defense. It was his great trump card to
win the Presidency.
So IF we recollect. it was $3.50, ,oOO, 900
ea he proposed, in the Ostend Manifesto, to
offer Spain for it. Uncle Sam has been a
pretty large operator in the Real Estate line,
but has done nothing to be compared with
that, yet. He paid $4,000, 600 for Louis
lana, $4,000, 900 more for Florida, 5,OO0,-
600 again for New Mexico Utah and Cali
fornia, and lastly SO, ,O0O. 900 for Arizona
or the Gadsden purchase-S45, 600, 600 in
all. All that is small potato business,
adapted to the e.days of small things."-
rs
Buchanan is ready to pay for Cuba any rea-
sonable sum, from s1s,oO0.0Oo to $780,
100000. What would he get for that sum !?
Why, an island containing AZ, 383 square
miles, inhabited by 1,247, $50 human be-
ings; consisting of about half million
negro slaves, half million Spanish Gre
=.oies, and quarter of a million mulattos.-
That is to say, We pay from four dollars to
seven dollars per acre for the whole island,
and get-not the land, for that is owned by
private individuals, whose title can not and
viii net be interfered with-but the right to
:goverR the island; to build forts, establish
Custom Houses, and float the star-spangled
bann er there. 1t would be glorious thing
for the Democracy, for every Custom House
is Democratic nursery; where the schol-
ars instead of paying for their tuition are
paid for learning. Every fort to be built
might afford chance for speculation as
far as that of Willett's Point, and every
one that as built might be sold at as good a
profit as that realized upon Fort Smelling.
And then Cuba would make FIVE full grown
States. as large each, or larger, than Mas
sachusetts, with ten Senator's and twelve
Representatives in Congress. The people
are all Catholics, of the most orthodox pat
tern, and nowise affected with the fanatical
notions about freedom which have grown
prevalent of late in the North. Each of
these FIVE States would be model of Black
Democracy, and would enable the "a, 700
slave owners of the South to rule or ruin
the Republic at their leisure. A fine spec
ulaiion for Democracy, truly. Splendid
bargain Glorious dream But where
shall the money come from? Why. out of
the peoples pocket, surely. At the Os-
tend price it would amount to six dollars
for every man, woman and child. black
and white, bond and free, in the United
States. But the slaves can't pay, and their
masters acon't; and so, making due allow
anees, every free white laboring man at the
head OF family may reckon himself as
sessed at fifty dollars to pay for Cubs l.
Yes, to pay for the privilege. the honor. of
gorerning Cuba or being governed By Gu
ba, or of entering into partnersk;p ssit6 the
people Of Cuba IN the Popular ISorereioty
business. There's bargain for youl
Atlantic Cable Laid.