Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1859-02-25
MORNING LEADER.
8 p ECH
OF SENATOR THOMPSON, OF KENTUCKY
On the Acquisition of Cuba.
lConcl1ded.1

| should like to have some reflection, somt
thought bestowed upon the subject. If We
get Cuba, we must certainly hold it by fortIfica
tions; and / should like to send Commission
there to examine it, such as we sent out in the
| Crimean war to examine the Russian tortifca
tions and the srmaments of the allied armies
and would add TO that Commission the Senator
from Mississippi (Mr Davis) for l have more
confidence in his military ability than in any
man now in the United States and | would
| also put on it the Senator from Minnesota (Mr
| ShieldsJ. Let them go down and survey Cubs
as a man would survey piece of land before
| he bought it. Let them come back and tell US
whether there is any Cronstadt there, such as
the Russians have TO defend st Petersburgh.-
Let them tell US whether there is place where
fertilization may be built such as was built
at Sevastopol under the genius OF the immortal
Todtleben- Let them tell Us whether there are
any places for a Redan and Mamelon tower
to rear their heights in such grandeur as to be
able TO beat back an English fleet l would
wish to be satisfied on all these points, because,
when we come TO get it, should suppose we
want to hold it.
l spoke before of our going in debt, for four
hundred years, to build the Pacific Railroad.
think that if we should get into q war on ac-
count of Cuba, we should be so crippled that
we should never get out of debt. l think
propose fair way Of trading. A man does not
buy horse without looking at it..
l 10 not care for all the popular clamor down
South about buying Cuba. They do not know
anything about it. Hyou talk to the people in
the South about it, and tell them what fine
country it is, they are very willing to have it /;
but our people have been SO petted and SO spoil
ed on this subjecf, again and again surfeited,
ike great child whose appetite is vitiated by
sweatmeats, that they are eternally whining
because their stomach is not as big as their
eyes, and they cannot swallow every thing they
| see Laughter ] They ought to have some
body who is willing to tell them the truth
When You talk to them about the acquisition
of Cuba, they think it is all right Men say
sfUncle Sam foots the bill; and who knows that
there may not be a windfall for him; that ] may
not draw ticket in the lottery! lido not know
how If will come OUT And so men 90 on,
just as an adventurer, without knowing any
thing about the population, habits, pursuits OF
character Of the people. I have heard man
| rant about Cuba, and if you landed him on the
Island he would be the most lonesome poor
creature in the world, Imported African ne
groes would palayer and jabber at him, and su-
percilious C1bans would look at him scornfully
and walk around him as a turkey looks at a
snake in q rain [laughterl; and the very ne
groes would not wait on him and they would
not wait on him for very substantial reasOn-
they would not know what in the world he said,
and he would not know what they said.
The people of Cuba speak a different Ian
guage, they profess a different religion, and
they are Of different extraction from us; and
our people have regarded them as aliens and
ton That is the feeling of our population out
West, / know. Suppose we annex them; by
the annexation you have the high prerogative
of taking them under your wing You have to
protect them in war, and attend to them In
peace You marry them as man does bis
wife, "for better or for worse" If the Scnatoi
| from Louisiana gives true aecoupt of Cuba,
l would rather, before she comes into the fami
ly, consult little further and little Longer
about it. Saying nothing about color, thinb
l have been at more respectable weddings than
| It would be to bring her into the household
| Laughter She is to be civilized and chris
| tianized, and all this under the guardianship
/ and protection of the United States 1t is &
heavy Job No doubt the spirit of our people
can accomplish it, for they have achieved won
| ders; but it is certain that shere would not b.
| many of the natives of Cuba left there long.
Well, Sir, what is the immediate haste fo
/ this measure nowl There is no necessity fol
any haste about it. We are at peace with Eng
| land, we are at peace with France, and we are
at peace with Spain. Why make this attemp
| in time of profound peace, when even the Gu
thorities cited in the able report of the Senato
from Louisiana (Mr. SlidelD admit that W,
ought not to make any effort to take the islant
while it remains under Spanish rule. England
and France proposed to Us triPartite treaty
guaranteeing that we would not seize the is
l land; but Mr. Everett refused to agree to it,
They see that we eve ntually look to it, and w
have all avowed it here, and still they do not
interfere. ask you, is not this bill calculated
to create rupture between the three nations
They may protest; they msy not fight; but
ask, at this time, is it not premature, -uncalet
for, unnecessary! We had better pay the debt
Il we owe now / have known several very re
spectacle old Virginia gentlemen, of Anglo
Saxon blood, out in Kentucky, get broke jus
by paying taxes on too much land. Ragged ne
gro after ragged negro would go; but they
would still hold on to their land, and at last j
would be eaten up by taxes, and they be iDsol
vent; and, in some cases, after their delth
their estates would not be worth enough to pa
their funeral expenses. / have known one 0
two absolutely ruined by having too much land
/ think we have pretty good sized country
now; and it would have been entirely too larg
bat for the fortunate turn-np of gold in Califor
mia. Thst was q eod-send to the country; an
if it had not been that we found gold there t
redeem the county from the position it was il
the treaty Of Guadalupe Hidalgo would hay
been bIistering sore to US for years and year
to come So, when we bought Louisiana, W
made lucky hit; but in buying Cuba there
no chance of anything of that sort We bu
the negroes for the owners to keep them; an
i | we bay the land for the owners to keep it. W
trade for the sovereignty; that is, the burden
taking care of them and protecting them an
ciyilizing them. There is no god-send le
there.
Why do you want Cubai Some gentleme
talk about grsvitstion, and say it grsvitates thl
way; and others tell US that there is polite;
necessity for our tide of emigration going
that direction. Well, Sir, l know that If 70
90 out into the country and talk TO the peopli
{ YOU will find them IN favor of the next war,
some war, and of getting more land; and it
a pretty safe platform to go upon.
Mr.. Clay and Mr.. Adams were not at th
head of the Government when they spoke {
this gravitation. They spoke of it. suppose
as q sort of bumbug for the South; but the
put off the time Of acquiring it indefinitely, VI
: I'll Buchanan at last has brought it up. Afte
Mr.. CLAY wrote his letter, and John Quincy At
ans came into power, did they practice whs
they said! Not at all They held it up as
happy deIusion to all the Gulf States that the
must eventually have Cuba, and would have
al no remote day; that such was manifest del
tiny and passional attraction, according to th
free-love school; that Cuba would just rus
into our arms any how. tLaughter,] i is sal
she is grayitating toward US; that is the tern
Well Sir, she has not gravitated en- inch frol
where she stood when they wrote and if th
Cubans understand how the Americans wi
treat them, it will not, with their consent, graz
itate this way much longer, but they will kee
"pauting for liberty" Isay that, because II
report seems to insinuate that the Populaho
! are willing to come to Us. do not kno'
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