The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1859-03-10

2diA AOOlo LllC bllli anu VINO KNOWS LNal
there may not be a windfall for me;
that I may not draw a ticket in the lot
tery2 I do not know how it will come
out" And so men 90 on, just as an
adventurer, without knowing anything
about the population, habits, pursuits
or character of the people. I have
heard a man rant about Cuba, and if
you landed him on the island he would
be the most lonesome, poor creature in
tho world. Imported Africans would
.palavor and jabber at him, and super
cilious Cubans would look at him scorn
fully, and walk around by him as a
turkey looks at a snake in the rain;
laughter and the very negroes, unless
fed, 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
language, they profess a different rcli-
gion, and they are of different extrac-
ton from us; and our people have re-
garded them as aliens and outlaws from
the pale of humanity and civilization
That is the feeling Of our population out
West, 1 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 a man does his
wife, "for better or for worse" IF the
Senator from Louisiana gives a true ac-
count of Cuba, would rather, before
she comes into the family, consult a
little further and little longer about
it, Saying nothing about color, ]
think 1 have been at more respectable
weddings than it would be to bring her
into the household. Laughter She
is to be civilized and Christianizcd, and
all this under the guardianship and pro.
lection of the United States. It is q
heavy job. No doubt the spirit of our
people can accomplish it, for they have
achieved wonders; but it is certain there
would not be many Of the natives Of
Cuba left there long.
Well, Sir, what is the immediate haste
for this measure now? There is no ne.
cessity for any haste about it. We are
at peace with England, we are at peace
with France, and we are at peace with
Spain. Why make this attempt in
time of profound peace, while even the
authorities cited in the able report of
the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Sli
delD admit that we ought not to make
any effort to take the island while it re.
mains under Spanish rule. England
and France proposed to us a tripartitC
treaty, guaranteeing that we would not
seize the island; bat Mr.. Everett re.
fused to agree to it. They see that we
eventually look to it., and we have all
avowed it here, and still they do not in.
tcriero. l ask you, is not this bill cal.
culated to create a rupture between the
three nations2 They may protest. they
may not fight; but 1 ask, at this time
is it not premature, uncallcd for, unnoc.
essary2 We had better pay the debts
we owe now. I have known several
very respectable old Virginia gentle.
men, of Anglo-Saxon blood, out in
Kentucky, who got broke Just by paying
taxes on too much land Ragged ne
gro after ragged negro would 60, but
they would still hold on to their land
and at last it would be eaten up by tax.
es, and they be insolvcnt; and, in some
cases, after their death, their estate,
would not be worth enough to pay theil
funeral expenses. I have known one OF
two absolutely ruined by having toe
much land.
think we have a pretty good sized
country now; aud it would have beer
entirely too large but for the fortunate
turn-up in California. That was a god
send to the country; and if it had no
been that we found gold there to re
deem this country from the position i
was in, the treaty of Guadalupe Hidal
go would have been a blistering sore t
us for years and years to come So
when we bought Louisiana, we made ,
lucky hit, but in buying Cuba there i,
no chance ofanything of that sort. W.
buy the negroes for the owners to keeJ
them; and we buy the land for the own
ers to keep it. We trade for the sover
eighty; that is, the burden Of taking
caro- of them and protecting them anC
civilizing them. There is no godsont
left there.
Why do you want Cuba? Some gen
tlemen talk about gravitation, and sa,
it graviJates this way and others tell u
that there is political necessity for ou
tide Of emigration going in that direc
ton. Well, sir, I know thpt if you g,
out into the country and talk to the peo
| pie, you will find them in favor Of thr
next war, or some war, and of gettin,
more land, and it is pretty safe plat
form to 60 upon
Mr. Clay and Mr.. Adams we're not a
the head of the Government when the,
spoke of this gravitation. They spok
of it, suppose, as a kind Of humbuJ
for the South; but they put off the tim
Of acquiring it indefinitely, until Buo
hanan at last brought it up. After Mr.
Clay wrote his letter, and John Quinc
Adams came into power, did they prac
tice what they said? Not at all. The
held it up as a happy delusion to all th
Gulf States that they must eventual,
have Cuba, and would have it at no re
mote day; and such was manifest dosti
ny and passional attraction, according
to the free-love school; and Cuba woul
Just rush into our arms any how
| Laughter It is said she is gravita
ting toward us; that is the term We'll
sir shn hns mot rrnViialad On inch from