St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1859-05-26
The FiIibuSterS.


dition Of the Cuban filibustcrs has re-
suited in ridiculous failure. Those
engaged in it acted with as little
Judgment and discretion as the three
wise men of Gotham" who event to
sea in bowl" The party consisted
of Don Jose Elias Hernandez and
thirty-two other Cubans, who left New
York about two months ago, in the
brigantinc African, under a contract
with its captain that they were to be
put in boats within fifteen miles of
Nuevcs Grandcs, in Cuba, for which
service he received 81 900 previous to
their departure. Faithful TO his agree
mcnt, the captain conveyed them TO
the designated spot, and was extreme
ly anxious to get rid of his passen-
gers but they refused to discmbark,
principally, as they allcge, because
the boats leaked, and would have been
swampcd long before the shore could
have been reached. The voyage was
! then continued to Port-au-Princc, in
Hayti, where the iilibusters were all
landed, and as they have little Or no
money, they are left in a state of ut
ter dcstitution. The Spanish consul
at that place has obtained possession
of all the facts connected with their
expedition, and their names.
When the intelligence of the expo
dition and its disasters reached Ha-
vana, the officials there were much
amused by the fate Of the enterprise,
and the Diario de Ia Maria0 publishes
the names Of a dozen of the fiIibustcrs,
with notes illustrative of their charac-
ters, showing that they are refugees
from justice in Cuba, not for any politi-
cal offence, but for being ncgro-steal-
crs, absconding thieves, highway rob-
bcrS, or men who have escaped from
confinement in the pcnitentiary, for
rascalty of various kinds. We do
not know how much truth there is in
these charges of knavcry against
them, but their conduct affords conclu-
sive evidence Of their folly. 1t is SUI
premely ridiculous for such insignif-
cant bands of men to attempt to break
down the Spanish power in Cuba,
which has lasted for centuries, and
has nova powerful fleet and we'll
trained army of at least eighteen
thousand men to protect it. II Cuba
is to be wrcst"d from Spain by any il
legal or independent enterprises, they
must be conducted either OH the basis
Of a wcll-organizcd and partially-suc-
cessful revolt within the island before
any expedition from this country lands
there, or the American expedition
must be so powerful, so well manned,
oiliccred, and equipped as to be able
to cope with any Spanish forces that
could be concentrated against it.
Filibusterism, as exemplificd in the
expeditions which, during the last ten
years, have sailed from the United
States, has proved an ignis fatuus to
lure on misguided, rash, and inconsid-
crate men to destruction and it has
also brought upon our nation deep dis
grace. 1t has not advanced our ma
tional interests one iota, but, on the
contrary, has greatly retarded them,
by bringing rcproach upon the Ameri-
can name, and prejudicing the minds
of the people of contiguous nations
against us. The halo of romance and
adventure which once, to certain ex-
tent, surrounded the characters of the
tilibustcrs, has been almost entirely
destroyed, and the name has nearly
grown to be a synonyme for rash
fool.