The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1859-08-11

ocratic Interpretation Of squatter SOW
ereignty." The necessity of its absorp-
tion. as contradictory as it may seem, is
defended on the ground of the incapacity
of the people to govern themselves. The
Cubans are Of the same race their com
petence for self-government will hardly
be pretended Hence their admission as
States. could not be desired, at present.
by the real friends of this Republic. To
hold them as provinces to be governed
by the appointees Of the Executive Of the
nation, would be scarcely less dangerous.
Their acquisition would furnish no out
let for the American people. Sonora and
chihuahua, in consequence Of sterility,
are incapable of supporting dense pop
ulation Central America, in consequence
Of its climate. is certainly not desirable
to people who have lived for generations
in a healthy and temperate country and
Cuba is now owned and occupied by a
population more dense than that of the
United States. 1t is an old country
older than Massachusetts or Virginia.
1t was permanently occupied by the Span
iards in 1911. nearly $50 years ago.
1t is said to be about $50 miles long,
and, on an average, forty miles wide :
and with its dependencies, to contain
about $4,000 square miles, and pop
ulation of l 1886, ,O0O-or an average of
over 33 to the square mile. (Report
No. 35, Senate Com, end session, 35th
Cong. p. 13.
In 1850 the average population to the
square mile, of Virginia, was %; of all
the States in the Union, excluding Ter
ritories, about l S ; Of all the States south
Of Mason anc Dixon's line, less than ten
and of all the States and Territories Of
the United States. less than 8. Hence
the average population of Cuba is more
than 43 per cent. greater than that of
Virginia-12O per cent. greater than that
Of all the States excluding the Terrific
ries-333 per cent. greater than all of
the Slave States-and more than 400 per
cent. denser than the average density of
the population of our whole country
Since 1850, the population Of the Uni
ted States has probably increased 80 per
cent. principally in the new States hence
the foregoing estimate is subject to this
modification. But with this modification,
it will be seen that Cuba furnishes no
room for the expansion of our population.
But We are not now oppressed for
room. Our possessions are very great.
They are 1000 miles an breadth. and
span the continent from ocean to ocean,
containing an area Of nearly 5000, 900
square miles Of which very large
surplus is unreclaimed land. In 1850,
as shownb by the Census reports, the en-
tire area Of, all the farms and plantations
in the United States amounted to but
1l3,O42,6l4 acres of improved, and 18O,
52S, 900 acres Of unimproved land in
all. about 458, ,668 square miles. Add to
this 80 per cent. for the probable effect
Of increase of population, and We have
only SOC. 1894 square miles owned and oc-
cupied in any way within the limits of
our whole country leaving 1857 .372
square miles for future occupancy. This
will afford ample scope for our vast en-
ergies in developing our resources and
multiplying our population for many
years yet to come /: our population must
be increased to nearly one hundred mil
lions before it will equal in density that
OF Cuba at the present moment.
The allegation so necessarily made by
all the leading Democratic members of
Congress during the closing days of the
last session, that Cuba is the military key
to the gulf, that il commands the mouth
of the Mississippi and its vast commerce.
as well as the commerce of the Atlantic
with the Pacific coast-that all Of this
immense trade is carried on under the
guns of her castles-that we would not
dare to go to war with England or any
great maritime power without the con-
troll Of this Island, is mere defamation.
Cuba is not new creation /; it is as old
as the continent: we have never owned
it: and yet, when we were in our infan-
cy as nation, we "dared" to fight and
to fog. in two successive wars, the great
est nation on the globe. If Cuba be-
longed to the United States, lying out
in the gull, according to the map, more
than one hundred miles from the nearest
point of main land on our coast, and six
or seven hundred miles distant from any
considerable port in the United States, in
the event of war with maritime power
it would cost more men and money for
its protection than all our other possess
ions.rGd -t;i a ldi}s a.
The idea so industriously inculcated
at the North by Southern statesmen. that
the transfer of the Island of Cuba, of
which there is not the slightest probabil-
ity. to another European power, would
be dangerous to the United States, and
should be resisted at every hazard, even
at the cost of war, is SO supremely ride
ulous, as to be amazing that the North
ern Democracy do not treat its authors
with derision wherever the disgraceful
and cowardly proposition is mentioned
They seem to be oblivious of the fact,
that Cuba is surrounded by islands now
In possession Of the Eng lish, the French,
the Danes, the Swedes, and the Dutch,
and yet no American is trembling in his
boots for the safety of the Republic.