The register., 1860-04-12
Mr.. Slidell and Cuba.

|
by other means AS confrmatory of the state.
ments then made, we take great pleasure III
presenting, i'll synopsis, report offered by
Mr.. Slidcll to the Senate of the United States
wherein the Cuba question is elaborately and
exhaustively treated. Aside from the more
immediate purpose for which we introduce it
this synopsis will be valuable as summary o
an able discussion of one of the most important
and interesting questions of the times. Our
summary must be meagrc; still we hope to
make it ineligible and complete. All who
desire to see the entire discussion are respect
fully referred to the original rcport-a docu-
mcnt which will well repay perusal. We beg
the distinguished gcntlcnan's pardon for in
verting scme topics of the report. While the
order of the report is doubtless best for its pur-
poses, that which we have adopted will best
serve the wants of our readers. With reference
to the general topic, the report says:
!" The law ofour national existence is growth.
We cannot, If we would, disobey it. While we
should do nothing to stimulate it unnaturally,
we should be engeful not to impose upon our
selves regimen SO strict as to prevent its
lealIhful development. The tendency of the
age is the expansion of the great powers of the
world"
AS to the acquisition of Cuba, the document
holds:
9. @. 1t is not considered necessary by your COM
| mittee to enlarge upon the vast Importance of
the acquisition of the Island of Cuba by the
United States. To do so would he as much a
work OF supercrogation as to demonstrate an
elementary problem in mathematics, or one OF
those aSIoms of ethics or philosophy which have
been universally received for ages. The ulti-
mate acquisition Of Cuba may be considered a
fixed purpose of the United States, a purpose
resulting from political aud geographical ne
ccssities which have been recognized by all
parties and all administrations, and in regard
to- which the popular voice has been expressed
with a unanlinity unsurpassed on any question
Of national policy that has heretofore engaged
the public mind.
inc purchase and annexation of Louisiana
led, as necessary corollary, to that of Flori-
da, and both point with unerring certainty to
the acquisition of Cuba. The sparse and fee
bic population of what is now the Great West
called, in 1870, for the free navigation of the
Mississippi, aud the enforcement Of the right Of
deposit ut New Orleans. In three years not
only were these privileges secured but the
whole of the magnificent domain of Louisiana
was ours Who now doubts the wisdom of a
measure which ut the time was denounced with
litical history?"
And again:
:" The question of the annexation of Cuba to
inc United States, we repeat, is u question but
OF time. The fruit that was not ripe when John
Quincy Adams penned his despatch to Mr., For
SVtN, (it has bppp snrnrntl. h,,
from Its native tree, as he anlicipatcd.) is now
mature. Shall it he plucked by friendly
hand, prepared to compensate its proprietor
with prlncely guerdon? or shall it fall de-
cnying to the ground?
AS Spain cannot long maintain her grasp on
this distant colony, there are but three possible
alternatives in the future of Cuba First, Dos
session by one of the great European powers
lhis we have declared to be incompatible with
our safety, and have announced to the world
lhnt any attempt to cOnsnmmate it will be re-
sisted by all the means in our power. When
llrst we made this declaration we were compa-
ratlvely feeble. The struggle would have been
1ear'ul and unequal; but we were prepared to
make !! at whatever hazard. That declaration
has Often been repeated since. With a Dopu-
lation nearly tripled, our financial resources
ana our lncnns, offensive and defensive, incrca-
scd III an infinitely larger proportion, we can
ilipN
ready to meet.
The second alternative is the inGcncndenco
OF the Island. This independence could only
be nominal it never could be maintained in
fact. 1t would eventually fall under some pro-
tcctoralc. open or disguised. If under ours
annexation would soon follow as certainly as
the shadow follows the substance, An Enrn.
penn protrctorate could not be tolerated The
closest phllanthropists Of England and France
would us the price of their protection. insist
upon Introducing their schemes of cmancpo
tlon. Civil and servile war would soon follow,
and Cuba would present. MS lIayti now does. no
traces of IFS former prosperity, Int tho wins If
its once noble mansions. lis uncontrolled nos.
session by either France or England would be
less dangerous aud offensive to our Southern
States than pretended Independent black en-
pirc or republic.
The third and last alternative is annexation
to the United States. How aud when is this to
DC elected? by conquest or negotiation p
Conquest even without the hostile interference
OF another European power than Spain, would
DO expensive INT with such interference would
probably involve the whole civilized world in
war, entail upon us the interruption, if not tho
loss OF our foreign trade, and an expenditure
far exceeding any sum which it has ever brcn
contemplated to offer for the purchase of Cuba
1t wonld, besides, in all probability, lead to
servile inSnlrection, and to the great injury or
even total destruction of the industry of the Is.
land. Purchase, then, by negotiation seems TO
be the only practicable course; and, in the
opinion of the committee that cannot be nt
tempted with any reasonable prospect of suc
cess, unless the President be furnished with thc
means winch he has suggested in his annual
message, and which the bill proposes to rive
him." fiSNs W s"'
The report then goes on to show that this
idea is not new thing. From the beginning.
it has possessed the minds ofall our first States
men. Thisi shown by fulland distinct quotations
from Jefferson, Clay, Buchanan, Marcy and 9th.
ers. All these venerable Statesmen, strange
to tell, are Thoroughbred manifest destiny
advocates, so far as Cuba is concerned. And
many Others. equally distinguished and equally
worthy OF confidence, might have been quoted
to the same effect The position of the question
being thus clearly given, the report goes on to
set forth the results of the acquisition of Cuba,
These we must notice very briefly. intimatinr
what they are, rather than at all developing
them. The fitness and disposition of the popu-
lation of Cuba fer annexation, are admirably
The acquisition Of Cuba would cAtctusllv