, 1860-02-18

On Thursday last, Mr.. Maynard, If Tenres-
zee, offered a resolution in lie House Of Rep.
rescutat'ves, which wac adopted setting fortl,
''ttat the geographical position Of Cuba to the
"Enited States renders it eminently desirable
"that there should be free md unrestricted
"oersonal and commercial intercourse between
"then1, and directing. the Committee On For
"e!gn A1Aiss to iuquiic into the cxpediency
"of convention between the Emitted Suites
land Spain, so as to facilitate commerce by
1.-The reciprocal importation and expectation Of
.the agricultural and manufactured prcducls
"of tbs Two countries free Of either import or
"e1port duties. aud the free passage Of per-
"sous from one country the o.l,er.' This is
move in the right direction, and We a.c glad
that it comes from Tennessee, As subs,i-
tute for the scheme Of saddlipg the people Of
the United States with I debt Of several hun
dred millions Of dollars for the purchase Of
Cuta, and as iaal czt!uguis!ler Il rampant
fl!liousteriam, nothing could be so casctual as
reciprocal free trade with Cuba.
The advocates Of annexation profess to be.
1leve that tho possession Of Cuba is necessary
to the security Of tue Gulf States, in case OF
war with maritime nation. This argument is
the main reliance in making. out their case.
BUTT is shown to be valueless by the fact that
with much smaller expenditure Of money
than would purchase Cuba we can secure al
the advantages, in a military point Of view,
which its possession would confer, besides
many others Of commercial character that The
ownership Of Cuba could not possibly give.
Theae advantages are to be obtained by the
construction Ct Z ship canal across the renin.
Eula Of Florida. Recent surveys lave been
made Of the route Of such canal, by CON-
petcnt engineer, under order Of tie Govern
ment, and the report not only shows it to lie
emiuent9y practicable, bit that lis cost will not
exceed ten millions Of dollars. This is but tue
twentieth part Of the estimated cost Of Cuba,
surposing that Spain would consent to sell il
ut any price. Is an alternative for annexa-
ton, it commends itself strongly on the ground
OF economy; while it places the key to tile Gull
in our possession; shortens the route from New
York TO New Orleans, the mouth Of tho Rio
Graade and Iehuaatepec, by at least Eve hun
drcd miles; besides wholly avoiding the dam
gerous navigation Of the FIorida Keys, go fatal
to our shipping. II it is necessary to c1pcnd
money to giro 'us control Of the KEY to tie
Gulf let it be used for the construction Of this
canal, which can be made at SO small cost,
rather thau sp srd it in unlimited amount for
tho purchase O. conquest Of Cuba.
No question Of commercial policy has been
presented to the American people for lous
time, that eau combine SO manv interests in its
support as this one Of reciprocal free trade with
Cuba. All The Ssates On tho Atlartic seaboard
have direct interest in it, for the reason that
it would augment their commerce and greatly
increase their carrying trade. Not port or
city, from Portland 10 tho mouth Of tho Rio
Grande, but would fec! the impulse Of an in.
creased commerce. The great grain aud meat.
producing regions Of the West have still
larger interest in the measure; for il would
open new market for their products and
would establish at once a permanent advance
in each Ct their great staples. The States bor.
dering the Ohio aad Mississippi Rivers are
equally interested, for those streams would
become The great highway for large portion
Of the trade that would spring up l,ctwcen the
Sta'es and Cuba. Tie whole country has
general interest, in addition 10 those which are
special and local, by reason Of the fact thai
reciprocity with Caba would stop tic drain Of
from fifteen to twenty millions Of specie that
now goes annually to pay our balances with
that Island. We. know not how policy coula
be more strongly fortified by solid, unanswer-
able argument. Let us nave reciprocity Of
trade with Cuba, put a stop to Gllibustcring.
and place auietus upon the miserable yasa-
bonds who are constantly trying to bring the
country into trouble