Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1869-10-15
MErPHIs, September 30. 1859.


IA GEHTLEMEs: In o previous letter oi
| this date, said l regarded the question
concerning Cuba and other West India
| Islands to be of such paramount impor'
| lance as to be worthy Of o spscial commu'
nication. l proceed to make good that
declaration.
At the last session of Congress, the Do.
minican, or as it is commonly called, the
old Spanish portion Of the Island of st.
Domingo, with q mixed population oi
about l65,OoO. applied, or was ready 70
apply, for admission aithouf price as a
State into this Union. The western por.
ton of the Island, under the control OF
the negro race, about seven thousand
SQUARE miles of territory, did not apply,
nor is it nou desirable. The area OF that
part which did not apply, is about equal
| to the combined areas of Massachusetts,,
Rhode Island and New Hampshire. This
| Island is entirely within the tropical
zone.
From the small progress which has
been made on that Island, we are in the
habit of regarding it as fat, undesirable,
pestilential country. True, II has not
progressed; what country has which has
been under the sway of that non-pro-
gressive, cruel, bigoted, ill-starred Span :
ish race Look to Mexico to South
America to these West India Islands
the most fruitful and desirable portion
of the globe. Compare Louisiana and
Califsrnia--once under their swsy-now,
with what they were when Spain con-
trolled their destinies.
Geographers, travellers, writer's, men
who have long resided on the Island, de-
scribe st. Domingo as Of marvellous
beauty, with still more marvellous pro-
ductions. With its lofty mountains
with its rich and productive valleys; {;
with its inlets, bays and harbors; with it's
forests of mahogany, oak, lignumviie,
! ebony, 5atinwood, 5yswoods, cedars,
pines; with its tamarinds, mapgoes,
palms, oranges, lines, lemons, citrons,
pineapples and other tropical fruits ;
with its capacity to produce sugar and
coffee; with it's delightful and salubrious
cimate-such a country in the hands OF
our enterprising people would soon be-
come the weslthiest, most productive
aud most desirable spot on the globe
As q country we produce oil the cereals,
oil the fruits of the temperate region,
aud may soon grow and produce all the
wool, wines and silks which the country
may need. We have no tropical country.
We cannot produce all the sugar we con-
sumo, nor any coffee. 90 sFfETes !,
II is the policy of the United States to be
independent of the rest of the world, and
as near as possible to produce everything
that is consumed or worn or needed in
commerce. With this tropical island in
our possession, we should be well nigh
independent of all countries for every
product that grows ont of the soil. lg,
But these considerations, however
great, are unimportant, compared with
another aspect in which this question
presents itself. The Mississippi river is
the natural outlet for this mighty valley.
The value of the products annually pass
ing out to markets through this channel
am cunts to hundreds of millions of dol
lars. What it will be, when new channels
of trade across the Isthmus, with the Pa
cific and the countries on that sea, are
opened when increased commerce with
the West India Islands, with the Central
and South American States, shall be en-
lsrged; when this great country west OF
the Allegheny mountains shall be denseiy
peopled and highly cultivated is beyond
The range of human foresight to estimate
This great commerce. destined at no
distant period to be tenfold what 1t 10,
and ever-increasing, whether its desti-
nation be with the States on the Pacific,
the West India Islauds, with South
America or Europe, has to pass out to
market through the marrow chanaei OF
the Florida Straits. The islands that
dot the surface Of the Gulf Of Mexico
and the Carrihean Sea, with the excep-
ton Of St. Domingo and one small
island on the eoast Of South Aneriea-
one held and owned by formidable Euro
pean commercial powers and rivals,
Spain, Denmark. Holland, France aid
Great Britain. These powers, with their
guns and fortresses are armed sentinels
on the Gulf of Mexico-and keep watch
and ward over the track Of our uaviga-
tiora Wherever q bird can light OF an
chor nest, up goes thsir frovnirg. bat
teries. One power or the other holds
fortified possessions in Cuba, Porto Rico,
Jamaica, Trinidad, Antigua, Barbados,
the Bermudas, the Bohsmas, on the coast
Of Yucatan, and away eff on the main
below Orinoco-ever ready to blockade
our exit TO the markets Of the world. Ia
the opinion Of Lieutenant Maury,
Here is to be the scene OF con-
test between maritime nations in
var. Here are the gate ways
Of the ocean, and the power viii hold the
keys thereto that has the naval supre-
macy on the Gulfof Mexico" With these
facts staring us in the face. We hesitate
whether We will accept the Queen Of the
Antilles when it is rendered rs Pick u2
your map, and you will perceive that Il
lies midway between Cnba and Porto
Rico, and in . central and commanding
position with reference 10 oil the islands