New-York tribune., 1870-04-08
SPIN dNDPO CUB1.

SPAIN AND CUBA.
By and by the Cuban question VIII Se'.'e IT.
self Some time ago it passed out oil the nai'"'
of Cabinets into the claws of the wld DeaSt
of Spanish warfare The Madrid Government
resolute enough in shooting all who give IL
trouble. has been helpless to do anything put
butcher Cuba. Only able to govern by means
of passions, it has been too weak and too uh-
intelligent to view the Cuban question
mcrcifuly. But the passions that nave
scourged Cuba have dealt retributon to Span'
and Carlists. Isabellsts, Republicans. Monar-
chists, robbers, are ready to be as violent and
yirulent as ever Pot has succeeded to Kettle,
and Serranos Government is not great deai
cleaner, we fear than that OF Isabella, his
sometime confidential friend. AS for CUBA,
Spain has jumped into that bramble- bush only
to find that she cannot recover her eyes. In
two years hardly anything has been gained Tor
liberal government in Spain-nothlng certainly
in Cuba.
We say that IN Cubs nothing has been
ganed-we ought to say less than nothing.
The two most discerning newspapers OF Madrid
admit that the mere suppression or thc ouoah
revolt settles nothing. AT best 1t can
be but superficial suppression. The volcano
of hate is not extinct the hydra of gucrlllero
warfare cannot be destroyed; the American,
md consequently anti-Spanish, ideas OF
Cuba have become ineradicable. The
way of the South American provinces
is the way Cuba is marshaled to
go. Her fate belongs to this continent; her
blood is now more Cuban than Spanish and
soon she will join the ranks of those children
who have risen up to call their mother cursed.
There is no help for it, and as if to make sure
that the curse shall come inevitably, Spain
has been butchering her hapless children for
year past 1t has taken this badly governed
country nearly two years to find out that, even
if conquered, Cuba will not be worth having,
and to attain this sad conviction she has ex-
pended 10000 men and SiO0O0,OOo
We are aware that Gen. De ROdas has just
been praised by vote Of the Cortcs for dis
patch announcing that Gen. Jordan has taken
flight, and that the war in Cuba has closed
Unfortunately, Gen. Rodas has greater knack
of assassnating than of telling the truth. But.
admitting that his words can be verified, saving
as to the existence of gucriero bands, what thenY
Alas. for Spain. whatthe Hcrisland is less Span
ish than when she began the struggle and more
Cuban. In the day of conquest her cause Is
more hopeless than when it seemed she would
never conquer. The truth is, that in no strict
sense is it possible for Spain ever to conquer
Cuba, and retain her as a profitable province.
That is the sheercst mpossibilty, and by this
time the stupidest and bloodiest of the Span
iards begin to realize it. Gen. De ROdas, for
instance, must be quite willing to give up the
island.
- pnt with ont int m
plexion of Gen. De Rodass recent dispatches
that the Madrid newspapers have been discuss
ing the Cession of Cuba to the United States.
Nor can it have been, we are glad to think,
without clear foresight of the distress OF
SPANS situation and the extent of Cuban en-
durance, that our Government has resolved
to bide its time for becoming saving
friend Of both Spain and Cuba, and
accomplishing the rescue of a gallant people
We have certainly duty to Cuba, and at the
same time to ourselves, which is far above the
sentiment ordinarily poured out on questions
of freedom. Cuba is American, and for all pur-
poses anti-Slavery. We may not fight for her
then, it is possible that our duty will reach
us in another shape. Let us treat her gener-
ousy, unselishly, and not with pharisaiSm
when the hour of our duty arrives. No longer
is it craftsmanship to deny that National
growth has brought with it responsibilities
which claim the presence of our power in the
tropics even more naturally than in Alaska, or
than that of England in Jamaica, or Spain in
Porto Rico. The moral mind Of the nation
will SEQ to it that we do not make haste
too fast, and that every step of our
progress is just. As we have said,
the ouestion of Cuba will by and by settle
itself, and so, too, with the question of San
Domingo. Manifest Destiny is not taste, nor
an appetite nor passion. but, we fear, an
alarming responsibility. Yet it is inevitable,
and the best our craftsmanship can do is to
hold on to the brakes-we cannot reverse the
engine.