The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1873-12-20
A old Question, h.
from ne B.i,,u,o.e Aa,eyscsa,


sIEG From tAe Ba,s,mo,e Assse,acsu. -taFA
! The annex.4;on r.. CHA IN tbs United
I state. ,~as . favor;te nro;ect vith soene Of
ri,cr NOR sc0ressiva S0xthern "sas1eernen
before omr civil var. Il was often discuss-
cd in C"norcss. and NJ late M 1850. Mir.
! SI;.lc,i .asis m ei.I,os.tc rrpovt In the Sen.
!, a,". I'm wLich H vas nrouose.l 10 Mace thir-
10 millions of dollars In tie hands of the
| president for tho purchase Of the island. II
was mo- exnscted TIT tl,is sum wu,,ld eat
.isfy 6nsin. but Il Vas thought TO Be- sufIi-
Gent for the firxt nayment. A revolution
was thcn thrafen;nC In Snain. and IL was
s,,n,.,seI the chanccs NJ l,attle might bring
| some insn,yent leader into authority. who
MIGHT he temnted 10 take the thirty mil.
lions and the promise Of morc, and thereby
create treasury for his provisional gov
eminent. II had not been for the sIspi-
| cion in the North that the movement was
| in the interest of tl,e slave power, and was
! intended to increase the area Of slave terri
tory in the United States, and to strengthen
and per,et,late the institution itself, Mr..
Slidejl's bill might have received more fl.
yo,nl,lc consideration.
During the thirty wears that the acauisi-
ton of Cuba was periodically discussed, the
s,r,,,r argument advanced in favor Of the
measure was the supposed inability Of Spain
to defend her own territory. Some Of our
statesman pretended to live in perpetual
dread Of the naval power Of Great Britain,
and Whenever tic Cuba question was moot
cd, they held up before the eyes Of their
countrymen tic terrifying spectacle Of
England controlling the commerce Of the
Gnlf. The people Of the United States
were told they ought to buy or take Cuba
i -. lp.,01
il by purchase or conquest. There certain
" were historical prccetlents sufficient to
Justify the argument. For more than two
hundred wears Spain has been giving up
her colonial possessions to stronger Powers.
In 1920 she coded Lower Navarro and
Bearne to France; twenty years later she
lost Portugal and the Portuguese colonies.
In the same century thc English took Bar.
lsadoes and Jamaica, aDd in 1904 Gibraltar
was wrcsted from her grasp. Of her pos
sessions iu the West Indies tho French t00k
Martinique. GuadalOupc and the half OF the
Island oi San Domingo, and in the year 1900
she gave Louisiana to the same power. In
1919 She sold Florida to the United States;
and IN 1921 the remaining half Of San Do
minyo became independent, and before the
year 1925 the South American States were
lost to her forever Of all her vast posses
sOns in the New World, acquired by dis
covery and colonization, Cuba and Porto
Rico alone remain.
Cuba has frequently been attacked, and
twice It was wrcsted from Spain aud twice
regaincd. In 1898 the French captured Ha-
vana and reduced it to ashes. In 1902 Lord
ALTERNATE landed an English army OH the
island, defeated the Spanish guard and for
Z year Cuba was British province. In
..rl hnc <.,
Spain. The French invaded the island in
1907. but were driven off. A year later
Napoleon had conquered Spain; his own
brother was put on the throne, and all the
Spanisl, islands (including Cuba) were ccd-
cd to France. It is needless to say that
Napoleon did not take possession Of his
West Iinlia territory, and was not long be-
fore Wellington had destroyed his title
thereto.
It IL therefore not surprising that Mr..
Slidell and the party Of annexatiOnists
which he represented should urge with
great zeal the purchase Of Cuba, in order to
prevent it from Incoming . dependency Of
some European Power stronger than Spain.
Even such clcar-hcated statesmen m John
Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster and Ed
ward Everett, were profoundly impressed
with the probability 81 such contingency,
and were anxious that the United States
should take measures to prevent it. In
those days the whole native population Of
I Cuba was supposed tObc disaffectetl towards
the mother country. A standing army Of
twenty -tive thousand men garrisonede On the
island then, and the number has been more
than doubled since. The ratio between the
military and civilian populati0n was in 1850
- os,e t. sixty: ills nov o. ono to thirty.
s,,,Ossl,Dos ~
against the rule OF Spain, which was %
freely fiklulged in by Mr.. Sidell, has not
been fulfilled. Only very small proper
ton VI the people have taken mp arms
against their opprussors, and unless assist
cd by some foreign Power they are not
likely To achieve their Independence. The
masses ofitle people, especially in, the mar
thine towns, have been conspicuous for
their loyalty to spain. and such Of them A.
have taken up arms against the insurgents
have sa,own themselves oxceedingiy Zero
ciO,,s. Within five years there have been
three revolutions in Spain, by which the
Government has bcen changed, but the
people Of Cuba have awaited themselves Of
mono ~ these to- throw ~ the Spanish
yoke. With incOnsiderablc exceptions,
they were ~ loyal to Amadeus as to Isabella,
and recent events have slJDwn that they are
not iiS:.iIected towards the CASTELAR, Gov
esRment: They are Monarchists or Repib-
licans, according to the exigencies Of the
occasion-always excepting the sturdy
"patriots" Of the mountainous districts,
who have kept Wp q sost n irrcgnIar revolt
''';.I - .; ;.su;h,. .o l,. ,,,,..,,.- .,;.
ken place in the home government springs
from sentiment If Spanish nationality, or
whether it il the presence Of q powerful
standing army that overawes the rising
spirit Of liberty, and preserves the peace.
All that wc know IL that In the thickly pop
ulated portions Of the island there II no re.
bcllion, the press IL fiercely royal, and there
seems to lo = public sentiment that JUST