The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-12-24
THE CUBAN QUESTION.
se.iii'Heiai 4: ats,ss,,sg. Of e5 me view.


reply to what is called in the late Mad
| fid teleefdit "the Washington. note,
has reference to unsettled questions De
Tween the two countries. fhe exact
4 point of this official paper cannot be as
| certditied, bit they tidy be inferred from
the views of the president, which form
the basis of the instructions TO Minister
| Gushing and which show that the pres
ident regards the civil dissensioiis il
Cuba, and especially the sangiiinary hos
tilities, as producing effects in the United
States second in eravity only to those
which they produce in Spain. The ulti-
mate issue of events in Cuba will be in
| defendants. huWeyer that issue NAV be
| produced, whether by nieah3 IF negetia-
tions, or as the results of military opera
| tions, or of one of those unex xpected Incl
4 dents which so frequently determine the
| fate of nations. The continuance, of the
| instruction grows Gay By das more ini
supportable by the United States, ana
while the attention Of this government
| IS fixed on Cuba in the interest of hui
msnity by the horrors Of civil war pre-
| vailing there, it can fiot ftjriieRr 70 regret
that the existance of slave labor in Cuba,
and its influence over the feelings and
interests of the peninsular Spaniards lie
at the fotindati6n of all tie calamities
which now affiict the island. But sla-
very can not last long in Cuba, envir-
oned as that island is by communities of
emancipated slaves in the other West
India Islands and the United States
The president has not been Sfth0dt hope
that all these qsestfohs might be settled
by the Spontaneous act Of Spain shersclf,
she being more deeply interested in such
settlement than all the rest of the world.
The question What decision the United
States shall make is a serious and diff
ficult one, not to be determined without
careful consideration of its complex eie-
Inents of domestic and foreign policy, !
but the determination of which may at
any moment be forced Upon lis by Oc-
curences either iii Spain or Cuba. With
all the President ca1i not but regard in
pendence aid eniatcipati0tij OF cbitrse,
as the ONLY certain and even the neces-
sary solution of the qiesrivn ct Cuba,
aud In his mind ell incidental question:,
are quite subordinate to those, the lafger
objects of the United States in this re
sfect: 1he PRESIDENT does not. mediate
or desire the annexation OF CHSt - the
United States, but its elevation into an
independent republic of ireemen in har-
mony with ourzelves, and with the other
republics of America, The policy Of the
United States III reference IL Chba al
the present time is declared to be one of
expectancy, but with positive and fixed
convictions as to the duty of the United
States when the time or emergency for
action shall arrive.
The new sloot,s of war Alert, Alliance,
Essex, Ranger, Adams, TTeht6t, Httron,
and Enterprise, will soon be ready for
sea, and most of them will be in service
before the end of the year. The Trenton
is the only one not launched, but it is
thought she will be by the 10th of De-
cember next. The Alert is already in
commission. Tie Alliance, hU'Y at Phil
adelphia, will soon be put in commission.
The Ranger will, in a few days, go to
Philadelphia to get her outfit. The
Adams and Essex, at Boston, the enter
prise at Portsmouth, New Hampshire,
and Huron, at Norfolk, Virginia, are
rapidly being prepared for sea, and their
officers will be soon ordered aboard. 1t
is thought that the Alert will be ordered
to the East Indies to join our squadron
in those waters. The others will be or
dered to join the north Atlantic fleet as
fast Is they are put in commission, and
rs N6s5-SiS are uGHuStl dDIOdO liltN Will DS
6rdefed from the North Atlantic to
foreign stations. 1t is the policy of the
secretary Of the navy TO keep a large
number of vessels in the north Atlantic
fleet, so as to relieve vessels abroad from
this station when necessary. The Wor-
cester, at present the flag ship of that
station, being very old, will be ordered
to Norfolk as a receiving snip in place of
the New Hampshire, which vessel will be
sent to Port Royal, South Carolina as p
store ship for the north Atlantic feet.
The Hartford, which recently retu'Ted
home from the Asiatic squadron, viii be
the new flag ship of the station. During
the troubles growing out of the capture
of the Virginius by the Spanish man-of-
war Tornado, our government suffered
great inconvenience on account of the
very weak condition of our navy, but
since then the department has been do
ing all in its power with the limited
means at its disposal to put the navy in
good condition so that we may be ready
for any emergency. The iron-clads Mon
tauk, Manhattan, Saugus, Mahopac,
Nantucket, Ajax, Canonicus, Catskill,
Jason, Dictator and Others are in sea-
going condition, and should occasion re-
quire they could be put in service in five
days.