Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-03-21

4
from the sborigines and their allies the British.
| The French had relinquished il as early as
1853, but the British held to their possessions
with their usual persistence. During the ad-
| ministration of Gen. Washington he recon-
mended that troops be raised 10 defend that
| sparsely settled country, but the opposition TO
Washington in the First Congress was carried
| TO the extreme of refusing the aid recon-
mended and for years the Authenticated. as
| It was charged. by the British-kept up con-
tinual warfare, and TO Washingtons
| repeated recommendations for relief 10
the suffering in that far distant land
| no attention was paid, and it was even proposed
to rellnquish all territory beyond the Ohio
river. making that the boundary of our western
possessions. and only the persistent efforts Of
Washington. Jefferson and Others of that class
OF statesmen saved that vast empire TO the
onlsed states. At meeting OF the commits
sloners to adjust the terms Of peace in London.
at the conclusion of the war of the revolution.
the British representative suggested the relin-
| quishment of the Northwestern Territory and
franklin was favorable To the demand. but Mr..
Adams refused to discuss il even. and said he
| would withdraw from the conference il il was
/ urged. Tina. vast territory, old Virginia. after
establishing her right to every of il. surren-
dered 1t TO the general government and from il
came Indiana. Illinois. Michigan. Ohio. &c.
The same story OF ingrattude and neglect of
| those whose valor added all this vast dominion
TO the United States fills the pages OF history. The
| hrst governor appointed by Washington Of the
Northwest Territory, and upon whom deSolved
| it's defense. WIS Gen. Arthur st. Clair. Supply
| ing the needed arms and transportation for his
! troops from his private credit the refusal or
| neglect OF Congress TO appropriate the money
| to meet these demands upon HIM wrecked
/ his fortune and left him in penury. from which
! the state of PENNSYLVANIA made him some
! recompense by voting him annuity Just in
| time to save him from the aims house.
This Is only one of many acts of cruel injus
tice meted ont to the heroes of the revolution.
| How many of them ended their days in want.
! Another case almost glaring WAS that of
! Maj Joseph Wheaton. who is remembered by
! our older citizens as resident here. who spent
| his fortune i'll purchasing supplies for .Se army
! OF the west under Gen. Harrison, when. as
| quartermaster general, he carried supplies
through the trackless forest TO their :elief not
| one dollar of which was repaid. He. too, died
IN Baltimore of wounds received in the revolu-
tlonary war. If not in want. far reno ed from
easy circumstances. | was led to this discus
sion OF what Is so well known-the neglect
which has been the fate of SO MANY of those
heroes whose names fill SO conspicuous a place
| IN the history of our Countrywide the re-
Gently closed century of our country's great
| ness and progress Is being extoled. the reverse
/ OF the picture is one which exhibits her Gis-
| honor.
ONE OF THE EARLY ADVOCATES OF THE CLAIMS.
One of the largest owners or agents fo- the
French spoliation claims who resided here SO
many wears engaged in the prosecution of them
was the late James H. Causten. whose residence
ana office was on + street, adjoining and form
ing partof the Corcoran building Mr.. Caus-
| ten came here in 1929 and inserted in the Nd
! t,ono' hfeat9encer an advertisement containing
! the announcement that The had recently re-
moved from Baltimore " The advertise
ment remained unchanged. reading the
same, mp to the time of his death. which
occurred somewhere about 1853 On one &C.
casion when the French spoliation bill was be-
| ing discussed in Congress Mr.. Gales wrote a
long editorial for the National Inteiligeac.4 on
the Justice OF the claim and urging its passage.
/ and a few days after he received a letter from
/ some insurance companies of Philadelphia in
closing a check for II 900. To me it seemed a
Godsend but 10 my utter amazement Mr.. Gales
returned 1t. his reason being that the article
was written a. his own views on the matter he
could not tab pay for it. At that very mo-
ment 1t was "a matter of very serious conjecture
with Major DonOho and myself where the Daper
was to come from for the next days issue of
! the l'tedtgencei. and we consequently failed to
accept Mr.. Gales view of the matter. few
days thereafter we received an order for a large
pamphlet edition of the editorial
THE ULTIMATE FATE OF CUBA.
The acquisition of territory has always been
! popular in this country. The desire arose be-
fore we had the tide of emigration flowing to-
ward lis abundartly The question of an
nexation has been the political issue in more
than one presidential contest. 1t has occupied
the floor of Congress and evoked the most ami
mated and bitter debates, but the cry of '.man-
lies: destiny" was the war cry which con-
quered. How often has the subject of the DIR
chase of Cuba been before the country for dis
cussior. and it has no. only occupied the minds
OF the statesmen of Our own countrS. but those
| OF Europe. Its ultimate possessi IN by the
tnlted States seems to be an accepted fact but
| Judging from the statement accredited 10 the
Hon. John Bigelow We missed the opportunity
for Mr.. Bgelo" says. when Gen. Prim was in
| almost supreme control of Spain he offered
| Cuba to the United States for - 600 900. Why
such Il bargain refused remains to
be tolc The ultimate destiny OF Cuba
/ Is discussed with great freedom in Europe
and not long since New York journal pub
lished an interyier with Gen. Ignatiefr on the
question, which was at that time creating a very
I deep interest III Europe. Thea Gen. Ignatieff
did not hesitate to express his views of the ulti-
mate state OF Constantinople and Cuba. Gen.
lgnatietf said: 1T is necessary for the health of
Europe as for the progress of civilization that
Russia should obtain possession of Constanti-
nople. and tor the same reason the United
States should acquire Cuba. Both places" he
sad. ARE lazor houses from which every few
years issue epidemics, destroying lives of TAR
more value than the entire population of those
ever-intected places. For centuries the Golden
Horn has sent out black death the plague the
sweating sichrcss. the cholera. to DESTROY mill
hons OF lives. 10 depUpulate cities and bring
| financial ruin to prosperous communities. No
alteration of this state of things is possible
while the Turk with his hereditary habits rules
over this hotbed of disease.
PREDICTIONS AS TO wAsHIHGroy
Referring to some publications made by the
Smithsonian Institution. l came across these
extracts from travels by Leut. Harriott and
Travels Through North America" bv Isaac
Weld. published in 1sO7-s The first of these
writers says: Respecting the intended city
Washington l question much whether there
ever will be sufficient number of houses built
to entitle il to the name of great CITY Reck-
oning up all the houses / could see or
hear of as belonging to the new city of WASH
ington they did not amount to eighty. Having
seen and examined everything and gained all
the information | could concerning this SO
much talked of city, L 50. down between the
President House and the Capitol and entered
the following in my minute book as my opinion.
viz: Should the public buildings be completed
and entcrprisng individuals risk considerably
in building houses: should the union of the
states continue undisturbed; should Congress
assemble for number of years until the ma
tional banks and other public Offices necessarily
draw the moncyed interest TO it, the city of
Washington in the course of a century NAV
form Il focus Of attraction to mercantile and
trading people sufficient to make a beautiful
commercial city, deserving the name of its
founder; but Iapprehend SO many hazards as
to be unwilling to venture any mart of my