The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-05-05
Copyright. Patek & Ferguson9

Copyright. Patek & Ferguson)
The men of brains of this nation for
the past one hundred years have given
thought to the serious question of an
nexating Cuba. That sooner or later
this rich island of the Atlantic will
form a part of the dominion of this
government is looked upon as a ma
turaI sequence of time. There is a feel
ing in certain sections of the country.
particularly the south. whose CONNER
cial relations with Cuba are of the
closest. that the time is ripe for the
necessary preliminary action.
What the leading men Of this city
and of the south think is shown in the
following carefully collected letters.
They can be regarded as a fair criter-
ion Of American sentiment on the
question. Each man was asked two
Questicns-if he believed in the annex
should be taken to bring such anneXa-
ton about The letters follow:
Frederic Rene Coudert.
You ask me whether we should an
mex Cuba. When you put the question
in that way it sounds very much like
inquiring whether 1 should add the late
Mr. GOuldS estate TO my own, or take
possession of Mr.. PieTrepont Morgan 3
bank account-Operations that would
be pleasant enough in themselves, and
of which I can discry the advantages
without a microscope. but the parties
more Immediately concerned might
make objections and invoke the law
and its officers to sustain them in their
unreasonable opposition. So to annex
Cuba we must first find some plausible
excuse. granting that annexation be
desirable. which Will justify us in
wrestling from a friendly nation its
territory. contrary TO those laws which
are based. il is true, purely OH moral
grounds. but which, nevertheless, are
of great weight in the intercourse OF
all Self-reSpecting nations.
If you can get over this objection by
convincing Spain that she ought to
drop Cuba into The broad lap of the
United States then 1 am heartily with
you While I believe that. as a general
proposition, we have all the territory
that we need. and more than we can
at present properly take care of. I am
willing to make an exception for this,
the gems of the Antilles. Her geo.
graphical position alone would make
her almost invaluable to US, CONNER
cially and politically. and now thar
slavery has been abolished on the is
land the old objection that could have
been raised in pro-slavery days has dis
appeared. Her mineral resources have
not yet been tapped. her climate is un-
excelled in its beauty. its variety and
its capacity to contribute when proper
~ taken advantage of to the comfort
and happiness Of the world.
Indeed, her resources are almost
boundless and, rich as we are in sold
and silver and fruit and sugar and
grain, this glorious little island would
at once step TO 2ahe front rank and be
q subject of pride ITO our whole peo-
pie. Metaphorically speaking, it
makes the water come to my mouth
when I think of the State of Cuba as
one of our family, but I think we are
as much bound ito respect our neigh
,por's goods when we deal nationally
as when we operate in the capacity
of individuals
Therefore, 1 conclude, first, I know
no ground upon which we can inter-
icre without violating the decencies
OF International intercourse to take
Cuba from Spain against the latters
will. Secondly, if Spain makes no OBJ
lection, I should advocate receiving
Cuba with open arms and a joyous
heart. We would wonder in a few
years how we ever got on without
her