The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1896-04-02
Cuba and the United States.

At the bottom of all the pretended
sympathy for Cuba lies the desire that
the island shall be acquired by the
United States. Such an addition to
our territory has often been the dream
of American politicians. 1t was the
hope of the Southern leaders that
they could thus add two new slave
states to the Union, but it was also
the firm conviction of John Quincy
Adams that within half a century
from the time when he was writing,
r8a3, I" the annexation of Cuba to
our Federal republic will be indis-
pensable to the continuance and in
tegrity of the Union itself" Bucha-
nan, Mason, and Soule declared, in
the Ostend manifesto, that the I'm
ion can never enjoy repose nor pos
sess reliable security so long as Cuba
is not embraced within its bound
aries" When Buchanan was Presi-
dent heconstantly urged the purchase
of the island.
But Mr.. Adams and the three
prophets of Ostend were wrong.
Half a century passed and 1873
came. The Cubans were engaged in
a revolt against Spain which lasted
ten years and came to an end in
1873. 1t had not been found, to
quote Mr.. Adams prediction, that
"the annexation of Cuba to our
Federal republic was indispensable to
the continuance and integrity of the
Union itself" On the contrary, the
most intelligent men among our poll
ticians had begun to doubt if we
wanted the island and President
Grant, under the able guidance of
MIR. Fish, was demonstrating that the
Cuban insurgents were not entitled
to be recognized as belligerents.
The desire for annexation still pre-
walls, but the advantages of the
scheme do not present themselves SO
glowingly as they did in 1928 and in
1854. The annexationlsts are not so
bold as they were, and rather hesitate
to declare their ultimate desires and
hopes. Many Of them do not go
further than to suggest that Cuba
may be governed as Alaska is. But
there is no one who takes an intelli-
gent interest in public questions who
does not know that the result of &C
tive interference on the part of the
United States in the affairs of Cuba
would be annexation.
Now annexation would mean, in
the end, the admission of Cuba as
State, or perhaps as two States. The
agitation for admission would begin
as soon as annexation was accom-
plished; and as soon as one political
party found itself in possession of
both branches of Congress and of the
Presidency, the Cuban patriots pos
sessed of political ambition would
give the party leaders the necessary
assurances of loyalty, and we should
have two or four Senators from Cuba
to join the new Senators who are now
defending the interests of their silver
mine constituents. The only bright
and hopeful suggestion that can be
made in connection with the proposal
to admit Cuba to statehood is that
such an addition to our States would
greatly add to the trouble of the
Sugar Trust and beet-sugar combina-
ton. From no other point of view
can good American entertain any
but gloomy forebodings from the
mere thought of such purpose.
The confirmation of the report of
the death of President Hippolyte of
Hayti will attract attention again to
that somewhat unique republic. AS
republics go it was not bad imitation
of the tropical and semi-tropical vari-
ETY.. Hippolyte was the republic and
everything else in the way Of govern
ment. The people were only SO much
impe dimenta. They were always in
revolt when the least opportunity for
rebellion offered, not so much because
of the autocratic department of the
president as of their tendency to tur-
bulence. He maintained order with
strong hand and was always ready
to fight to maintain peace, and was
uniformly successful. Now that he is
dead state of anarchy, at least for a
time, is not at all improbable. 1t re-
quires an energetic president in the
black republic.
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