The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-03-20
"A Question For Seventy Years,

relations with that island has been almost
before the United States. No 9TH
er bit Of soil on this hemisphere. outside
our own territory. has occasioned the
writing of so much history, and it is evil
dent that the end is not yet Before our
civil war the Cuban question was essen
TALLY slavery question, and the historian
might have thought that with the ratif-
cation of the thirteenth amendment Cuba
would drop out Of sight as a subject of do
nestle controversy. But. in another form,
it has continued TO demand the attention
of the United States almost as much since
our overthrow of slavery as before. Sub
stantiaIly the whole of the Grant admin
istratiou had its Cuban problem in a very
perplexing shape, one which was revived
in the second Cleveland administration.
and is still with US. The perssteney Of
this topic in our foreign relations is ex-
traordinary.
The pro-slavery attempt at the annexa-
ton Of Cuba found forceful expression in
the celebrated Ostend manifesto. one Of
the most disgraceful episodes of American
diplomacy, which il is perhaps interesting
now to recall as Illustrative OF the chang
ed phases of the Cuban problem Soon
after the passage of the Nebraska bill.
President Pierce. through a dispatch of
Governor Marcy, as secretary of state,
dated August 16. 1854. directed Messrs.
James Buchanan, John Y. Mason, and
Pierre Soule our ministers at London,
Paris, and Madrid respectively, TO con-
vene in some European city, for the pur
pose Of comforting with regard TO the
best means of getting possession of Cuba
They met accordingly at the Belgian town
of Ostend in October. and. after several
days conference transmitted TO our gov
eminent a dispatch known as the Ostend
hot
hope of safety or repose for the United
States without the acquisition of Cuba.
The resolutions began by showing that
Spain ought to sell the island, and prob
ably would do so; next, they insulted
Spain by describing her great poverty and
the wretched condition of the island, pre-
dieting that if Spain would not sell, she
would be liable through insurrection 10
forfeit both the island and the price We
were willing to pay for it.
OF course, the slavery reference tells the
story of what made Cuba great ques-
ton in those days. 1t was not "a brave
people struggling for independence that
then enlisted the enthusiasm of the advo-
Gates of the acquisition of Cuba. Nor was
it the strategic or commercial importance
of the island, but merely the material
which it offered for the extension of sla-
very. When this manifesto was made pub
lie in Europe through the newspapers,
the first sensation created by it was one
of incredulity. The American minister
at one of the minor courts did not hest
tate to assure the diplomatic circle Of
which he was a member that IL was a
transparent hoax, and such IL was quite
commonly adjudged until later advices left
no room for doubt The doctrines of this
manifesto, moreover, were in no respect
disavowed modified, or explained away
by our government.
But thirty years before this Cuba had
been a prominent topic and in still diff
ferent way. The countries of Central and
South America, III throwing off the yoke
of Spain and establishing independence,
had generally put an end to the exist
ence of slavery locally. Fears were gen.
orally expressed in the South that this
policy of emancipation might be extended
to Cuba, and so make the island a dan
gerous neighbor to the Gulf states. This
was well expressed in a letter written
by Martin Van Buren,, when secretary Of
state, to our minister at Madrid, asking
him to urge upon Spain the acknowledge
ment of South American independence, on
this, among other grounds:
Considerations connected with a GER
tain class of our population make II in
the interest of the Southern section Of the
Union that no attempt should be made in
that island CUBA to throw off the yoke
of Spanish dependence; the first effect of
which would be the sudden emancipation
of a numerous slave population, which
result could not but be very sensibly felt
upon the adjacent shores of the United
States"
Thus, so long as any revolution in Cuba,
or displacement of Spanish authority
there, seemed likely TO affect the stability
or perpetuity of slavery, our government
steadily opposed such resolution, and SEEM
ed entirely satisfied, and even anxious
for the retention of the island by Spain
as her most precious dependency. 1t was
in 1926 that Mr.. Clay declared 10 France
that we could not consent to the occupa-
ton of those islands Cuba and Porto
Rico) by any other European power than
Spain under any contingency whatever;
and in 1910. when there seemed reason TO
fear British aggression, the United States
assured Spain, and repeated the assurance
upon several occasions afterwards. that
if the attempt were made by any Euro
pean power to take Cuba from her, Spain
might securely rely upon the whole ma
val and military resources of the United
States to aid her in preserving or recov-
ering it." It was in the next decade or
two that our Cuban problem changed, and
instead Of our desire being to retain Span
ish control there in order that slavery
might be undisturbed, the United States
began to covet the island itself as ma
terial for the expanding slave power. This
brought about the Ostend manifesto. and
accounts for the course for the prO-slav-
cry Democrats in the years preceding the
civil war.
II was in Folks administration that an
do ~ rrrlrr
eminent for Cuba. Upon the rejection Of
the offer a series of filibustering plots for
the invasion and conquest OF the island
were undertaken. One Of the first acts
of President Taylor was the Issuance on
August II, 1919 Of a proclamation warning
flibusters Of the dangers of their scheme
Less than two years afterwards came the
expedition Of Lopez, which ended so dis
astrously. About this time a secret organ
alton known as the order of the Lone
star" was instituted. as IL Is supposed.
for the purpose Of wrestling Cuba from
Spain. Great Britain and France in 1882
proposed to unite with Us in treaty mu-
tuaIly guaranteeing the possession Of the
island to Spain. but this was perenpto-
riIy refused. Mr.. Everett's letter % reply
is one OF the great documents connected
with our Cuban relations.
The underlying causes for the pTomi-
ueuce OF the Cuban question for more than
seventy years are doubtless the richness
OF the island in natural resources. It's
nearness TO our coast line, and the fact
that Spanish rule there. long after Il has
ceased over the rest Of the hemisphere.
has seemed an anachronisrn.
We. stanley Of wichita
The MINNEAPOLIS Messenger. a leading
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