The Republican journal., 1898-05-26


tic Druggists sell them, and nothing is
lust as good "
permitted the death of a soldier, but was
publicly garroted. Forty nine of his men
were shot and one hundred and six others
were loaded with chains and sent to Spain,
where they were held in bitter servitude
seven months. Poor Crittenden, a prom
Using young man under thirty, with fifty
of his men, were shot in groups of six,
under the walls of old Fort Atares lie
refused to kneel with his back to the firing
party, according to Spanish fashion, but
faced them erect, saying that he kneeled
only to his GOD. Report says that the
bodies OF the victims were treated to
frightful indignties. Since Lopez's day,
Uncle Samuel has three times seriously
considered the acquisition of Cuba-twce
by purchase and once by conquest. Late
in the ''fiftes' a bill was introduced in
both Houses of Congress, declaring it
highly expedient that the key to the An
TILES should be in possession of the United
States, and that negotiations should forth
with be opened with Spain, looking to the
purchase of the island, for sum not eH-
oeeding one hundred million dollars. 1t
had been expected that the ''solid South
would particularly favor the scheme-and
Why it did not turn out 50, [ do not know.
/ When the matter came up for discussion
in the Senate, MI. Soule of Louisiana, led
a strong opposition. He wanted the
! island, but not by purchase. He was an
exceptionally brilliant speaker, and his
slightly foreign accent, graceful figures
OF speech and personal magnetism added
to the charm of his oratory. In conclu-
sion he said: LET the United States 90
and take the captive Queen of the Antilles
to his ample bosom. l hope l shall live
so see the day when the golden and bloody
| flag OF Spain shall float no more over any
territory, be it island OF city, which of
right should be dominated by the Ameri-
can nation; when the flag of cruelty and
/ tyranny shall be replaced by that which
to-day flies above this Capitol, the flag of
/ the free" The bill was lost in the Senate
Foreign Relations of the House; and so
ended our first formal attempt to buy
! Cuba.
Meanwhile other influences had been
! quietly at work. Colonel E. v. Sumner,
who was then in Europe, was commission
ed to ascertain how movement tending
| to the purchase of the island would be re-
garded by France and Spain. Hon. John
Y, Mason was then our Minister to the
/ Court of St. Cloud but it was considered
unwise to risk becoming persona non grdtd
| by pressing the American project before
the intensely pro- Spanish French premier,
in case the tentative inquiry should be I'M
| favorably received and result in unpleasant
diplomatic relations with the French for
eign office. The answer showed that the
precaution was we'll taken Duke de Nor
ney, the Emperor half brother, who was
! then the ruling spirit of the French foreign
office and greatly influenced by the En-
press Eugene, declared himself strenu-
ously opposed to any attempt being made
to compel Spain to yield any of her pos
sessions either under threats or moral
pressure; and that if the United States
persisted in her efforts to acquire Cuba,
contrary to the wishes of the Spanish
Queen and Cortes, the act would be con-
sidered by France as unfriendly.
Then for a whole decade nothing more
was heard about the purchase of Cuba. In
1868, after our civil war had been fought
and slavery was dead, suggestion came
from Spain herself. 1t was when General
Prim, General Serrano and Marshal o.
Donnel-the three great liberal leaders
of Spain, who had all been banshed by
Queen Isabella, returned to their native
land, and were so successful in pushing
their revolt that Queen Isabella, in turn,
had to flee. Serrano became Regent; but
Spain was absolutely without money-and
money the new Liberal government must
have. There was no use applying to any
European sovereign to help maintain the
| bipeIdl lued, WIioH was al oPoH hioHftoo
to all monarchies, and so General Prim
suggested the sale of Cuba. He was con-
fident that the United States would gladly
purchase and proposed the opening OF
negotiations at once How different would
have been the subsequent history of that
unhappy island and of Spain-and Heaven
knows how much money and how many
lives to be sacrificed in the present war it
would have saved the United States had
the matter been carried through. But at
, that time our own national debt was very
large, and Senator Sumner and other prom
inent Republicans thought it should not
be increased. General Grant was ''up"