The record-union., 1898-07-21

the wretched financial condition OF
Spain quoted her bonds upon her own
bourse at only one-third of their par
value; that Cuba had been an expense
and not a profit to the mother country
It indulged in prophecy which to-day is
finding fulfillment 1t said
1t is certain that should the
Cubans themselves organize an in
surrection against the Spanish Gov
ernment and should other inde-
pendent nations come to the aid of
Spain in the contest, no human
power could, in our opinion. pre-
vent the people and Government of
the United States from taking part
in such a civil war in support of
their neighbors and friends
A CANDID DIPLOMATIC DECLA.
RATION.
But the most striking feature of this
manifesto remains to be noted 1t is
perhaps by far the most open, candid
declaration in all the litera.
ture of diplomacy. Its stSong decla.
rations follow:
But if Spain, dead to the voice Of
her own interest, and actuated by
a
honor, should refuse to sell Cuba to
the United States, then the question
will arise, What ought to be the
course of the American Govern
ment under such circumstances?
preservation is the first law Of
nature with States as we'll as indi-
viduals. All nations have, at diff
ferent periods, acted upon this
maxim. Although it has been
made the pretext for committing
hagrant injustice, as in the parti-
ton of Poland and other similar
cases which history records, yet the
principle itself, though often abused,
has always been recognized.
After we shall have offered Spain
a price for Cuba far beyond it's pres
ent value, and this shall have been
refused, it will then be time to con-
slider the question, Does Cuba, in
the possession of Spain, seriously
endanger our internal peace and the
existence of our cherished Union?
Should this question be answered
in the affirmative, then, by every
law, human and divine, we shall be
justified in wrestling it from Spain
II we possess the power; and this.
upon the very same principle that
would justify the individual in tear
ing down the burning house of his
neighbor If there We're no other
means Of preventing the flames
from destroying his own home.
The question naturally arises, DID
these statements appropriately express
the opinions of the people of the United
States? The appropriate historical
setting of the Ostend manifesto will
determine this question. That mani.
festo was the answer of the United
states to the overtures of England and
france for tripartite agreement
guaranteeing Spanish sovereignty in
perpetuity over the island of Cuba. II
had been declined two years previously
by Edward Everett, Secretary of State
with the bold declaration that the Sen.
ate of the United States would never
to become party to such a
treaty. The transcendent candor OF
these statements must be read in the
lght of the circumstances which called
them forth, and so read, they must be
received as the unmistakable, though
not directly authorized, expression OF
American opinion.
But the political history Of the coun-
try affords additional evidence that the
Ostend manifesto voiced the opinions
Of the people of this country. James
buchanan was the author of the mani
[esto. Two years after its promul-
cation he was nominated for President
On platform which referred to our
and political position with
reference to the other States of the
continent and to the great necessity for
he construction of a canal through the
sthmus of Darien; and then referring
% Cuba pledged itself to a policy out
ined as follows:
That the Democratic party will
expect of the next administration
that every proper effort be made to
assure our ascendency in the Gulf
of Mexico and to maintain perma-
nent protection to the great outlets
through which are emptied into its
waters products raised out Of the
soil and the commodities created by
the industry of the people Of our
Western valleys and of the Union
at large.
The opposing Republican platform of
The same campaign placed the Cuban
and the Ostend manifesto in
ssue by declaring:
The highwayman's plea that
might makes right" embodied in
the Ostend circular, was in every
respect unworthy of American di-
plomacy, and would bring shame
and dishonor upon any Government
or people that gave it their sane
ton.
With the issue thus joined the parties
went to the country. and the hand that
wrote the Ostend manifest was placed
at the helm Of State. When James
Buchanan's relations with the Ostend
and the platform declara-
ions OF the two parties are considered,
the popular majority in favor Of Bu-
chanan can be regarded in no other
light than as national approval Of the
doctrines Of the Ostend manifesto.
MODERN OPINION.
The records of opinion of American
statesmen in line with those already
quoted would expand into a volume.
Suffice it to say that they are in COM
olete alignment with those already
quoted. Therefore, but one further
quotation will be made from them. A
period distant in point of time will be
selected.
Hamilton Fish, Secretary Of State to
Seneral Grant, on February Is. 1874,
n a letter to Mr.. Gushing, Minister to
Spain, said:
In fine, Cuba, like the former con-
tinental colonies Of Spain in Amer
ica, ought to belong to the great
family OF American Republics, with
political form and public policy Of
their own, and attached to Europe
by no ties save those of information
al amity, and of intellectual, COM