Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1901-05-11

Cuban delegates came and saw they
wined and dined they talked and
heard; they went and the Cuban situa
tion is not changed. There will be
much citation of Naboth's vineyard,
which was coveted and seized NY
Ahab. That Is not the Cuban case
not at all. The one-talent fellow in
Matthew XIV. is more like it-much
it: TAKE, therefore, the talent from
him, and give it unto him that hath
ten talents
For centuries Cuba has been
scratched in patches-barely scratched
It's proprietors have been dreamers.
Revolution IS their conception of gov
ernment, the wooden plow their ideal
of husbandry. They are of the one
talent guild, and Improbable Civiliza-
tion has come to the point where at
tentlon must be given to Cuba. Cuba
must be developed. That is the job for
the five-talent man, and his is the flag
of the American Union. Civilization
is Xorable-hrutal-a it knows
no law but the survival of the fittest.
Read the story of the American Indi- =
an, who only survives in the tuneful
mer hunting grounds. Cuba requires
capital, energy and intelligence, like
wise justice and law. These are
American, and these America will
bring to the Gem of the Antilles The
! flag is there; there the flag will re-
main. Manifest Destiny hath wrought.
If you would spend delightful
quarter OF an hour get Dom I%att'g
| paper on Cuba and Ostend Manifes-
to " printed in Harper's Magazine of
| the early '70s 1t is written in that
delightful style of which Piatt was so
consummatc master, and is marred
only by fling at Jefferson Davis, then
chained to the rock. Piatt speaks of
Young America" the aggressive and
ardent element of the Democratic par
ty, and led by Cory, Marshall and
Sanders You can get some idea of
them by reading a debate in Congress
between John c. Breckenridge, Ed
Marshall and Humphrey Marshall
about 1851. Stephen A. Douglas was
the idol of Young America and
their "principles' were to seize Cuba
at once. and ultimately to annex Can
ada With an exquisite touch Piatt an
alyzes the character of William l..
Marcy and relates how that grim old
statesman clipped the wings of mani
fest destiny and disgusted the jingos.
| But Marcy, though Secretary of
State, could not prevent the selection
of Pierre Soule for the exceedingly i'm
| portant and delicate position of Minis
ter to Spain. That appointment was
dictated by Mr.. Davis, the Secretary
| of War. Soule was a native of the
south cf France. He was the child of
| genius a poet and a revolutionist.
Educated for the priesthood he un-
| froclled himself and plunged into the
seething caldron of French politics En-
| quilted in an unsuccessful revolution
he managed to escape from his native
country and flee to America, where he
attained to the front rank at the New
| Orleans bar, and, in 1850, though not
yet so years of age we find him the
most brilliant man in the Senate OF
the United States, and one of the
ablest Such was the diplomat Presi-
dent Pierce selected to represent the
United States at Madrid. His real
mission was to acquire Cuba. by pur
chase if he could; by force if he must
Soon opportunity came. A Spanish
man-of- war fired on the merchant yes.
sci Black Warrior, liying the Ameri
can flag The country was in a tumull
of patriotic Indignation and ready fol
war. Soule acted promptly and de-
manded an apology. In the practise o
the Spanish Foreign Office that meant
a years solemn and heavy diplomatic
correspondence. 1t did not NEAR
| JnuL W DOult' TIC SLNc Dpdlh twenty
four hours to apologize or present hin
his passport. Spain apologized
peace was preserved; Cuba was saved
Then came the Ostend Commission
which Pratt, then attached to our lie
CATION at Paris, condemns in vicious
terms. 1t was composed of James
Buchanan, our Minister to England,
John Y. Mason, our Minister t
France, and w. V. Soule. Piatt says
the project was conceived by Marcy tt
bring ridicule upon Young America.
Buchanan wrote the first manifesto
Rom suggestions aGroitly made Dy
Soule, and it was signed by all three
of the Commissioners, though HI
opines that Mason's responsibility fol
the paper depended on whether hC
signed it before or after dinner. Masor
was the statesman of whom old Ton