The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-08-07
HE IS FOR ANNEXATION
SENATOR ELKINs ARGUES AS
 TO CUBA.
Thinks the Admission of the Island as Part of the Union Will Remedy All the Exist
 ing Ills.

WdSHilStoIl, August o.-lSpec1al)-ln d recent dispatch from Havana the decla- ration was made that the outlook for Cuba is a most gloomy one and the senti- ment in favor of annexation to the Unit- ed States grows steadily. At present the republic is suffering from an absence of money and there was never a better dem- onstration of the lack of faith the finan- cial men in the island have in the sta bility of the governm ent than was evinc- ed by the bankers of Havana, who re- fused to float a loan of s4.oOOOoo.
 The exodus of Spaniards from the is- land has also affected the finances of the republic to an alarming extent. Four steamers leave every month for Spain. carrying about 5000 passengers, who take with them large amounts of money in gold and silver, for which there is no substitute in the island, and this loss IS simply hurrying a currency famine and as a result a financial panic in the fu- ture is inevitable. The failure of a large banking house in Havana last week has created an unsettled feeling among the people, who daily look for more failures and few men holding important public offices believe that annexation is the only
  disaster from overriding the island. These same men, however. and they represent a large element in Cuba favoring annex ation hesitate at the present time to pro pose such a step for fear of precipitating a revolution. as the men who now hold the balance of power in the island would naturally object to Telinquishing thelr grasp on affairs when sweets of au- thority were so new to them.
 Opponents to Cuban annexation declare that the prominence this question is now, being given in the press of the country is due to the efforts of the sugar trust, but as a matter of 1act the majority of the planters, and nearly all the business interests in the island. have favored an- | nexation eyer since Cuba ceased to be a Spanish possession, and there is no doubt | they have been impressed by the pros perity which free trade has brought Porto Rico. The industries of that island are Tn fourishirg condition, especially in the tobacco trade. For the fiscal year end ing June 90. 1901. the imports to the Unit ed States of Porto Rican cigars aggre- l gated $300,0 900 In the last fiscal year they | amounted to sl.sO0,0Oo, In yiew of this, 1t is not strange that a great element In Cuba, seeing the benefit Porto Rico has enjoyed through annexation, should also desire political union with the United States.
 The recent utterances of General Lee and Consul General Bragg upon the Gu | ban situation have made considerable inn pression on those of the American people | with pessimiStic ideas toward the sound | ness of the Cuban republic. General | Lees blunt declaration that the failure | of reciprocity means anarchy with an-
 nexation as the inevitable outcome. is the R~v~- lA-,t ttrKxr | the theatre of action in Cuba cannot be questioned. General Bragg's. views, while | undiplomatic, are nevertheless convincing General Lees prediction of chaos for the | new republic naturally aroused the an- | ger of Senor Quesana, the Cuban envoy | to the United States, and he retorts to | the American in saying that General Lee | could not speak from personal knowledge | because he had not been in Cuba for quite | a period. The truth of the matter Is that l General Lee has spent more time in Cuba 1 than Senor Quesada. Lee was in the is-
 land through 1S95-96-J7 and 1898, up to | the declaration of war. During that in terfm Quesada was in the national capi- | tai at the head of the Cuban Junta, and | he is charged by a number of newspa- | pers with having spent nearly his whole | life in this country, from his infancy up | to the time the United States armies had | driven the Spaniards out of Cuba and 1t
 was safe for a patriot to return there.
 It is, therefore, doubtful whether SSnor | Quesada's experiences in Cuva covers so
 wide a field or qualify him for so sound | a judgment as General Lees.
 One of the foremost advocates of an-
 nexation in the United States is Senator
 Elxins of West Virginia who introduced | in the Senate last June a resolution pro- | viding for the admission of Cuba into the | Union as a new State. Senator Elhins
 meets the violent opposition of the beet | sugar producers to the reception of Cuba
 as a State with the declaration that after
 annexation the products of Cuba would
 not come into hurtful competition with
 those of the United States. The Senator
 argues that free trade amongst the | States has never lowered the price of
 labor or worked injury to American in
 terests. Wherever our flag foats," he
 remarked recently in discussing this | situation, 'the price of labor advances | Under our immigration laws this would | soon be the case in Cuba, and the price of | labor in both countries would he the same for the same work. It is claimed, he
 continued, that annexation would des-
 troy the promising and growing beet
 sugar industry of the United States. Not
 so. however The price of products among l eAA
 equilibrium. With proper protection ir
 favor of the cane sugar of Cuba, which
 she will enjoy as a State. and the beet | sugar of the United States, within ffteer | years the United States will not only pro | duce enough sugar for its own consump
 tion. but largely compete with other coun
 tries in the markets of the world. Sena'
 tor Elkins said that if ever the time was
 opportune it was now to carry into effec1
 the well dfined wishes of a majority o1
 the people of Cuba and the united States
 in regard to annexation. that no sufhclen'
 reason could be urged against annexa
 tion, for considering all he circum
 stances, 1t was to the best interests oi
 both countries.
 Tt is clear" said the Sen1tor. "tha
 only through the interventi )n Of tho
 United States could the people of Cubf
 ever have hoped to end Spanish rule oI
 the island Nothing short of the annexa
 ton of Cuba would have justified tn l Tinted States in intervening and paying
 Spain s2O.OOO, 900 for the island. The peo
 ple of Cuba would have welcomed an
 nexatIon, as it offered the only escap'
 from Spanish domination on the island
 Even with the war. had it not been fo
 inc Teller amendment, Cuba would today
 ha A part of the United States. just al
 Porto Rico and the Philippines are. Thi amendment has proven both mischievoui and unwise.
 Tn conclusion Senator Elklns said "Iyhen Cuba shall become part or thu American Union and the lsthmian cana sbou he completed, which IS now assur por+o Rico Cuba Hawaii and thu