Such, notoriously, has been the result to Great Britain of the establishment of the independence of the United States. The decline of Spain, from the position which she held in the time of Charles the Fifth, is coeval with the foundation of her colonial system; while, within twenty-five years, and since the loss of most of her colonies, she has entered upon a course of rapid improvement unkown since the abdication of that Emperor." .

In a letter written by Secretary Marcy, during the first year of President Pierce's administration, to our minister at Madrid, Pierre Soulè, he sustains the position assumed by Mr. Everett, and urges the importance of watching closely the movements of England and France in regard to Cuba.

If the authorities we have brought in requisition, and the quotations made from official correspondence, on the question of the annexation of Cuba to the United States, are not conclusive as to the uniform policy of our government in favor of the acquisition of that island, then all further efforts to satisfy the Republican party of the truth of our position may as well be abandoned. If the patriotic examples of Adams and Clay have lost all their claims upon the successors of the ancient Whig party, no consideration can be expected to be given by them to the opinions of Jefferson and Monroe. They appear determined to resist every measure looking to the growth and progress of the United States, originating with and upheld by the Democratic party, however just and politic.

The minority of the Committee of the House of Representatives, of which Mr. Ritchie was chairman, in speaking for the Republican party on this subject, affect to ridicule the humane considerations advanced by President Buchanan in his last annual message, wherein he urges the acquisition of Cuba as a means to prevent the slave-trade. They say

"We believe we are quite as much opposed to the slave-trade, and quite as desirous that 'benighted Africa' should be civilized as is the President, and yet we do not think ourselves called upon, under existing circumstances, either for the one or the other purpose, to acquire Cuba from Spain either by purchase' or by conquest. In fact, since the message of the President was sent to Congress, circumstances have occurred which show that the African slave-trade is carried on, if not tolerated, in another 'spot in the civilized world' besides Cuba.* It is a fact that slaves from Africa have lately been landed and disposed of in the United States, apparently with little attempt at concealment, and that hitherto the attempts that have been made to bring the importers and the purchasers of the said African slaves to justice have been wholly unavailing."

This undignified insinuation evidently refers to the Yacht Wanderer, which is supposed to have landed two or three hundred Africans on our southern coast recently, all the parties to which have been arrested and lodged in jail. This is the only case of the kind that has occurred during a period of fifty years, and in this case the parties have been justly dealt with.

When it is remembered that the annual importation of African slaves now reaches nearly twenty-five thousand, with all the horrors attending the existing mode of transportation, it is a matter of the greatest surprise that these political philanthropists, who claim to be the exclusive friends of the negro, should shrink from the responsibility of supporting a measure which is certain to extinguish it. Nor is the importation of the Africans to the Spanish islands the worst feature connected with slavery there. Whatever may be the cause, the inhumanity and cruelty of the system in Cuba is of a character to excite the commiseration of the most thoughtless and unfeeling. In referring to it, Judge Atwater, from whom we before quoted, says

"Take, for example, the routine of slave-life on a sugar plantation in the boiling season. At four o'clock in the morning the bell calls to labor, and in fifteen minutes every slave must be at his post. The field gangs repair forthwith to their labor, which is continued without intermission till ten, when there is a pause of half an hour for breakfast, eaten on the spot where they are at work. Labor is then resumed, and continued till two or half-past, when there is another interval of half an hour for luncheon. After which work is commenced, and continued till nine in the evening, when the bell sounds for the slaves to repair to their quarters. As these are frequently two or three miles distant from their place of labor, they are frequently not reached before ten, after which they must provide their own suppers, and perform such other labor as their own necessities or that of their families may require. This is continued during the whole sugar-making season, lasting from four to six months. I speak of the routine observed upon the plantation with which I was most familiar, situated some fifty miles west of Havana, and regarded as a model one in every respect. It embraced an area of about four square miles, and employed over seven hundred slaves. Somewhat different regulations of course obtain on the different estates, but where they vary from that described, the comparison would not usually be in their favor. On some plantations, for example, the work of the day ceases for an hour only for refreshment, from eleven to twelve, and the evening bell does not sound the signal for quarters till ten. How long the human system can endure such protracted exertion each may judge for himself. The value of human slave-life in no way enters into the Cuban planter's estimate, except as an item of pecuniary profit or loss. This is well illustrated by the remark of the proprietor of the estate to which I have referred, who stated that he had made 8,000 boxes of sugar the previous year at a loss of ten per cent. of his hands, and that with the increased price of sugar that year he should make a large profit if he could increase the number of boxes to 10,000 at a loss of fifteen per cent. of his slaves, which he proposed to do. And yet this gentleman was liberally educated, of most refined and engaging manners, had travelled extensively in the United States, and doubtless possessed of as humane feelings as any planter in Cuba. It would be easy to enumerate instances of inhuman cruelty and disregard of life towards this miserable class of beings, which fell under my own observation, but such is not my purpose. General results can only be glanced at. And that we have not been misguided in regard to the treatment of slaves in Cuba, and the estimate here placed upon slave-life, is further proved from the published statistics. By the census of 1842, the number of slaves on the island was 436,459. In

1853 the number was less than 400,000, being a decrease of near 40,000, while none are exported, although the importation during at least a part of that period amounted, as near as could be estimated, at over 15,000 per annum. And of all the slaves now on the island it is said that not less than one-half are native Africans. Contrast this with the rapid natural increase of the slave population in the States, remembering at the same time, the largely increased profits of slave labor in Cuba, and it will not be difficult, even without other proof, to assign the true cause for this extraordinary decrease of the most naturally prolific of the human races."

The annexation of Cuba to the United States would not only obviate to a great extent this frightful cruelty, but it would also subserve another important interest in the cause of humanity. It is well known that under our treaty stipulations with England for the suppression of the African slave trade, the United States are required to maintain a large naval force on the pestilential African coasts. A long cruise on this coast is as detrimental to the health and as fatal to the lives of our officers and men as the "middle passages" were to the African slave. We once heard a distinguished commander in our navy, who had lost his health in this service, remark, "that no man ever returned to the United States in health, who had served any considerable length of time on the African station."

Many of the officers in the naval service of this country who have withdrawn from it, or who were so heartlessly retired by the late " Navy Retiring Board," were thus deprived of commission and pay, because they were unable to perform their duties in consequence of impaired health by continued exposure to an African climate. The fatality among the marines, who are subject to still more exposure than the officers, is much greater. The decrease in the expense of the naval service should also be considered in connexion with the question of governmental economy. By the annexation of Cuba, the government of the United States would, within ten years, save an amount equal to the largest sum yet named for the purchase of that island, by dispensing with the naval force stationed on the African coasts for the unavailing purpose of suppressing the

slave trade.

Another feature in the Spanish (also English and French) system of slavery is worthy of note-the Coolie trade. The Senate Committee, in referring to the practice of enslaving China-men, remark as follows:

"Another consequence which should equally enlist the sympathies of philanthropists, excepting that class whose tears are only shed for those of ebon hue, and who turn with indifference from the sufferings of men of any other complexion, is the suppression of the infamous Coolie trade-a traffic so much the more nefarious as the Chinese is elevated above the African in the scale of creation; more civilized, more intellectual, and therefore feeling more acutely the shackles of the slave ship and the harsh discipline of the over

seer.

The number of Chinese shipped for Cuba since the commencement of the traffic up to March last, is 28,778; of whom 4134 perished on the passage. From that date up to the close of the year the number landed at Ha vana was 9449. We blush to say that three-fourths of the number were transported under the American and British flags-under the flags of the two countries that have been the most zealous for the suppression of the African slave trade. The ratio of mortality on the passage was 144 per cent., and a much larger proportion of these wretched beings were landed in an enfeebled condition. Coming, too, from a temperate climate, they are not capable of enduring the exposure to the tropical sun, in which the African delights to bask. When their allotted time of service shall have been completed, the small remnant of the survivors will furnish conclusive evidence of the barbarity with which they are treated. The master feels no interest in his temporary slave beyond that of extracting from him the greatest possible amount of labor during the continuance of his servitude. His death, or incapacity to labor at the end of his term, is to the master a matter of as much indifference as is the fate of the operative employed in his mill to the Manchester spinner."

Every sentiment of the human heart revolts against this European system of making merchandise of men capable of improvement in a great degree, and who, under our American system, would be relieved from the cruel impressment to which they are now subject.

But if a patriotic appeal to the love of country, to an interest in the peaceful extension of her institutions, and the spread of human liberty, involved in the adoption of a great national measure, is incapable of subduing party rancor, and of overcoming party prejudice, then, indeed, is it of no avail to urge the consideration of incidental advantages to be secured by the success of such a measure, whether these advantages shall accrue to humanity or to national security and prosperity.

In the minority report, adverse to the purchase of Cuba, presented in the IIouse of Representatives, Jan. 24th, by Mr. Ritchie, an attempt is made to place a false construction upon the President's language. It reads as follows:--

"There remains to be considered another reason offered by the President for the acquisition of Cuba. He says, whilst the possession of the island would be of vast importance to the United States, its value to Spain is com paratively unimportant.' In other words, Cuba would, in the President's opinion, be worth more to us than it is to Spain, and, therefore, we ought to have it. If any such theory is to be adopted and acted upon in the United States as the standard with regard to the rights of property, practical results will probably flow from it more wonderful and more unexpected even than would be the acquisition of Cuba by purchase from Spain. But at present we shall stand upon the theory of the rights of property as generally understood throughout the 'civilized world,' and upon that theory it is a complete answer to the President and those who hold with him to say that Cuba belongs to Spain, and that she is not willing to sell it or to part with it on any ters. Spain is herself the disposer of her own property, and has the abso lute right to say whether she will sell it or not, under any circumstances or

for any consideration. From the history, moreover, of the attempts to 'acquire Cuba,' it is hardly possible that any one should believe that Spain will sell it, or that an offer to purchase it on the part of the United States will be looked upon as anything else than an insult, or as a mere pretext for a subsequent attempt to take the island by force."

Nothing could be more unjust towards the President and other friends of this measure, than the insidious and pusillanimous attack contained in the paragraph just quoted. In their instinctive desire to place the United States in a false position before the civilized world, these Republicans seem to have lost all sense of propriety. Let them take heed how they trifle with the national interests, and attempt to impede its pre-ordained progress. Blinded as they are, by the spirit of party bigotry, to a true conception of its grand proportions, they fail to appreciate the heroic emotion that swells in every freeman's breast.

The following is the philosophical conclusion arrived at by this Republican committee:

"In conclusion, we beg leave to remark that, so far as territory, population, and magnitude of resources are concerned, the United States are now entirely safe. Expressions, fear, or appeals to 'the imperative and overruling law of self-preservation,' as the motive for further acquisitions of territory, are so groundless as scarcely to be worthy of any very serious consideration. The safety of the United States depends upon a wise education of their own people, and a wise development of their own resources. Let them follow, at home and abroad, the golden rule which the President himself, in a former communication to the Senate (of January 7, 1858, relative to the capture of General Walker), has declared to be of divine commandment, and no power on earth can harm them. In that is their safety. Let them habitually violate this rule, and no power on earth can save them. In that is their danger. Like all other people, we are governed by the laws under which the universe was created, and, like the nations which have gone before us, we shall reap the rewards of obedience or suffer the penalties of disobedience.

"In every view of the case, we are opposed to the bill submitted by the majority of the committee, and recommend that it be rejected by the House."

This, then, is the official manifesto of the great Republican party of the United States on this momentous national question that has occupied much of the time of the sages and statesmen of all parties, almost since the foundation of the American government. It will be seen that whatever is worthy of favorable consideration in the above extracts is taken from a previous state paper, written by President Buchanan on another subject, having no connexion or bearing upon the question of the acquisition of Cuba. In a careful reading of the report of this committee, we cannot discover that they have produced a single reason why Cuba should not be annexed to the United States. The only self-evident truth stated by the committee