s to have been conceded by all authorities. In this connection one is
forcibly reminded of the words of Jefferson in a letter to President
Monroe, so long ago as 1823, wherein he says: "I candidly confess that
I have ever looked on Cuba as the most interesting addition which
could be made to our system of States. The control which, with Florida
Point, this island would give us over the Gulf of Mexico and the
countries and the isthmus bordering it, would fill up the measure of
our political well-being." Is it generally known that Cuba was once
freely offered to this government? During the presidency of Jefferson,
while Spain was bowed beneath the yoke of France, the people of the
island, feeling themselves incompetent to maintain their independence,
sent a deputation to Washington city proposing its annexation to the
federal system of North America. The President, however, declined to
even consider the proffered acquisition. Again, in 1848, President
Polk authorized our minister at Madrid to offer a hundred million
dollars for a fee simple of the island, but it was rejected by Spain.

Completely divided against itself, the mystery is how Cuba has been so
long sustained in its present system. Spain has crowded regiment after
regiment of her army into the island. It was like pouring water into a
sieve, the troops being absorbed by death almost as fast as they could
be landed. The combined slaughter brought about by patriot bullets,
hardships, exposure, fever, and every possible adverse circumstance
has been enormous beyond belief. In spite of all this sacrifice of
human life, besides millions of gold expended annually, what does
Spain gain by holding tenaciously to her title of the island? Nothing,
absolutely nothing. The time has long passed when the system of
extortion enforced upon the Cubans served to recuperate the royal
treasury. The tide has entirely changed in this respect, and though
the taxation has been increased, still the home government is mulcted
in the sum of six or eight millions of dollars annually to keep up the
present worse than useless system. The deficit of the Cuban budget for
the present year, as we were credibly informed, could not be less than
eight millions of dollars. How is Spain to meet this continuous drain
upon her resources? She is already financially bankrupt. It is in this
political strait that she seeks a one-sided treaty with the United
States, by means of which she hopes to eke out her