may be engaged, its possession by the enemy might become a
source of infinite annoyance to us, crippling our shipping, threatening
the great emporium of our southern commerce, and exposing our whole
southern coast, from the capes of Florida to the mouth of the Rio
Grande, to the enemy's cruisers. The geographical position of Cuba is
such that we cannot, without a total disregard to our own safety, permit
it to pass into the hands of any first-class power; nay, that it would
be extremely imprudent to allow it to pass even into the hands of a
power of the second rank, possessed of energy and capacity for
expansion."

If Cuba come into our possession peaceably, as the fruits of a fair
bargain, or as a free-will offering of her sons, after a successful
revolution, we can predict for her a future as bright as her past has
been desolate and gloomy; for the union of a territory with a foreign
population to our confederacy is no new and doubtful experiment.
Louisiana, with her French and Spanish Creoles, is one of the most
reliable states of the Union; and, not long after her admission, she
signed, with her best blood, the pledge of fealty to the common country.

More recently, we all remember how, when Taylor, in the presence of the
foe upon the Rio Grande, called for volunteers, the gallant Creoles
rushed to arms, and crowded to his banner. The Creoles of Cuba are of
the same blood and lineage,--Spaniards in chivalry of soul, without the
ferocity and fanaticism of the descendants of the Cid. We are sure, from
what they have shown in the past, that liberal institutions will develop
latent qualities which need only free air for their expansion. They will
not want companions, friends and helpers. A tide of emigration from the
States will pour into the island, the waste lands will be reclaimed, and
their hidden wealth disclosed; a new system of agricultural economy will
be introduced; the woods of the island will furnish material for
splendid ships; towns and villages will rise with magical celerity, and
the whole surface of the "garden of the world" will blossom like the
rose.

"Rich in soil, salubrious in climate, varied in productions, the home of
commerce," says the Hon. O.R. Singleton, of Mississippi, "Cuba seems to
have been formed to become 'the very button on Fortune's cap.' Washed by
the Gulf-stream on half her borders, with the Mississippi pouring out
its rich treasures on one side, and the Amazon, destined to become