Cuba and the United States. 65 people together. It is true, we acquired Louisiana, Florida, Texas, California, and New Mexico, but all of these were in a great degree uninhabited, and many reasons existed in favor of their annexation that do not apply to Cuba. the case with Cuba. They are different acquire unsettled territory, where our from us in nearly every respect, and would population can expand. We want land not easily coalesce with us. Though under without people on it, and not land and the same government, they would remain a distinct people. We can easily see how the owners of land and other property in Cuba would be benefited by its peaceable annexation to this country, but how the sugar-growers of our southern states would be benefited by having the productions of Cuba brought into competition with their own, is what we cannot so easily perceive. By our present laws, an emigrant from a foreign country is required to remain in this country five years before he can become a citizen of the Republic. The If Cuba can now, with all the burdens object of this law is to enable him to bewhich are placed upon her industry, af- come acquainted with our Constitution ford to pay the duties upon articles im- and laws, and to imbibe something of ported into this country, and still compete the spirit of our institutions. But the syswith our Louisiana planters, how will it tem of annexing thickly populated counbe when she is relieved of her burdens tries, and granting to the inhabitants imand has no duties to pay, as will be the mediately the rights of citizens, is not case after annexation? Would it not only wild and dangerous, but a new and bring ruin upon the sugar-growers of untried experiment. Are we prepared Louisiana, Texas, and Florida? The to naturalize a whole nation at once, lands which are now employed in the without any previous training, and incultivation of sugar, would then have to corporate them into our Union. This be used in raising cotton-and as a mat- would indeed be progress, but it would be ter of course the quantity of cotton would progress towards our own destruction. be increased, and the price diminished. If then there are so many objections to This evil would be increased as we con- annexing Cuba, even if it could be tinued to acquire other West India islands; and we think the acquisition of Cuba will lead to the acquisition of other islands in the West Indies. We can see no reason, except its military position, why Cuba should be annexed to this country any more than the other West India islands, and doubtless those who advocate the annexation of Cuba will, after that is accomplished, go in for all the rest also. peaceably done, what are we to think of those who desire to obtain it at all hazards, with or without war. There are men who are ready to engage in war with Spain, France and England for the purpose of acquiring Cuba. It cannot be expected that either England or France would quietly see so great a maritime nation as the United States acquire Cuba, which is said to be the "key of the Gulf of Mexico." The same reasons which One of the principal objections to the would cause us to oppose the acquisition acquisition of Cuba is that it will renew of Cuba by England or France, would in all its fierceness the slavery agitation, cause them to oppose its acquisition by which came so near destroying this con- us. Its military position, they may think, federacy. If Cuba is annexed, it being is almost as important to them as it is to a slaveholding state, the North will insist us, for they also have valuable possessions upon the annexation of Canada. Thus in the immediate neighborhood of Cuba, we see the advocates of Cuba annexation at the North are even now in favor of annexing Canada. Are we of the South willing to take Canada for the sake of getting Cuba? This is the true question. So far as the balance of power is concerned, the South will not make much by agreeing to take Canada and Cuba together, whilst in every other respect she will be much injured. Cuba is now, and will perhaps always be, in the hands of the Spanish race, which can never be assimilated to our own. In our acquisitions of territory, our object should be to and they are extensively engaged in the commerce of the Gulf. They may think that the acquisition of Cuba will be but the first step towards acquiring the whole of the West India islands, and obtaining exclusive control of the Gulf. Such, if we mistake not, is the policy of one of the most active advocates of wholesale annexation. We say then that there is every reason to believe that the acquisition of Cuba would lead to a long, bloody, and disastrous war, ruinous to all the nations engaged in it, and calculated to lead to no beneficial result. Do we de other republics be a warning to us of the dangers of unlimited extension, and of wars of conquest. sire Cuba at the cost of such a war? We we take the fearful leap. Let the fate of shall not at this time undertake to speculate upon the results of a war between Great Britain and the United States. Suffice it to say it would be disastrous to We have now indicated what course both nations. We might get possession we think our government ought to pursue of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Bruns- in regard to Cuba. This is soon perhaps wick on the north, and all the West to become one of the great questions of Indies and Mexico on the south; for the day, and it becomes us to examine Mexico would hecome involved in the it in all its consequences thoroughly. war by some means or other. But we What is to become of Cuba is a question cannot see that we would be benefited, of deep interest. We sincerely trust if, as the result of that war, we should wise measures will be adopted in refercome into possession of all the continent ence to it by our own and by all other of North America. Our very acquisitions governments connected with it. We fear would become the fruitful source of fear- the conduct of Spain is precipitating ful contentions at home, and bitter would events, and bringing upon the civilized be the fruits which we would reap from world a fearful crisis. May wise counour unwise policy. Let us pause and sels yet prevail, and the dangers which consider well the consequences before surround this question be avoided! ART. IX.-INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES, STATISTICS, ETC., FLORIDA-ALABAMA-TEXAS-COLORED POPULATION OF THE NORTH-RICHEST MAN IN VIRGINIA, ETC. EAST FLORIDA. The letter of the Hon. E. C. Cabell to T. E. Andrews, Esq., U. S. Consul at St. Johns, N. B., in reference to Florida, which has been lately published, has attracted much attention to that long neglected state. Mr. Cabell in that document gives the reasons and general causes why she has not progressed in population and wealth like other states of the Confederacy. For the last four or five years, East Florida has been increasing in population, and the condition of her inhabitants in every respect is far better now than it has been since the exchange of flags in 1821. The valuable natural resources of the state are becoming appreciated and developed, and capital to a large amount is now invested profitably in various enterprises. Upon the St. John's River there are now fourteen steam saw mills, turning out over two millions and a half of sawed lumber monthly; besides this, there are many cargoes of ranging and cedar timber, and live oak, making an annual aggregate of about three hundred and fifty cargoes. The extent of timber is incalculable, and this branch of trade is becoming upon the Atlantic altogether confined to Georgia and Florida. The county of Marion has become the most populous one in East Florida, and is well repaying the planter for his labor, although the price of land there is high, compared with other counties in the vicinity, and upon the Gulf, where thousands of acres of equally good lands can be obtained at very much less. But the best lands in Florida are yet to be brought out; I mean the cane-brake marshes, on the banks of the St.John's River, for miles. The lands, if properly dammed and planted, would produce sugar, rice, cotton or corn, beyond any land known, and the expenses to prepare it would not exceed those incurred in clearing up a dense hommock. The outlet for the produce of East Florida, upon the Atlantic side, is chiefly the St. John's River, and the value of the produce, cotton, sugar and tobacco, shipped from it this year, will nearly or quite reach the figure of half a million of dollars. It is but lately that the importance of the trade of East Florida has been known, and at present there is considerable rivalry between Charleston and Savannah to secure it. Until the establishment of the Charleston line last winter, Savannah reaped the chief harvest; but now the trade is tending to Charleston, because it is generally known that for sugar and clean long cotton, Charleston is the best market. The merchants, too, prefer Industrial Resources, Statistics, Etc. Charleston, as the stocks there are larger and better assorted than in Savannah. The greater part of the produce now shipped from the St. John's comes down the Ocklawaka river, or from the Upper St. John's, and is brought to Palatka, where it is re-shipped for its destination. We would suggest to the directors of the Florida steam packet company the propriety of running their boats to Welaka, a place lately established by Col. J. W. Bryant, about 27 miles above Palatka, immediately opposite the mouth of the Ocklawaka, and near Little Lake] George. This will facilitate the planters and merchants in receiving and forwarding their goods and produce, and will avoid the risk and delay incident to the river St. John's navigation in pole-boats, from the Ocklawaka to Palatka, a voyage which, at times, from the width of the river in some places, is attended with great delay and much danger. The saving in freight will also be an object, as the steamboats will charge but a trifle more than from Palatka. 67 bring good saddle horses, make acquaintances of men who know the country, find pleasant locations on good lands, and become settlers. The best evidence that Florida repays labor, is the fact that a great many persons have migrated there to relieve themselves from pecuniary embarrassments, and in almost every case, when industry and economy has been practised, the party has become independent. By the late census, Florida has a population of about 88,000, about half of the number white. It is the third healthiest state in the confederacy. Its crop is greater in quantity of cotton, and aggregate value, than any state in proportion to its population. The average value of its cultivated lands is less than in any other state, being but $18 per acre. The area of Florida is about 38,000,000 (thirty-eight millions) of acres; a great portion of it has not been surveyed, but, as the Indians will soon be removed (peaceably or by force,) it is thought the best sugar lands will soon be offered for sale which are in Florida. Hon. J. H. Bronson, Judge of the Federal court, who is now residing at Palatka, or Col. J. W. Bryant, or his agent, J. W. Price, Esq., at Jacksonville, would give any information they are possessed of, if applied to, either personally or by letter; and, without some such information, it is difficult to ascertain facts without much delay or inconvenience. Should this arrangement be carried out, Welaka will become a little town, as its natural beauties exceed any place on the whole river, from the mouth to its source, being situated upon a bluff for one mile upon the river, and a growth of large live oaks, hickory, and other forest trees, skirt the bank, while the background runs off in a plateau of pine barren. Very near Welaka, and near the bank of the river, is the Welaka Sulphur Springs, and about two miles from it are the Magnolia Springs, one sulphur and the other mag- ALABAMA.-No state in the Union posnesia, another salt, magnesia and sul- sesses to a greater degree materials for phur, and a third like the first, but suppos- a proud independence, than does Alaed to contain chalybeate properties. Cir- bama. These materials, however, are yet cling the three is a spring of pure water in a crude state, and nothing but a strong from the hills. Game and fish are abun- decoction of northern fanaticism will ever dant, and the sportsman can have enough bring to light their wealth and beauties. to engage him in any branch of his science. Persons visiting Florida for health, or in search of lands, entertain very different opinions respecting the character of the state and its inhabitants. The former frequently come out among entire strangers, without letters of introduction, and perhaps may remain a whole winter without receiving any kind civilities or attentions from families; others, more thoughtful, provide themselves the means, and enjoy a delightful visit. And many who seek lands, come without letters, and what is worse, without horses to travel with. The result is, that they go upon a steamboat, or in a stage-coach, and return disgusted with everything. While others Experience has taught us, that the more we depend upon the North the less are our chances for a successful competition. For this very dependence takes from our pockets and adds to the wealth of the North, thus depriving ourselves of the means of independence, and making more powerful those upon whom we are dependent. Cannot cotton cloths be manufactured here as cheap as in Massachusetts? Cannot boots and shoes be made as cheap in Selma as in Lynn? Are there not watering places in the South as conducive of health as Newport or Saratoga? Is there any moral or constitutional obligation binding upon the southern people, which compels them to support northern manu- within easy access. Notwithstanding the facturers, and cater to northern fashionables? When the drain upon southern pockets by northern capitalists can be checked and converted into means of enriching the South, ought we not, as sensible men, so convert it? We earnestly solicit the attention of Alabamians to the above queries. Too much attention is given to the growing of cotton. Let some of the time and means of our planters be devoted to the manufacture of cotton, and there would arise a source of wealth wholly unparalleled in the South, for certainty. It would be not only a source of wealth to those whose money is invested, but to the community at large. For instance, a cotton factory in Selma, on a large plan, such a one as ought to be here, would pay to the stockholders a large dividend-keep in our own community the money that is actually expended in northern markets for the same article-give employment to the poor and industrious, and give Selma more importance than would the gift of a state-house. Money enough is annually expended by Alabamians at northern watering places and northern cities, in their fashionable summer tours, to build a hundred and fifty miles of rail-road through our state. When this amount of money is left there by one state, what an amount of wealth does the entire South annually leave in northern hands? We are thus furnishing to the hand of an enemy the means of doing us further injury. want of navigable rivers and the ruggedness of her country, Pennsylvania has brought into market her coal and her iron, and showing to the nation and to the world, that her citizens possess in an eminent degree the spirit of enterprise and industry. How long, with all the advantages which God has given her, shall Alabama remain in the background, with her countless millions of wealth buried beneath her soil? TEXAS.-In our previous articles (says the Matagorda Tribune) on this interesting subject, we have endeavored, in as brief a manner as possible, to point out a few of the many inducements our state presents to the emigrant, whether it be the wealthy planter with his large force of negroes, or to the industrious laboring man "who earns his bread by the sweat of his brow." Texas, even in her present curtailed proportions under the "compromise" act, embraces a wide scope of territory, variety of climate and diversity of productions. She has an area of 400,000 square miles, extending from the 26th to the 36th degree of north latitude, and from 939 to 110° west, a territory sufficient to carve out three or four respectable sized states from. To go into the complete details, then, of the peculiar advantages possessed by each particular section of such a vast extent of country, could not well come within the purview of an ordinary editorial column, even were our information Let Alabama but bring to bear the sufficiently extensive thereon to do them means within her reach, and in a few all justice. Hence we have necessarily short years she will bear a proud com- confined onr remaks principally to that parison with boasted Massachusetts. highly-favored portion of the state emNature has been bountiful in her gifts to braced within the limits of Middle Texas. our state. Her soil is productive-her Here we may place the rich and inexclimate salubrious. She abounds with haustible vallies of the Colorado, the invaluable mines, that require but the Brazos and the Trinity, a country unsurhand of enterprise to add to an incalcu- passed for its bounteous productiveness lable degree to our common wealth and and capability of being rendered the importance. The coal beds of Pennsyl- greatest sugar and cotton-growing region vania, and its iron ore, have given to that in the world. It is here will be centered, state an importance that she could other- in a very few years, a population that wise never have attained. Yet her natural must constitute Texas the unmistakable advantages for the development of these Eureka of America. Here nature has resources are small when compared with lavished her choicest favors to establish, those of Alabama. Means of easy trans- as far as practicable, something in the portation are necessary to the successful shape of a paradise on earth. Here, by a working of these gifts of nature. Ala- little industry, can the poor man become bama has large, navigable rivers, fur- wealthy, and the wealthy rich. It is nished to use. The face of her country certainly a mistaken idea entertained by affords every facility for the building of many abroad, that this portion of the ¡ rail-roads. Markets are thus brought state is only adapted to extensive plant Industrial Resources, Statistics, Etc. 69 ing. It is true that much of the most Colorado near this town. Dykes could valuable river bottoms have either been be thrown up, and the periodical overtaken up, or are held at such prices not flows, so necessary to its successful culeasily attainable by a person of small tivation, could be secured at a trifling exmeans; but these are confined to the pense and little labor. Here, in itself, is limits of a near and handy approach to presented a field of fortune to the indusmarket, and are owned by minors or those trious and enterprising emigrant. Another who have no occasion for an immediate no less important source of wealth is presale of their property. Beside such, there sented in the cultivation and manufacture is an abundance of land throughout the of the article of indigo. The plant is incountry, equally good, that can be ob- digenous to this section of Texas, and is tained on terms within the reach of any found in immense quantities throughout one in the least prepared to engage in our richly bedecked prairies. With all agricultural pursuits; and we know of these invaluable productions to reward many, and many men, who, but a very few the laborious and the enterprising with the years since, came into the country pen- golden treasures from foreign shores, the niless, and who, by industry and well tiller of the soil is also blessed at home directed enterprise, are now in competent with every want, comfort and luxury that circumstances. We have seen more nature demands, springing up within his instances of the smiles of dame Fortune grasp. Truly Texas is the happy huntingon the industrious in Texas than we have ground the red man has long dreamt and ever witnessed elsewhere. Indeed, it told of in his traditionary fables, and cannot well be otherwise, for it costs a eventually found and realized in all their man comparatively little to live, and all bright and gorgeous pictures. No wonder, the fruit of his industry is clear gain. then, that he should cling to it with such Among the principal productions of this tenacious jealousy, and part with it only section of the state, from its vast richness with the last waning remnant of his tribe. and highly favored climate, cotton and Thus it was the case with one of the sugar may be regarded as the leading bravest aud most warlike Indian tribes staples, although we are persuaded that known, and who inhabited the Gulf shore the day is not far distant when a more of Texas. The Karanquahas, after having general diversity of crops will be cultiva- been conquered by the white man, had ted and found more profitable. Every day no aspirations for another home on earth, experience goes to prove that the South beyond her enchanted prairies, and were would be incalculably profited by a more determined to yield them only with the strict observance of this theory. In addi- dying breath of their last warrior; and to tion to these staple productions, tobacco carry out a suicidal determination to that can be raised in great abundance, and of end, every female child born after the the best qualities. From the peculiar contest was immediately put to death. qualities of the soil and climate of our That measure, we believe, has been sea-coast, resembling very much those nearly accomplished, but there is scarcely districts of Cuba wherein the famous weed a living monument of this custom now is produced to such perfection, we doubt remaining. not if proper efforts, aided by experience in the culture, were applied, this portion THE COLORED POPULATION OF of Texas might be rendered as famous for NORTH.-The Buffalo Courier has a its production of the article as that of the valuable article on the facts disclosed by country just named. Some specimens the late census in reference to the colored from the Havana seed we have seen raised population of this country. Their posiin the vicinity of Matagorda, could not be tion in the free states has never been calwell distinguished by the most fastidious culated to advance their own interests, or tastes from the genuine Spanish. So to elevate them in the estimation of those well adapted is this plant to our soil, that about them. They cluster in the purlieus in most of our prairies it is found growing of our large cities, living precariously and spontaneously. But little attention has, by the performance of the most menial so far, however, been paid to its cultiva- labor, or if they do dive into the bush, or tion for the purpose of exportation. Rice squat upon the prairie, it is to live in filth might also be made a source of vast and indolence, content to chop wood by revenue to Texas. No section of country can be better adapted to its growth than the islands and the river bottoms of the THE the cord, or to exact the means of subsistence from the negligent cultivation of four or five acres of land. Partly, no |