Gerrit Smith On San Domingo

Pbtmbboko, Dec. 22, 1870. J7on. J. C. Chut chili, M. 6". : Mr Dicak Sik : Since nm ono of your constituent, I' feel at liberty to v,iitcvou a lul ter on n subject wbieh is dow pending in Congres, It is not easy to dittbot from President Grnt, whoso slroiig FöDst', patriotic servicos, and impnrlifl benevolenco towards a!l meo, black, red, and white, oommand bo grcat respect ' for his concluBiona. Wo ackiiottiedgo the forcc of bis argumente for annexiosi San Domingo to our country. Nevertli -.less, we feel sure that ttiertJ is au objaet to tbe measure, whicb nn argnments can overeóme, and which all the adviintagos of tho measure cannot överbalaneo. The objectioa is that to talco from oud zon to add to another, and especially from tlio torrid to add to a temporate zone, is to war upon nature. The tropics bolong to tbc sabio race cf men. Ooly allow tho laws of imturo free and iull play, and tbcro would a black belt - a belt of black hiimanity - all arouad the earth ; and tliis belt would Rubstantially ooiDcide with the tropics. So, too-, aro the températe zoues the natural dweiling placea of tho pale races ot' meo. I do not deny tbat blacks are at liberty to ?eek homes amongst the whitcs. But I do deoy that the one should take steps whiuh, whelher bo iutonded Of not, shall result in robbing tho oiher of their God grantod allotmeuts - thcir nature-desigiiated homes. There may be ciroumBtunces to justtfy whito Americans in domiciling themsclves in San Domingo. In doing so they aiay benefit both it and themselves. But to annex the island to our nation - in other words, to annex this portion of l!ie trópica to a tempera'o zone - woiild ba B robbery great in itsolf and leading to a far greater. I say the island, for I seo that tho President goes for annexing tho wholo of it. It may be Siiid that ihc Prcsident's plan is one of protection to the pcople ot Suu Domingo, for ho speaks of them ns weak and mcapable of maintainiog thuuselves But however kiudly ie may feol toward that people, it s evident that the object of his plan is the euriching and aggrandizeinent of his own country. This plan is the first step toward our getting possession of all the West India Islands - the first step on our part toward disposecssing the blacks of tbo3o portions of tho earth which it is their righl to govern. We aduiit that, should the pluu go into effect, there vrould, no doubt, reinain for ages tnore or less !)lacks upon theso i-lands ; but they would have Bunk into nothiug better than 'liewers of ■wood and drawera of water" for the governiug white race - a race by tho way that would not fail to suffer greatly in its own obafaoter from the dsgradation of the governed raco. The President may be right in his anticipation that the proposed unncxation would accelerato the dieuppcarance of the remaiuiog literal slavery in the West Iudies. But it is not enough for the blacks that they bo disent.hralled. Their right to rule everywhere within tho God-appointed ';bounds of their babitatiou" must be allowed and defended. Nor would it be enough to justify tho Presideüt's écheme to have the peoplo of San Domingo give their assent to it. Too ignorant to take a wide 6urvey of thcir interest?, and too enger for their present reiief to care properly lor their future, their assent to the scheiue ia not to be taken as an argu; ment lor itr nor as dividiug with us the heavy, not to say guilty, responsibility of ils adoption. Wo should bear in miiid that tho beaettiog sin of our peoplo is greed of teriitory and grandeur. ' But our bouudar.-is ary olrcady wide enougk - or at least they nill be whon thoy i:iclude tho liritieli provinces on tho north. This acquisition, so obriously dictated by nature, eboiifd, we admit, be welcorued by us bo eoon as they who possessand govern them cordially ussent lo it. To round out our oountry'by annexing to it Alaska nnd these provinaes, and thus to relieve it of more or Usa anroying and even periloua contact witb forcigfi at;d, perhaps, cventually hostüe naiions, and tlius to bring like peopics wilh their liko iüterests uudcr the sarue goverument, is to fall in with nature and reason, and fcdopt a wise mensure for preserving the peace and prosperity of our home. - lint to go afier the West ludia Islandn is to go away from that home, and to jeopard ils safety iu punisbment for our invasión of the home of othere. The President evidently anticipatcsa scramblo of wbito nations for tho West India IsiandH. Let cot our country bo in the scramblOj but Iet her do what she pfoperly can to savo these islauds to their natural aod rightful rulers. Let her, for instance, do wliat she properly can to relieve Cuba of ber intruders, of her cruel típanish tyrants, Tho race to whom belong tho U-rnperate zones Bho'd deal vtry geuerously and tecderly with the races who aro so inferior to them ia territory, uun.bera aid strength. The President looks to tbis fiiinexation ns au important and even indiipensable nieans for paying our naticnal debt.- liut under his wiso and hocest aiministration wo are paj ing t tast enough, and growiug in wealtè fast eoough. We do not need tf) mako ourselves richer by grasping at the laüds of others. In conteudinglor the right of every ruco to its natural place upon the carti- the pluce for which nature bas fitted t - let itnot be inferred that I object to the bleuding oí the races. Sach blending may bo proper as to a far greator exteut than it bas hiiherto been pracliced. 13ut to tbis end, which, if reached at all, ia of courso to be reaehed very gradually, it is not necesgiy that some races ehould supplant oiherB and depiive them of their natural allotments. The sable Dnd palé races are ittcnuirgled, and to a contsiderable extont bleuded in our own country. So long as they shull dwel[ together, let it be in the mutual and coidial recognition of the equal rights of ca.ch other. But a day may come wheu our and other blacks ehall aspire to the building up of bluck nations in the tropics; and theysho..ld not in thut day, ünd theniBelvei iorestalled aud sbut out by our whites, who, not content with a températe zone, had extended the border of thcir üattofl into tho torrid zone. Tho wcakness of people and their alleged incapacity to govern themselves have ever been the pleas of the strongfor extending their protection to them - too gencrally "such protection as vultures givo to lamba, covering ;and devouring tbem." President Grant intonds no ill to the people of Suu Domingo. Iseverthelefs, from the day when the icbeme ehall begin to go into effeot, that people will bo linkiog and withering away be forc the ambitious and greedy AngloSaxon. LJndcr thia p!ea of governing aüd protecting them because they are incapable of taking caro rf themselves, theuuhapiy ciiildrcu of África have for centuries been the prey of Chiistcndom -and ti.is, too, tbUgh of all God's children they havo the gentltst and loveliest traits of charaetcr. What Iets fihoujd Christoi dom heueoforih do than proteet the right ol the chüurcn of Afric to their Heaven-alloúd portiou of the oarth, aad to lcnvo them freo to bujld up nations poísossnig tboso chilitrentS characteristics of gentleoces, affectionatenew, long-siiffering, and paticnoe ? - nationa of "celestial people,'1 as Swedenborg calis Africans ? Suoh nations there will yet be in the torrid zone, if the teniperato zones ghall deal with it ia that fraternal spïri b wliich should glow ia every human race toward overy other human roca. Tha world needs the example ofsucli nations. It needstheir softeniug infUieace on the harsh spirit of Bterner nnd strODger nationi. Surely surely, our countrj', which haa surpassed every other country ia wroDging Africa, should bo especially careful to tako no step that can result iu further injury to hor children. I am aot eurprised that many are in favorofthe anuexation of San Domingo. At ono timo I wai myself iu favor of annexing Cuba to our country ; and went so far as to believe tbat tlio anue xation of Mexico was thn way to lift Mexico up into tbe type of our own higher civiüzation. But I was wrong. She must be left to elovato herself ; and, whilst there are rnany wayB in whioh our nation can and should agsist her, to absorb her is not one of those ways. It is conceded that Pres - dent Grant would have our nation good na well as great. NevertheloBS, he nttaches disproportionato importanoe to its material prosperity, and for this reason ho is hable to overratc his favmito meaus of swelling that prosperity. He seos in our annexation of San Domingo a foothold for getting oommaud of the West Indies aud for getting a controlling iufluence over the world'B chief ourrents of commercial Iraffic. Ho sees amongst tho re&ults of this anuexation our ability, in consequencc of our increased domestic produotions, to dinpense annually with a hundred milüons of our imports ai;d largely to increase our exports. Then, what is more, he sees among3t these resul ts tho meaus, and, as he balievës, the ouly etitlicicut mcans to pay our great nutioual debt. But teere aro others who t:ike a vt-ry di Herent view of the coüPeqiu-uces of the adoption of tliia cherished Bchonie of the President. Thoy sec, in tliis bringing of so strange and discordant an clemetit as San Domingo iuto our political systeiu, appalliog "brou-kws ahead." - Amongst tho dangers that rife to tlieir view is tho not inifirobub'e union of oth er natioas to resis' cur iasitiable nppetite for territory and power. Another danger is the not impossiblo loss o( much wo li&vc 11 ourgniRjiing fare tnoru. Auother is that though though there might be no foreigti hostility for tl to encounter, we miglit, ni'veriheless, merely from our excoifsively wide dinicneions und great weiglit, (all in pieces, bh did ancient Home. But what thcy must deplore in the Prisident's scheme is that its robbinjj the sabio races ol au important portion (if thtir soil will Ferve to throw them back for centuries io their work of becominir tlieir own miers and builüiDg up natioris aud cides and a comn.erce of iheir own. Oli, huw muuh better than this sohetue of the President would be our nation's proclamalion, if sncredly observed by hcreelf, that to these races beloug tho tropics - given to them by God, and not to be taken from theaa by man ! ltespectlully, jcur friond,