■20 



HUMBOLDT 5 S CUBA, 



mercial interests of the North and East, to which 

 their important markets would be closed by the 

 double operation of impeded intercourse, and the 

 diminished ability of the West to consume the pro- 

 ducts and fabrics of the East, consequent upon their 

 inability to dispose of their own surplus productions. 



The territorial relations of the island of Cuba to 

 the United States, have also a great importance in 

 another branch of their domestic economy. It con- 

 stitutes more than one-half of a bar of foreign ter- 

 ritory, laying directly over the most important lines 

 of transit between the Atlantic and Pacific States of 

 the Confederacy, across or through which must pass 

 the greater portion of the trade and intercourse be- 

 tween those sections, and of the armament and means 

 for military defence of the Pacific States, if they 

 would avoid the uncertain delays and dangers inci- 

 dent to the route round Cape Horn. The traffic by 

 the isthmus routes, between the ports of New York 

 and San Francisco alone, is now of greater import- 

 ance and value than our foreign trade with any one 

 nation, Great Britain not excepted. The value of 

 treasure and merchandise transported by these routes 

 exceeds annually one hundred millions of dollars, while 

 more than one hundred thousand passengers throng 

 them, giving employment to nearly one-half the 

 ocean steam tonnage registered in the United States. 



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