PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 



17 



sissippi river and its tributaries, within the control 

 of the government of Cuba. It may close at will 

 the only ocean outlet those countries possess, and 

 thus inflict great evils upon all their industrial inter- 

 ests. The actual value of the commerce which that 

 vast region now sends through this narrow channel, 

 is almost beyond the power of enumeration, and the 

 ceaseless tide of emigration, which is ,pouring its 

 countless thousands upon the plains west of the Mis- 

 sissippi, is adding steadily to its sum. However 

 great may be the facilities for passenger traffic, be- 

 tween the Atlantic and the Western States, the bulky 

 products of their industry, which constitute the basis 

 of their prosperity, must seek the markets of the 

 world through the lines of internal water communi- 

 cation and their ocean extensions. Thus every 

 waning year, increasing the industrial power of the 

 mighty West, adds a new value to the strength that 

 attends the geographical position of the island of 

 Cuba. 



The territorial relations of Cuba to the isthmus 

 States, and to those bordering upon the Gulf of 

 Mexico, for purposes of defence are also of an im- 

 portant character. Through its peculiar location it 

 guards all the avenues of approach to their shores, 

 making an attack upon them a movement of great 

 difficulty and danger, while at the same time it cuts • 



