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Show 218 CUBA· v. The application qf capi~al. That a consi.de~a~Ie cap1· 1a 1 · ployed in the drffercnt modes of mdmg IS em . the slave trade which have now been dcscr1bed, and especially in the building of vessels, cannot be denied. But it is commonly reported, I fear not without some foundation, that in some of your commercial cities, American capital is invested in the trade itself-that some unworthy citizens of your republic are ~lctual and direct participants, both in the carrying on, and in the profits of this abominable traffic. It appears then first, that a large proportion of the vessels cnga. ged in the Cuban slave trade are built in the ports of the United States-secondly, that the American flag is borrowed by the Spanish slave traders to a great extent-thirdly, that American merchantmen are en· gaged in conveying the materials of the slave trade to the coast of Africa; and these or other American ves· sels in the slave trade itself-fourthly, that most of these transactions pass under the official review of your consulate at Havana-and fifthly, that American capital is indirectly-perhaps directly-engaged in the slave trade, to a considerable extent. I have now laid the whole case before thee, as it has come within my own scope of observation and enquiry, and I trust I have done so with dearness and moderation. When I have stated the same case ver· bally, to some of the leading men of America, I have been reminded by them of the inconsistency of Eng· lishmen. Certain it is, that the articles used in the slave trade, and often transmitted to Africa on Ame· rican bottoms, are manufactured in England, and em· CUBA. 2!9 Ploy a. lar.g e amount of British cap"1t·'1 I· "I'h e 1a ment-a. b le fact IS, th. at. filthy lucre i; often ~ound t oo s t rong for moral prmc1ple, on both sides the water. But this surely is no affair of national rivalry. It is one under the weight of which, the petty jealousy of politics, and even the pride of an honest patriotism, ought to subside into nothing. The virtuous public of both nations, and the governments of both nations, ought unquestionably to unite, with the utmost cordialitv in their endeavors to extinguish the most inordina~~ system of cruelty and wickedness, that ever stained the annals of mankind. Let America and England fully join issue on this momentous subject- and the work is done. In the mean time, something may I trust be effected, by legislative enactment. It seems very desirablefirst, that the laws against building ships evidently calculated for the slave trade, and only for this purpose, should be rendered as cl~ar and stringent as possible ; secondly, that the consular office at Havana should be armed with greater powers, to stop these iniquitous proceeding in transitu. Such were the conclusions to which our own observation and reflection had brought us; and we were pleased to find, when at Washington, that a bill for these very purposes had been introduced to Congress, by our worthy ti·iend John Davis, Senator from Massachusetts. I am told that it has since passed into a law. But we conceive that preventive measures on the coast of Africa, are still m~re important. We were informed, on high authonty, at Washington, that it was the indl[/inite e.rtent only, to which the mutual right of search was |