And now mark the contrast between the Old Monarchy and the Great
Republic. The recent return of the Navy Department to the Senate, in
reply to a resolution introduced by me, shows how the whole island has
been beleaguered by our Navy, sailing from port to port, and hugging
the land with its guns. Here is the return:--
“The following are the names of the vessels which have been in
the waters of the island of San Domingo since the commencement
of the negotiations with Dominica, with their armaments:--
“Severn,--14 9-inch and 1 60-pounder rifle.
“Congress,--14 9-inch and 2 60-pounder rifles.
“Nantasket,--6 32-pounders, 4,500 pounds; 1 60-pounder rifle.
“Swatara,--6 32-pounders, 4,500 pounds; 1 11-inch.
“Yantic,--1 11-inch and 2 9-inch.
“Dictator,--2 15-inch.
“Saugus,--2 15-inch.
“Terror,--4 15-inch.
“Albany,--14 9-inch and 1 60-pounder rifle.
“Nipsic,--1 11-inch and 2 9-inch.
“Seminole,--1 11-inch and 4 32-pounders of 4,200 pounds.
“Tennessee,--On spar-deck 2 11-inch, 2 9-inch, 2 100-pounders,
and 1 60-pounder; on gun-deck, 16 9-inch.
“The ships now [February 17, 1871] in those waters are, as far
as is known to the Department, the Congress, the Nantasket, the
Yantic, and the Tennessee.”[15]
Twelve mighty war-ships, including two, if not three, powerful
monitors, maintained at the cost of millions of dollars, being part of
the price of the pending negotiation. Besides what we pay to Baez, here
are millions down. Rarely have we had such a fleet in any waters: not
in the Mediterranean, not in the Pacific, not in the East Indies. It is
in the waters of San Domingo that our Navy finds its chosen field. Here
is its flag, and here also is its frown. And why this array? If our
purpose is peace, why these engines of war? If we seek annexion by the
declared will of the people, spontaneous, free, and unanimous, as was
the boast of Spain, why these floating batteries to overawe them? If we
would do good to the African race, why begin with violence to the Black
Republic?
Before the Commissioners left our shores, there were already three
war-ships with powerful armaments in those waters: the Congress, with
fourteen 9-inch guns and two 60-pounder rifles; the Nantasket, with six
32-pounders of 4,500 pounds, and one 60-pounder rifle; and the Yantic,
with one 11-inch gun and two 9-inch. And then came the Tennessee, with
two 11-inch and two 9-inch guns, two 100-pounders and one 60-pounder,
on its spar-deck, and sixteen 9-inch guns on its gun-deck, to augment
these forces, already disproportioned to any proper object. The
Commissioners are announced as ministers of peace; at all events, their
declared duty is to ascertain the real sentiments of the people. Why
send them in a war-ship? Why cram the dove into a cannon’s mouth? There
are good steamers at New York, safe and sea-worthy, whose presence
would not swell the array of war, nor subject the Great Republic to the
grave imputation of seeking to accomplish its purpose by violence.