The new Cuba yet to arise from the ashes of the past
must needs be bound to us by ties of singular intimacy and strength
if its enduring welfare is to be assured. Whether those ties shall be
organic or conventional, the destinies of Cuba are in some rightful
form and manner irrevocably linked with our own, but how and how far
is for the future to determine in the ripeness of events. Whatever be
the outcome, we must see to it that free Cuba be a reality, not a name,
a perfect entity, not a hasty experiment bearing within itself the
elements of failure. Our mission, to accomplish which we took up the
wager of battle, is not to be fulfilled by turning adrift any loosely
framed commonwealth to face the vicissitudes which too often attend
weaker States whose natural wealth and abundant resources are offset
by the incongruities of their political organization and the recurring
occasions for internal rivalries to sap their strength and dissipate
their energies. The greatest blessing which can come to Cuba is the
restoration of her agricultural and industrial prosperity, which will
give employment to idle men and re-establish the pursuits of peace.
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