Weekly hawk-eye and telegraph. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1855-1857, 1855-09-12
Erna III. N. II Esarsnz Pet
1he Vustea 9sAtes and Denmark

& rrns H. n. II Essrspg Pet.
1hs United States sud Denmark
A!etsef frou, Hamburg announces the
nrrSyst iii that city of the psassy Vice adj
mi III sloarier aud saite 90 his way to-
France, to i;isest the E,nf'efer OF
France with the insignia Of the orsssr
OF the Elephant, aal 10 invoke hrs
friendly cooperation IN esse the Int
ted States should insist upan the right TO
navigate tho sound without paying thee
.,onsars toll. The treaty between the INT
ted States and Denmark will terminate on
the 18th Of April next. The President
has pivon the king of Denmark notice that
from thence orsh he shall claim the free
dom OF the Danish Sonnd TO American
bottoms II the uuited States are allowed
this Immunity. ii must Of course extend to
all other powers. aud Denmark would thus
lose au ann al revenue of between seven
aud eight hundred thousand dollars. This
the King thinks he cannot afford. Neither
can he afford to fight the United States sin
ele.hauded. So be has sent his Vice Ad-
miral with the order Of the Elephant to the
Emperor of France to see whether there Is
any hope of help from that quarter, in case
ethe worse comes to the worst.
The Emperor of the French will proba-
bly advise negotiation Europe is too gen
orally interested in tie freedom Of those wa
tiers to make it worthwhile for any OF the
allies to add to their present burdens
BY joining in war of sympathy agal's st
the United States, more especially as our
government does not aim at any territorial
acquisitions. Should he take different
view however of the interests Of France or
| Of Europe, aud attempt to defend the toll
gate at Elsinore, he will probably get a
view of much more extraordinary ee-
plant than any likely to be furnished him
by the King of Denmark, before he gets
through with the business.
As the time is quite near a, hand when thus
controversy will reach its crisis, ii is inpor-
tant for us to consider what course our govern
,nent will take. The President has already
gone too far to recede, ard if he had not, we
presume their are few Americans who would
| hesitate about the propriety of our pursuin
precisely the course We have pursued, nness
they :hnk, perchance, that we should have
"Si's " ~ "
The first attempt 10 exact these cues oy zen
| mark after the 18th of next April will doubt
| less be cons rued by our government as ma
| tonal offence, justi ying reprisals. what sort
| of indemnihcation we should he likely to eX-
ACT, IS h'nted al py the ha'hon.e co''es'o"-
dent already referred 70. Appfehe,.S.ons We're
entertained, lie saii, TOT lhe saie'y OF ,he Dd'-
i,h possessions IN the "es' in"ies mo lp pos
sessions consist OF ibe lsiaius Oh 81. ihou'as'
st. Croix ana 81. 'ohns'
! By far the most important of these, and de-
cidedly one of the most important possessions
in all the West Indies, is St. Thomas II Is
very small having an area Of only forty-three
square miles, is very mountainous, is badly wa
tered, and produces lit lie or nothing; but FRI IN
its s'tion it is one of the best naval and com
| nercia stations in the West Indies.
| ne tbo ,s;est noint 70 make r, on almost
,r,, a;ro.I;on in . o,,a and 10 the universal re
f,ye ~ Sims in distress from all nar,s of the
,ror1d Tbe h,rhor ;s one of The most acces
.hi -. sao,,ra -; tbo ,ror,5 II wac for this
| ro,eon nraferrod above all others nv the British
government. as the great entspot OF the Inter.
| colonial Steamship Company. All the othpl
/ West India Islands receive large share of then
/ surp,jes from St Thomas Porto Rico alone ia
| king usually about So 900, 900 worth; and from
this commerce, from the repairing and fitting
out ships, and from the Steamship Company, TN
Island derives its support.
The Danes have held il over two hundred
| veor, with the execution of about ten month
IN 1901, and for some wears prevloas to 1915
when It was occupiea' by the British Thu
goods imnorted INTO st. Thomas have average,
about s. 'OCO 900 per annam. but between tn
cholera. Y, How fever and fires. the commerce
of the Island has suffered very severely Of late
One of the attractions of the place for com
marci,l man consists in the fact that il is FIRE
mort, The tax levied by the government upo
foreipn shipninp being only nominal. This, to
oethsr with ito accessible tx from all points
have nrotecied i, from inyas on or assault dn
rine ali the wars in which Denmark has bee
involved since 1918 In IS48 a compact wa
en,srsa into bot,veen The warning nowers !,
Enrone FOR the s.rpritv of St. Thomas. it bein,
daar,sa FOR her o mmon interest that sh
should continue to be what she had been-th