New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1867-11-08
TIE DANISH VEST INDIES.


in the epoch following upon the discovery Of the
Western Continent, now III possession Of no terri
tory in the West except Cuba and Porto Rico, for
many years had an all-Controllng influence from
Florida through the West Indies, aud along tho
Spanish Main to Patagonia That influence has now
departed; but the struggles which ensued upon the
attempts of other powers 10 wrest these fair posses
sions from the Most Christian monarchs viii always
have deep interest for all who are attracted 10y
tales of the pathetic, the marvellous, the daring and
the cruel These islands bound TO the past by tho
golden chains Of history and of romance Will alw0ts
blend an interest and charm with their venerable
associations, und an earthly paradise III lelon OF o,it
of It. viii claim them Tor It's scat NO one VINO
has never Oated its bosom can conceive the sweet
placidity of the Caribbean Sea. lis blue waters
scarcely ever disturbed by storms, and for many
years never visited by hurricane bear upon their
bosom the Jewels oil tho Nest-a very necklace OF
pearls aud of diamOnds-and the breath OF Heaven
never waited TO seTener isles. Serene, indeed with
their delightful climate, aud tropical fruits the love
illness of nature has often been shrOuded by the
wickedness of man, for nowhere has the ayaiiee 81
States had fearful thcatCr the opprcsSoTS heel
so firm tread, and the abect tyranny OF race over
race such unres trained nhtranlmeed sway.
At this time tie West India Islands so far MS nur-
Der is concerned are chiefly possessed by Great
Britain, but Spain, France Holland and Denmark
have all influence there, the single Island of Cuba
being larger in extent than all the English posses
sOnS and the Independent Island OF 81. Domingo al
most as large. Tho United states have never had
foofh~ld anywhere between Florida and the Caril-
bean Sea although the famous Ostend Conference of
American Ministers in Europe held to secure the
Island of Cuba and the acquisition Of other Islands
has since been talked of, though never seriously de-
batcd. Within few weeks there have been repeated
Cable dispatches abOut the Intentions OF Mr. Seward
"a purchase the Danish possessions IN the Leeward
Islands, The American people the more readily be-
loved in the reported negotiations from the recent
acquisition of Russian America. AT the same time
with these negotiations, which, though denied by
the DANISH Government, may yet eliminate IN pur-
chase through Mr.. Stewards passion for real estate
the intention Of tho Secretary of State 10 purchase
the Bay OF Sanana was also reported. From this 1t
would appear that Ar. Stewards object Is to secure
the three passages into the Caribbean Sea from tho
Atlantic Ocean, namely, the Windwsrd passage. the
Mona passage, and the passage between the Leeward
Islands
The Danish possessions consist Of three small ISL
ands, st. Thomas ST. john, and 81: Croix o. Santa
Cruz. These islands belong TO the Virgin group. and
are east of Porto Rico They are very small and
very unimpoJtant, Santa Cruz being the largest, and
st. John the smallest of tho three. The entire area
Of these islands is only 10 square miles and the
population about 70C0. There IL but little variation
III the population from year 10 year, that OF santa
Cruz being about % 600 and ST. Tomas 1900 souls
The population Of st. john is merely nominal, and 1t
enjoys no importance in any respect whatever. In
the Island of ST. Thomas the population is confined
almost exclusively To the town but 200 acres OF lana
being under cultivation, and that Is c)Dincd TO aS-
ing vegetables grasses aid ltie cotton. The want
of abOrers the chief obstacle to the agricultural
interests Of tho island the tailoring population being
principally employed in the harbOr and as p0ItCrs.
DUNG cur great Rebellion, 81. noii'S fllNlti an
epheneral importance from being the resort Of Rebel
cruisers and il to this port the English mail
steamer Trent was bound when the elniasares AaSon
and SlIdell were taken from on bOardby command OF
Capt. Wilkes of the San JacintO In the war OF lsl2
il was sometimes res0rted 10 by American p1y0teels
and English men-Of-war. notable instance Of this
is the case Of the English ship Hbernia, which was
met and fought by the famous priyateer Comet
Capt. Boyle Of Baltimore both vessels being so much
injured as to be compelled 10 Put III icr repairs inc
Comet into Porto kco and the HibeTnia into 81
In commercial Importance ST. Thomas takes the
lead, but is cXcelled by Santa Cruz in agricultural
products though all of the islands enjoy unimpcach-
able freedom from enterprise thrift. In 1859 the
English imported from these Islands products to the
value of el24 3D. and exported thereto manufactured
articles to the value OF 1OJ2,2I2. During the same
wear the imports from other countries were valued at
f677,557. These figures show tho value of goods
bought by the Danish subjects in the West Indies
the increase from year to year being few thousand
pounds having reached in 1863 Gi10.516 from the
United Kingdom, and f73l ,GS3 from oil other c0un
tries. In the value OF products annually taken FROM
the islands by British subjects there Is greater yarla
tiOn these having fallen OF in 1s60 TO tG6g97 in the
year reached the surprising sum OF t3g20i, but
in 1862 they again fell of TO G75,SS, and in 1863
reached ElG0352. The imports principally manu-
featured cotton piece goods, linens and wearing ap
paTel silks woOlens, hardware iron, and Goals Tie
principal exports are straw hats and pearls Some
years the expectation of cOchinea indigo Peruvian
bark and oil of tirpentine is very heavy. In 1850 the
cotton exported was valued at t444Gj This ceased
altogether In 1850. and did not revive until 1855, when
il reached 9l3,l92. Some. or indeed all, Of this may
have been obtained from Rebel sources. The port OF
ST. Thomas is open 10 the commerce of oil nations
and is depot of goods for the adjacent islands, but
the statistics of its tlado have little interest or i'm
pOTtancc. In 1868 the amount of tunnage was $3.50
tuns au the previous year of 327S tuns
The increase on British tunnage in 1862 C3 and "a
was owing to the war, American ships obtaining
British registers TO save them from capture by Rebel
prvateers, and the establishment of semi-nonthly
line OF steamships from Liverpool TO the West Indies
the Spanish Main and the Pacific for which this is
port OF call The number of vessels from abroad
vi ia harbOr Annually is
considerable trade between this country and 81.
Thomas, especially in breadstufls and provisions.
The value Of manufactured and other goods i'm
ported from Great Britain in 1868 was 100000
The harbOr OF st. Thomas previous to 1868 was OBJ
stIucted by the nalTowness OF It's channel but IN that
year ship sent out from Copenhagen with q
dredging machine to clear and deepen the harbor,
aud open passage to the west and it was believed
that if a channel OF clear water could be obtained
impurities would be removed IL was also proposed
Mt the same time to establish gas works in the town
and 10 furnish its inhabitants with supply OF water
the people being before dependent upon rain water.
But with these improvements ST. Thomas, even under
Mr.. Stewards manipulatIOns will scarcely become
rival of the great commercial cities of this continent
Santa Cruz is delightful little island. only 20 miles
in length and five In breadth il has mild tempera
ture, fertile soil, and numerous streams with
population mostly rural Nearly the whole island is
cultivated. Christianstadt, the capital town, con-
tains population OF 1900. The island was discov
cred by Columbus on his second voyage Ii has since
been in the possession Of different nations and was
coded 10 Denmark by the French. The English took
il in 1901 but restored it to the Danes by the treaty
of Paris IN 1914. The surface is level with range Of
low hills in the North. i'll which respect as well as
being more fertile. it differs from St. Thomas which
presents rough and uneven prospect highest in the
center. Should Mr.. Stewards project be eOnsummated
and fail to be useful in every other respect the pos
session of St. Thomas may serve Mr.. Johnson's adj
ministration, which has fondness for extinct bar
barities, TO realize small scale CaTyles descTp-
ton of Dominica, by which he means the Island Of
which Hayh forms part " Hemispherical, they
say, OF in the shape Of an Inverted Washbowl; rim
of it, first twenty miles Of il all round starting from
the sea- is fiat auvum, the fuitfulest in Nature tit
for any noblest spice or product, but unwholesome
except for nigQers held steadily 10 their work;
ground then gradually rises, umbrageOusly rich