, 1869-02-05

1880 - - 4his - iilOO W.
the Presidency. The war was ended, and all
men began preparing for the new order of
things. Mr.. Seward was long in recovering
from the combined effect of the carriage acct
dent and the Payne assault. 1t was not till
late In the summer or early in the fall of that
year., 1865, that he again spoke of St. Thomas.
A change had taken place in Danish affairs
as we'll as in our affairs-one ministry had gone
out and there had come in a new ministry.
Mr.. Seward, not content with the answer of the
previous February, seems to have thought it
possible TO deal more satisfactorily with the
hIng's new cabinet, and accordingly asked
General RlaSIoff a second time, in October to
submit the gu 'StlOn of Il sale to his governments.
The new Danish MiniStry's answer [ have
never seen. Its purport was that the govern
mrnt had no desire to sell the islands if the
United States wished to buy, Mr.. Seward must
submit a formal proposition to that effect if
this were done, the King would consider whe-
Their or not TO enter upon negotiations. This
reply came here in December, and was present
Ell at the State Department a day or two be-
fore Mr.. Seward left for Cuba. The Secretary
told General Raasloff that he was going away,
might touch at St. Thomas on hiss return, and
would talk further about the purchase when he
got back. | hear he gave out that the trip had
nothing to do with the project for buying the
Islands. However this was, he saw some of
the St. Thomas people during his absence, and
appears to have resolved that the purchase
must be made.
The situation during the spring of 1865 was
a curious one. The King of Denmark did not
want to sell-Mr. Seward did want to buy
yet We insisted, with considerably pertinacity,
if | am not misinformed, that Denmark should
name a price at which she would sell. This
General Raasloff, Speaking for his King, refused
to do, and no persuasion on the part of Mr..
Seward could induce the Danish Government
to recede from this position. The whole pro-
ject would have here fallen through had it been
in the hands Of any one less determined than
our Secretary. The matter had been talked
over more or less in Mr.. Johnson's Cabin@,
and that body as a whole, and almost, if not
quite, unanimously favored the purchase. 1t
was inevitable, therefore, that we should take
the first step toward reaching the price to be
paid if We got the islands.
In the summer of that year General Raasloff
received permission to visit Denmark. On the
18th of July he left here, bearing the following
confidential letter, handed to him by Mr.. Sew
ard on the day of its date when he called to
take leave =
DEPARTMENT OF STATE. Washington, July
II, 16b6.-Sir Il have the honor to propose
to you that the United States will negotiate
with the King of Denmark for the purchase of
the Danish Islands in the West Indies, namely
St. Thomas and the adjacent inlets, Santa Cruz
and St. John. The United States would be
Wiling to pay for The Same $5,UUU,00U IN gold,
payable in this country. Negotiation to be
by treaty, which, you will of course understand,
will require the constitutional ratification of the
Senate. lnsomuche as you propose to visit Co.
penhagen, the United States Minister at that
nlann will ka ipctrl ad 4 =. oooro..o .:4l
with your government on the subject; but should
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