, 1870-12-13

260, 900 dollars-almost a half million Rixdol-
lars in our money-will be of any such benefit
to the Island of St. Croix, that it can be ex-.
pected that after the application of those mo-
news, the Island will be, if not more f1ourishing,
at any rate a prosperous land and we ought
also to remember that from former days, we are
we'll acquainted with loans in these Westindia
Estates. We have a not incOnsiderable amount
of funds of that kind from former times, and to
that kind | according to my views. do believe
that we will have to place the present demand
also. I do not say this to cause Honorable
Members at once to form an opinion. according
to which they would be inclined to refuse the
proposal of the Government | only mention
it. We have before given out moneys without
having had exactly any expectation of getting
them back again, and We will certainly not re-
fuse the giving out of these moneys, when We
will have been cOnvinced-and q more rigid IN
vestigation might probably lead thereto,-that
it really is for benefit and use that these moneys
are given out. In support of this grant there IS
communicated to us sundry proposals from plan
terS and from the muniCipal-COunCll in st. CrolX.
[ find it very natural that Government has not
been able to enter upon those proposals, and /
need not detain myself further thereby, as 1t
certainly would be impossible that the Govern
ment would comply with the wishes which are
here set forth from The inhabitants OF st. Crolx
but there is a desire on the part Of the inhabi-
tants, which | do not find among those that
have been communicated to us, and the object
of which | would in particular consider to be
the one which would be most Serviceable to
them and least burdensOme to us it IS this,
that they take over their W affairs from first
to last, and leave us entirely outside thereof, so
that we do not demand a cent revenue from st.
Croix, but would even give, for instance, as
much as a Government Commissioner and some
secretaries etc, would require, to sit IN st.
CrOix and represent the sovereignty OF the Dan
ish Crown, but in all other respects TO let the
inhabitants of St. CroiX govern themselves as
well as they can and will and consequently
thu5-I repeat it-that the colony be only I'M
der Danish sovereignty, and for the rest have
to administer its own affairs without any inter-
ference from our side. In my opinion, after
some time had passed under the liberty thus
granted to it, the colony would thereby be able
to improve it's condition by degrees and, if to
obtain such an agreement, such a result, we
would even have to give some contribution,
then, | personally would be entirely inclined to
agree thereto. We have indeed had a constant
remembrance of how extraordinarily costly it
is to have sucn colonies, while both directly
and indirectly large sums from the Danish
State Treasury have been used on the islands.
| shall only take two items theaOne is the in
demnity we gave at the cessation of slavery,
without our having had the satisfaction of see
ing that those moneys assisted them in any
great manner and the other item, which is tn
larger sum, is the one that has proceeded fro
it, that We for a long series of years have per-
mitted st. Croix sugars to be imported at a less
duty than that on all other sugars. 1t is one of
the demands which the Island comes forward
with, that it would like to have its sugars i'm