, 1874-09-12

III all OllCI UEpuI lLllcILS ClGEcDV
inaugurated, do we hail the appearance
of the said article in the st, Thomas
Tidende, which we give herewith.
"ON several occasions it has been publicly
stated in these Islands, that the Danish West
India Islands-especially st. Thomas, have
yielded a considerable surplus, before the Colo
NAL Law came into force in 1865, and that in
consideration of the direct pecuniary benefit
aocruing in this manner TO Denmark, the Mo-
ther-C0untry might rather be said to be depen-
dent on the cont nuad Pc sesS on of the Islands
than the Islands on being a part Of the Danish
State. This assertion has been made as ex-
pressing the prevailing public opinion and
until now 1t has not been met by any statistical
elucidation of the actual state IF the financial
account between Denmark and the Danish
West India Islands.
The fact that the Islands have been separate
ly administered, has rendered it possible to
make a reliable calculation of the amounts
which have accrued to the Danish State Trea-
sury, and, Cd the other hand, Of the actual ex-
penses the Islands have caused to the Danish
finances and we have obtained for publication
the following calculations on the subject, which
are a Resume of detailed calculations made On
The basis Of official documents.
The Danish West India Islands were taken
over by the State from the then existing West
India Trading Company, in the year 1855, for
the amount Of $780, 4G Rixdollars Danish
Currency, equal to $l,791,556 so. As, how
ever, the Trading monopoly held by the Compa-
ny had been so depressing for the Islands, that
their population and wealth had declined in
stead of progressing, and as the Customs, ship
pinu dDoG aud oaVtoin Othar rnvaOuoc Tov
farmed by the Company under the Octroi Of
18th May l779, for the comparatively trifing
sum of $t0,240 per annum, it may safely be
concluded that during the period from 1855 to
the end of the century, the Islands cannot
have given any surplus whatever to the State
Treasury nor can any have been yielded in
the period from the commencement of the
present century to 1915, during which time the
Islands were repeatedly occupied by the Eng
lish. Hence it has been deemed sufficient to
consider the accounts of the period from 1915
to 1665-when the Colonial Law Of 9th Nov
ember 1868 came into force-in order to eluci-
date the aforementioned financial relations
and the detailed calculations thus made have
given the following results =
/. The Three Danish West India Islands
have, in the period from 1915 to 1864
IS, or about so years, yielded a surplus
calculated at S2,075, 900, or a yearly
average of $41,50O. This surplus is es-
sentially derived from St Croix from 1915
to 1882, and especially in the first part of
that time.
The State Treasury has on the other hand
exOnerated the Colonies from the expense
of the men-of-war that were stationed in
the West Indian waters from I858-59 to
1864-65, say at least, $1O4,160 ($14,880
per annum) it has expended as compen-
Sation for emancipated slaves $946,9 900,
and for the Improvement of the harbor of
st. Thomas S104,O 900 while it has lost
on capitals lent on the security of real
property, especially landed. estates, an
amount of about $1,154,0OO, which
amounts sum up to a capital exceeding
the calculated surplus by about $234,O0O.
2. The Island of st. Croix, in the years from
1915 to 1910, has yielded a surplus calcu-
lated to have averaged $4,000 per
annum, and from 1S4l to lS64-65 has
shown a deficit which is calculated at a
yearly average of $19,15 Thus calcu-
lated, the annual surplus (of st. Croix)
during the period of so years from 1915
to 1864 65, averaged about $4,000, or
q total of $l,625,000,