The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-04-10
YOUNGSTERS" No MlL AEA ON TE DAN@D MHENTN SEASON oeNSPERsoNNEL OF TKE NEM-FRE,
PAIRING FOR A LONG AND G@SEC MTEST-DMBLE uNFRE SYSTEM ADOPTED BY THE LEAGUE

further bargaining, the United states
offered. and Denmark agreed to accept,
G1, SOC, 900 for st. Thomas and st.
John.
This, however. was only the financial
part of the bargain. What was to be
dom with the people of he island?
Were they to be turned into American
citizens. willy-nilly, by h signatures
of a king and a president? No; the
Danish government had declared from
the beginning of the negotiations that
the consent of the islanders was a sine
qua non. n stipulated that this con-
sent must be freely given, formally,
and by ballot. Mr., Seward, the Ameri-
can secretary of state, forgetting, '"
his hurry to get possession OF the ISL
ands. hat popular choice was the
whole foundation of his own political
system, at first refused to wait till the
people mad been consulted. Any in
habitants who preferred their own al
~legiance. he said, might leave the ISL
and within two years after the annexa-
ton.
To persist i'm the demand for a Pile
biscite might destroy the chance of
ever touching hat million and a half
so badly needed, but the liberal pre-
mier of Denmark would not hear of
compelling his fellow-subjects to be-
come aliens or exiles. He stood firm.
IL the United States government
wanted the islands, ii must ask the
islanders. The Washington ministers
were shamed into consenting at last,
and a treaty was signed. expressly
subject to the popular sanction or dis
approval. Edward Cortensen, formerly
Danish governor on the Guine coast
was sent out to suDerintend the vot-
ing. A clergyman, Rev. DR.. Hawley.
was the American governments repre-
sentative. According to a lengthy
statement of the case, published by
oliver Risley seward several years ago,
from which these details are obtained
DIR. Hawley's duty was simply to give
the West Indians any information they
wanted about the people desiring their
territory, and not to exercise any po-
litical influence over the voters. h
merchants. who wished to keep the
trade of the islands as free as before.
were definitely informed that this could
not be; hat IL they entered the United
States they must submit to the United
States tariff.
The Danish authorities, it may be
| said, seem to have been sure in their
own mind that the people of st. Thomas
would favor the change. Jan. 3, 1868,
was the appointed polling day. Solemn
as the event was, ii was made the oc-
casion of a general holiday, n the
voting was carried on in the midst of
great popular rejoicing. The feelings
that showed themselves so exuberantly
must have been ~discoverable and dis
covered beforehand. The king, in pro-
claiming the conclusion of the treaty
weeks before the voting, spoke thus:
with sincere sorrow do We look for
ward to the severance of those ties
which for many years a w united you
to us and the mother country, and
never forgetting the many demonstra-
tions of loyalty m affection which we
have received from you. We trust that
] nothing has been neglected on our side
| to secure the future welfare of our be-
loved subjects, and that a mighty i'm
pulse, both moral and material, will be
given to the happy development of the
islands under the new sovereignty
When the votes came to be counted,
il was found that only % had been cast
against annexation on st. Thomas and
not one on St. John. The decision was
practically unanimous.
How. then. does it happen that the
Danish flag still waves over st. Thomas
and st. John? Simply because the
American senators laid the annexation
treaty on the shelf, without a word OF
explanation or excuse. 1t remains to be
seer whether Denmark will expose her
self and her ZIONIST to the risk of an
other humiliation by r%eopening nego-
tiations.