The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-02-04
THE DANISH WEST INDIES.
An English Opinion That Our Previous
failure to Buy Them May Embarrass Us
Now.
(From The London Times.)

From The London Times.
1t was recently announced in The
Times that certain members of the United
States Congress were about to revive the
scheme for annexing the Danish West In
dies. This scheme, as the New York cor
respondent of The Tunes remarks, has
been in allegiance since 1868. The cir.
oumstances of the project at that time
and of it's humiliating collapse may not
be without instruction.
4 At the time of the Civil war the Unit
ed States Government became suddenly
aware that its Atlantic coast was in q
very unprotected condition. OF all the
islands lying off its southeastern shores
the Union possessed not one, and the ma
jority were in the hands of q power re-
garded as semi-hostile. To remedy this
state of things the American Government
planned the acquisition Of the three Is
lands of St. Thomas, st. John, and Santa
Cruz, generally known as the Danish
West Indies. An informal proposition
was. made by the authorities at Washing
ton, but the Conservative Government at
Copenhagen refused to hear a word about
the matter. In the end ofsi866, however,
new ministry came into power in Den
mark, and the United States renewed Its
suit A bid of 81 900, 900 was made for the
three islands. The temptation was great.
Denmark had just emerged from her
struggle with Germany, and was bent on
getting new fortincations. Here was the
money ready to hand without the dlsa-
greeable necessity of taxation.
The Danish Government said that the
United States could have the three islands
(subject to the consent of France in the
case of Santa Cruz, because of an ancient
treaty. for 5000. 600 pounds, or two OF the
islands for 1000, 900 pounds. After some
further bargaining the United States
offered, and Denmark agreed to accept,
|. 500. coo pounds for ST. Thomas and ST.
John.
This. however, was only the financial
marriott the bargain. What was to be
done with the people of the islandsf
We're they to be turned into America cltl-
zens, willy -nilly, by the signatures OF
King and President? No; the DANISH
Government had declared from the begin
ming of the negotiations that the consent
of the islanders was sine qua non, and
stipulated that this consent must be freely
given, formally, and by ballot. Mr.. Sew
ard, the American Secretary OF state,
forgetting, in his hurry to get possession
of the islands, that popular choice was
the whole foundation of his own political
system, at first refused to walt Till the
people had been consulted. Any 1nhabl
tants who preferred their old allegiance,
he said, might leave the island within
two years after the annexation.
10 persist in the demand fora pleblsclte
might destroy the chance of ever touching
that million and half SO badly needed,
but the Liberal Premier of Denmark
would not.hear of compelling his fellow
subjects to become aliens or exiles. He
stood firm. If thu United States Govern
ment wanted the islands it must ask
the islanders. The Washington Ministers
were shamed into oonsenting at last, and
u treaty was signed, expressly subject to
the popular sanction or disapproval. Ed
ward Cortensen, formerly Danish Gov
ernor on the Guinea coast, was sent out
to superintend the voting. A clergyman,
the Rev. DR.. Hawley, was the American
Governments representative. According
to lengthy statement of the case pub
hshed by Olive Risley seward several
wears ago, from which these details are
obtained, DR.. Hawley's duty WAS simply
to give the Vest Indians any information
they wanted about the people desiring
their territory, and not to exercise any
polttical influence over the voters. The
merchants, who wished to keep the trade
of the islands as free as before, were
definitely informed that this could not be
that if 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 thatsthe people of ST. Thomas would
favor the change. Jan. 9, 1868, was the
appointed polling day. Solemn as the
event WINS, it was made the occasion of a
general holiday, and the voting was car
ried on in the midst of great popular re-
ioicing. The feelings that showed them
selves SO exuberantly must have been dis
coverable and discovered beforehand. The
King, In proclaiming the conclusion Of
the treaty weeks before the voting, spoke
thus: "With sincere sorrow do we look
forward TO the severance of those ties
which for many years have united you to
us and the mother country, and never for
getting the many demonstrations OF 10y
atty and affection which we have received
from YOU. We trust that nothing has
been neglected on our side to secure the
future welfare of our beloved and faith
full subjects. and that mighty impulse,
both moral and material, will be given to
the happy development of the Stands I'M
der the new sovereignty" When the
votes came to be counted it was found
that only 90 had been cast against annexa
tion on st. Thomas and not one on St.
John. The decision was practically unan-
imous.
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 ex-
Dlanation or excuse. 1t remains to be
seen whether Denmark will expose her.
self and her colonists to the risk of an
other humiliation By reopening negotia-
tions.