Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-05-22
SWAPPING ISLANDS.

have, doubtless, learned through press
dispatches that a proposition has been
unoficially made to the people of the
United States to trade the Philippines,
or a part of them, for the British West
Indies. BY whom and to whom, directly.
this proposition has been made is not
clear, or whether to any one in particu-
lar is not known. The suggestion, that
a swap of some kind be made by the
powers concerned. may have been voiced
by some one of the many oficious news
papers of the time that had nothing on
hand at the moment to while away an
idle hour.
But there is more in the trading scheme
than may be seen by the public, at first
glance. In fact there is a very large and
husky colored gentleman concealed in
the West India wood pile. A little prod
ding will force him to the front. When
done it will be found he is built very
much like a British West Indian. And
his is how it happens. The British West
midas are largely devoted to sugar
growing. Their people are a pretty
bright, shrewd lot and know a good thing
when they see it, and they know that
annexation to the United States would be
a good thing for hem-s good that un-
der existing co~nditions-they will be
placed, as sugar planters, at great disad-
vantage with those Of Porto Rico and
Cuba who can put their products on the
American market much cheaper than the
planters of st. kits, Nevins and ia
maica can.
There lies the milk in the %cocoanut;
there is where the descendent of Africa
shows himself. 1t is said the people of
these West India islands a petitioned
the British government to transfer them
10 the United States, if it will not coun-
teTvail in their favor the continental
sugar bounties. Hence their yearning for
the blessings of a republican government
In a word they ask annexation to this
country unless European sugar ROVER
IA al NclIIpclll.cll
IN the British market by countervailing
the duties on beet sugar tina make the
competition unfair.
The British government does not take
kindly to this proposition and has refused
to accede to the wishes of the people OF
the islands. 1t is quite likely the British
government will continue to refuse in
the interest of British sugar onsume
That government has a diamond hitch"
on the West Indias and will doubtless
Keep it until the export bounty on con-
tinental sugar be withdrawn. Should
that be done the price of sugar will ad-
vance and British consumers Of sugar
will be forced to pay for beet sugar which
costs more to produce han cane sugar.
The British growers see that if
the United States put on a di%fferential
duty in favor of Porto Rican sugar
against the foreign made article, that
island will prosper and Cuba will want
to come out of the wet by annexation to
this country. She could thus get the
benefit of the duty and flourish as a state
of the great American union. while Bar
BADGES, jamaica, st. kits and Nevis
will scratch poor mems ears, because they
are British, while the American islands
will rejoice in good times because they
are American. Looking at the situation
in the light noted it seems clear that the
British West Indies desire annexation to
the United States for the advantage it
would give them, saying nothing about a
swap" Our cousins, across the big
water, however, are not decided just what
10 do. They have the West Indies, upon
the one side. clamoring for ~neXat t.
this country and the bounty-fe6 conti-
mental beet sugar ~raisers, upon the other,
clamoring for the retention of the Euro
pean export duties. Great Britain may
yet think it the wiser policy to let the
West Indies go rather thar to see them
s,arve to death. And swapping islands
will not be mentioned.