The National tribune., 1902-02-27
OUR NEW POSSESSIONS.
The Commercial, Agricultural and Strategic
Value of the Danish West Indies.
Nrom the United States Statistical Bullc-


The Senate recently ratified the treaty
of the United States and Denmark, by
which the islands of st. Thomas, st. John
and st. Croix are TO be transferred to the
United States. These islands lie of the
eastern coast of Porto RicO and are, in
fact, q mere extension of the marine ele-
vation of which Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti and
Porto Rico are the principal representa-
tives; while they also form connecting
link between the Greater and the liss"r
Antilles. st. Thomas, the best known of
the group, lies 3S miles due east of the
northeastern extremity Of Porto Rico; st.
John lies II miles east of st. Thomas,
while st. Croix lies aheut 80 miles sOuth
of st. John and st. Thomas and 60 miles
southeast of the southeastern point of
Porto Rico. Two small islands already
belonging to the United States, Nieques
and Culebra, which were obtained through
the cesson of Porto Rico. lie directly be-
tween Porto Rico and this newly added
group.
The islands are small with compara-
lively small producing capacity, their
chief importance being by reason of the
harbors which they offer and their value
as strategic as well as general COM
mercial standpoint. st. CroiX, the larG-
est of them, is about 20 miles long and
from one to five miles wide, with an area
of about so square miles and population
of about 10000. 1t is also the most pro-
ductive of the islands, Il considerable area
being devoted to the production of sugar
cane and tropical fruits, and agriculture
being the occupation of large proper
tion of the population. There are two
towns on the island. Fredriksted. with a
population of 300, and Christiansted,
with population of $500. The latter is
located upon the chief harbor of the isl
and, which, however, is choked with mud,
and of less importance than the harbOrs
of either of the other islands. st. John,
the smallest of the islands, has an area
of but about 81 square miles and a popu-
lation of only about 1000, and compar-
ativcly small cultiyatable area, its chief
value being in its possibilities for harbor
purposes, the natural harbor of Coral Bay
being described as one of the best pro
tected natural 'harbOrs in the West In
dies, but at present little used. st. Thorn
as, which lies nearest to Porto Rico, Is
by far the most important in its present
availability for harbor purposes, the har-
Dor of Charlotte Amalia having been for
more than a century recognized as one of
the best il not the best, natural harbor
in the entire West Indian group, and hav-
ing been during all that time a central
point as a harbor of refuge and point of
exchange for merchandise and a cOaling
station for vessels from all parts of the
world. With passages through which it
is easily reached, a good depth of water
and excellent protection from the hurri-
canes to which that region is subject, it
has long been regarded as an extremely
valuable harbor, and when Denmark in
the early part of the 18th century made it
a free port it became the distributing
point for the commerce of the entire West
Indian group. As consequence, nearly
the entire population of the island is clus-
tered around the port of Charlotte ANA
liza, fully 10000 of the 12,500 population
living in this city and less than 1000 be-
ing engaged in agriculture.
The introduction Of steam and electric
ity within the past few years have re-
duced greatly the Importance of st. Thom-
as as q point for the distribution of COM
merce, since now all of the islands in the
group are visited by regularly plying
steamships, and the trade supplied by
this process, instead of being compelled to
rely upon the supplies formerly drawn
from st. Thomas as a distributing point.
The Importance of the harbor, however,
as a supply, repair, coaling and naval sta
ton has not been reduced, but rather in
creased; and with proper development it
will, it is believed, prove of great value,
while the productive possibilities of the
tSDtIIdiIy cl. StOIAs lut CldSS
of articles so largely imported by the
United States. tropical productions, will
not be incOnsiderable.
The population is chiefly colored de-
scendants of former slaves, who were lib
Grated in 1913, English being the chief
language spoken, especially in the island
of st. Thomas, which has been for many
years a resort for vessels from English
speaking countries.
The imports into st. Thomas alone in
1900 amounted to S733, 900, and those of
st. Croix about $4,000 They consist
chiefly of foodstuffs and manufactures.
The exports of st. Thomas in 1900
amounted to about S25,000 and those of
st. Croix S275,000. The exports of st.
Thomas were of a miscellaneous charac-
ter, largely manufactures destined for
neighboring islands, while those from St.
Croix were chiefly sugar and other tropi-
cal products for the United States mar
kets. OF the S733, 900 worth of imports
into st. Thomas in 1900, $685., ,266 were
from the United States: $14S.002 from
Great Britain; S9S,044 from other West
Indies; S53,05S from Germany, $25,372
from Belgium, S20,7 from British North
America and $14,402 from Denmark. OF
the imports, the most important were
flour, 53,1G0: cotton goods, S60,343: hard
ware, SILL rum, $13,ST2; cigars, $15,-
COZ; butter and oleOmargerine, S16,497;
cheese, 81. .204; lard, S7,254, and other pro,
visions. $21,12S.