Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-01-25
PREFER DENMARK TO US.
Inhabitants of Danish West Indies
Strongly Oppose Sale.

Strongly Oppose Sale.
For the purpose Of ascertaining the
sentiment Of the inhabitants Of the
Danish West Indies upon the proposal
to sell the possessions to the United
States, the chambers Of commerce of
Denmark commissioned Franz Won Jes-
sen, the editor Of the National TT Den
de, the official organ Of the Danish
government. to visit the islands and to
report upon the views held by the peo-
pie regarding the selling project. Mr..
Won Jessen has been in the islands for
the last two months and has thorough
ly sounded the residents Of st. Croix,
st. Thomas and st. John. He arrived
in this city yesterday morning on the
steamer Roraima from st. Croix and
will sail this morning for home on the
Kaiser Wilhelm der Crosse.
His report to the Danish chambers of
commerce will state that the great ma
jority of the population of the islands
Is strongly opposed to being transferred
to the dominion of the United States
government, but as certain commercial
interests in the islands favor the Amer
lean purchase scheme he will recon-
mend to the chambers, which in effect
will be recommendation to the Dan
ish government, that the whole ques-
ton as to the wishes Of the islanders
should be settled by plebiscite. The
opinion he expressed yesterday to a
Sun reporter was that the plebiscite
would show that at least nine-tenths
Of the population would vote to remain
subjects of Denmark.
Take st. John, for instance" he
said. THAT is the smallest of the is
lands and its population Is mostly COM
posed of Negroes. I have talked with
the leading men Of these colored inhab-
itants and it is surprising how much
they know about the conditions
mean in a political sense-of the Uni
ted States. They do not overlook the
fact that your country offers many
more opportunities for the industrial
development Of their islands than ever
Denmark will be able to give to them
but at the same time they do not for
get that 1t Is doubtful If they would re-
ceive such liberal treatment from th5
American government as they do from
the Danish government.
THE same feeling holds good with
regard to st. Thomas, where the blacks
also far outnumber the whites. You
see, in the Danish West Indies, the
Negroes have all the rights Of citizen.
ship that are possessed by the whites
They have an untrammelled franchise
and they have full representation ir
the Colonial council. Now these col
ored people. who each have a vote
quite understand that while the blacks
in your country are ostensibly enti-
tied to the privilege Of the franchise
they do not always get it, especially In
the southern states. Consequently the
coored population of the islands will
oppose to a man any effort to hand
them over to the American government
and their wishes will not go unheeded
in Denmark"
AS regards the reports which have
arisen from time to time that Germany
was negotiating for the purchase Of
the islands, Mr.. Won Jessen said that
| Denmark would never sell an acre OF
it's possessions to that country. Den.
mark and the Prussian government, he
explained, had so many antagonistie
interests that Denmark would never
sell the islands to Germany and indeed
for somewhat similar reasons would
never sell to any other European pow
er.-New York Sun.