The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-03-07
DANISH WEST INDIES.
Commerce of the Islands Recently C.

l "The Danish West Indies Is the title | of a monograph by the Treasury Bu reau of Statistics which will appear as
 a part of the forthcoming issue of "The
 Monthly Summary of Commerce and
 Finance" It describes the islands in cluded in the recently ratified treaty of | the United States and Denmark, by | which St. Thomas, St. John and St | CroiX are to be transferred to the Uni
 ted States. These islands, it shows, lie | off the eastern coast of Porto Rico, and l are in fact, a mere extension of the marine elevation of which Cuba, Jamai- ca, Hayti and Porto Rico are the prin- cipal representatives while they also | form a connecting link between the | Greater and the Lesser Antilles. St. | Thomas, the best known ot the group 1 lies thirty eight miles due east of the northeastern extremity of Porto Rico; | St. John lies twelve miles east of St. | Thomas, while St. CroiX lies about fifty
 miles south of St John and St. Thom- as, and sixty miles southeast of the l southeastern point of Porto Rico. Two small islands already belonging to the United States, Vieques and Culebra, which were obtained through the ces- sion of Porto Rico, lie directly between | Porto Rico and the newly added group. | The islands are small, with compar- atively small producing capacity, their chief importance being by reason of the harbors which they offer and their
 value as a strategic as well as general commercial point St. CroiX, the largest of them, is about twenty miles long and from one to five miles wide, with an area of about eighty square miles and a population of about twenty thousand It is also the most produc- tive of the islands. a considerable area
 being devoted to the production of su-
 gar cane and tropical fruits, and agri-
 culture being the occupation of large
 proportion of the population. There are
 two towns on the island-Frederiksted
 with a population of fifty-fve hundred.
 The latter is on the chief harbor of the
 island, which, however is choked with
 mud and is of less importance than the
 harbors of either of the other islands.
 St. John. the smallest of the islands, has
 an area of about tWenty-one square
 miles, a population of only about one
 thousand, and a comparatively small
 eultivable area, it's chief value being in
 it's possibilities for harbor purposes, the
 natural harbor of Coral Bay being de-
 scrlbed as one of the best protected nat
 ural harbors in the West Indies, but at
 present little used.
 St. Thomas, which lies nearest to Por-
 to Rico, is by far the most important in
 it's present availability for harbor pur-
 poses. the harbor of Charlotte Amalie having been for more than a century re- cognized as one of the best, if not the best. natural harbors in the entire West Indies, and having been all that time central point of exchange for vessels from all parts of the world With pas sages through which 1t is easily cached. good depth of water and eX- celent protection from the hurricanes to which that region is subject, it has long been regarded as an extremely val uable harbor, and when Denmark in the early part of the nineteenth century, made it q free port it became the dis tributing point for the commerce of the entire West Indian group. As a conse- 1uence nearly the entire population of the island Is clustered around the port of Charlotte Amalie, fully ten thousand of the 12500 population living in that city, and less than two thousand being engaged in agriculture.
 The introduction of steam and elec- -ricity within the last few years has re- luced greatly the importance of St Thomas as a point for the distribution )f commerce since now all of the is ands in the group are visited by regu- arly plying steamships. and the trade supplied by this process, instead of be- ng compelled to rely on the supplies 'ormerly drawn from St Thomas as a point. The importance of he harbor however as a supply, re- )air coalng and naval station has not leen reduced, but rather increased, and with proper development it will, it is believed, prove of great value, while he productive possibilities of the s- ands, especially St. Croix. in the class if articles so largely imported by the 1nted States-tropical productions will not be nconsiderable. The popu ation is chiefly colored, descendants of ormer slaves who were liberated in | S4S English being the chief language | poken, especially in the island of St. | Thomas. which has been for many | ears resort for vessels from English | peaking countries.
 The imports into St. Thomas alone in | 900 amounted to s733,000, and those of | it, CrOix about s420 900. They consist | hlehy of foodstuffs and manufactures | The exports of St. Thomas in 1900 | mounted to about S25, 900, and those of | t Croix to $275,000 The exports of St. 'homas were of miscellaneous charac- er largely manufactures destined for eghboring islands. while those from
 t. CrOix were chiefly sugar and other ropical products for the United States larkets. Of the $733,000 worth of im- orts into St. Thomas in 1900, S363, 266 ,ere from the United States BIAS, 002 rom Great Britain, s9S,044 from other Vest India islands, $53,05S from Ger lany, $25,372 from Belgium, $20.742 from
 ritish North America and $l4 4O2 from Of the imports. the most nportant were four, S53, ITO; cotton oods, $6O,343; hardware, S1,1l4; rum,