Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-07-26
THE CARIBBEAN
AN AMERICAN SEA
Uncle Sam Can Guard the
Panama Canal Better When
He Owns the Danish
West Indies

HTHEN Uncle Sam acquired the Pam
w anna Canal he found himself in the
state Of the old lady who bought new
pair of andirons. Every one knows that
the andlrons were so fine they made the
mantelpiece look shabby. A new mantel
had to be built. Then the old furniture
looked out Of place In the room. The
outcome was that new house had to be
put up around the andirons before the
lady was satisfied.
Necessity, rather than a desire for ar
tistio harmony, is impelling Uncle Sam.
He cannot stop until he has made the
Caribbean Sea an American lake. The
naval strateglsts are telling him what he
must buy or control or neutralize IL he
would retain possession of the waterway
through the Isthmus in time of war as
we'll as in time of peace.
The purchase of the Danish West In
dies, which has long been urged by Of
flcers Of the navy, became imperative as
soon as we got possession of the Canal
Zone. 1t had been desirable before that and
an attempt had been made to induce the
Danes to sell the small group of islands
Off the east coast of Porto Rico. When
Porto Rico and Cuba was still Spanish
and our protectorate over Haiti and San
Domingo had not been established. The
Greater and the Lesser Antilles were
owned by European Powers. France,
Great Britain and Holland, as we'll as
Denmark, were entrenched along tho rim
of the Caribbean. The Danish islands
were small and not worth much. About
fifty years ego we offered S7,500,000 for
them, or 100000 more than we paid for
Alaska. The Danes were willing to sell,
but the Senate failed to ratify the treaty
OF purchase. Under tho Roosevelt Ad-
minlstration we offered s5,000000. The
American Senate agreed to the plan, but
the Danish Parliament defeated It by a
single vote. Now fourteen years later we
are offering s25,o0o,O0o, together with
the surrender of whatever rights we may
have to the discoveries by American ex-
plorers in Greenland.
Menace to the Monroe Doctrine
At first blush 1t might seem as IL this
was waste Of money. So far as the de-
fense Of the Panama Canal is concerned,
Cuba is an American island. We control
her foreign affairs and no hostile force can
use the Cuban harbors as a base of opera
tions against us until it has seized them.
We hold Haiti and San Domingo in our
fist and those two negro republics exist
by our grace. The island which they oo-
oupy is American in all military essen.
tials. Porto Rico, east of San Domingo,
came to us after the Spanish War. This
group of islands, extending along almost z
the whole northern length of the Carib.
bean Sea and separating 1t from the At.
lantio, is no longer a menace to Ameri
can interests.
Tho Danish islands east of Porto Rico
have been a menace to American peace,
for they have contained the possibilities
of challenge to the validity of the Mon
roo Doctrine. Germany has looked with
longing eyes on them, for Germany has
needed a naval station on this side of the
Atlantic. There were rumors that the
defeat Of the plan of sale in the Danish
Parliament fourteen years ago was due
to German intrigue. The reports were
denied, of course, but the denials did not
necessarily mean that the Germans had
been Indifferent. The United States could
not have consented to the purchase of the
islands by Germany or by any other Eu-
ropean Power. II they were to be sold
we must buy them There was no ques-
ton of this in the mind of any American
statesman OF standing or in the mind of
any naval officer who was worth his
salt to his country.
A Watch Tower in the Southern Sea
Tho contamination of plans for tho
purchase is one of the most important
stops toward strengthening tho national
defenses made by tho present Admins
tration. When tho islands are turned
over to us there is likely to be revision
OF the plans for the naval protection OF
tho Panama Canal. A strong naval sta
ton will be equipped on one of the har
bors and tho Importance OF Guantanamo
station in Cuba will disappear. There are
other routes to Panama than by way Of
the windward Passage between Cuba and r
San Domingo. but this is the principal
one. With warships stationed at st.
Thomas It will be possible TO intercept
ships before they reach that passage. for
our ships will have base about seven
hundred miles further east than the pres
ent unsatisfactory naval station on the
eastern end OF Cuba It is difficult to over
estimate the value OF purchase which
will carry our first line OF defense so
much further out to sea.
When the title TO these islands passes
tho only serious menace that win remain
will be the Dutch islands In the Lesser
Antilles. The British own Jamaica and
a large number OF smaller Islands. but II
has been the policy OF America for CEN
tury TO maintain friendly relations with
the other great English-speakinE Power.
France. which owns some more OF the
islands, does not threaten us. But Hol-
land might be induced to transfer some
OF her islands to another Power. The
probability IL not great. but our states
men are not ignoring the possibility OF II.
% haforA tha train of consAnuancaa fol