The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1916-08-11
DANISH ISLANDS
Were On Market Nearly 80 Years
Germany At One Time Desired
To own West Indies Also

WASHINGTON, ID, c., Aug. T.
The islands of ST. Thomas, ST. CroiA
and st. John, comprising the Danish
| West lndes which are expected to be
added to the United States under a
/ treaty awaiting ratification, have
been on the international real estate
market for more than half century.
The United States and Germany
have been bartering for them since
! the civil war. Only the enormous
price that the United States is now
| ready to pay to get the islands as a
part of the defense scheme OF the
Panama canal has made possible the
consummatlon of the deal
Secretary of State Seward was the
pioneer advocate of the purchase OF
the islands from Denmark by the
United States. He foresaw their Inn
mense strategic value in the mainten-
ance OF the Monroe doctrine long be-
fore the building of the Panama can
al was considered a possibility. He
launched the project at a dinner Civ
en- at the close of the Civil Dar and
Immediately entered into diplomatic
negotiations with the government Of
Denmark for acquisition of the is
lands.
BY 1867 his negotiations had
reached the form OF a treaty provid-
ing for the purchase of the islands of
ST. Thomas and St John for $7,500,-
600 but the country was then strug-
Cling under the heavy financial bur
den of the Civil war and the project
received only lukewarm support. FL
nally, in 1870, Charles Sumner, then
chairman Of the senate foreign rela-
tions committee, made an adverse re-
port against the purchase of the is
lands and the negotiations came to
naught.
Reports are Heard
During the Grant administration,
frequent reports came from across
the water that Germany was negO-
tiating for the purchase of the is
lands TO get a foot hold in the West
ern hemisphere after her triumph ov-
er France in 1871, but these reports
were denied from Berlin when the
State Department Investigated. The
project for the purchase was revived
in 1892 by Secretary of War Foster
and encouraged by his successor, r.
Olney secretary of state i'm the Cleve-
land cabinet.
Senator Lodge, of Massachusetts,.
now ranking Republican member of
the senate foreign relations commit
tee, brough forward a plan for the
acquisition of the islands again in
1898, and secured the committees
endorsement or his bill for the pur-
chase of the islands. Secretary of
State Hay negotiated a treaty with
the Danish government in 1902 pro-
viding for the sale of the islands to
the United States for $5,000,OOO. The
treaty was ratified by the United
states senate and was received with
enthusiasm in Denmark. The pact
was ratified in the lower house of the
Danish rigstad, but when il reached
the upper house, German influence
is said to have produced such pres
sure that the treaty was rejected by
a narrow margin.
Are Necessary TO U. s.
The completion OF the Panama can
al made the American government
determined to secure the Danish is
lands at any cost. The United States |
Navy has already established a great |
base at Guantanimo, Cuba, so that |
the object of the acquisition is chief |
ly to prevent any other great power |
getting control of the islands. They |
have been called the keystone of the |
arch'of the West Indies" and their |
control by any European power |
would have been a constant menace
to the safety of the canal and the |
Monroe doctrine.
The Islands are only about 142 |
square miles in area and have a pop
llation of $4,000, mostly negroes. |
who speak a Spanish dialect. Chris
-opher Columbus is said to have land
ed on them once and they were fam
)us during the eighteenth century as
me rendezvous for buccaneers of the
Spanish Main.