The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1917-04-02
pNuIE sAM-RE,L ESTATE
DEALER.

The final act In the purchase 81 the
Danish West Indies By the United
states was taken last saturday when
the Danish minister was handed a
check for s2s. ooo.o Q and on wireless
instrnctlons from the American gov
rnmcn at washington to the Daaisn
authorities NJ the islands the stars and
stripes were run up and he Danish
flag was lowered.
II h interesting to recall that fifty
ycars almost 60 a day before the date
IN question the United States con-
ciuded a deal whereby Il came into
possession ~ another chunk Of real
sstate--Alaska. ITS not expected that
the Danish West Indies viii turn out
20 ne the valuable acquisition that
Alaska has proved to be. Nobody ar
eaes that such will be the case. The is
lands were purchased largely for STRAIT
eeic reaSons and II n not likely that
they wAi ever prove 20 be OF much
value from a commercial standpoint.
There was much opposition to the
purchase Of Alaska from Russia BY the
United states. The man mainly re-
sponsibIe for putting the deal throush
Nas william u. seward hen serretarr
Of state. The transaction was dubbed
BY some Stewards Folly" During
Presidents Johnson's administration
Secretary SEWARD renewed old discus-
sions regarding such . purchase with
IA Russian minister. He found that
Russia was not unwilling "a allow her
possessions 60 pass into the hands Of
a traditional friend. but would not
permit IL to go to a European power.
Russia thought a price OF si0,0oo.ooe
woule be about right, while Seward
proposed half OF that mount. II was
decided 20 ''spiit the difference" after
which Seward suggested knocking or
half a million. which brought The
sum down to ~s7.ooo.ooo. II was thcn
found that the Russian Fur Company
had claims against the Russian gov
ernmem which it was though, tins pun
chaser should extingulsh. This was
agreed to, and 100000 was added for
that purpose. The general argument
was that the Interest on the payment
81. zoe. 600. would easily be met by the
annual yield Of timber. mines. furs
and fisheries.
u WAS ON the evening OF Friday
March 20. 1857. that the Russian min
lister informed secretary seward that
the emperor had given consent to the
sale. This information was given TO
Secretary Seward Al hts home. BY :
o'clock ;he next morning the treaty
was engrossed. signed. sealed and
ready FOR transmission by the presi-
dent o. the senate. The end OF the
session was nenr " hand, which was
the reason for haste.
~ the debate which followed the
presidents message h extremes 90
rldicuie OF the proposition were reach
ed. The matter drasEed along until
the ratification on May rs. But Il was
not until July - OF the following
year thut an act making appropria
'ion 60 pay for Alaska was finally
passed and approved. The actual
payment was made the next day.
a hail century hiss elapsed since We
acquired Alaska. but Stewards Folly"
has long since ceased TO he a by-word.
Alaska has produced owe sS5i.O 600 q
900 worth Of gold, silver. copper and
other minerals. and has seams Of coal
as yet untouched that are not second
IN magnitude 10 any IN the world In
addition to this. Alaska has produced
vast quantities ~ furs and fish. The
total amoun We have already received
from Alaska r. considerably over
te00. 0eo.0 600. Once regarded az n
barren region covered with ice and
snow and referred t. a.. "Polaria" am
"~lceberFia ?" the country is rapidly de
seloping into an agricultural section.
Secretary eward made a ten-strike
when be set In motion the machinery
which resulted in the United States ac-
quiring possession Of Alaska.