Evening star., 1917-03-19
UNCLE SAM IN THE
CARIBBEAN.
H.-Why We Bought Them.
By Frederic ]. Haskin.

y CtoCn- anu d Edi &c Aoh 70 " 90 CO. 'S--,
The next morning the offices did not
open, and it became known in st.
Thomas that all the holdings of the
Hamburg-America steamship COM
pany in the island had been sold to a
Danish resident for the sum OF S175.-
900. 1t was said that the property Is
really worth much more. and that the
man who bought" il could not raise
5000. He departed from st. Thomas
shortly after the transfer.
This transaction seems to have been
merely ruse 10 save the German prop
erty from conhscation in case of war.
1t is a ruse that has been tried before
and has not always worked. But the
so-called sale of the Hamburg-Anneri-
can property to st. Thomian. who
supposedly is about to become citizen
of the United States, taken. in conjunc-
tion with number of other things, is
rather significant.
Called Pro-German.
The case may be stated broadly by
saying that, although there are very
few Germans in st. Thomas. it is a pro-
German island. There are few entente
sympathizers here, and good many
who do not say anything about the war.
but a surprising number of the native
creoles are openly and vigorously pro-
German The Hamburg american es-
Establishment has been. in effect, dipIo-
matte outpost as well as a shipping Of
fee.
wanted St. Thomas. and It Is probable
that she could have induced Denmark
to cede 1t to her. The. only thlng that
stood in the way was the Monroe doc,
trine. Although she was not prepared
to defy that famous policy, 1T seems
pretty certain that Germany was max
ing friends in St Thomas. acquiring
certain vicarious influence there Inc
strong pro-German sentiment that ex-
lists in this island and the transfer OF
the property are about the only 1acts
that can be brought forward as PROOF
of this, but there is also mucn rumor.
Rumor of Concealed Arms.
1t is said. for example. that a few
years ago concealed stores and arms
were found on the island. 1t is also
said that the real mission of two United
States gunboats which have been cruis-
ing among our new islands for several
weeks was to search for a German SUD
marine base. Taking into account the
sympathies of the st. Thomians ana the
character of the Danish government, II
seems probable that Germany would
have encountered little opposition IL sne
had cared to establish such base or
a secret wireless station somewhere In
this maze of islands.
1t is this state of affairs which most
&
Danish West Indies. St. Thomas is
strategfcally valuable island, situated
directly upon many steamship routes
leading to our Panama canal we 90
not need II badly as naval base
ourselves, nor Is it ideal for that pur-
pose; but to have it owned and fortl-
fed by hostile power would be most
undesirable; while 10 nave me- .ne same same
to gain control over it might be even
more dangerous. Hence 1t is probably
well that the United States owns ST
Thomas. Although the price is hign. II
Is less than the price of one battle
ship.
For the purposes of naval base and
of fortifcation both the -harbor and
the island are not all that could be
desired. 1t is true that the, harbor
has been described repeatedly as
t"splendid." as absolutely safe. and
accommodate the "navies OF the world"
Would Not Accommodate Big Fleet.
AS a matter of fact, the harbor is
very small, and would not accommo-
date large battle feet. One man of
wide experience states that it will not
serve for anything more than a sub
marine base, and there seems to be
general agreement that the harbor is
too small for an all-round naval base.
Then. too, we are negotiating Tor a
naval base on Fonseca bay with Mica
ragua, while it has just been learned
unofficially that both of the principal
parties in Santo Domingo are now
willing to concede the United States
the right to establish a naval base on
one Of the excellent harbors of that
island.
The Bay of ST. Thomas is not safe,
either. True, its mouth is only 500
feet wide, but that mouth iss open to
every hurricane that blows. The one
that struck st. Thomas few months
ago planted a steamship high and dry
in what ought to be the safest corner
the new coaling plant of the West
India Company and tore up the whole
water front of the town. The hills
back of the harbor are almost bare.
zona, while the other side of the island
Is heavily overgrown. 1t should also
be remembered that United States
gunboat which visited St Thomas
some years ago was deposited by
hurricane on the main street of the
town. Even a layman ventures to ex-
press the opinion that such a harbor
cannot be considered absolutely safe"
Must Dredge Channel.
Adjoining the st. Thomas harbor is
another one of about the same size, hav-
ing maximum depth of about forty
feet and an average of nineteen. 1t is
NShA4A~~NSN "ieAi tuG ildI IDOT Dy a
narrow, mud-choked passage 1t is said
that Sir Francis Drake had this passage
blocked because when he chased Spanish
galleons into ST. Thomas harbor they
always escaped by this channel be-
tween Water Island and st. Thomas. At
any rate, the channel could easily be
made passable again.
On the north and east sides of St
Thomas are several other harbors that
appear to be excellent. and are sheltered
from hurricanes, but nothing definite
could be learned about their depths
Coral bay on the Island of ST. John is
said to be a much better harbor than St
Thomas. and protected from hurricanes
IT 10 absolutely unimproved, and used only
by a few fishing boats.
Estimates as to the value of the island
for fertilization also vary. Some men
who ought to know describe it as n
Gibraltar. while others say it is too
large to be ideal for defense At any
rate, there Is one point near the center
of the island from which large guns could
reach the sea in all directions. It seems
probable that the island could be made
thoroughly SAFE though probably at much
greater expense than smaller and more
compact land mSss.