In 1911, the transfer was once more broached, but again it failed of consummation. The question last came up for discussion in August, 1916, and again negotiations would have been fruitless but for the insistence of the Danish premier, who threatened to dissolve parliament and participate a general election if Government and people did not consent to the disposal of the islands. On January 17, 1917, terms were finally concluded between the two countries.
At a farewell service held in St. Thomas after the ratification of the treaty of cession had been exchanged by Secretary Lansing and the Danish Minister at Washington, the pastor paid this just tribute to the rule of Old Denmark, that had lasted, almost without interruption, for nearly two hundred and fifty years: “Of what are our thoughts, now that the end is reached? Of oppression and misrule? Exploited resources? A people crippled with taxes to enrich others? Education systematically neglected? The rule of the few over the many? Justice sold to the highest bidder? Government without heart or sympathy with the poor? Any or all of these things so often the accompaniment of colonial rule? No. At the bar of history the account is rendered. Today we may think of the solid good of the past, and pray that the new flag shall stand for all those things for which the old flag has stood.”
On March 3, 1917, an act was approved by the United States Congress to provide a temporary government for the people of the Danish West Indies, and on the last day of that month the formal transfer was sealed by the payment of a treasury warrant of $25,000,000 by the United States Secretary of State to the Danish Minister in Washington. Telegraphic advice was immediately sent to representatives of the two Governments at St. Thomas. Upon receipt of the messages the ceremony of the transfer was enacted at the Saluting Battery, St. Thomas, by the retiring Danish governor and the acting United States governor (commander of the U. S. S. Hancock), in the presence of naval, military and civil guards and an impressive assemblage of citizens. The transfer was simultaneously celebrated at Christiansted and Frederiksted, St. Croix. On April 7, 1917, the first governor of the islands, Rear Admiral Pollock, late Chief of Naval Intelligence, was officially welcomed and installed in office.
The inquiry, “Are the islands worth the expenditure of $25,000,000?”, is answered by present-day students of naval tactics. “We have at least the value of the twenty-five millions in these offensive times in keeping any foreign power from getting a foothold there. We have bought the finest site strategically, logistically and tactically for a first-class naval base on the Atlantic seaboard.”
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR. VOL. 6. No. 13. SERIAL No. 161
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
PHOTOGRAPH BY E. M. NEWMAN
CHARLOTTE AMALIE. ST. THOMAS. VIRGIN ISLANDS