A request was made that the United States declare how much it was willing to give. "Mr. Seward departed, and during his absence visited St. Thomas and convinced himself of the necessity of the purchase." Report of Mr. Lodge, Committee on Foreign Relations, March 31, 1898, S. July 6, 1866, Mr. Seward wrote to the Secretary of War that it was "deemed desirable to ascertain officially and authentically the value to the United States, especially for military and naval purposes, of the Danish West India Islands, supposing that we should acquire a title to them." It was therefore requested that an officer should be detailed to proceed thither for the purpose of examining and reporting upon the subject, or that such other measures should be adopted as might seem best to that end." Ten days later Mr. Seward officially proposed to General Raasloff, the Danish minister at Washington, a negotiation "for the purchase of the Danish Islands in the West Indies, namely, St. Thomas and the adjacent islets, Santa Cruz and St. John," for $5,000,000 in gold, payable in the United States, the "negotiation to be by treaty, which you will of course understand will require the constitutional ratification of the Senate."b General Raasloff soon afterwards returned to Denmark, where he became minister of war, and the negotiations were carried on at Copenhagen by Mr. Yeaman, United States minister at that capital, and Count Frijs, Danish minister of foreign affairs, and General Raasloff. In addition to written instructions transmitted in the usual course, telegraphic instructions were occasionally sent to Mr. Yeaman through Mr. Adams, then United States minister at London." @ Mr. Seward, Sec. of State, to Mr. Stanton, July 6, 1866, MS. Inst. Special Missions, III. 137. Mr. Seward, Sec. of State, to Gen. Raaslof, July 17, 1866, MS. Notes, Danish Leg., VI. 337. "General Raasloff . . . after his arrival at Copenhagen was appointed minister of war, and, in the work of reorganizing the Danish army, lost sight of affairs in America. Count Frijs, the Danish minister for foreign affairs, who consequently now had charge of the negotiations, was in favor of the sale, but still the affair dragged until January 19, 1867, when Mr. Yeaman, United States minister at Copenhagen, received the following telegram from Mr. Seward: 'Tell Raasloff haste important.' However, nothing was done for two months. Denmark felt a good deal of hesitation, owing to the uncertainty of the treaty being ratified by the Senate, but she became more assured by the absence of opposition in the United States to the purchase scheme and by the speedy ratification of the Alaska purchase treaty. Nevertheless, at the end of two months Mr. Seward telegraphed again to Mr. Yeaman: 'Want yea or nay now.' Mr. Yeaman at once communicated with General Raaslof, but it was not until the 17th of May, 1867, that Count Frijs made a counter proposition to Mr. Seward's note." (Report of Mr. Lodge, Com. on For. Rel., March 31, 1898, S. Doc. 284, 57 Cong. 1 sess.) The difficulties in the way of the cession arose partly from sentiment, partly from the attitude of third powers, and partly from the question of price. The Danish cabinet at length decided to make a counter proposition to cede the three islands for $15,000,000, or the islands of St. Thomas and St. John for $10,000,000, in case France should refuse her consent to the transfer of Santa Cruz. It was also stated that the treaty must be ratified by the Rigsdag, and that the consent of the people of the islands must be obtained, and the request was made that the negotiations should be conducted at Copenhagen and not at Washington, as Mr. Seward had desired." Mr. Yeaman was duly instructed as to this proposition, and was furnished with full powers and a draft of a convention. The United States would pay $7,500,000 for the three islands, and the treaty might be signed at Copenhagen; but no stipulation was to be admitted for a vote of the people of the islands, though a provision might be inserted allowing them two years in which to depart, if they preferred to retain their original allegiance. The treaty must be ratified by the Rigsdag before Aug. 4, 1867, and by the United States Senate before May, 1868, the ratifications to be exchanged at Washington." The Danish negotiators declared the consent of the people of the islands to be indispensable, and they declined to bind their Government to ratify the convention in advance of the United States. They offered, however, to take $7,500,000 for St. Thomas and St. John, and half as much for Santa Cruz, should France consent to the sale of the latter.c Mr. Yeaman was instructed to accept the offer of St. Thomas and St. John for $7,500,000, but Mr. Seward, while urging that promptness was essential to the success of the negotiation and the acceptance of its results, refused to yield the point of the vote. Indeed, as late a Mr. Yeaman to Mr. Seward, No. 65, April 30, 1867 (confidential); No. 67, May 17, 1867 (confidential); No. 69, May 27, 1867. The question raised as to the cession of Santa Cruz grew out of the provisions of Art. V. of the convention signed at Copenhagen June 15, 1733, by which France ceded the island to the Danish West Indies Company. That article translated reads as follows: "As His Most Christian Majesty has a particular interest that the said island shall not pass, under any title whatever, to other nations, the Danish company engages and obligates itself, in the most formal and authentic manner, neither to sell nor to cede it on any terms to any other nation without the approval and consent of His Most Christian Majesty." (De Clercq, Recueil des Traités de la France, XV. Supplément, 5. "Art. V. Comme S. M. T. C. a un intérêt particulier à ce que ladite isle ne passe point, à quelque titre que ce soit, à d'autres nations, la Compagnie danoise s'engage et s'oblige, en la manière la plus formelle et la plus authentique, à ne la vendre ni la céder en aucun tems à nulle autre nation, sans l'approbation et le consentement de S. M. T. C.”) Mr. Seward, Sec. of State, to Mr. Yeaman, May 27, 1867, MS. Inst. Denmark, XIV. 276; Mr. Yeaman to Mr. Seward, No. 73, June 7, 1867; No. 74, June 13, 1867; MSS. Dept. of State. e Mr. Yeaman to Mr. Seward, No. 75, June 17, 1867, MSS. Dept. of State. d Mr. Yeaman to Mr. Seward, No. 81, July 12, 1867; No. 84, July 22, 1867; Mr. Seward to Mr. Yeaman, Aug. 7, 1867; MSS. Dept. of State. as Sept. 3, 1867, Mr. Seward insisted that "in no case must [the subject of the] vote be mentioned in [the] treaty," though he waived any objection to Denmark's taking a vote outside of the treaty." I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your despatches of the 5th of September, No. 98, and of the 7th of September, No. 100. "In regard to the notoriety which the negotiation to which you refer has attained, it is necessary to remember that the habits and practice of republican government always render even a temporary silence concerning important measures of policy suspicious and generally impossible. The press of all civilized nations, now universally employing the agency of the telegraph, has unavoidably and properly become a combination of great power, and is always more active in procuring facts which are involved in any uncertainty or mystery than in disseminating authentic information about which there is no effort at concealment. The difficulty which it was foreseen would attend the preservation of confidence between the two Governments in regard to the negotiations has been one of the strongest motives upon our part for urging speedy decision upon the Government of Denmark. "As the case stands, it seems to me now more extraordinary that so little of the negotiations has transpired than it is that our proceedings have not remained altogether confidential. "You mention in your 98 that you have reason to believe that the Danish Government now regret their having dissevered the proposition by assenting to sell St. Thomas and St. John, with the reservation of Santa Cruz. You inform me further that in your opinion the Danish Government would now much desire that their own proposition for the sale of the three islands should be reinstated and accepted. You assign the reasons upon which this opinion is founded, namely, that the relations of the Government with the inhabitants of the islands, with the people of Denmark, with the legislature of that country, and with France could be more successfully managed by making a cession of all than by a cession of the two islands of St. Thomas and St. John. Impressed with this opinion, you imply rather than express a recommendation that we shall open the question and accept the cession of the three islands upon the Danish terms. "The President has at no time entertained a doubt that the division of our original proposition, so as to exclude Santa Cruz from the negotiation, would prove a hindrance in Denmark. He remains of the opinion that our proposition was well conceived, having reference to our situation at the time it was made. Circumstances, however, seem now to have changed. I leave out of view parallel negotiations. in other quarters. In the purchase of Russian America, we have a Mr. Seward to Mr. Yeaman, telegram, Sept. 3, 1867, MS. Inst. Denmark, XIV. 288. invested a considerable capital and incurred the necessity for a large expenditure. The desire for the acquisition of foreign territory has sensibly abated. The delays which have attended the negotiation, notwithstanding our urgency, have contributed to still farther alleviate the national desire for enlargement of territory. In short, we have already come to value dollars more and dominion less. "Under these circumstances, it would be more difficult now than it has heretofore been to accept the three islands at the price which is set upon them by the Government of Denmark. The best we could do now, would be to accept the two upon the terms which seem to have been agreed upon. I do not hesitate to say that procrastination of the negotiation, even for those two islands, may wear out the popular desire for even that measure of partial acquisition. "The Danish negotiators have asked us to consider that the habits of Denmark are slow. Surely the statesmen of that country can well understand that on the contrary in the United States all political movements necessarily require vigor and promptitude.' Mr. Seward, Sec. of State, to Mr. Yeaman, Sept. 23, 1867, MS. Inst. Denmark, XIV. 294. In a confidential instruction to Mr. Yeaman of Sept. 28, 1867, Mr. Seward, referring to a communication which he had received directly from Gen. Raasloff, said: "We can not now modify our previous instructions without putting the negotiation in great jeopardy. Procrastination has abated an interest which was at its height when we came successfully out of a severe civil war. No absolute need for a naval station in the West Indies is now experienced. Nations are prone to postpone provision for distant contingencies. Besides, other and cheaper projects are widely regarded as feasible and equally or more advantageous. If, with reference to the present negotiation for the two islands, it is necessary or convenient to the Danish Government that there shall at the same time be pending a question of an ultimate transfer of a third island, let the Danish Government send us a protocol through your legation, to be dealt with as on consultation we shall find practicable and expedient." (MS. Inst. Denmark, XIV. 297.) October 5, 1867, Mr. Seward cabled Mr. Yeaman to waive the objection to a popular vote and to consent that one might be taken at the instance of Denmark. These instructions were reiterated by telegraph on the 24th of October, with a request to report progress." A convention for the cession of St. Thomas and St. John for $7,500,000, with stipulations for a popular vote and for the admission of the inhabitants, in case of annexation, to the rights of citizens of the United States, was concluded at Copenhagen, Oct. 24, 1867. The Russian minister at Copenhagen offered Mr. Yeaman his congratulations; the French minister said nothing; the Prussian minister observed a Mr. Seward, Sec. of State, to Mr. Yeaman, Oct. 24, 1867, MS. Inst. Denmark, XIV. 300; same to same, Oct. 25, 1867, id. 301. Mr. Yeaman to Mr. Seward, Oct. 25, 1867; Mr. Seward to Mr. Yeaman, Oct. 26, Oct. 30, Oct. 31, and Nov. 15, 1867, MSS. Dept. of State, XIV. 304, 305, 307. that it looked as if the United States expected soon to need great naval facilities, in which case the acquisition would be of great advantage; the British minister coupled with his felicitations a jesting remark about Greenland and Iceland; the Spanish minister, while congratulating Mr. Yeaman personally on the success of the negotiations, declared that, for himself and his Government, he did not like it." "A strong current of economical sentiment in regard to our finances has set in during the autumn, and it has since increased in volume and in force. West India accessions in harmony with the so-called Monroe doctrine, are still deemed important, but there is so strong a disposition to retrench that the treaty for St. Thomas and St. John is not unlikely to labor in the Senate just as the transaction itself has labored in the country. "However illogical it may seem, public opinion has been much disturbed by the recent terrible displays of hurricanes and earthquakes in the lands and waters of the Virgin's Islands. "These phenomena even brought confusion into the councils of Governor Carstensten, when he was proceeding to take the public vote of St. Thomas. He conceded delay; that delay is now a subject of inquiry and a cause of hesitation here. "The lapse of time, however, always tranquilizes political excitement, just as it brings natural quiet after hurricanes, volcanoes, and earthquakes. "I hear from St. Thomas that there is no doubt of a favorable vote there, on the 9th of January next." Mr. Seward, Sec. of State, to Mr. Yeaman, Dec. 30, 1867, MS. Inst. Denmark Mr. Seward's reference to "economical sentiment" probably was suggested The Rev. Charles Hawley, D. D., of Auburn, N. Y., was sent as a confidential The vote in St. Thomas stood 1,039 to 22 for annexation; in St. John, 205 we bound in honor to pay for them?" 38-39.) "The treaty of the cession of St. Thomas and St. John was submitted by the President, to the Senate, on the 3d day of December a Mr. Yeaman to Mr. Seward, Nov. 8, 1867, MSS. Dept. of State. Mr. Yeaman refers in this dispatch to the publication of the provisions of the treaty. See Mr. Seward to Mr. Yeaman, Oct. 31 and Nov. 15, 1867, approving the conduct of the negotiations; also, as to proposed supplemental articles, relating to Santa Cruz, Mr. Seward to Mr. Yeaman, Dec. 16 and Dec. 30, 1867, MS. Inst. Denmark, XIV. 374, 310. |