OCR Text |
Show SENTIMEHr DIED 01 DAiWOeGiiABE People of Islands Hear the News With Little Surprise; ' Laboring Classes Favor. ST. THOMAS, D. W. I.. July 25. Nothing is known here officially concerning concern-ing tiie probable purchase of the Danish West Indies by the Pnited States from Denmark, but the news that negotiations for the transfer of the islands have virtually been completed caused . no surprise, sur-prise, persistent rumors of the .probable transfer of the is'anus having Ticen received re-ceived of late. Probably due to the reluctance of Danish capitalists 10 invest more money for improvements and maintenance of the islands, conditions daily have been becoming becom-ing more unsatisfactory. St. Thomas is threatened with bankruptcy, tiie harbor trade, its principal support, being almost dead. St. Croix is facing" a social revolution, revolu-tion, following agitation by laborers for higher wages and better hvlng conditions. Public sentiment in St. Thomas is divided di-vided over tiie question of the transfer ot the islands, the lower classes of the people being the more desirous of a change. It is pointed out that St. Thomas would only be useful to the Pnited States as a naval base and that it is probable, should the sale be effected, that the harbor would be closed and the few ships which now call for coal, fuel oil and oilier supplies driven a wa y. St. Croix stands to benefit more than any of the islands by the sale. It is purely agricultural and the planters there are very desirous that it be brought under the American flag, expecting under such a coin) it ion. with improved agricultural methods and tho use of large tracts of land, now uncultivated, a larger production produc-tion of sugar and rum. the island's chief products, which would enjoy a free and ready market in tiie Pnited Slates. The island of St,. John also expects to benefit agriculturally, shoul 1 i he sale be consummated, tho greater part of the land there being" uncultivated and uninhabited. |