File No. 711.5914/49
Minister Egan to the Secretary of State
Copenhagen, February 21, 1916.
Sir: To-day, with a view to discovering the opinion of one of the gentleman most interested in the Danish Antilles, I called on Gehejmekonferenceraad G. A. Hagemann who has great interests in Saint Croix. In a recently published pamphlet he seemed very pessimistic as to the progress of the Danish West Indies under the present rule. However, knowing that his ideas on the subject were of great importance and that they have wide influence, I asked him very directly whether he would approve of the sale of the islands. He said, “Yes”, and that the project would have been approved of in the Upper House in 1902 if a second proposition had been made offering a reasonably larger sum. He denied emphatically that Germany had anything to do with the stopping of the sale. I said that I fancied, as far as I could understand, that there had been three difficulties in 1902; first, the opposition of the East Asiatic Company, the comparative smallness of the sum offered in Danish eyes and the disagreeable scandal occasioned by the quasi agents sent over to the United States. Naturally a powerful influence against the sale was that of Prince Valdemar and the late Princess Marie and Director H. N. Andersen of the East Asiatic Company, but then I knew that Mr. Andersen had close relations with Herr Baffin of the Hamburg-American Line who desired a base in the islands. That, however, Mr. Hagemann said, would make no difference now as the United States would probably, in case of a sale, not interfere with business arrangements already made. I said that I was quite sure that my Government would conserve all legitimate business interests. Mr. Hagemann said that his certainty of this was one of the reasons why he should not object to the sale of the islands. He spoke of it having been necessary in 1902 to obtain the consent of the French Government for the sale of Saint Croix (France ceded her rights in Saint Croix in 1868), but agreed with me that this permission had been given without condition and for all time. Mr. Hagemann is, of course, unaware that there have been any negotiations on the subject of the sale. He said that he was afraid that the present Government would not consent to the sale, but that perhaps opinion might be sounded on the subject. He said:
If a good round sum was offered, such as would strike the imagination of the people, there was little doubt in his mind that the Landsthing (Upper House) would be compelled to vote for the sale.
He was kind enough to say that he appreciated the delicate way in which our Government had behaved since the failure of the project in 1902, by not raising the question until it was evident that Danish national pride would not be ruffled. He added, however, that if the sum of five millions of dollars had been doubled in 1902, the majority in the Upper House would have been entirely for it. It was quite evident from our conversation that he, as representing the investors in the Danish West Indies, was even quite anxious that the islands should be sold. He promised to get the opinion of Director Holder [Page 601] Petersen, who has likewise interests in the islands, and who is the president of the East Asiatic Company. I said that this relieved me very much, as I did not want to have the appearance of lobbying for a project which was evidently of great importance to the future of the Danish West Indies, and to the advantage of the Danish Treasury.
I have [etc.]