File No. 711.5914/16
[Inclosure—Translation]
The Germans in the West
India Islands, Central and South America—A Canal in
competition to the Panama
Canal?—The Hamburg people and St. Thomas
[From Social
Demokraten for November 1,
1911]
We have already at an earlier date called the attention of our
readers to the momentous occurrences which are surreptitiously
taking place in the West India Islands, South and Central
America. The Germans, especially the Hamburg shipowners and
merchants, are carrying on a persistent and, as far as we can
see, determinate struggle with a view of getting such a strong
foothold over there
[Page 576]
that the United States will not be able to oust them when the
Panama Canal is opened.
This German contest is also of great interest to us, since St.
Thomas has hitherto been the center for the Hamburg steamship
lines in that part of the world. In the show window of the
Hamburg-American Line on the street Unter den Linden, in Berlin,
there is a large map of the world on which are indicated the
different lines belonging to the company, and it is interesting
to see St. Thomas, on this map, look like a spider, owing to the
large number of Hamburg lines diverging in all directions from
this little island of ours. We have also pointed out in this
paper at an earlier date how it really was the Hamburg interests
which in 1902 prevented the sale of our three islands. For the
Hamburg-American Line it was a question of life or death for
their great steamship lines running to Central and South America
that Denmark should keep the islands, and especially St.
Thomas,
We now have occasion to return to this subject, since the
interest of the Hamburg people in our retaining the islands
seems to have cooled off. At short intervals the Hamburger Fremdenblatt several times
reiterated that St. Thomas would be sure to go to the United
States, since Denmark was not able to make the harbor
improvements which the situation of the island requires. We are
at a loss to know what motive the Hamburg paper had in
repeatedly bringing up the state of things on St. Thomas, but
perhaps it has some connection with the rumors which have been
circulated and which have even created considerable sensation on
the stock exchange, namely, that foreign capitalists have
applied to our Government for concessions on the island. It
would be a very good thing if the Rigsdag could be informed of
what really lies under all this, and to know if our Government,
or the patriots who at one time offered to put up millions for
this cause, really have any definite plan with respect to the
future of these islands.
It looks as if the Hamburg people had given up St. Thomas. Not
that they have given up their steamship traffic on the island,
they have only directed their attentions in a different
direction. The successful revolution last summer on the large
West India island Haiti brought the ex-ambassador of Haiti at
Berlin into power in one of the negro republics of the island,
and it was said that the financial support given him by German
capitalists was to be paid by a monopoly on the harbors of the
island. At the same time, a Danish journalist, Mr. Johs. Hoeck,
said that he had seen the beginning of an enormous harbor
construction on the north coast of the South American Republic
of Colombia, not far from the Panama Canal, a harbor
construction which, as far as possible, is being kept secret.
And now, the other day, we received new information in regard to
the plans of the Germans. The news came from New York, where the
movements of the Germans are very closely watched. According to
this information the Germans have plans to build a canal in
competition to the Panama Canal.
Close to Panama lies the Republic of Costa Rica, and a little
higher up on the map the Republic of Nicaragua. As a boundary
between these two States, the St. Juan River runs from the great
Lake Nicaragua out to the Atlantic Ocean, and this river is
navigable all the way up to the lake. To the west there is a
strip of land to be cut through, but it is much narrower than
the Isthmus of Panama. Ever since the sixteenth century the plan
of cutting through this strip of land has been, from time to
time, advanced in Europe, and ever since the latter part of the
19th century companies have been formed for doing this work. In
the decade 1890–1900 much was done in this respect, but the
canal did not become a reality. The Germans have planned to go
up the navigable St. Juan River and across the great Nicaragua
Lake and then up a river coming from the southwest, namely the
Sapoa River, thus making the land-cut still shorter. The
American paper was able to give the names of the principal men
in the German consortium. It even asserts that the German
Government is backing the enterprise, and it states that the
United States Government has already made representations to the
two Republics concerned and given them to understand that the
granting of such a concession would be considered an unfriendly
act towards the United States. Of course the statements of an
American newspaper on such a subject cannot be accepted without
reservations, but the New York correspondent of the Berliner Tageblatt has made
investigations. He got a disavowal, as far as regarded an official action, but it was admitted that
the plan of building the canal really
existed.
Thus within a year we have seen the persistent struggles of the
German capitalists exposed in three different places, Haiti,
Colombia, Costa Rica, and it all speaks of Germany’s economical
conquest of the lands east and west of the Panama Canal.
[Page 577]
But will all this still continue to proceed in secret? The
Government of the United States distrustfully follows the
movements of the Germans, and is it reasonable to suppose that
this great Power will stand still and see a European Power, in
spite of the Monroe Doctrine, actually annex American
ground?
And what will be the consequences for St. Thomas? Will the United
States purchase or take it in order to make it an American port?
Deplorably enough, it is not probable that the United States any
longer has use for it, for it has already built a great harbor
on Cuba as a basis for its steamship traffic through the Panama
Canal. When the time once comes when the Hamburg people get
their new harbor constructions ready on Haiti and in Colombia
and therefore no longer have any use for St. Thomas, America
will perhaps not even buy the islands, and what will we then do
with them? St. Thomas has its splendid natural presuppositions,
but they are not sufficient in this capitalistic age, which
requires enormous improvements of the natural resources.
And even if both natural and artificial presuppositions existed,
there must be ships to make use of them.
In 1902 there were two States looking for a harbor in the West
Indies, America and Germany. Germany won the victory, and
Denmark retained the islands, only for the benefit of German
navigation, but now when both Germans and Americans have good
harbors elsewhere, who is going to make use of St. Thomas?
