Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Address of the President to Congress December 4, 1917
File No. 711.5914/70
Minister Egan to the Secretary of State
Copenhagen, July 4, 1916.
Sir: With reference to the request made in the Department’s telegraphic instruction No. 110 of June 9, 12 noon, for copies of the concessions granted in the Danish West Indies, I have the honor to state that the enclosed copies were forwarded to me by the Foreign Office at the same time as the written result of the conversation, which I cabled to you in two sections on June 29, 1916, as telegram No. 267.
I have [etc.]
Proclamation relative to the granting of a concession for the utilization, through drainage and deepening, of an area within the harbor on the Danish West India Island of St. Thomas.
On the recommendation of the Minister of Finance it has pleased His Majesty the King, by supreme resolution of the 7th instant, to grant to a consortium consisting of: Counselor of State and Administrative Director for the East India Company H. N. Andersen, S. K. of D. and Dm.; Captain and Administrative Director for the United Steamship Company C. M. T. Cold, K. of D. and Dm.; Counselor of State and Director for the Danish Farmers’ Bank and Mortgage and Exchange Bank of Copenhagen, E. R. Glückstadt, R. of D.; Wholesaler and Manufacturer Holger Petersen, K. of D. and Dm.; and Chamberlain and Vice Admiral A. du P. de Richelieu, S. K. of D. and Dm., with the East India Company as manager, the following concession for the utilization, through drainage and deepening, of an area within the harbor on the Danish West India Island of St. Thomas:
[Page 628]We Christian Tenth, by the grace of God King of Denmark, etc., hereby make known that, in compliance with a petition for the purpose, and in accordance with Law No. 113 of May 25, 1912, We have granted to a consortium consisting of: Counselor of State and Administrative Director for the East India Company H. N. Andersen, S. K. of D. and Dm.; Captain and Administrative Director for the United Steamship Company C. M. T. Cold, K. of D. and Dm.; Counselor of State and Director for the Danish Farmers’ Bank and Mortgage and Exchange Bank of Copenhagen E. R. Gluckstadt, R. of D.; Wholesaler and Manufacturer Holger Petersen, K. of D. and Dm.; and Chamberlain and Vice Admiral A. du P. de Richelieu, S. K. of D. and Dm., with the East India Company as manager, the following concession for the utilization, through drainage and deepening, of an area within the harbor on the Danish West India Island of St. Thomas:
1. The concessioner shall be entitled to dam in the areas in St. Thomas harbor marked in red on the accompanying plan, and, after these areas have been reclaimed, he shall have free and unrestricted right of ownership over them, though he shall be obliged to reach a settlement with the interested parties in case such right of ownership should conflict with the rights of private parties.
However, the Ministry of Finance will be ready, if necessary, to undertake, in accordance with 75 of the Colonial Law, to have such rights expropriated for the benefit of the concessioner, on condition that the latter shall give full compensation therefor.
In consequence thereof he shall be entitled to charge:
- a.
- Wharfage from the ships which anchor within the dammed-in areas.
- b.
- A fee for the use of wharehouses and storage rooms.
- c.
- A fee for handling goods arriving and shipped away.
He shall be permitted to utilize the area as owner according to the laws and regulations in force.
Wharfage shall be collected according to rates determined in advance by the concessioner, and shall be alike to all.
2. The concessioner shall have a right to construct a mole from St. Thomas Island across Prince Ruppert’s Rocks, as described more accurately on the accompanying plan, and, after this mole has been completed, to utilize not only it but also Prince Ruppert’s Rocks themselves in the same manner and with the same rights as the new land areas mentioned under 1.
3. The concessioner shall have a right to deepen the harbor on the areas marked in blue on the accompanying plan, and, when this deepening work is completed, he shall have the exclusive right to use the basin constructed there in accordance with the plan.
In consequence hereof he shall be entitled, among other things, also to collect stake money and other similar charges from ships using these basins.
It shall not be permissible, immediately outside the basins, on the area thus deepened by the concessioner, for ships to anchor or maneuver in such a way as to hinder the passage of vessels to or from or their anchorage in said basins.
It may be further remarked that the police supervision over the sea and land areas included within the present concession shall devolve upon the local harbor police and the general police.
4. The concessioner shall further have a right to construct and operate one or more appropriate stationary or floating docks, at a suitable place within the part of St. Thomas harbor reserved to him in the present concession or at such other place in the harbor as the Minister of Finance may approve. However, the floating dock rights belonging to the St. Thomas Dock, Engineering & Coaling Company, Ltd., which is operating for the time in the harbor, shall be maintained until the expiration of its concession.
The dock or docks of the concessioner shall not be situated in such a manner as to impede the general navigation in the harbor, in which connection the approval of the construction by the Ministry of Finance shall be obtained.
No careening dues or other special dues for the use of such dock or docks shall be payable to the harbor treasury or to any other public treasury, and the concessioner himself shall be allowed to determine what dues he will charge for the utilization thereof.
As long as the concession remains in force and the docks are kept in operation, no permit shall be given to construct or operate any other stationary or floating dock within West Indian territory; however, cf. the reservation made above with respect to the floating dock operating for the time in the harbor.
5. As long as the present concession is in force, no other concession or permit shall be granted on or at St. Thomas or St. John for harbor works which can be used in competition with the harbor works constructed by the present concessioner, though it may be remarked in this connection that this provision shall not [Page 629] constitute a hindrance to the free utilization and possible extension of the wharves existing in St. Thomas harbor at the time of the granting of this concession, just as it shall not interfere with any harbor or wharf constructions that may be executed for the use of ships belonging to or chartered by the owner or renter of the wharf.
Neither shall the present provision impede the establishment of competitive activity for which no special concession is required from the Government.
6. The concessioner shall have a right to erect tanks oh his land area for liquid fuel for ships, but must take such reasonable safety measures against fire as the competent authority may deem necessary (cf. 12).
7. The concessioner shall have the exclusive right on and at St. Thomas to establish and operate an electric light and power plant, a refrigerating plant, water works, and street car power house, provided such establishments serve more than the needs of one individual (including a joint-stock company).
However, this exclusive right shall not interfere with the operation of already existing establishments, nor may it be invoked when the concessioner, after having an opportunity to express himself on the matter, fails to declare his willingness to constuct the works in question on such a scale as the Ministry of Finance may deem necessary and within a reasonable period to be set by the Ministry of Finance.
8. If the concessioner deems that the existing lights are not adequate, he shall be free to construct and operate other lights, subject to the approval of the Ministry of Finance, and he shall then be entitled to collect lighthouse charges, subject to the approval of the Ministry of Finance, from all ships entering the harbor.
9. Pilotage and harbor dues (including “ship” dues) shall be paid into the harbor treasury by ships which approach or utilize the new harbor, wharf, mole, and docking facilities dealt with in the present concession, to the same extent and at the same rates as in the present harbor of St. Thomas. The present rates of these dues shall not be subject to increase without the consent of the concessioner.
10. The concessioner undertakes, if so required by the Ministry of Finance, to attend to the pilotage service throughout the harbor according to rules and at rates approved by the Ministry of Finance, in which connection it may be remarked that the masters of vessels shall not be obliged to utilize pilots or to pay pilotage when pilots are not utilized.
As long as this obligation rests upon the concessioner, no other shall be allowed to furnish pilots in the harbor.
11. The concessioner shall have the exclusive right to establish and operate a wireless telegraph on St. Thomas in accordance with the regulations contained in decree No. 8 of April 18, 1910, on telegrams (including wireless or radio telegrams) on the Danish West India Islands, and with further rules approved by the Ministry of Finance.
However, this exclusive right can not be invoked unless the concessioner operates a wireless telegraph open to traffic on St. Thomas within a reasonable period to be set by the Ministry of Finance.
As long as the concession is in force and such a wireless telegraph is in operation, no other permits shall be given to establish and operate any wireless telegraph plant in St. Thomas or St. John.
The wireless telegraph station shall be open to the use of the public, and the rates for such public use shall be submitted to the Ministry of Finance for approval.
12. The concessioner shall be subject in every respect to the law prevailing in St. Thomas, and he must govern himself according to the rules prescribed by the, lawful authorities in St. Thomas.
Before the enterprises mentioned in the concession are begun, plans and drawings must be approved by the Ministry of Finance.
13. With respect to quarantine matters in St. Thomas harbor the Government promises the concessioner that it will regulate them in accordance with rules prevailing in the harbors of the world in general and in such a way that no unnecessary hindrances shall be placed in the way of navigation in the harbor from the standpoint of the quarantine service.
14. The concessioner shall have an opportunity, upon acquiring the usual licence, to engage in commerce on and from St. Thomas on the same conditions as prevail in general with respect to the commercial activity of private individuals or joint-stock companies.
With regard to taxation he shall be subject to the general rules of the place.
[Page 630]15. The concessioner shall be granted duty-free importation of all materials imported for the original installation, in and about the harbor, of the works belonging under the present concession.
16. The present concession shall become void if the concessioner has failed, within a period to be determined by the Ministry of Finance, to take the necessary steps to establish the works sketched on the accompanying plan in and about “Long Bay” on St. Thomas, though the concessioner shall have a right to undertake this work in different sections, in such a way that the completion of the work sketched on the plan under “A”, or some other section of the whole harbor-deepening plan which is suitable in the judgment of the Ministry of Finance, shall, before the expiration of the period set, be sufficient for the maintenance of the concession, and it shall depend on the judgment of the concessioner when and to what extent the other works sketched shall be executed.
17. The concession is given for a period of 99 years from the date of its issuance. However, after the expiration of 60 years from the time when, in accordance with the latter part of 16, the first part of the establishments is completed, the Danish Government or the harbor council of St. Thomas shall have a right to buy from the concessioner all his harbor and dock establishments in St. Thomas, including property such as the area reclaimed from the harbor, together with the wharves, machinery, warehouses, and other buildings, docks, and materials, as well as all other works constructed by him in accordance with the present concession. However, the right shall be subject to the condition that the Danish Government or the harbor council of St. Thomas shall give the concessioner notice, at least one year in advance, of its intention to avail itself of this right.
If the Danish Government or the harbor council of St. Thomas fails to avail itself of the said right of taking over the works by the 60th year from the date on which, in accordance with the final part of 16, the first part of the works is completed, the same right to take over the works shall belong to the Danish Government or the St. Thomas harbor council at the 70th, 80th, or 90th year calculated from the same date as the aforementioned 60th year. The taking over of the works shall be subject in these cases also to the condition that the Danish Government or the St. Thomas harbor council shall give notice to the concessioner at least one year in advance that it intends to utilize the right.
Upon the expiration of the concession the same right to take over the works shall belong to the Danish Government or the St. Thomas harbor council.
This right of preemption or purchase on the part of the Danish Government or the St. Thomas harbor council shall be subject to the condition that the concessioner shall be paid a price based on the appraisement of impartial persons for all the harbor and dock establishments belonging to the concessioner in St. Thomas, and, if he has failed to earn 5% interest on his invested capital during the ten years next preceeding the taking over of the works, there shall be added a sum equivalent to the amount lacking, provided it can not be covered from the reserve fund saved. The appraisement shall be based on the amount which it is considered the property would, at the time of purchase, cost new, making due allowance for deterioration and age. If the concession has been transferred to a joint-stock company, the latter may choose to determine the rate at which the shares have been quoted on an average in the stock exchange at Copenhagen during the last ten years. The average for each year shall be obtained by taking 1/12 of the sum of the averages of each month’s highest and lowest quotations. However, the stockholders must not in any event insist on the purchase being made at a rate exceeding 125 crowns per 100 crowns.
If the parties are unable to agree on the selection of the impartial persons, of whom there shall be an odd number, they shall be appointed by the court.
If any of the companies or persons who utilize any part of the present concession become bankrupt, the Danish Government or the St. Thomas harbor council shall have a right to immediately take over the establishments of the company or persons concerned, together with all rights connected therewith, on the condition set forth in the 4th paragraph of the present section, unless the concessioner wishes to take them over himself.
18. The concessioner shall have his domicile and venue in the Danish West India Islands or in the mother country, in the latter place at the royal superior court and the inferior court at Copenhagen, or at such court as may at the time be considered competent as a court of first instance.
19. A majority of the members of the consortium, if the concessioner is such, and a majority of the board of directors of the joint-stock company if the concessioner is such, shall be persons possessing the rights of Danish citizenship.
20. With respect to the enterprises dealt with in this concession, regardless of the party by whom they are operated, it shall be a condition precedent that [Page 631] additions to the reserve fund and payments from the capital stock for plants, establishments, machinery, and equipment shall be made according to general commercial rules.
A copy of each of the annual reports and accounts of the various enterprises shall be sent in to the Ministry of Finance.
21. The present concession shall not be transferred to another person without the consent of the Ministry of Finance. The consent of the Ministry of Finance shall likewise be required in order that the harbor works or parts thereof may be transferred to another person.
Even if a part of the enterprise passes into other hands, the concessioner shall nevertheless continue to be responsible to the Ministry of Finance for the observance of the concession as a whole.
22. If the concessioner should fail essentially to fulfill the obligations resting upon him in accordance with the present concession, the latter may be declared forfeited by judicial decree at the instance of the Minister of Finance.
23. All questions arising in connection with the interpretation of the present concession shall be settled by the Minister of Finance.
However, the concessioner shall in all cases be at liberty to appeal from the decisions of the Minister of Finance before the common courts, but until such decisions are reversed by the courts they must be followed.
Addition to the foregoing concession.
It is being sought by law to abolish the import duties in St. Thomas and St. John. However, the Ministry of Finance must reserve the right, if it should be found that St. Thomas and St. John communes are unable to cover a deficit from the ordinary revenues, to prescribe in accordance with 56 of the Colonial Law No. 124 for the Danish West Indies of April 6, 1906, that the deficit shall be covered by a temporary proportionate restoration of the abolished import duties.
In compensation for the privileges granted to the concessioner under 9 of the concession and the present additional concession, he hereby undertakes, during the first ten years after a law abolishing the import duties has gone into force, to pay into the St. Thomas and St. John colonial treasury 33⅓% of the wharfage dues collected by him. Besides, the concessioner shall make a deposit of 500,000 francs, from which the aforesaid colonial treasury shall be entitled, within the aforesaid period of ten years, to take annually an amount equal to the difference between the aforementioned 33⅓% of the wharfage dues collected and 100,000 francs annually.
What the concessioner has thus furnished from the said deposit shall be paid back to him by the St. Thomas and St. John commune whenever, after the expiration of the said ten years, the annual ship (harbor) dues shall exceed 300,000 francs, in such a way that half of the surplus shall be paid annually, until the amount taken from the said deposit (which shall not draw interest) is paid back.
Let all interested parties be governed accordingly.
Given at Amalienborg, July 7, 1912.
Under our royal hand and seal.
All of which is hereby brought to public knowledge.
- N. Neergaard
- C. Dines Hansen
Law relating to the St. Croix Cooperative Sugar Boileries
April 24, 1908.
We Christian the Ninth, by God’s grace King of Denmark, etc., hereby make known that the Rigsdag (Parliament) has passed and We approve the following law:
The Minister of Finance is hereby authorized to finally and validly conclude the provisional agreement embodied in the appendix to the present law and to the effect that the present company entitled “St. Croix Cooperative Sugar Boileries” shall be dissolved after assigning the factory on St. Croix, together with all buildings appertaining thereto and the machinery, appurtenances, and [Page 632] inventory articles belonging to the factory on January 1, 1903, to a new joint-stock company to be organized with a nominal capital stock of 3,000,000 crowns. One-half the amount of the stock of the new company shall go to the national treasury, while the other half shall go to the stock-holders in the “St. Croix Cooperative Sugar Boileries” company. However, before the agreement is finally concluded, the Minister of Finance must be given a guarantee, suitable in his judgment, that the necessary operative capital will be at the disposal of the new company.
Upon the consummation of the aforementioned agreement, the national treasury shall be given permanent satisfaction for its mortgage-secured lien on the St. Croix Cooperative Sugar Boileries Company, just as the stockholders in the St. Croix Cooperative Sugar Boileries shall be given permanent satisfaction for every right they possess, including every claim they may have against the St. Croix colonial treasury in connection with the interest guarantee assumed by the colonial treasury in accordance with the Royal West Indian decree of June 16, 1876.
The aforementioned agreement, as well as the documents to be drawn up in connection with the transfer of the factory and appurtenances to the new company, may be made without the use of stamped paper; furthermore, all recording and other fees due the public treasury in connection with said transfer shall be waived.
Let all interested parties be governed accordingly.
Given at Amalienborg, April 24, 1903.
Under our royal hand and seal.
Appendix
Between the Minister of Finance on behalf of the national treasury, who, as unsatisfied mortgagee in accordance with D. L. 5–7–8, has taken over the factory, etc., on St. Croix, belonging to the St. Croix Cooperative Sugar Boileries, on the One hand, and: Counselor of State and Administer W. A. D. Moldenhawer; Counselor of State and Wholesaler A. P. C. Holm; R. of D. and Supreme Court Attorney S. S. Nellemann; K. of D. and Dm., Factory Owner, and Director G. A. Hagemann; and R. of D. and Dm. and Director Martin Dessau, as duly empowered representatives of the stockholders in the “St. Croix Cooperative Sugar-Boileries,” who altogether are holders of stock to a total amount of 683,800 crowns, on the other hand, the following agreement has been entered:
1. There is formed a joint-stock company under the name of St. Croix Sugar Factory, with a nominal capital stock of 3,000,000 crowns, divided into shares at 1,000 crowns each, or shares in denominations which are multiples of 1,000 crowns; however, by way of exception single shares may be issued in denominations of 100 crowns or multiples thereof.
2. The present St. Croix Cooperative Sugar Boileries company shall transfer to the aforesaid joint-stock company, with the consent of the Minister of Finance, the factory on St. Croix together with all buildings appertaining thereto, as well as the machinery, appurtenances, and inventory articles belonging to the factory on January 1, 1903, (including spare articles, tools, materials for keeping up factory, bone charcoal, and the like, but not the stock on hand, at the time, of wholly or partly manufactured sugar, sacks and other sugar packing, coal, limestone, Slamlaerred (“mud linen”), and the like, cash on hand and outstanding claims). On the other hand, the new company undertakes, in the manner described below, to relieve the St. Croix Sugar Boileries company from all obligations resting upon it.
3. The sum at which the concern is to be taken over is fixed at 3,000,000 crowns, to be represented by stock in the new company.
The payment shall be made in such a way that one half of the shares, or shares to a total amount of 1,500,000 crowns shall be delivered to the national treasury as its property in full satisfaction of its mortgage-secured claim on the St. Croix Cooperative Sugar Boileries company, namely, 1,414,784 crowns 57 ore principal and all accrued or accruing but unpaid interest.
The other half of the shares, or shares totaling 1,500,000 crowns, shall, according to the rules enumerated below, fall to the stockholders in the St. Croix Cooperative Sugar Boileries company in full satisfaction of every right due the stockholders [Page 633] in the last-named company, including particularly every claim held by them against the St. Croix colonial treasury in connection with the interest guarantee assumed by the colonial treasury in accordance with the Royal West Indian decree of June 16, 1876.
The shares in the St. Croix Sugar Factory, due the stockholders in the St. Croix Cooperative Sugar Boileries in accordance with the above and totaling 1,500,000 crowns, shall be taken into custody temporarily by the Ministry of Finance. Of this amount there shall first be set aside 1,416,100 crowns, corresponding to the capital stock in the St. Croix Cooperative Sugar Boileries. Each share (either common or preferred), together with all coupons, in the St. Croix Cooperative Sugar Boileries can thereafter be exchanged at the Ministry of Finance for a share of corresponding amount in the St. Croix Sugar Factory.
The remaining 83,900 crowns shall be proportionately divided among the holders of preferred stock in the St. Croix Cooperative Sugar Boileries, who, according to further rules prescribed by the Minister of Finance, shall further receive for proportionate distribution among them such part of the aforementioned 1,416,100 crowns as may not be taken at the Ministry of Finance after a call has been issued, provided they make a declaration that they will hold the new company and the St. Croix colonial treasury harmless for any claim against the latter which might be raised by stockholders in the old company who have not received their part of the new shares.
4. The stock of sugar, coal, bone charcoal, and sacks on hand on January 1, 1903, as mentioned in 2, shall go to the national treasury as free property in full settlement of the debt owing oh account current by the St. Croix Cooperative Sugar Boileries to the Danish national treasury up to the date mentioned.
5. It shall be the particular business of the new company to procure the necessary operative capital for the new company, perhaps by means of a loan on the factory.
6. The new company shall assume operations on January 1, 1903, from which date on the national treasury shall retire as the creditor who took over the boileries on mortgage, and from which date all expenditures and receipts shall take place on its (the new company’s) account. The new company shall take the place of the Ministry of Finance in contracts entered into with the present personnel in the boileries on St. Croix. Likewise, the bookkeepers engaged here at home by the Ministry of Finance shall enter the services of the new company.
7. The Minister of Finance shall present a bill to the Parliament now in session for the regulation of the matter, which bill shall embody a proposition for the approval of the present agreement as well as to the effect that the transfer mentioned in 2 may be made without using stamped paper and that recording fees and others due the public treasury in connection with said transfer shall be waived.
8. The signature of the Minister of Finance to the present agreement shall not be binding unless the agreement is approved by the Parliament.
Copenhagen, December 23, 1902.
Chosen for stockholders in the St. Croix Cooperative Sugar Boileries pursuant to power of attorney from common and preferred stock to a total amount of 683,800 crowns.
The undersigned board of directors of the St. Croix Cooperative Sugar Boileries hereby pledges itself, after the agreement has been approved by Parliament, to offer a motion at a general meeting of the company for the approval of the present agreement and therewith the dissolution of the St. Croix Cooperative Sugar Boileries Company.
(Signatures)
(Signature)
[Untitled]
Notification concerning the cancellation of a concession, granted through supreme resolution of July 7, 1912, to a consortium for the drainage and deepening of a certain area within the harbor on the Danish West India Island of St. Thomas.
The Consortium for the drainage and deepening of an area within the harbor on the Danish West India Island of St. Thomas having relinquished and delivered back the concession granted by supreme resolution of July 7, 1912, for the drainage and deepening of an area within the harbor on the Danish West India Island of St. Thomas, it has pleased His Majesty the King, on the recommendation of the Ministry of Finance, to annul said concession by means of the supreme resolution of the 23d instant.
All of which is hereby brought to public knowledge.
- N. Neergaard
- C. Dines Hansen
[Untitled]
Regulation No. 16 of 1913 concerning exemption from customs duty and harbor dues for materials imported for use in connection with the building of the plant in St. Thomas harbor.
We Christian the Tenth, by God’s grace King of Denmark, the Vends and Goths, Duke of Schleswig, Holstein, Stormarn, Ditmarsken, Lauenborg, and Oldenborg, hereby make known that the colonial council for St. Thomas and St. John has adopted and we have sanctioned the following regulation:
The Government is authorized, for a period of 10 years beginning January 1, 1913, to grant exemption from customs duties and harbor dues on all materials, including working tools and machinery, imported into St. Thomas for the installation there of considerable plants intended to supply or serve ships entering the harbor, or which are otherwise calculated to further navigation in the harbor.
Let all interested parties be governed accordingly.
Given at Amalienborg, April 1, 1913.
Under Our Royal hand and seal.