File No. 711.5914/126
Minister Egan to the Secretary of State
Copenhagen, August 25, 1916, 8 p.m.
328. In the Upper House the order of the day, supported by Conservatives and the Left, was:
If the sale of the islands cannot be postponed until after the war, it is moved that the question be decided by a Parliament elected in accordance with the new Constitution.
Forty-two voted for this order, eight against it, one refused to vote, ten were absent.
Petersen, spokesman of the Left in the Upper House, which forms the main opposition to the sale, said:
It would no doubt be best if the islands were sold to the United States. I am convinced that the result of the new election will be that the islands will be sold.
He added that within his party it had been suggested to make an effort to ascertain whether a postponement of the sale until after the war would be considered by the Government of the United States. This proposition had not been accepted by his party.