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Knocks Romance Out of Tropic Dream of U. S. VIRGIN ISLANDSJUDGE CONDEMNS THEM. Eighty miles east of the Porto Rican shore, where the lanquid Carribbean en- ters the aqua jungles of the Atlantie, where St. Thomas lies enchanted under a sleepy tropical moon, where pirate | lore is purveyed by the nstives, and the ! sea gull waves a wing in dolce far ni- | ente | : ‘,‘,lt’s not fit for a white man to live | in. In these words Federal Judge Lucius | J. M. Malmin, chi2f justice of the Vir- | gin Islands, knocked all romance from the insular group for which the United States zovern nent paid Denmark $25,- 000,000. Back in Chicago on a vacation, the Supreme pontiff of justice for some 25,000 persons was telling mewmbers of the Lawyers’ Association of Illinois | about our newest po-session. i ““Only three of the Islands—St. Tho- mas, St. Croix, and St Johns—have any human inhabitants,’” he said, "‘and most of them are black. It was the Dutch ! who first occupied this group, 250 years ago, and they abandoned it in favor of New Amsterdam, later New York. Then the Danes came in, but lost the islands to the British. Later they were given ! back. Now you know what they must be like if England didn’t want them.”’ Our islands. according to the judge, are only good for a naval coaling station. They are too far away to afford any pro- tection to the Panama Canal. In 1917, ! when we acquired them, it was feared | that Germany would make a submarine base of the Vir%in group and thus im- | peril our transports and commerce fleet, ““Why did you give so much money for- - Judge Malmin once asked Sec- retary of State Lansing. | *‘l would have given $50,000,000 if ne- cessary,’’ was the reply. Chicago Sun- | day I'ribune, Jan. 23rd. . TELEGRAM -. ST. CROIX STATION. | wondon, Feby. 2nd.—Unrest continues | among the peasants the of United Pro- vinces of Agra and Gudeh, [ndia, accord- | ing to a despatch to the Times from | Alzhabad, Agitators are reported tn | be carrying a violent Campaign against the (GJovt, despite the fact that legisla- tion had been promised to remedy their orievances. In the latest instance of i disorder, a thousand persoons lay down | apon the railway lines in order to halt | a train on which they believed their | leader, who had been arrested, was be- | ing transported. When persuasion fail- | ed the police vere ordered to clear the track. The crowd then made @¢n at- tack with stones whereupon the police opened fire with buck shot. Sil. ORO X & NI D Berlin, Feb. 2nd. —Germany does not consider the terms of reparat'on decid- ed upon by the Supreme Allied Coun- | cil at Qavis last week, as being th2 final settle nent of the. indemnity question but the basis of future negotiations. This was indicied by Dr. Simoans. Foccign Minis-er, who spoke on the reparations question before the Reichstag yester- | day | Berlin, Feby. 2nd. —The Press, with- . out rezard tn party affiliatirns, approves . the Govts. declaration which Dr. Simons, - Minister of Foreign Affa’rs sabmitted te . the Reichstag, to the effecr that the En- . tente reparations demands are not feasi- b“u of execution. The only ecriticism of | the {oreiga representation of the Cabi- net attitude is contained in the Nation- - aliste orzans which are impatientof ' Dr. Si nouns failing to. make the refusal more emphatic. Editorial comment gen- eral'y assumes that further deveiop- ments lie in the direction of the Govt. . ability to formulate counter-proposals, } which will pave the way for amicable . Ssolutions. j St. Johns. N.F. ‘eby. 2nd.—The New- - foundland eoast is icebound as a result | of ithe severest cold of this winter. The Northern bavs and Conception bay, ten miles north of this eity, are solidly froz- en over, and the mail steamers have abandoned their service. St. Johns har- | bour has a thiek coat of ice, which - makes the movement of shipping diffi- cult. | Paris, Feby. 20d.-——The Temps com- menting on the atti.ude adopted by Germany with rveference to the deri ~ sions of the Suprame Council at Paris, suggests that tlie Allies adopt the follow- ' ing measures: Hirst, that the Allied - Govts. immediately seize the German .~ customs in their respective zones on the ~ left bank of the Rhine. Seeond. that ~ the Allies establish immediately in their . respective zones customs cordons which .~ would separate the German occupied . territory from that alreadyv there. Third. ' Thoat tae Allia: unite without delay for the purpose of establishing a customs . adminis‘ration, including tarift distribu- tion of receipts and similar provisions. . The Temps concludes. ‘‘Germany pro- . poses to talk, we intend to act, and French opinion will appreciate this.”’ | Athens, Feb., 2nd —lt has been defi- " nitely deeded that Premier Rhalliz and . War Minister Gounaris shall represent Greece at the London Conference on .~ Feby. 21st, when the Supreme Council ~ will consider the Near East situation. i i.,ondon, Feb. 2nd.—The Duke of Con- | naught, who is on an official visit to . India, formally inangurated the B=ngal . Legislative Counvil of State on Tuesday, says Caleutta despatches to the Times. . The ~eremony was simple but impres- .~ give. He received :he political pro- gramme of India. and referred to the difficuities and dangers besetting the " Councillors under the reform scheme, which placed unaccustomed tools in their hands. The Duke enumerated three problems. Isf. Improvement of educa- tfion and industrial opportunities. 2nd. Relief for the natives 6n the land ques- tion, and 3rd, improvement in the stand- ards of hcalth and vitalitv. With sobrie- ty of lancuvage and freedom from passion or prejudice the Duke said, ' The Brit- ish Parliament ten vears hence will be justified in enlarging the scope of their administration activities’’. This is re- garded as an answer to the rumours tnat the powers of the Ministers and the electorate would be extended within four years. London, Feby. 3-d.—While offering determined objections to the Aliied re- paration demands, Herr Severing. the Prussian Minister of Home Affairs de clared in a speech at a meeting of ma- jority socialists, that Germany, should not decline all of the demands in an an- gry flt, but should try to convince the All:.s that Germany was doing what she could to satisfy reparations require- ments, says 2n Exchange Telegraph des- patch from Cologne early today. The Minister declared the present demands of the Allies meant the economic strangu- lation of Germany. \ Berlin., Feb. Ist,-—The Reichstag, through their leaders, yesterday, seac- onded the Govt’s.eattitude on the Paris agreement. The debate which lasted three hours was dispassionate, barring interruptions during the Communist leader’s speech, the sole dissenting note in the parliamentary chorus of approval. Buenos A'res, Feb. 2nd.—-As a measure of retaliation for the Fordney Teriff Bill now betore the United States Sen- ate, Deputy Saccone announced today his intention to introduce a bill in the Argentine Pavliament on all goods im- ported from countries increasing their import duties in such a m nner as to affect Argentines exports. He declared the real purpose of the bill was to make the United States the creditor of the South Amerieay republies, raise a tariff wall against their imvorts and then forcibly decrease South Awmerican gold holdings by equiring the debtor repub- lics to ay theiv balance in gold. Deputy Sacoone asserted tiie time had come for the Argentine to assert herseil and let it be known she is not depending on the United States for imported merchandise. With our great supplies of raw materials, he said, we can go to any markat in the world on a firm footing For Sal Oor Sale. 'I‘HE Estates Lt. Princess, Golden Rock, Bellevue, Mt. Welcome and Eliza’s Retreat. For particulars apply to EM. E. SV TZER. Lt. Prineess, 20th January 1921.