Danish West Indian in land or building tax.


 8. The voter had to have resided for at least one year in the
 electoral district by the time of election.

 9. Candidates for office had to be qualified in all respects as the
 voters except for the provision concerning residence in the
 electoral district.14

 Unfortunately, the results of the Colonial Law of 1852 were mostly
 negative. It brought about displeasure, confrontation and diviseness between the
 Danish colonists and Denmark and among the colonists themselves.

 From the outset, even the new name of the colony -- The Danish West
 India Possessions -- displeased the Danish colonists. It made them feel as if they and
 the Islands were the private property of Denmark. In a more substantial area they
 were displeased and disappointed that, after all, the Colonial Council could only
 recommend or suggest laws rather than make them.

 The Colonial Council and colonists accused the central government in
 Copenhagen of being too suspicious of the work of the Council and of too much
 interference in minute local affairs. They were angry when the Danish government
 filled even minor colonial posts with people from Denmark when there were qualified
 people in the Islands to perform them. Sometimes native colonists were removed from
 jobs in which they had performed well so that they could be given to new people from
 Denmark.

 Moreover, there were confrontations and divisiveness among the colonists
and council members from St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix. The St. Thomians and
St. Johnians did not not like the provision of the Law that stipulated that the Council
could only meet in Christiansted. Some of the colonists in Frederiksted did not like it
either. The St. Thomas and St. John Council members complained long and bitterly
about having to leave their work every four weeks to take the long and sometimes
uncomfortable trip to St. Croix. Because of the absence of St. Thomas and St. John
members, the Colonial Council could not meet in 1857 and 1858. Even when the
Council did meet in 1859 and in 1861, the St. Thomas merchant class members were
conspicuous by their absence.

 The fact that government expenditures concentrated on St. Croix angered
the St. Thomians. To make matters worse, between 1855 and 1861 the budgets of
St. Thomas and St. John had annual surpluses. Those of St. Croix, however, showed
an annual deficit. The St. Thomas and St. John surplus was used to erase the
St. Croix deficit to show a general surplus for all three Islands.