stefansson-wrangel-09-19-026-001

Knight

April 24, 1922.

Dear Mr. Knight:

Your letter of March 24th came during a trip
I made to Idaho. I am sorry about the delay. I do not think it
is necessary to pay Lorne's dues in the Explorers Club, as they
usually cancel the dues of anyone who is actually in the field.
Anyway, I will look after it.

In connection with what you say about the
Wrangel Island expedition and the newspaper excitement, I am en-
closing a page from the Literary Digest which you may have missed.
It gives a fair summary of the attitude of the American press. I
am going to Ottawa in a week or two and shall then make up my mind
definitely what to do about arctic matters next year. As soon as I
have definite plans, I shall let you know.

Essentially, my idea in taking Wrangel Island was
that, being a no-man's land, it would soon be occupied by one of the
nations which have special interest in ghe polar area. These nations
are Canada, Japan, Russia, Norway, Sweden, and England. If you look
on a map you will see that communication by air between these coun-
tries will logically run over the Pole, at least for those summer
months when the temperature conditions are ideal for air navigation
in the Arctic. The United States and many other nations have no
special interest in polar lands. If you want to fly, the shortest
distance from Norway to Alaska or Norway to Siberia you cross the
polar area. You do similarly if you want to fly from England to
Alaska, Japan or Siberia. But in flying from the United States to
any country in Europe, you cross the Atlantic. From the Pacific
Coast of the United States you have to cross the Pacific to reach
Australia or Japan. There is no country that you can conveniently
reach by flying across the polar ocean. Accordingly, such countries
as the United States, Spain, Brazil, or Australia have no legitimate
interest in polar islands from the point of view of bases for air
navigation. Nothing less than an aim at imperial dominion over the
whole earth could make the occupation of Wrangel Island a logical
part of American policy so far as air navigation is concerned.

There were several things in the Wrangel Island
announcement as it was sent out from New York that were incorrect.