The Washington herald., 1910-03-20

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| Henry Hudson was the first after
Barentz to visit the main island of Spitz-
bergen, in 1907, using the Dutch explor-
er's chart: and he brought back news Of
such an extraordinary profusion Of
whales, walruses. and seals. on the coast
and in the bays of the island, that
/ theneefOTth IL became the great hunting
ground for the whaling and fur ships.
It was not, however until 1913 that any
power attempted to obtain exclusive pos
session Of Spitzbergen. when the great
London corporation known as the Rus
STA Company, obtained a charter from
King James 1 giving 1t the exclusive
right 10 fish in Spitzbergen waters.
Armed with this document, the English
ships drove away their foreign eompeti-
tors, but in the following year were
driven out themselves by a superior force
OF Dutch vessels, escorted by Dutch men
of-war and provided by the Prince OF
Orange with charter analogous TO that
bestowed upon the Russia Company by
King James The Dutch seized various
points along the shore and established
their headquarters I'm a large town which
they constructed and TO which they gave
the appropriate, but scarcely poetic. name
OF smeerenburg. which may be transiat-
ed literally as "Blubber Town"
From then on there was a constant
struggle between the English and the
Dutch for the ownership of the islands.
the honors being pretty equally divided.
and in the meantime there was so much
lindiscriminate and reckless destruction
Of the whales, Of the walruses and of
the seals that these denizens Of the deep
at length abandoned the waters of Spitz-
bergen. the archipelago being in turn
abandoned by the hunters.
In the early part Of the eighteenth cen
fury Russia, finding the islands absolute
" deserted. raised her flag for the first
time on Spitzbergen, and established
penal colony there in connection with
lfur-trading concern. the latter managed
by the monks of Solobetski in the White
Sea, But hundred years later it was
deserted by the Russians In the same
manner as it had been vacated previous
ly by the Dutch and the English.
Then the Norwegians descended upon
the archipelago and made It the center
Of their eiderdown industry. So impor-
tant did this trade become that by the
middle of the last century the Spitz-
bergen trade had developed into the chief
source Of prosperity OF the Norwegian
city Of Hammerfest. Thereupon the
greater part Of the Spitzbergen commerce
became concentrated in the hands OF the
lNorwegians, and as the latter constituted
the major portion of the population,
they were anxious for the protection OF
their home government and for the ad-
ministration OF its laws throughout the
Islands But when about ten years ago
1.-THE late King Oscar preached the subject
Of extending his Norwegian scepter over
the archipelago Russia and the Neither
lands raised such a storm OF protest. on
the ground OF their prior rights TO the
/, islands, that he was obliged to abandon
his project,
And then the Americans appeared upon
the scene, and their Arctic Coal Com
lpany not only purchased most OF the
Norwegian mining rights. but also
: brought from the United States several
hundred American miners, with their
families, who now play an active role In
THE affairs OF the archipelago.
The matter Of the ownership OF the
islands might have remained in allegiance
some time longer had it not been for the
discovery of peculiarly large veins OF
gold. which has brought about rush to
1.-THE archipelago of such a crowd of peo-
pie from various parts OF the world as
to render absolutely necessary the early
constitution Of some form of government
for the maintenance Of law and order
while another cause OF urgency In the
case is to be found In Senator Lodges
bill, which Will be equivalent TO an enact
ment by the United States of the annexa-
ton OF the islands.
That the scope of the operations of the
international congress referred to by
President Taft in his annual message
win have TO be extended so as to en-
brace the entire question Of polar seas
and territories is apparent from the out
lery called forth in Europe by Commander
Peary's proclamation of the fact that he
had taken possession of the entire north
pole region in the name of the United
States and also by the questions which
must inevitably arise through the race
of half a dozen powers for the south
pole.
The international congress, If it fulfills
the duties incumbent upon it, will agree
to some scheme for the delimitation of
the various spheres of influence in the
polar ocean so as TO prevent the recur-
renee Of such a controversy as that which
was created by the raising of the German
flag on Bear Island some seven years
lago America, for instance, cannot af-
ford TO have any foreign power taking
possession Of islands off the arctic coast
LOT Alaska, even il beyond the three-mile
limit. Russia. Denmark (Which includes
Greenland among her colonial depen-
dencies), Norway, and above all Great
Britain, with her range of the northern
coast OF the Dominion Of Canada and
the more or less adjacent islands, are
similarly situated
Great Britain, indeed, was considerably
disturbed some years ago by the discov-
cry OF the fact that the American flag
had been raised not only on islands along
the northern coast of Canada, but also
on islands in that great inland sea known
as HndsOns Bay. In 1903, indeed, 1t was
actually found that the Stars and Stripes
had been raised on the mainland in the
lneighborhood Of Portland Point. on the
Ieastern shores of Hudsons Bay. and that
there were a number of American set
tiers in possession of certain harbors and
islands of the bay who refused to be
Iamenable to Canadian law. on the ground
that it had been no mans land until they
had raisad the American hap fbere The