Evening star., 1926-05-27
Canadian, 20 Years in Arctic,
Says No Land Will Be
Found There.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

has virtual monopoly Of Arctic
lands. She has no objection to other
nations discovering and ACQUIRING
other Arctic territories, provided they
stay out of her domain, but that
there is any substantial area of un-
discovered land anywhere in the Arc
tic seas is gravely doubted. Canada
does not expect her Arctic monopoly
to he broken.
Canada regards current polar &C
tivity as something more than series
of adventures with vague scientific
ohjectives Land for flying bases
which would be within "a hours
flying distance of nearly every I'M
portant capital in the northern henl
sphere, is a much more concrete Oh
1ective. definitely avowed by some OF
the expedition leaders, including
Comdr. Byrd.
Shows Canada's Stand.
On this phase of polar activity the
Manitoba free Press observes:
80 long as the anticipated discov.
cries lies within the nationals own
Arctic spheres, such acts of posses.
sion may be proper procedure; but
If they happen to come within the
sphere Of another country-of Can
ada, say-the act is one of aggres.
sion directly contravening this Do
minion's declaration of sovereign
rights over all known and 'un-
known land lying anywhere between
1t and the North Pole
Canada bases her Arctic claims not
only on discovery and occupation"
the time -honored formula, but has in
troduced a new principle for the ap-
pointment of Arctic territory. AS far
back as 1907, Canada formally laid
claim to everything right up to the
Pole lying between 141 degrees west,
which is the boundary with Alaska. l..
to so degrees. which is between Cana
dian Ellesmere Land and Greenland.
In other words, Canada regards the
polar regions as large pie, which
should be divided into sectors as a
pie is sliced, each country taking the
piece adjacent to it. Under this ar
rangement only three countries have
an interest. They are Russia, Can
ada and the United States-by reason
of Alaska.
Principle Is Cnchallenged.
The Canadian Parliament last year
reaffirmed its sovereignty over all
lands known and unknown between
her northern coast and the Pole.
though. not a few of the known lands
were originally discovered by Ameri.
cans and others. Though the prin-
ciple has not been formally accepted
by other nations, 1t has not been
challenged. and from the United
States it has seemed to have re.
ceived some sort of tacit support.
Last Summer. it is understood ;hat
conferences were held between The
Canadian steamship Arctic and Amer
ican visitors to the Canadian Archi-
pelago. According to Capt. Bernief
the question as to whether The visitors
had any right there was settled once
and for all in the negative. 1t is
noted that this year none of the polar
expeditions is using Canadian terri
tory as base, although the Canadian n
Cape Columbia is only 400 miles from
the Pole as compared with Kings
Bays $50 miles and Point Barrow's S
1900 miles.
Recognition of the soundness of the
"pie sector" theory of polar SOW
ereignty probably had much to do
with the somewhat ignominious with
drawal of both Canada and the United
States from their adventures on
Wrangel Island. which under the
theory will remain with Russia.
Water Question Settled.
Canada not only owns the Arctic
Archipelago, but holds sovereignty
over the great inland ocean, Hudson
Bay. Years ago Canada's ownership
OF this body of salt water was con-
tested. Was it a mere clausum, a
closed sea, or an international body of
water on which all nations had equal
rights outside the Smile limit? The
issue as to Hudson Bay was settled
when Canada collected license fees
from the whalers who used to fire.
quent it.
If Canada has a great Arctic heri-
tage 1t is due largely to Capt. Bernier.
He has been a veritable watchdog
of Canada's Arctic interests. He has
been denied the glory of spectacular
achievement. He planned to drift
to the Pole on a theory of Arctic
currents. which he still believes is
sound. In 1906 on an official Govern
ment trip, after passing through
Lancaster Sound and Melville Sound,
the northwest passage lay open before
him.
II could have been the first of men
to make the passage" he said the
other day, but the government had
expressly forbidden me to attempt it,
and l had to turn back. 1 could have
gone"
Twenty Winters in Arctic.
But while Berniers name does not
rank in fame with those of Peary
(whose claim Bernier always has
doubted) or of Amundsen, who is a
warm personal friend, he probably is
the worlds greatest authority on
Arctic information. Twenty Winters
he spent in Arctic darkness in addi
ton to numerous Summer expedi
tions. His home is a museum OF
Arctic Curios and documents
There Is no new continent at the
North Pole, according to Capt. Ber
fter, and he held this view long before
the recent reports made by Amundser
and Comdr. Byrd. The Polar Sea is
not even dotted with islands. On his
maps he calls attention to a faint
waving line which indicates the enc
of what is called the continental
shelf
There The ocean bottom falls alb
ruptly into the deep abyss of an al
most bottomless polar chasm. Wher
the ancient mariners feared that II
they continued north they would
eventually fall over an immense
precipice into the bowels of the earth
they had some irkling Of polar facts
In this view the top of the earth 4
a great well filled with salt water
and covered with q lid of ice.
1t IS unlikely that land would come
up suddenly from great ocean depths
The ocean has a habit of shoalins
as it approaches land.
New Islands Possible.
There may be new islands," Capt
Bernier said recently. ''in the unex
plored portions of the continenta
shelf which extends for hundreds o
miles from the main northern shore.
of Europe, America and Asia. TIL,
Jeanette discovered new ones durin,
her long drift. The ocean off tn,