Evening star., 1930-06-22
BYRD FINDS RAISE
T|TLE QUESTION
Antarctic Discoveries May
UnSettIe National Pos
session Matter.
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.


Byrds expedition to the South, Pole,
they will be eyewitnesSes of incidents
that contain the seeds of interesting in
ternational controversies.
The gallant sailor-explorer declares
that his outstanding achievement In
Antarctica was the claiming of more
than l26, 900 miles OF new land And
mountain ranges for the United states,
His pictures show the Stars and Stripes
flying proudly over q portion OF the
territory in question. Adjacent to the
areas pre-empted by Byrd for Uncle
Sam are the polar sectors claimed w
Great Britain, known as the Ross De-
pendency. John Bulls right to that
enormous stretch of land sea, ice and
mountains has never been recognized
by this country, though we have newer
formally disputed II. Nor has the
United States ever acknowledged British
sovereignty over that other South Polar
expanSe known as the Falkland Islands
Dependency, which lies OF the tin q
South America acroes from ArgenCnA.
1t happens that both of these de-
tendencies claimed by the British fall
within what is conventionally known as
the Western Hemisphere, though they
range directly around the South Pole.
Therefore. the territorial pretensions
which Britain makes with respect 10
them fall within the scope OF the Mon
roe Doctrine. Technically, the British
have made no specific effort TO c0loniSs
the dependencies, because Of their prae-
tical uSelessneSs except for scientific
purposes and the whaling industry. BrN
geologists are persuaded that beneath
the frozen surfaces of these remote and
bleak lands may lie priceless treasurU
IN coal and oil. and, what would be the
most valuable deposits Of all, in radium.
II genuinely substantial radium deposits
should be located in Antarctiea, the
country that could establish the right
to possess them would be rich, almost
literally, beyond the dreams Of avaries.
Potential Wealth Raises Question.
1t Is for these and other reasons that
the United States Government has been
, exceedingly careful to do or say moth
ing that could be construed as ae-
quieScing In British claims TO the
regions over which Byrd and his men
trekked, sledded and new. The state
Departments Antarctic archives con-
tain interesting evidence on this score.
About the time Byrd's expedition wks
sailing from New Zealand, at the end
Of 1928, the British Ambassador in
Washington, Sir Esme Howard, handed
Secretary Kellogg a note, setting forth
that the British dominions In question
(Australia and New Zealand) were fol-
lowing the Byrd enterprise with special
interest. This was due, the British note
represented, to the fact that these
dominions we're themselves Concerned"
in the areas which, they understood,
the American oflcer intended primarily
! TO explore.
Tbs note recalled that at the I'M
perial Conference held in London In
1926, it was agreed that to certain
areas in the Antarctic a British title
already sexists by virtue of discovery.
The British communication submitted
by Sir Esme Howard closed with q
courteous offer to instruct the appro-
pirate British authorities TO afford
Comdr. Byrd every assistance, II de-
sired, while his expedition was In the
Ross dependency or the Falkland
Islands dependency.
Settlement Is Question.
The State Department waited q whole
year before replying to the British note.
Meantime Undersecretary j. Reuben
Clark devoted himself, in cooperation
with Samuel w. Boggs, geographer Of
the department., to an intensive study
of the whole situation In the Antarctic,
1t was determined to send such reply
to the London government IS would in
ne way commit the United states to an
acquiescence in British territorial
claims. Our answer left the issue open
for further discussion. In 1924 Cll1glaA
Evans Hughes, as Secretary of State,
writing to an inquiring private Ameri-
can citizen, said: "It Is the opinion Of
the State Department that the discov-
cry of lands unknown to civilization,
even when coupled with formal tax
ing of possession, does not support q
valid claim of sovereignty unless the dis
covery is followed by an actual settle
ment Of the discovered country. In the
absence Of an act of Congress asserta-
tive In a domestic sense Of dominion
over wilkes Land discovered by the
United States exploring expedition un-
der Lieut.. Charles wilkes in 104O), this
department would be reluctant to de-
clare that America possessed a right Of
sovereignty over that territory"
The question of United States rights
in the Antarctic IS now definitely raised
by Byrd's expedition ana the admirafs
own declaration, in landing in New York
last week. that his principal achieve
ment at the South Pole was to advance
the American nag to regions where It
had never flown before. The fact that
Byrd discovered a stretch of coast just
outside the British Ross Dependency,
from which Marie Byrd Land can be
reached without crossing alleged for
eign territory, has strengthened the
American claim. Byrd deliberately set
foot on areas beyond the Ross Depend
ency, because the validity of an Amer
ican claim might have been questioned,
II Ii we're based on access from "for-
eign" territory alone.
Byrd Stand Not National.
Joseph p. Cotton, Acting Secretary Of
State was called upon, on March Is.
1880, to indicate the State Depart
ments present attitude toward Ant
arctic territorial questions. Mr. Cot
ton seemed to disclose that the depart1
ment's position differs somewhat from
the viewpoint set forth by Secretary
Hughes in 1924. The Acting Secretary's
attention was called to a dispatch from
New Zealand stating that Admiral Byrd
had said publicly there that all OF his
discoveries were for the benefit Of the
world and that he would not claim them
for the United States, Mr.. Cotton was
asked whether any American citizen
could commit the United States Gov
ernment as to territorial claims or could
relinquish them. The Acting Secretary
replied that he took 1t that Admiral
Byrd's statement was not one which
would in anywise affect the national
claims in regard to the Antarctic ter
ritory which he had discovered
One country besides the United States
and Great Britain would have q finger
in the Antarctic pie, II there should
ever be an international attempt to
carve it up for sovereignty purposes.
That Is Argentina. The Argentinians
have never renounced their clainns To
the Falkland Islands (scene OF the
great Anglo German cruiser battle In
the World War;, contending that the
Falklands were taken from them
forcibly in 1884 after one years pos-
sacSidT ,Tha AroanfinA ,.aVat,yHiff - iva-