Evening star., 1937-06-20

north Of the Arctic Circle. Already a
narroW-gauge railroad has been built
to the Yenisei River to give the deposit
an outlet to the sea.
No Longer Barren Waste.
A few years ago the Kola Peninsula
was barren" waste Of tundras, with
some 10000 inhabitants, most OF them
indigenes. Today it has a quarter
million, living in new cities with elec-
trio light and other modern conven-
fences, mining apatite and number Of
other minerals, making plans to mine
the peninsula's newly discovered vast
deposits OF iron.
Today the residents Of Igarka, 70
miles north Of the circle" yesterday
trading post and now city OF $4,000,
talk proudly Of the 100000 trees they
cut up for export last Winter, and OF
what they will do to the worlds lumber
markets when Siberia S natural annual
growth Of so million trees Is exploited
to the full.
Siberia's major rivers flow north
ward. and not until the opening Of the
northern passage, providing an outlet
to world commerce, could that empire
even dream of exploiting its vast
northern resources.
Preliminary reports on Russia's
present arctic census. not yet COM
plete, are revealing. Ten years ago the
'farthest north settlement was at
Novaya Zemlya, at IS degrees, about
240 miles farther north than Point
Barrow, Alaska. Today there are
populated centers at Cape Chelyuskin
and Russian Island and on the
archipelago Of Franz Josef Land, on
the 82nd parallel, about $50 miles
nearer the Pole than our farthest
north colony Of Eshmos that Charlie
Brewer rules in Alaska. Where 10
years ago was barren arctic waste,
there are today such industrial centers
as Chibyu and Maryan-Mar, with
agricultural stations, clubs, mining
institutes. museums, newspapers, hos
pitals and airports.
The Lena Delta is known to US
Americans chiefly as the desolate place
where our heroic explorer De Long,
whose widow still lives in New York,
met his death after the loss OF the
Jeannette. While it is about 200 miles
nearer the Pole than the most north
erly point of Alaska, there are today
three hospitals in its immediate
vicinity. a power plant. fur trading
station, a state reindeer farm, three
radio stations and a port for ocen-
going steamers. It Is the terminal OF
a commercial air route
Airline Advances.
In 1888 Russia's arctic had one
commercial airline. 1,780 kilometers
long. Last year it had 10. totaling
1895 kilometers. For this year total
Of II lines, with $4,000 kilometers,
Is planned. The bearded professor of
mathematics who is now sitting at the
North Pole is responsible for an in
crease in sea shipments over the
Arctic Ocean from 10000 tons in
1888 to 267 1000 tons in 1886. with an
expected increase to $4,000 tons in
1897.
It is apparent that, having set out
to open the northeast passage as an
all-Russian sea route, the Russians
also set out to make the north support
that route and itself as well.
We Americans would do well to
observe the Russian arctic program
and learn from 1t. Perhaps we are not
yet ready, psychologically, to grasp
the significance Of the Arctic Ocean
for intercontinental air commerce;
but still we have Alaska. While
Russians at Dickson Island now see
whole fleets Of freight steamers putting
In there in the ordinary course Of
business, the Americans at Point
Barrow, over $50 miles farther south,
are still cheered only once q year by
the visit of revenue cutter.
When we consider the agony and
tremendous expense with which we a
few years ago nursed few settlers
into Alaska's Valley, which Is south of
the Arctic, we may look with some
thing akin to envy on Russians pro-
gram of Siberian colonization. When
we consider the present pressure Of
our unemployed, the vast untapped
and often unexamined resources Of
our Alaskan empire. the great potential
Opportunities" there for hundreds of
Thousands Of our present recipients Of
relief. W may well pause to take
stock q the steady northvard course
Of the Soviet empire.