Evening Star Newspaper, April 21, 1940, Page 24

B—S8 Peary,in1916, Foresaw Trouble If Enemy Occupied Greenland Explorer Pointed Ou In Naval Operations Marie Peary Stafford, daughter of the late Admiral Robert E. Peary, discoverer of the North Pole, is a resident of Washington and was born in Greenland. She spent the greater part of her childhood there and returned in 1932 for the summer. She is thoroughly familiar with this vast territory, its problems and its possibilities. By MARIE PEARY STAFFORD. In view of Germany's complete ebsorption of Denmark, various questions arise regarding the Danish colony of Greenland. First of all, what effect on the United States and the rest of the world would a possible Nazi occu- pation of Greenland have? Second, | did the United States overlook an | opportunity when, in 1916, we traded to Denmark our rights in Green- land, plus $25,000.000. for the Danish West Indies? And, lastly, what ef-| fect would German rule and the breaking of relations with a benevo- | lent Danish government have on| the sturdy race of Eskimos which | has so long and so peaceably in- habited this vast island? The first two of these questions are partly answered by an article written by Rear Admiral Robert E. Peary in 1916, before the negotia- tions had been completed. Although | the claims of the United States to | the northern part of Greenland were | based on the explorations and dis-‘ coveries of a series of American ex- plorers, among them XKane, Hall, Hayes and Greely, Peary’s work was by far the most extensive. He twice | transected the northern part of Greenland and by his journeys along the northern shore determined its insularity. Therefore, it may be supposed that he wrote with knowl- | edge and authority. The following is a quotation from his article: “Greenland is the largest island in the world. Its total length from | Cape Farewell, its southern ex- tremity, in 60° N. Lat, to Cape| Morris Jesup, its northern extremity, in 83" N. Lat,, is in round numbers, 1.500 miles. almost exactly the same length as the United States on the ninety-seventh meridian, from the | of Sitka. mouth of the Rio Grande to where | our northern boundary crosses the | Red River of the North. Large as Eastern U. S. “The greatest width of Greenland is about the same distance as from | New York to St. Louis. In regard to | its area, the figures of various au- | thorities vary widely. It may be | sufficient to say that as regards &rea it can be grouped in size with | e United States east of the Mis- | issippi, Alaska. Mexico, Colombia, Persia or Portuguese West Africa. Its interior is covered with a great sheet of jce rising to elevations of | probably 10,000 feet in places and | several thousand feet in thickness. ‘The available ice-{ree land is a strip | of varying width along the coast, | intersected by numerous deep fjords. | “When one turns the pages of American Arctic exploration, Green- | land is found more or less intimately associated during over 60 years with all American expeditions except the | Jeannette expedition. Americans have lifted nearly all its northern and northwestern coasts out of the Arctic night and fog and have twice crossed its northern part. American names stud it. and the name WURL t Value of Deep Fjords and Island as Air Base of an American marks its northern extremity, the most northern known land in the werld. “Geograhpically Greenland ‘be- longs to North America and the Western Hemisphere, over which we have formally declared a sphere of influence by our Monroe Doctrine. Its possession by us will be in line with the Monroe Doctrine and will eliminate one more possible source of future complications for us from European possession of territory in the Western Hemisphere. ‘will turning Greenland over to Denmark now mean our repurchase of it later, or will obtaining it now mean clos- ing the incident and placing Green- land where it must ultimately be- long? Trade With Philadelphia. “Greenland is comparatively near to us. For years American ships have conveyed cryolite from the Ivigtut mines to Philadelphia. There is coal and cryolite, probably graphite and mica, possibly gold, in its rocks. With our unlimited means it may, like Alaska, prove a sound and most valuable business invest- ment. The abundance of native coal and the numerous glacial streams which come tumbling into the southern fjords from the great interfor ice sheet represent enor- mous potential energy which might be translated into nitrate and elec- trical energy, to make Greenland a powerhouse for the United States. Greeland represents ice, coal and power in inexhaustible quantities. “And stranger things have hap- pened than that Greenland, in our | hands, might furnish an important North Atlantic naval and aeronau- tical base. A North Pacific naval base for the United States in the Aleutian Archipelago is a recognized possibility. Why not a similar base in the North Atlantic? Cape Fare- well in Greenland is but little north It is in the same Iati- tude as St. Petersburg; Christiania; Great Britaih’s naval base in the Orkneys; and the northern entrance to the North Sea, which Great Britain heé patroled with her war ships, incessantly now, summer and winter, for two years. “There are fjords in Southern Greenland which would hold the en- tire Navy, with deep, narrow, im- pregnable entrances. Thirty hours steaming due south from Cape Fare- well by 35-knot war craft would put them in the trans-Atlantic lanes midway between New York and the British channel. With the rapid shrinking of distance in this age of speed and invention, Greenland may be of crucial importance to us in the future. 3 “The present war has shown most for LATEST NEWS The Night Final Star, containing the latest news of the day during these dramatic times, is de- livered every evening throughout the city and suburbs between 6 P.M. and 7 P.M. Telephone National 5000 for immediate delivery. 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C, APRIL 21, 1940—PART ONE. strikingly how far flung may be the regions having a bearing on the struggle. Great Britain’s coaling station in the Falklands spelled de- struction for Germany's squadron of commerce destroyers. Russia’s port of Archangel has been an in- valuable gateway for her. Green- land in our hands may be & valuable piece of our defensive armor. In the hands of a hostile interest it could be a serious menace.” Today, 25 years after the above article was written, the points made in it seem so farsighted as to be almost prophetic. By a wise and kindly system of government, Den- mark has developed a fur and ivory trade with Greenland, which has been immensely valuable. Her chief source of income from this colony, however, has been in the working of: the cryolite mines. Although cryolite occurs, to a limited extent in the Ilmen Mountains, at Pikes Peak and in the Yellowstone, it is in such small quantities that it might almost be said to be found ex- clusively at Ivigtut. It is of great economic importance and among its many uses is that of a flux for aluminum. But it is not the potential wealth which we inadvertently let slip through our fingers which concerns us most at the present time. Lind- bergh, when he landed in Green- land, commented on the fact that the inland ice made an ideal land- ing field for planes. With a Ger- man air base established in Green- land, what of Canada, and, as far as that goes, what of the United States, since neutrals apparently are not respected except when con- venient? It is being demonstrated every day that the, fjords of Nor- way make ideal hiding places for destroyers and battleships. The fjords of Greenland are very simi- lar to those of Norway. With a German submarine base in Green- land, what of shipping, and the seacoast towns of Canada and the United States? Problem of White Inhabitants. Looking at a possible Nazi oc- cupation of Greenland from a slightly less personal and selfish point of view, what is to happen to the people of Greenland? Germany is notoriously cruel and unsuccess- ful in her dealings with primitive people. Are the Eskimos, who have survived privations, hunger and the rigors of the climate to go down before a ruthless invasion of “civil- ization?” There is still another point to consider. Suppose the Germans are prevented from making any stra- tegic use of Greenland? How much better off will her people be? It would probably be only & short time before the Eskimos themselves would learn to do without the luxuries and delicacies to which they have be- come accustomed through years of contact with the white man. Tea, sugar, ship’s biscuit, even tobacco can be foregone if necessary and the Eskimos would revert to the sim- ple, healthy carefree lives which they led before they knew of a world beyond their own snow-cov- ered domain. But there are white people living in Greenland, not just explorers—although there is at least one Danish expedition in the field at present—but Danes who make their homes there, as teachers, mis- sloaries, doctors, governors and nurses. They are more or less de- pendent on supplies and medicines from the outside world. It Germany allows no ships to leave Denmark, who is to take care —_— FIRE ESCAPES FRED §. GICHNER IRON WORKS, INC. RE. 2420 of these people? Outside of the Danes themselves, and the Dundee whalers, long extinct in Arctic waters, and a rapidly diminishing handful of navigators, few peopl know the waters and ice conditions surrounding Greenland well enough to take a ship there. Perhiaps airplanes will be .the answer, and perhaps the answer will be that history can and does repeat itself. In the l4th century, what had been a fairly prosperous Scan- dinavian colony in Greenland dis- appeared completely and the man- ner of its disappearance is still one of the mysteries of the Arctic ‘upon which learned men ponder and write articles. Some say it was due to a breakdown of commerce with Eu- rope and the consequent impossjbil- ity of obtaining what, for Europeans, would have been the essentials of life. ' Others maintain that the col- onists, no longer having behind them SPECIAL I¢ | the . colony, men, women and chil- the moral support of contact with the outside world, were murdered by the Eskimos. There are several other theories, but no one knows what actually happened, except that dren, dissgpeared completely and forever, 1Is ft possible that this could happen again? After giving these various matters careful consideration, it may be borne in upon us that Peary spoke truly when, in the same article al- ready quoted, he said: “Would it not be better if the treaty provisions as to Greenland were reversed and the bargain should take the form of Denmark transferring to us her rights in Greenland and giving us the Danish West Indies and Greenland for $25,000,0002" . Germany is now getting most of its soya beans from Manchukuo. ALL THIS WEEK LETE GLASSES N ESS EXAMINATION CASE & CLEANER BIFOCALS. g0 : Kryptok white to see far EXAMINATION ATTENTION! Know your eyesight specialist; who is he? Is he a COL- LEGE GRADUATE! These questions are VITAL to your health and happiness. The College Degree Eyesight Specialist has at his fingertips the very latest in scientific methods known to man, to give you an honest and accurate diagnosis. A COLLEGE GRADUATE'S Pprescrip- tion is your assurance of proper treatment for your eyes. Remember then, CONSULT A COLLEGE GRADUATE EYESIGHT SPECIALIST. Dr. Bernard B. Hillyard, 0. D., D. 0. S. 903 F St. N.W Class of 15 Grey Ladies ToReceive Diplomas The 1940 class of Grey Ladies of the Walter Reed Unit of the Hos- pital and Recreation Corps, District Chapter, American Red Cross, will be graduated at exercises at 3:30 o'clock pm. Wednesday at the Red Cross House, Army Medical Center. Certificates will be awarded by Brig. Gen. Raymond F. Metcalfe, commandant of the Army Medical Center, and Walter Reed bar pins will be presented to the 14 gradu- ates by Mrs. Henry R. Rea, honor- ary chairman of the Grey Ladies. Members of the graduating class are: Miss Jane M. Anderson, Mrs, E. B. Block, Miss Martha Elliott, Mrs. John E. Ewell, Mrs. Walter J. Hausman, Mrs, Ruth C. Jewell, Miss Bambie McKenna, Mrs. Ellis B. Miller, Mrs. Ralph Payne, Mrs. Les- ter A. Pratt, Mrs. Marion Taylor, Miss , Dorothy Warrington, Miss Mnrfirie L. Wood and Miss Mary M. Wright. 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