The Dominion. THE WORTH OF POLAR DISCOVERY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 604, 4 September 1909, Page 4

The Dominion. THE WORTH OF POLAR DISCOVERY.

In our firsVcommerit upon tho reported discovery of .the 'North Pole We noted that there for regret in the dissipation of th.c tragic mystery Of tho Polar solitudes. 'Tho loss to poetry arid the , imagination, the loss, : indeed,' to humanity, iii' thc/rcihoTal of : .the- Polo' from.tho list of- the unattainable, things is a heavyone. Not 'until the 1 world, acquires the more -perfect philosophy' 'of our remote descendants .will the influence of the unattainable as the motive force of h,uman progress ..lie, fully realised • but eybn'riow' we','-know'.that tho race -makes'' its;advances by fighting: losing 'battles. '.'To. travel hopefully is a better, thing ■than to 'arrive," sii'ys STEvpsoN in; one of the 'finest .of his essays, laying down .hot .only, a rulo' : for/ the.' individual;'but "thpi law; which humanity, obeys 'iii its striving"'- to'war'ds wisdom and ■freedprh. SiiccOssffalway's', carries With 'it ,thd : penalty of -dh-> inspiration' io'sti It is one of 'the. commonest of "facts" that a great'triumph'; isoften follPwed. by severe depression.'.' This'/ proceeds frPni >the' an-, nihilatibn of the , stimulus to endeavour. What is, thus true' 6% the individual is true of thc'Vaco 1 . It is' the great unattainable .tiling ■that-'is •valuable/ For many centuries the : attainment ' of : ; the Polo; has been ■■■. the greatest 'of - ali -V the 'great'goals'(jf humari effort,'and tho zeal ,pf the adventurous, spirits whp have Jpr. ■ages striven to.pierce the mysteries of'tho frozen .darkness lias been, the-mpst powers, ful-'pf -agents for the enlargement 'of 'our geographical and scientific knowledge. The arrival' of .man : at; the. Pole,, therefore, and -'.'the: ..'consequent filling in , of'tho blank space's of thq.niap, represent a,loss 'so great. that ■ a■■' iargo set-off is * required to keep' tho balance even; . There is no .properly-constituted man'who will , , hdi regard-, the .discovery -of the Pole as-..- a .mdtt«r; for':rejoicing, • since, in...evor'ydne'a heart' there is deep down andssmal t ' or hear the.surface arid large,, a febcllidus Senso of the inequality.; of-the'warfare which , mankind.has to wago .'against thi tremendous force and majeity of Nature;. lEve'ry prppei'ly-cdnstitutcd : ;man,'' n'eyortheless, feels" that it is woll for .him-, that there, are heights .he cannot climb;'deserts he cannot cross, waves and. tempests thai lie.cahndt.overcome—a.world, in . shortl which maintains a few proliibitipns against him.and guards a fpw ; : insoluble mysteries from the: bull's-eye -lantern: of his. investigations. ■ In "one of his' books Mu. Chesterton,..railing against' what he plainly considers tho Philistiriism of progress, has ;an .eldqilent. passage:', of warning to civilisation that its triumphs will be Dead '.. Sim fritit. -He.."'pictnies "motor : caf .civilisation stPrming.; along; eeoihg all and Seeing outstripping Titno and consuming Spicb,' and roaring on at'last to.tho capture,of;the solar system; only, to find the j-iuri /cockney arid the Stars suburban." , ■';'.' ~'. In. achieving the ■ concjuest.' of" the mankind has , lost much., But ..has. it gained h'othihg'.? • ; Wo are afraid 'thkt- it has gained very iittle. As, it happensj the discovery has been. made", ith circumstances that forbid the hope' that Scieriw will be any the riohor for Dk. Cook's && tounding achievement. The ' soichtists know of,no problem the.sbliitidn, of which depends on the discovery of the Pole; Astronomy; geology; biology—norio' of these can. expect any .Useful result irom Pr.Gook's lonely journey; There is rid astronomical observation; that, can bo taken at the Pole which'cannot be taken just as well, 6iv better; in LoridPn, or at any other' point on this Northern fic'mis.phere. ;The, -observations made by the Shaokleton expedition showed „ that. in certain favourable circumstances' the cdhfines of oui , geological knowledgo may bo enlarged, but', only, very elightly ' .enlarged, .by the, work ' of Polar expiorers. Dr. Gpok; however, ooiild not have'carried out any geological investigations of a useful character. Only. a largo and.well-equipped party could hope to achieve even insignificant results in this direction, This is true also of the biological possibilities of tho . discovery. ' Wo ■need ' not wait for the, full story of Dil. Cook's journey to tell us of hard- ■ ships .and dangorsthat beset him; arid of -j .the'subordihatibn of every other .interest to- , the. need for preserving his strength. ..Tho' most ..that an .explorer,, .travelling practically alone,' could "Irii , iihjO WflJ oi VOttld "n l.ha ofll- J

'lection of photographic records.- There are certain benefits; to be sure, of a scientific character in. Polar enterprise, and of these the chief is the extension of the frontiers of meteorological , and oceanographical research. , ' The ' Polo itself, However, offers nothing to the scientist, nor will the scientists attach any special importance to, the. mere fact—presuming, of course, that it is a fact—that Dβ. Cook has actually reached it. The main principles of Polar '■ enterprise have been stated Uy Lieutenant Weyfkecht, ono of. tho discoverers of Franz Josef Land, as follow:— (1) Arctic research is of tho highest importance for a knowledge of Nature's laws; (2) geographical , research is valuable in proportion as it opens the field to scientific research generally; (3) the North Pole lias, for Science, no greater significance than any other.point in the higher latitudes. To the ordinary man, however, the attainment . of the Pole is more important than thp most extensive survey of the circumsolar regions, and the dominant motive of the Polar explorers themselves is the desire to .achieve tbie Unachieved. Dβ. Cook's satisfaction in his discovery will certainly not have any scientific basis; his pleasure will.be in tho fact that all the barriers of ico and and darkness which have thrust back so many generations of adventurers have been conquered at last. The world will seem, tamer to him than it appeared before lie-discov-ered, that, there was no terrible and ' inviolable prohibition against the planting of a human on the globe's-point of axial rest.- ■)Vhile"wo.have learned from this great feat that the. courage and en-, durance of; pre'sent'day Man aro not less than in the.best. age.of the heroic past, , thereVwill perhaps 'be more regrets for. the violation of' the';mystery of the. Pole than rojoicings at the humbling of the majesty of'the globe.; ■. '. ;. ■,