THE VAST EMPIRE OF THE NORTH

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 55, 7 March 1939, Page 5

THE VAST EMPIRE OF THE NORTH

A Veritable Treasure Chest

QJCARCELY a decade ago a few nations divided among themselves the last unclaimed territories on earth — the polar zones. Until quite recently it was popularly believed that these districts were only vast deserts of eternal snow and ice, uninhabitable and of no practical value, writes Vitalis Pantenberg in Hamburger Illustrierte. But recent events have proved how farseeing were the nations which hastened to stake their claims. For the Arctic is a veritable treasure chest whose contents have hardly been touched Sentiments regarding the value nf these northerly acquisitions have undergone a radical change. Experts unanimously declare that the climate prevalent there ;s exceptionally healthy, that white men can live very comfortably in the land of the midnight sun. The classic example, of course, is Alaska. Three times as large as Germany, it harbours only 60.000 people. Everyone knows that the United States purchased it from Russia for a scant 7,000,000 dollars: now the income de- | rived in nne year from the salmon | trade alorte more than covers that I original price. Equally famous are ! the gold, copper and other valuable minerals being mined to-day in Alaska. I Can the same be said for those other arctic regions which have not as yet been exploited to the same extent? The answer is—emphatically—yes. Geologists tell us that fundamental changes in climate have taken pjace in the polar regions. The ossified remains of vegetation discovered by explorers prove conclusively that at one time huge forests grew in the very shadow of the North Pole. That means that the climate must have been as warm as that of our Mediterranean countries to-day, that plant and animal life flourished. We are not. interested in the academic question as to what | caused this change, but rather in the fact that we are now able to reap the benefits of that lush period, bv industrial exploitation nf the raw materials buried beneath the snow. Coal has been discovered in many places in the Arctic, for example as far north as Ellesmereland, an island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Its northerly coasts are only 500 miles away from the Pole! A vast deposit, easily accessible, lies waiting for the first comer. 'Providing, nf course, that he has Canada’s permission.) Indeed, there is coal everywhere: in Baffinland, along the Mackenzie River, in Alaska, Siberia, and especially in Spitsbergen, where the Russians are mining it on a really large scale. Spitzbergen coal is of tremendous importance to the Soviets in view of their policy of speedy colonisation and industrialisation of the northern territories, as well as for their Siberian sea-route. Although 800.000 tons of coal are mined here annually, ten billion more still remain to be exploited. Petroleum has been found in various sections of the Canadian and Eurasian Arctic, as well as in Alaska; natural gas issues freely from the virgin earth. The vast, implications nf this discovery need hardly be stressed, since experts have warned us time and time again that the known sources of oil in the temperate zones will be exhausted within a measurable period of time. 'The United States geological service reports that their own supplies will be exhausted by 1944!) But* the arctic world has much more in store for us. things coveted by all the great powers of the earth. There is gold lying untouched. There is radium, silver, nickel, aluminium, copper. zinc, lead, iron, graphite, mica, asbestos—to name only a few of the metals whose presence has already been ' determined. There are untold amounts of valuable lumber in the Gargantuan forests of the Siberian polar regions. There are rich fishing grounds many still undiscovered, although world fishing interests are penetrating farther and farther north with every passing ’ season. There is a practically inexhaustible source of fish oil and fats.

When the white man first, began t© invade the frozen north he was interest, ed in one thing only: furs. Since that I time, however, colonists have followed him into the farthest outposts of the Arctic, where they engaged in—farming! The raising of cattle, and es» pecially of reindeer, has proven gratify, i ingly successful. The arctic moss ■ prairies could serve as pasture land for i millions of these animals, and reindeer I do not require stalls nor much human 1 attention. Reindeer meat is tastier and more nourishing than beef, according to experts. Though the summer lasts only i a few short months, the weather is . surprisingly warm during that period, ! temperatures of 86 and over not being ' unusual. In this season the polar zones ; are well adapted to the cultivation nf I potatoes, barley and other grains and I vegetables. We must not take lhe i designation “land of the eternal ic» I and snow" too literally. The northern boundaries nf whita settlements are being pushed farther and farther north. Scattered through the arctic are lively little mining centres which attract a fine type nf set* tier. Indeed, colonisation in Siberia ii going on at an amazing rate. Soviet authorities are building cities and harbours for their marine traffic via the Siberian route; the Russians are quite clear about the fact that, industrialisation must go hand in hand with a j national colonisation policy. Hnw are these valuable raw materials being collected and shipped nut tn the industrial and consumer centres nf the world? In some cases it is worthwhile to use airplanes, as the Russians and Canadians do for the transportation of precious metals and furs. Bulkier products are loaded nn to ordinary freighters in the summer. Soviet, ports at the mouths nf all important rivers and nn the coast are hives of activity during this season. Whole convoys, led by ice-breakers and pilot planes, and assisted by the reports of the increasingly numerous weather stations ' along the way. steam southward through the wastes. And in the meantime. of course, railways are being constructed at. strategic points. The airplane is probably the most important factor in the opening nf the northland to-day. Prospectors and private individuals fly over the rocky summit and endless forests in their own planes like sharp-eyed birds of prey, spying nut every opportunity for profitable investment. America's far north regions are being exploited through private initiative for the most part, but the Russians, with their state-control, are no less active, and neither men nr materials are being spared for Red conquest nf the Arctic." The Arctic is thp focal point of world interests at the moment, for another reason: the aerial routes over the North Pole form the shortest distance between continents When the shape of the earth was first discovered to be round, centuries ago. the same idea lured both adventurers and serious explorers tn the polar seas. Their more immediate desire, of course, was to find j the shortest route to that country nf legendary wealth—lndia. The ice stopped them—but we of the twentieth century are not retarded by this barrier. In the near future we shall be flying in perfect safety and comfort j between Europe and Asia. America and Siberia and saving thousands of miles in the process. For these reasons the great “Arctic i Powers" are now solidifying their posiI tions with concealed, but. none the less j feverish, zeal. Alas for Germany! She i hardly took any notice of the activities in the polar regions in the decisive years after the war. and so was left, empty-handed when they were passed I around Yet German scientists and ex* i plorers took p prominent part in the j exploration of the Arctic. Indeed such ! a great, part did they play that Ger- • many would ho justified in laying I claim tn a share nf these last free I zones of thp earth.