Letter from Vilhjalmur Stefansson to James Bernard Harkin, 7 February 1921

C O PY

February 7th, 1921.

Confidential

Dear Mr. Harkin:

I don't think it will be later than Monday, February 14th,
that I shall see you in Ottawa. Meantime, I am writing you to set
down very briefly a basis for discussion.

I have understood from your letters and telegrams that the
matter of a polar expedition has been placed partly or entirely in
your hands. I shall express myself very frankly but at the same time
very confidentially on some points.

1. I think it is fortunate if the expedition is under the Depart
ment of the Interior, except for the fact that Mr. Desbarats and his
subordinates are undoubtedly better able to handle the outfitting of an
expedition than any other department. It seems to me that whatever
department is in charge, the ship should be outfitted by the Naval
Service. I know various reasons, and you probably know them, too, why
the Department of Marine would not be so suitable. I think it would be
especially fortunate if the general charge of the outfitting were under
Mr. Desbarats and the particular job assigned to Mr. G. W. Phillips,
whom I found a most admirable man in connection with the outfitting of
my expedition. He accompanied us to Nome, Alaska, and nothing that went
under his hands failed to be done in the best possible way. He is an
enthusiast on the subject and would delight in another assignment of the
same sort. He is now in Ottawa with a more or less indefinite position
with the Naval Service.

2. You know what hardships and difficulties most of the early
expeditions have had. Even an account of such late ones as Lowe’s and
Bernier’s show that problems appear to them formidable which are either
not formidable or in some cases actually non-existent. Expeditions
under such commands and along such plans may achieve the results
intended but they will do so only at the cost of a great deal of effort,
where the same ends could be attained by another method with little or
no effort.

3. It is doubtless correct, as you say, that pure exploration
and the occupation of such lands as Ellesmere should be under different
commanders in the field. But from Ottawa the work should be planned by
someone who understands polar conditions, and such general plans followed
by both parties. As indicated above, it is possible to make mountains

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out of molehills in the Ellesmere Island work, and that is likely to
happen unless the work is planned by someone who thoroughly understands
polar conditions.

4. I understood from your letter and telegram that the Government
have decided to offer the command of the exploratory expedition to me,
and I understand that my telegram in reply was an acceptance of this
offer. However, this is, from my point of view, contingent upon the
backing of the Government being of a character which suits me, and the
plans in general of a scope which make it worth while to undertake them.

5. My idea is that this coming summer there should be a quiet,
entirely unostentatious taking possession of Wrangel Island. This is
for the following reasons, into which I have gone more fully before:

(a) It is really a no-man’s land but Great Britain has a
stronger claim than any other country.

(b) Wrangel Island is worth occupying as a base for fur trad
ing and for such industries as fishing and hunting of the seal, walrus
and whale.

(c) Wrangel Island is worth occopying on the general prin
ciple that it is the lesson of history that, lands supposed worthless in
one generation are highly valued in the next and that, while we are
unable to say just what the importance of Wrangel Island is, it is cer
tain that the development of the next century or two will make it of
importance in one way or another.

(d) We should take possession of Wrangel Island because it
is the best base for the exploration of the area to the north, which
area should be Canadian and can be made so if we are the first to explore
it.

(e) Wrangel Island should be British territory because during
the next great war and, indeed, in the course of the peaceable develop
ment of the next two or three decades, there will be traffic across the
polar basin from Europe to Japan by way of the polar ocean, certainly
with dirigibles and submarines and probably with aeroplanes. The dis
tance from England to Japan by a great circle drawn through the polar
ocean is not much more than a third as great as the distance from Eng
land to Japan by way of Montreal and Vancouver. The perpetual daylight
of summer will not only make this route feasible in time of war but also
advantageous in times of peace. As naval bases for submarines and as
way stations for aircraft we need a chain of islands across the polar
basin. About the most strategically situated island possible on such a
route is Wrangel. It is probable (there seems about an even chance)
that land may be discovered north of Wrangel Island or northwest of
Borden Island (discovered by us in 1915). These islands, if they exist,
will eventually become bases and stations on the transpolar route. If
they do not exist, we shall have to deviate from the straight course a
little so as to use the islands already discovered, but in any case
Wrangel Island will be an important post on this route.

5. Provisionally, I look upon it as the most feasible way of

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occupying Wrangel Island to have this done by a Canadian fur trader.
I know this can be arranged. It would cost the Government nothing
directly and the expense of collecting revenue from these traders would
be only a small indirect expense necessary to establish our authority.

7. There is an etiquette that has been observed by all civilized
nations to the effect that in all polar exploration no explorer or
nation enters upon a field if it has been announced that another country
or explorer is about to embark on an expedition into a given area. I
think it would be well to make a general announcement something to the
effect that the scientific results of the expedition of 1913-18 were
such that the Canadian Government intends to follow up with a series of
expeditions covering the entire area to the north and northwest. By
insisting on the scientific point of view in the announcement, we can
draw people’s attention away from any suggestion of political aim. But
the political aim will be just as well served by these ostensibly scien
tific expeditions as by expeditions frankly for political purposes. The
sooner this announcement is made and the more clear the Government makes
its intention of carrying out this program, the more certain it will be
that no competing nation will enter the field. This will give us
leisure to do work in several years which at first sight it might seem
necessary to do in one year. In other words, a series of expeditions,
one after the other, will do as well as a number of simultaneous exped
itions.

Please remember that this letter is very confidential,
especially in the way it is worded. Without any thought of giving
offense, there are some paragraphs too bluntly stated to be suitable
for publication in their present form. After conference with you,
I should like to get this letter back and to substitute for it another
one more carefully worded and better suited for possible publication.

As I am going to be away from my office for a day or two,
I am asking my secretary to send you an-unsigned copy of this letter.
I shall follow it up with a signed copy as soon as I get back to my
office.

Mr. J. B. Harkin, Commissioner,
Dominion Parks Branch,
Ottawa, Ontario.