ARCTIC AIR ROUTE

Hokitika Guardian, 7 August 1930, Page 7

ARCTIC AIR ROUTE

GREENLAND TO CANADA. ' ADVENTUROUS EXPLOIT. j Two expeditions, one German and one Britvsn, are spending next winter ou the Greenland ice-cap. Tile German party, under Wegener, is already out there, while the British contingent, led 'by Mr H. G. Watkins, whose enterprises at Edge Island ami in Labrador entitle him to first place among our younger explorers, is almost ready to start. While the Germans have a. meteorological objective (like the Hobbs Michigan University group who wintered three years ago at the head of • South Stromfiord), Watkins pursues the bold idea of a direct, route from London to Winnipeg across Iceland and over the Greenland ice-cap near the Arctic Circle. His scheme is to examine the possibilities for an airway crossing the inland ice, which must clearly be the critical stage in any projected service.

In order to follow the progress of these attractively .original undertakings, it is desirable to have a much clearer conception than most people possess of Greenland, where Wegener’s troop of pack horses will be just as amusing a novelty for the natives as Watkins’s future air-line, It is, in all probability, the most peculiar country on earth. Politically, to begin with, it is as Isystematically isolated as Tibet or Nepal. Denmark controls it as a crown monopoly through an organisation called Groulands Styreloe, No business men and no tourists are tolerated, nor are ships allowed to cal] at the ports except in case of emergency or for brief and severely restricted visits with a particular object, satisfactory to the Government. Scientists and genuine explorers are welcomed, and are supported with an astonishing generosity at every point.

LIFE IX GREENLAND, ■ The administration represent a conception. ■of trusteeship so advanced that-a League ,of Nations mandate is merely exploitation by comparison; absolutely, no profit is allowed, the interests ..of the Eskimo take clear precedence of economic development, and /any surplus on the monopoly is applied for tjie benefit of the population, which (ii> a country four tipies the size ,of France) is ;• rather smaller thaq the population of Maidenhead, or Jfalvern. Life in Greenland is comparatively simple. 'Even on the civilised southwest coast, with its mixed race of Greenlanders and a sprinkling of Danish officials, there are no railways, cars, hotels, public houses, restaurants, shops (except Styrelse stores), police, coinage (except Styrelse tokens), kinemas, agricultural crops (except lettuce and parsley grown in cucumber frames), trees (except willow and birch scrub), nights (at this .season), employers, dogp (loca)ly prohibited as a nuisance) or crimes since the last murder seventy years ago. There are, on the other hand, photographers, many motor launches, co-operative fish curing centres, excellent sejiools, a high cost of living, a “Parliament,” 1 and wireless stations. EXTREME COMMUNISM. In addition to the enforced natural simplicity the dominant feature is the extreme form of Communism adopted. For example, if a family goes away on a visit its house is put at the.disposal of anyone who turns up in the meantime, and no private dealing with the outside world is allowed. At Angmagsalik, on the east coast, in th© neighbourhood of which Watkins is to make his base, the pure Eskimo! copulation leads a simpler life still. Of foodstuffs the store normally sells only coffee, sugar, and tobacco; bread is kept in reserve in case of famine, but the people must ordinarily make their living by hunting in the traditional manner,. although, of course, with modern weapons. This has proved the only means of maintaining the quality and numbers of the stock; its success is shown hv the fact that while Eskimo elsewhere are going rapidly downhill, those in Greenland are increasing,

If,Watkins in blazing the trail for an airway from London to Winnipeg across the ice cap, the isolation of Greenland will not necessarily be affected. There is not a level yard in inhabited areas where aeroplanes could land, the feasibility of establishing an airport at six or eight thousand feet, c*n the inland ice remains to be investigated. But in any case the psychological result of the present activity is bound to be considerable. . No longer an obscure region to be summed up by the average Englishman in the three gainfully familiar words of the hymn, Greenland suddenly becomes an international cross roads with group,y of German and British explorers wandering about in its winter, twilight. We shall not know before next epring what will come out of their work.