ANTARCTIC LANDS

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 938, 3 April 1930, Page 9

ANTARCTIC LANDS

A “TRADE” SUGGESTED BY AMERICA PROPOSAL TO BRITAIN Xo official communication Has been received by the Commonwealth Government about the suggestion, cabled from New York that there should be an exchange of sovereign rights in the Antarctic to give Britain sovereignty over the territory adjacent to Australia in return for Wilkes Land or the Falkland Islands. This question was raised at the last Imperial Conference. and in the summary of proceedings, the lands in the Antarctic, south of Australia, to which it was stated British titles to sovereignty existed by virtue of discovery, were. Enderby Land. Kemp Land. Queen. Mary Land. Kig George V. Land, and Oates Land next to the Ross Sea. To be added to these is the large area discovered by Sir Douglas Mawson during his present voyage of exploration. and named Macßobertson Land, in honour of the Melbourne man who sponsored the expedition. Between Queen Mary Land and King George V. Land is Wilkes Land, named after a United States naval officer who cruised in this region early last century. Adelie Land, which also lies in the Australian sector of Antarctica, is claimed by the French also. The claim is based on the discovery by the French explorer. Dumont D'Urville, about 100 years ago. Macßobertson Land lies between

Enderby Land and Queen Mary Land. The area lying west of Adelie Land was, on its discovery by the Mawson expedition of 1912. named Wilkes Land, in honour of the American officer mentioned. The Imperial Conference considered that a title, by virtue of discovery, belongs to Britain in that area.