THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1910. POLAR DISCOVERY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 979, 24 February 1910, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1910. POLAR DISCOVERY.

The announcement of Captain Scott that Cummander Peary refused to commence preparations for an American expedition to the Antarctic until assured tnat the British party would welcome friendly rivalry indicates the existence of that spirit which should animate great enter- ! prises of this natur?. The discovery of the Pole is a matter of world-wide interest from which no nation can expect to monopolise the results. If there is rivalry between different countries, it should, therefore, be of a friendly character, and while that condition is observed thire cannot be too much of it. It is arranged that the British and Aineiican expeditions shall co-operate in meteorological and magnetic investigation, which, as far as the public are concerned, are leading purposes for which they are i undertaken. And since the data thus | obtained will be the common property of all nations, for anything but i friendly rivalry to exist amongst the searchers would be absurd. The impudent fraud of Dr Cook was , simply for show purposes, but the public cannot be expected *o inter-

est themselves in adventurers who get out on voyages of Polar discovery only to aggrandise themselves. Peary and bcott are, however, different types of men, and this agreement ! between them is evidence of a nature which will be appreciated not only in England and America, but in all countries, amongst which the benefits uf their work will be equally distributed. The fact that £32,000 has been already subscribed in Great Britain towards Captain Scott's expenses, and 7,000 applications have been received from volunteers anxious to accompany, shows how keen is the desire to take part in the dis-

covery. There is no more fascinating work than exploralion in unknown regions, and its romantic attractions in this case are intensified by the fact that the man who reaches the Pole will find himself as if in a new world governed by astronomical conditions that exist in no other part of the globe, and are difficult to form a conception of. Imagination has a hard j task in picturing a man standing at a point where there is no south, and which has no longitude. Polar discovery, however, means more than the idle glory of performing this feat; there is in it promise of valuable light upon some of the most important practical problems of human ' existence, and ats the cost of an expedition like Captain Scott's is no more than people are willing to subscribe to bring off a champion boxing contest, it would reflect poorly upon the public if it was not easily forthcoming.