of her crew lived there
several Inches of water
‘the floor “and every bunk
‘Soaking wet.”

the men, he said, suffered
scurvy, and he explained

The food is as antiquated
he accomodation, and is
fined to the staples, barrel-
‘pork and beef with biscuit
over from the Spanish-
lerican war, and returned
Cuba more or less alive :”
Although the officers and
at-steerers were ‘old hands,”
Era’s crew was composed
a gunsmith, a clerk in a
Olesale drug business, an
moulder, a mechanic, an
soldier, a railway brake-
n, an Armenian and several
ndescripts ‘about town.’ Of
entire lot only one had
r been to sea before.”
uring the winter the North-
Mounted Police built
ir first post and in the
ung Low, Borden and a
all party crossed to South-
pton Island where Low
da proclamation, to “renew
d take possession of the Is-
id of Southampton for the
and property of the Do-
ion of Canada.”
During the winter too, tra-
struck the expedition. In
vember Dr, Farribault, who
d shown signs of mild in-
ity almost from the time
leaving Halifax,’ became:
lently insane and had to be
ined undey guard through-
the winter until:his death
following April.
And in December, James O’-
mned, described as “a cabin
y of weak mind,” wandered
Way in a snowstorm. When
€ storm died down the Es-
s “traced his track in the
w to the open water in the
uthwest some three. miles
fom the ship ,...”
t was not until July 18, 1904
t the Neptune was able to
ak her way out: of the ice
t had imprisoned her in
llerton Harbor for nine
nths, and it took her seven
ys to battle her way through
te ice floes to Port Burwell
1 Ungava.

U
oF

On, August 2 she headed out
gan, this time across Davis
trait to follow the coast of
meenland north to Etah
ich, Low commented, “is
amous as the most northern
uman habitation on earth.
ye saw a number of deserted
nderground houses, where
e natives live during the
Ber
‘In Smith Sound the waters
f Baffin Bay narrow so that
nly some 30 miles separate
ape Ohlsen in Greenland
rom Cape Isabella in Elles-
here Island. Here the expedi-
on almost came to grief.
Crossing the sound to Cape
lerschel, the Neptune struck
‘submerged rock while trying
9 pass between two small ice-
ergs. She bounced over the
Ock, struck it again midships,
Ounced again and struck it a
hird time with her stern.
Only when the expedition
eturned to Halifax on October
and the Neptune was put

ee Pe

into drydock did Low realize
how much he owed to. the
eight feet of oak sheathing
the Neptune’s bow. The im-
pact had torn away the iron
stemplate, ripped 75 feet from
the keel and broken the stern-

post. But the vessel had taken
hardly any water.

*

Low’s report, on the mineral
wealth of the Arctic Islands
is better appreciated today
than it was half a century ago.

He speaks of copper deposits
along the west shore of Hud-
som Bay and in southeastern
Baffin Island, of coal on Baf-
fin, Bylot, Melville, Bathurst
and other islands.

“At Payne River (in north-
ern Ungava) the iron-bearing
beds have a thickness of 420
feet,” he writes, and further
on, reporting on the iron ore
found in the Nastapoka Is-
lands. “The iron-bearing rocks
of the east side of Hudson Bay
have a close resemblance to
those of Lake Superior, so fa-
mous for the amount and qual-
ity of their associated ores of
Irons..."

To this tentative report of
the mineral wealth of the Arc+

- tic Islands have since been ad-

ded discoveries of oil; uranium

.and rare metals ‘on which the

ruise of the Neptune

is tur Bune covetous eyes.
The heviag that Low, Bernier
and others established for Ca-
nada are being jeopardised to-

day by the presence of U.S. :

forces whose disregard for
Canadian rights in the Arctic
is only a portent of still more

arrogant demands to come un-
less those rights are reassert-
ed. The U.S. does not recogn-
ize discovery alone nor does it
accept the sector theory on
which this country bases its
claims — it recognizes only
effective occupation and con-
trol.

The question for every Can-
adian is: How much control
does the U.S. have over Cana-
da’s Arctic today?

-~- F-

Ni To, Oe eee
H. W. Herridge, CCF MP
for Kootenay West, who
recently reminded the House
of Commons that the Low ex-
pedition to the Canadian Arc-
tic in 1903-4 had renewed
Canada’s claim to Southampton
Island and taken possession of
Ellesmere Island for Canada,
said this week that he had re-
ceived letters from people
throughout the country prais-
ing his stand and providing
additional information. “I am
glad to know so many Cana-
dians. are concerned about
their country’s sovereignty in
the Arctic,” he said.

Profile of Johannes Strijdom

Cabinet Room at No.

South Africa.

simply. He believes:

whatever  cruelties

Strijdom is a stocky, cold-
eyed, thin-lipped politician
of 63. He is, as one might
guess from his public ut-
terances, a great admirer

of Strijdom —-he likes to
be known as “the lion.”

The reasons for his at-
tendance at the conference

of Commonwealth Prime
Ministers can be put fairly

— That the Afrikaners are
the Chosen People of South _
Africa — and the Common-
wealth must recognize this.
‘— The Colored and African
people are fit merely to
serve the whites — and
are
used to enforce this rule
must be accepted by the
rest of the Commonwealth.
— White people of British
descent are only in South
Africa by consent of the
Afrikaners — but one day
they must be put in their
place, and when that day

comes the Commonwealth
must not interfere.

— The policy expressed in
the previous three points
must be extended wherever
possible in Africa, and ad-
jacent areas must be taken

into the Union of South
Africa.

However carefully Strij-
dom may express himself,
this is the basic policy he
has been putting forward
in Downing Street. And
that policy is, above all,
the policy of the “master
race,” and all that it im-
plies.

He began by taking a de-
gree in law, then became an
ostrich farmer until slump
hit that industry in 1914.
Then back to the law and
an increasing interest in
politics on the extreme na-
tionalist wing.

Soon his only interest was
politics — of a more and
more reactionary nature.
When the Second World
War began he supported
Nazism. ‘“Hitler’s last de-
fender,’ some people in his
own country called him.

He linked his demand for
an Afrikaner Republic with
another more sinister poli-

'

cy. Only if there was a re-
public would the Afrikan-
ers be saved from “British-
Jewish capitalism,” he said.

He kept up his. anti-
Semitism for some time,
but. later, when it was
thoroughly discredited, al-

JOHANNES STRIJDOM

The aging lion is dangerous

HE nearest thing to a
Nazi leader Britain has
seen since the end of the

war has been sitting in the
10
Downing Street — Johannes
Strijdom, prime minister of

lowed it to drop into the
darker background of his
political- views.

But Strijdom’s more im-
mediate quarry is any man,
woman or child whose skin
is darker than his own. He
startled some of his more
naive supporters by talking
of ‘white domination” early
last year, soon after he be-
came prime minister.

One of his favorite words
is “baaskap” (domination).
He does not conceal his
views — perhaps because
he has not the imagination
to realise how hateful they
are to any civilized person.

“There is,” he says, “no
half-way house between
domination and equality. Is
there anyone in South
Africa stupid enough to
believe that if there is
equality the white people
would be able to maintain
themselves in South Africa?

With that in mind, and
with the knowledge that
the African population in
South Africa is about four
times as great as the white
he ‘pursues an undeviating
policy of depriving the
Africans of education, of
land and of almost every
kind of freedom.

July 20, 1956 —PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE 11

OT MIMIRL ALBINONI WIL UU eNO