INTRODUCTION 



little prouder of being an American; and just that added 

 increment of pride and patriotism, to millions^ would of 

 itself alone he worth ten times the cost of attaining the 

 Pole. 



President Roosevelt, for nearly four centuries the 

 world dreamed of the union of the Atlantic and Pacify. 

 You have planted the Stars and Stripes at Panama and 

 insured the realisation of that dream. 



For over three centuries the world has dreamed of 

 solving the mystery of the North. To-night the Stars and 

 Stripes stand nearest to that mystery, pointing and beck- 

 oning. Andy God willing, I hope that your adminis- 

 tration may yet see those Stars and Stripes planted at 

 the Pole itself. For, between those two great cosmic 

 boundaries^ the Panama Canal and the North Pole^ lie 

 the heritage and the stupendous future of that giant whose 

 destinies you guide to-day, the United States of America. 



