TRANS-ARCTIC AVIATION—PLISCHKE 295 
the Philippine Islands, which in turn were to be ceded by the Danish 
Government to Germany in return for northern Schleswig; 6 years 
later the American Government agreed not to object to an extension 
of Danish jurisdiction over the entire island; and, finally, within the 
last few years Greenland was acknowledged to constitute a part of the 
Western Hemisphere and is therefore subject to our special interests 
under the Monroe Doctrine. 
The Dominion of Canada claims all the thoi! islands lying to 
the north of her mainland. This pretension has not always been 
respected, as indicated, so that for the past 15 years a serious effort 
has been made-to subject the entire island empire—as embraced within 
the jurisdiction of the Northwest Territories and Yukon. Branch 
of the Canadian Department of Interior—to-effective state adminis- 
tration. This is promoted particularly by the establishment of Royal 
Canadian Mounted Police posts on the fringe of the islands area, by 
extensive police patrols centered about these posts, by an earnest 
attempt to enforce the Canadian legal system in the vast region, and 
by the exploits of the Annual Arctic Patrols, which man and supply 
the posts. The Dominion, like the Soviet Union, therefore is seeking 
to establish an absolute juridical title to the polar territory adjacent 
to its mainland. 
In this manner, Denmark, Norway, the U. S. S. R., and the 
Dominion of Canada possess, or claim to possess, all known territory 
within the Arctic Basin. Moreover, under international law, states 
enjoy all rights of jurisdiction over the air space superjacent to their 
domains, and the air routes which traverse the Arctic will cross 
the territory of these four states. If their pretensions to the territory 
are acknowledged as valid under law, they will be in a position to 
control the major share of the trans-Arctic air lanes. On the other 
hand, if their claims are controverted, serious jurisdictional disputes 
may arise, as was the case with Spitsbergen, Wrangel Island, and 
eastern Greenland. 
To avert such controversies, it would seem advisable for the post- 
war conference of states to establish a practicable solution for the 
international control of the matter. The problem of territorial 
jurisdiction should be solved in advance by an international under- 
standing through the establishment of specific principles of law, 
as was effected at the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, when the 
majority of the Powers recognized the principle of effective occupa- 
tion as essential for the juridical acquisition of African coastal lands. 
This is a matter of first magnitude and should be resolved before a 
host of jealously regarded. vested interests are created. At present, 
potential disputes are largely legal in nature and therefore are amen- 
able to justiciable solution. But if proprietary interests with exten- 
619830—45——20 
