50 BALCH— WHY AMERICA SHOULD [April 22, 



Committee, each member of which should represent some scientific 

 or geographic society in the United States. If a committee were 

 formed, of such men as Cyrus C. Adams, Herbert L. Bridgman, 

 Henry G. Bryant, Hermon C. Bumpus, WilHam Morris Davis, 

 Charles E. Fay, Adolphus W. Greely, Gilbert H. Grosvenor, George 

 W. Melville, Robert E. Peary, Winfield Scott Schley, Harvey M. 

 Watts, each one chosen from some learned body like the American 

 Philosophical Society, the Smithsonian Institution, the American 

 Museum of Natural History, the Franklin Institute, the American 

 Geographical Society, the National Geographic Society, the Peary 

 Arctic Club, the Appalachian Mountain Club, the American Alpine 

 Club, the Association of American Geographers, etc., and such a 

 committee would issue and distribute some memoirs on the impor- 

 tance of Antarctic research, public interest might be aroused and the 

 matter take a concrete form. 



When one considers all the facts in the case — that the last un- 

 known continent was discovered by Americans ; that the commander 

 of our most successful expedition was immediately arraigned and 

 attacked by the angry commander of the next British expedition; 

 that a recent ex-president of the Royal Geographical Society and 

 also the commander of the British National Antarctic expedition are 

 eager to wipe out all American discoveries from the map ; that 

 many branches of science would be advanced; that big gaps in 

 American museums would be filled ; and above all, that the dis- 

 coveries by the United States Navy in the Antarctic would be veri- 

 fied and increased — it would seem as though some Americans would 

 take the matter up, and, while helping science, link their names with 

 that of our great Antarctic explorer. 



