Peary's Position Unquestioned and Unassailable.
The public mind should be refreshed at this juncture. Peary's journey in quest of the North Pole and to make polar soundings and tidal observation was undertaken with the sanction and full approval of the President of the United States and at the Navy Department; indeed, he went to the Arctic under the direct orders of the President as Commander in Chief of the Navy. The Congress more than four years ago thoroughly investigated his journey and records and by formal act extended to him the thanks of Congress for reaching the North Pole, and by authority of the same act he was raised to the rank of rear admiral. Peary appeared before the congressional committee which took the testimony and was examined at great length concerning his trip, observations, records, etc.

The report of the committee presented January 21, 1911, was unanimous that Peary had reached the pole. It is, however, particularly deplorable that through false and misleading newspaper reports resulting from Dr. Cook's press propaganda he should from time to time succeed in linking his name with Peary's, and thereby, in the minds of a part of the unthinking and uninformed public, create the impression that there was a possible question about Peary's attainment of the pole.

The Report of the Congressional Committee.
For the report in full of the congressional committee investigating the matter of Peary's successful trip to the North Pole see House of Representatives Report No. 1961, third session Sixty-first Congress, from which I shall excerpt a few salient paragraphs.

Peary Reached the North Pole April 6, 1909.
The committee after reporting that “Robert E. Peary reached the North Pole on April 6, 1909,” declared:
Your committee have come to the above conclusion after a careful examination and hearing by the subcommittee extending over several days at which Capt. Peary appeared in person and gave important testimony submitting all his papers, original data, daily journal kept by him during the journey and notes of astronomical observations and soundings, etc.

Continuing, the report set forth:
Your committee also heard—
The report of the National Geographic Society of Washington;
The report of the president and one of the boards of governors of the Royal Geographical Society of London, which society, through its official computer, had made an independent examination of the data and proofs;
And also a report from Hugh C. Mitchell and C. R. Duvall, expert computers of astronomical observations, from the Coast and Geodetic Survey of the United States.

As to the ability of Messrs Mitchell and Duvall, Mr. O. H. Titmann, Superintendent. of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, testified that they were professional computers employed by his bureau, and that, speaking as the head of the bureau, he was of opinion that they were “unsurpassed anywhere in ability or experience”; that he considered them “unsurpassed” not only in that bureau, but “in that line of work anywhere.” See pages 134 and 135 of the testimony reported by the committee.
The committee in their report declared:

These reports of the American and British societies and of Messrs. Mitchell and Duvall of our own Coast and Geodetic Survey are submitted in full in the printed report of the hearings had before your committee.

These hearings established the fact that Peary reached the North Pole on the above-named date in pursuance of a well-defined and carefully laid plan which he had been able to formulate as the result of more than 20 years Arctic experience and which he was able to carry out because of an indefatigable earnestness and singleness of purpose.

As a result of this plan, when he reached out over the Arctic Sea, as bad been done by other explorers—Nansen, Cagni, Greely, Lockwood, Markham, and others—and came to a point beyond where they had turned back, and beyond where he himself in former excursions had been obliged to retreat, be was able, by reason of his supporting parties, to go forward with sledges filled with provisions and fresh dogs for locomotion, these very essentials of success having been conserved for his final dash.

Peary Also Won Farthest North Record in 1906.
The report of the congressional committee of investigation asserted:
Three years before, in 1906, Peary had reached 87' 6', the farthest north ever attained up to that time.

He then learned the necessity of more careful preparation, and, returning to the United States, planned a campaign by ship, men, Eskimos, dogs, canned provisions, lighter equipment, to the very last detail, which resulted in success.

Thus Peary, as the result of each of two independent trips to the Arctic regions, established records farther north than has any other explorer in the history of the world, his successful trip to the North Pole having broken the previous record which he held.

Peary Went to the Arctic Under Official Orders.
The committee reported:
Peary was an officer of the United States Navy and charged with the specific duty in which he was engaged. President Roosevelt, July 3, 1908, detailed Peary to report to the Superintendent of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey and instructed that Peary be ordered to make tidal observations along the Grant Land and Greenland shore of the Polar Sea.

Mr. Peary entered the Navy in 1881 and has served almost 30 years, he is at present a civil engineer with the rank of captain. When leaving for his polar trip, the Acting Secretary of the Navy wrote him that he was granted this leave of absence for Arctic explorations because he is believed to be better equipped than any other person in the country to undertake such work.
“You have,” said the letter from the Navy Department, “the requisite courage, fortitude, and physique; you have had a longer term of service within the Arctic Circle than any other explorer; and you have had large experience in sledge journeying on the land and upon the polar pack; you have demonstrated your ability to maintain yourself in that latitude for a longer period in health and safety than any other explorer; you have reduced the inconveniences and hardships of the Arctic service to the minimum. The attainment of the pole should be your main object. Nothing short will suffice. Our national pride is involved in the undertaking. This department expects that you will accomplish your purpose and bring further distinction to a service of illustrious traditions."

The President of the United States gave Peary this parting injunction:
“I believe in you, Peary, and I believe in your success if it is in the possibility of man."

Brief Outline of Peary's Campaign to Reach the Pole.
Our congressional committee of investigation outlined Peary’s successful campaign to reach the North Pole as follows:

Going into winter quarters at Cape Sheridan, tidal observations were commenced, and the members of the expedition began the transportation of supplies westward to Cape Columbia. This became a camp and depot of supplies, from which the journey over the Arctic Ocean to the pole was to begin.

The winter months of 1909 were occupied in preparing Eskimos, dogs, and other equipments. After careful training the Eskimos and dogs were in the best condition, hard and fit for the work that was before them.

The men, Eskimos, and dogs were divided into supporting parties. Each supporting party was independent in the matter of supplies and equipment; they were sent north over the ice at intervals of a day or more each.

In this way the first supporting party sought and found the easiest trail, which could readily be found by the succeeding parties coming on.

Capt. Bartlett accompanied Peary to latitude 87° 47', or within 133 miles of the pole. At this point they exchanged signed statements as result of observations, and Bartlett turned back with his supporting party, leaving Peary with picked dogs, good sledges, and plenty of provisions, and in fact the very best equipment and supplies for the final journey.
In five marches from where Peary and Bartlett parted, Peary reached the long sought for goal.

Peary's Observations and Instruments.
The report declared:
Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Duvall figured the position of Peary at the pole independently, but based on the same observations and by independent methods. Their calculations agree within a second of latitude.

Mitchell states that from his professional experience it would have been impossible for the data of these observations to have been obtained other than under the circumstances claimed. The observations at' the pole were made at different times. He states that in using these observations in connection with each other they, in a measure, prove each other, and that error could be detected had the observations not been made at the points set forth in the data. In other words, the two independent observations taken, on the 6th and 7th, with the sun in the same direction, practically agree upon comparison.
On the return of the Peary party to the United States the standard chronometer used by Peary was sent to its makers for rating and comparison.

Peary's Return From the North Pole.
The committee's report sets forth the speed of Peary and his various supporting parties comparatively and with considerable detail, as follows:
The return journey was made more quickly than the outward journey. There was a trail easily distinguishable, and both men and dogs realized that they were returning to land.
Peary covered 27 outward marches (413 miles) in 16 return marches with the pick of Eskimos and dogs all in good condition, 25 ½ miles per march.
MacMillan, of the first supporting party, covered 7 outward marches (82 miles) in 4 return marches, 20 ½ miles per march.
Borup, of the second supporting party, covered 12 outward marches (136 miles) in 7 return marches with partially crippled men and poor dogs, 19 ½ miles per march.
Bartlett, of the fourth supporting party, covered 22 outward marches (280 miles) in 13 return marches, 21 ½ miles per march.
Bartlett returned from his farthest, 87° 47', in the same number of marches (13) as Peary did from that same point.
Later in the season MacMillan and Borup returning from Cape Jesup with the same dogs used on the northern, trip, covered 275 to 300 miles in 8 marches, and on more than one occasion covered, over 50 miles in a march.
Shackleton, on his outward journey, made marches of 18 and 20 miles. He returned without dogs, and he and his men, dragging their own sledges, made marches of 20, 26, and 29 miles.

The report then declares—and I desire particularly to emphasize the next paragraph, showing that Peary had at last attained the goal of centuries of effort:

Your committee recognized that the attainment of the North Pole has been the object of the world's famous explorers for centuries past; that Peary, overcoming almost insurmountable obstacles reached the goal of a life's work, that he was specifically commissioned to do so by his commander in chief, the President and the Secretary of the Navy.

The committee then reported that if Peary had not gone to the Arctic he would already have been a rear admiral, and that the advancement in rank which they recommended would really have the effect of decreasing the remuneration he was then receiving from the Government. Upon these points the committee declared:

Peary has at present the rank of captain. Had be remained at home and served as a chief of one of the bureaus at the Navy Department be would to-day have the rank of rear admiral. It is proposed in this bill to bestow upon him this rank with the retired pay of that grade: such retired pay, the committee learns from the Navy Department, will be $300 per year less than the pay he is now receiving from salary and allowances under his present rank.
Honors Awarded Peary.

The committee further reported that up to the date of its report (Jan. 21, 1911) Peary had already received the following recognition for his discoveries:

The special great gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society of London.
The special great gold medal of the National Geographic Society of Washington.
The special great gold medal of the Philadelphia Geographical ociety.
The Helen Culver medal of the Chicago Geographical Society.
The honorary degree of doctor of laws from Bowdoin College.
Honorary member of the New York Chamber of Commerce.
Honorary member of the Pennsylvania Society.
The Nachtigall gold medal of the Imperial German Geographical Society.
The King Humbert gold medal of the Royal Italian Geographical Society.
The Hauer medal of the Imperial Austrian Geographical Society.
The gold medal of the Hungarian Geographical Society.
The gold medal of the Royal Belgian Geographical Society.
The gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society of Antwerp.
A special trophy from the Royal Scottish Geographical Society—a replica in silver of the ships used by Hudson, Baffin, and Davis.
The honorary degree of doctor of laws from the Edinburgh University.
Honorary membership in the Manchester Geographical Society.
Honorary membership in the Royal Netherlands Geographical Society of Amsterdam.

The North Pole the Greatest Geographical Prize of Three Centuries.
Upon this point the committee said:
The President of the United States and the Secretary of the Navy have recommended that fitting recognition by Congress be accorded Peary for this great achievement. The scientific societies of the world accord in pronouncing this the greatest geographical prize of the last three centuries. It is a matter of just pride that this honor has come to the United States.

The Committee's Tribute to Peary and its Recommendations.
The committee reported:
Your committee believed that in view of his long distinguished service in the Arctic regions in ascertaining the northern boundaries of Greenland; his soundings and tidal observations; his ascertainment of facts concerning the northern Arctic Ocean; the general information he has obtained by living over 12 years within the Arctic circle; and finally having successfully followed a carefully laid plan resulting in his reaching on April 6, 1909 and bringing back to civilization the conditions existing at the North Pole, that Robert Edwin Peary has performed a most remarkable and wonderful service; that he has attracted the favorable attention of the civilized world; and that therefore the American people, through its Congress, shall render him thanks and bestow upon him the highest rank of the service which he adorns.

These, Mr. Speaker, are the important paragraphs in the official report of the committee of investigation and upon which the Congress of the United States acted when they extended to him the thanks of Congress, and authorized that he be raised to the rank of rear admiral. And in submitting the report to the Congress they transmitted the testimony before them, covering 142 printed pages.

The act of Congress adopted upon report of the committee became effective March 4, 1911. So much for official American recognition of the services of the explorer.

Action of the Royal Geographical Society of Great Britain.
Although our own National Geographic society had acted with more rapidity than did Congress and had more than a year prior to the act of Congress acclaimed Peary the discoverer of the North Pole, it is of interest to note that the Royal Geographical Society of Great Britain accorded Peary the highest honor within their power, nearly a year before Congress acted, to wit, on May 4, 1910, at a meeting of the society in Albert Hall, London. In conferring upon Peary at that time the special gold medal of the society, President Darwin, son of the great scientist, Charles Darwin, extended to him, in the presence of its members, the fullest assurance of their conviction that he was "the first and only human being who has ever led a party of his fellow creatures to a pole of the earth," for it will be remembered that at that time' the South Pole had not as yet been reached. He said:

I stand here to-night as the representative of the Royal Geographical Society, and, armed with the full authority of its council to welcome you, Commander Peary, as the first and only human being who has ever led a party of his fellow creatures to a pole of the earth.

At the same time the vote of thanks to Peary was moved and seconded by two of Great Britain's most distinguished Arctic explorers, Admiral Sir George Nares and Admiral Sir Lewis Beaumont. The motion was also supported in a feeling speech by Capt. R. F. Scott, who so soon was to lose his life returning from the South Pole, The proceedings may be found set out in full in the Geographical Journal of London for August, 1910, pages 129 to 148.

Subsequently Admiral Peary laid before the Royal Geographical Society additional proofs of his attainment of the pole and supplemental to those previously submitted. This was not done at their request, but voluntarily, that there might be no question hereafter as to the action of that world-famous organization being based upon adequate examination of Admiral Peary’s proofs. President Darwin wrote Peary on December 5, 1910, in his official capacity as president of the society, acknowledging the receipt of the documents and advising him of the results of the examination of same. He said:
They have been thoroughly examined by us. In the opinion of my council there is nothing in this or any other new matter which has come to their notice that in any way affects the position indicated by me when I, on behalf of the society, presented you with a special gold medal at the Albert Hall for your explorations, during which you were the first to reach a pole of the earth.

And about the same time another member of the council of the Royal Geographical Society wrote Admiral Peary advising him that the documents he sent had been “most thoroughly and critically examined.” Both these letters are set out in full in the record of the proceedings before our congressional investigating committee. So much for the recognition of the services of the explorer by distinguished men and bodies in foreign countries, and more particularly mentioned in the report of the committee as quoted supra.
 
END

RETURN TO PAGE 1
 

17 page document: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5