It may be that this communication will be considered as a madman’s freak; but at any rate it must be admitted that in its clearness and frankness it left nothing to be desired. The serious part of it was that the Federal Government had undertaken to treat a sale by auction as a valid concession of these undiscovered territories.
Opinions on the matter were many. Some readers saw in it only one of those prodigious outbursts of American humbug, which would exceed the limits of puffism if the depths of human credulity were not unfathomable. Others thought the proposition should be seriously entertained. And these laid stress on the fact that the new company had not appealed to the public for funds. It was with their own money that they sought to acquire the northern regions. They did not seek to drain the dollars and banknotes of the simple into their coffers. No! All they asked was to pay with their own money for their circumpolar property! This was indeed extraordinary!
To those people who were fond of figures it seemed that all the said company had to do was to buy the right of the first occupant, but that was difficult, as access to the Pole appeared to be forbidden to man, and the new company would necessarily act with prudence, for too many legal precautions could hardly be taken.
It was noticed that the document contained a clause providing for future contingencies. This clause gave rise to much contradictory interpretation, for its precise meaning escaped the most subtle minds. It stipulated that the right would be perpetual, even in the event of modification in any way whatsoever of the geographical or meteorological conditions of the globe. What was the meaning of this clause? What contingency did it provide for? How could the earth ever undergo a modification affecting its geography or meteorology, especially in the territories in question?
“Evidently,” said the knowing ones, “there is something in this!”
Explanations there were many to exercise the ingenuity of some and the curiosity of others.
The Philadelphia Ledger made the following suggestion:—
“The future acquirers of the Arctic regions have doubtless ascertained by calculation that the nucleus of a comet will shortly strike the earth in such a manner that the shock will produce the geographical and meteorological changes for which the clause provides.”
This sounded scientific, but it threw no light on the matter. The idea of a shock from such a comet did not commend itself to the intelligent. It seemed inadmissible that the concessionaries should have prepared for so hypothetical an eventuality.
“Perhaps,” said the New Orleans Delta, “the new company imagine that the precession of the equinoxes will produce the modification favourable to the utilization of their new property.”