"A BRILLIANT DEED, OF WHICH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE MAY RIGHTLY BE PROUD."
The American minister to Denmark made Dr. Cook"s visit state business and joined in the effort to share Cook"s honors. Dr. Cook paused in the midst of all this splendor to cable the following message to our President:
Copenhagen, Sept. 4, 1909.
President, The White House, Washington.
I have the honor to report to the chief magistrate of the United States that I have returned, having reached the North Pole."
To which President Taft cabled the following reply:
Beverly, Ma.s.s., Sept. 4, 1909.
Frederick A. Cook, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Your dispatch received. Your report that you have reached the North Pole calls for my heartiest congratulations, and stirs the pride of all Americans that this feat which has so long baffled the world has been accomplished by the intelligent energy and wonderful endurance of a fellow countryman."
WILLIAM H. TAFT.
Was President Taft speaking for the American people when he called Dr.
Cook"s achievement the pride of all Americans? Were we ready to share Cook"s joys? Share his honors? If so, then in all fairness, should we not share in his trials and tribulations? Are we like the crazy base ball fan who cheers a pitching hero when he wins and insults him with all kinds of vile epithets when he loses?
For one I shared in that thrill of pride and was glad to know that I had had dealings with Dr. Cook before he went in search of the Pole, consequently, I felt in honor bound to withhold any hasty criticisms that I might feel tempted to hurl at Dr. Cook. All who joined in his praises should insist upon it that he be given a chance to disprove every charge that has been brought against him, that he be given a chance to explain his every act before we join in the cry to crucify him. "Crucify him, or give us the most contemptible coward, moral leper and political crook that has lived in our time," if Dr. Cook"s charges are true.
Believing that this is a matter that ought to be fairly settled by competent and orderly methods, I have written to several congressmen and senators, and the following correspondence speaks for itself:
Chicago, Illinois, May 7, 1913.
Hon. Wooda N. Carr, Washington, D. C.
Dear Sir:
I wish to ask a personal favor of you, one that I think the public is interested in and one that I think the world ought to know more about.
It is the Cook-Peary controversy. I have given this considerable thought and study. I have heard Dr. Cook lecture a number of times and have talked to him personally and tried to find out from every angle the facts as to whether or not his story is true. So far I have been unable to find a flaw in any of his statements, and Mr. Peary by his actions has given every evidence that Dr. Cook is telling the truth.
Therefore, as a citizen who is interested in the larger affairs of this country, and as the editor of The Platform, which is devoted to the Lyceum and Chautauqua movement, I am asking whether or not it would be compatible with fair play and our sense of justice and real national dignity to take this controversy out of the hands of individuals and settle it by an official tribunal, or by a commission of arctic explorers.
I shall be very glad, indeed, if you will inform me of what steps could best be taken to bring about the settlement of this controversy.
If there are any authoritative facts developed along this line, I will be glad to know where to locate them as my sole object is to learn the truth.
Under separate cover I am sending you copy of The Platform which contains Doctor Cook"s letter to President Wilson, which I hope you will read.
Yours very truly, (Signed) FRED HIGH.
House of Representatives, U. S.
Washington, D. C., May 13, 1913.
Mr. Fred High, 602 Steinway Hall, Chicago, Ill.
Dear Sir:
Your letter of the 7th inst., regarding the Cook-Peary controversy, received. I do not think it would be possible to get Congress to interfere in this matter. It is a question of little concern to many who discovered the Pole, or whether it was discovered at all. It seems to be a personal matter, the settlement of which should be determined by the persons interested.
Very truly yours, (Signed) WOODA N. CARR.
Is it a matter of no concern whether or not the North Pole has been discovered? Is it a matter of no concern whether a man can fake a story about having discovered the North Pole, receive the homage of the world, fleece the American public out of thousands of dollars for fees to hear his lecture and go unpunished? If Dr. Cook has hoaxed the world as so many have charged him with having done, this is more than a private matter.
If Dr. Cook has discovered the North Pole, are we acting the part of fellow countrymen by shirking our duty? Shall Congress say that the clique at Washington either make good its charges against Dr. Cook, or be made to retract and stand disgraced in the eyes of the world? We shared Cook"s honors. Will we shirk when he calls upon his countrymen for a square deal?
The following letter was received from Senator Miles Poindexter and should be carefully studied:
United States Senate, Committee on Expenditures in the War Department.
Washington, D. C. May 9, 1913.
Mr. Fred High, Editor, The Platform, 602 Steinway Hall, 64 E. Van Buren St., Chicago, Illinois.
My dear Mr. High:
I have yours of 7th inst., and was very much pleased to know that you are interested in securing a fair examination, officially if possible, into Dr. Cook"s claims of discovery.
Ever since the Cook-Peary controversy began, I have paid more or less close attention to the questions involved therein. I have talked with a number of residents around the neighborhood of Mt. McKinley, Alaska, some of whom are friendly and some unfriendly to Dr. Cook; have read with great care Dr. Cook"s book describing his polar expedition; and have followed through the newspapers and otherwise the various phases of the controversy and happenings in connection therewith. As a lawyer, I have always been especially interested in the study of the credibility of witnesses, the weight of evidence; and in deducing logical conclusions therefrom. From the careful consideration of the comparative character of the witnesses for and against Dr. Cook, their motives, and the att.i.tude and hearing throughout the controversy of Cook and Peary themselves, I have a very fixed and firm conviction that Dr. Cook"s story is true. I believe the majority of the people of the country who are interested in the subject are of the same opinion.
From my observation of the miserable petty cliques and factional squabbles in official circles of the Government, such for instance as the Sampson-Schley controversy and innumerable smaller disputes, I have long ago ceased to accept, as necessarily correct, official evidence merely because it is official.
I have not yet seen a copy of The Platform containing Dr. Cook"s letter to President Wilson which you say you are forwarding me under separate cover, and when received will read it with much interest.
Not having read it, I do not know just what plan Dr. Cook proposes for an official investigation. I will be glad however, to learn the basis upon which it is proposed to make the test an official investigation.
It occurs to me that it is entirely a private matter and that the Government officially has nothing to do with it. Every man has as much right as any other man to form a conclusion in the case; public opinion, if the facts can be presented to the public, is the best judgment. I would be apprehensive of submitting the absolute determination of the question to an official tribunal for the reasons, among others, which I have mentioned above. However, will be glad to learn further as stated of the proposal.
With kind regards.
Very truly yours, (Signed) MILES POINDEXTER.
Senator Poindexter"s letter is a stricture on official Washington that ought to cause every true patriot to blush with shame. Are we at the point where even an impartial investigation can not be had into the controversy as to who discovered the North Pole?
There are thousands who believe this is a question that touches our national honor and therefore is a rightful subject for a Congressional Investigation. Those who believe this, ought to write to their representatives at Washington and urge such action as will lay the facts before the world.
The following letter from Hon. Champ Clark is worthy of much consideration as it reveals the real status of this controversy as it exists in official circles.
Dr. Cook is a private citizen with no Cook Arctic club to back him and share his gains. No National Geographical Society helped to finance his venture with the hope of managing his lectures as a sort of bureau graft. He is a private citizen.
Speaker Clark"s letter furnishes us with the reason for asking Congress to take a hand in this affair for it shows how ready our statesmen are to give ear when the people speak:
THE SPEAKER"S ROOM HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
WASHINGTON, D. C.
May 10, 1913.
Mr. Fred High, Editor of The Platform, Chicago, Illinois.
My dear Mr. High:
I have your letter touching the Cook-Peary controversy. I note what you say. I do not see clearly what it is that you are suggesting. That is, whether you want Congress to formulate some plan to determine the matter by appointing a commission of Arctic explorers, or exactly what it is that you do want.
Of course, I do not know very much about Arctic explorations and do not set a very high store on them as I never could understand what sort of good would come of locating the North Pole. I am a good deal of a utilitarian, and am a disciple of the Baconian philosophy rather than of the philosophy of Aristotle and the Greek school. To tell the truth, I have always had a hazy sort of an idea that both Cook and Peary discovered the North Pole. I have not valued my opinion highly enough to undertake to exploit it or to induce anybody else to believe it as I have enough other matters on hand to employ the time and attention of one man.