It is hard to understand the tenacity of the opposition
made by the Times to Polar expeditions,—on the ground of danger to human life. We should have thought that was a proper question for the volunteers, but not for the public. 'rho amount of evidence laid before Mr. Lowe and Mr. Goschen on Monday as to the advantages to be derived from a North Polar expedition was really remarkable. The astronomers showed that an Antarctic observation of the transit of Venus in 1882 would be most need- ful, and that no Antarctic expedition could be conducted with good result without a commander already trained in the less danger- ous Arctic seas ; the Linnrean Society wanted a heap of evidence about the flora of the Arctic regions ; the Geological Society about its coal and meteoric iron ; the Meteorological Society said such an expedition would throw great light on our storms ; ethnologists wanted new facts about the Arctic tribes ; and in short, everybody wanted something which cannot be got without daring and sacrifice. Most of all, the country itself wants these qualities of daring and sacrifice, and the emulation they create. It is nonsense to talk of such expeditions,— which train the specific qualities wanted for the Navy, as well as the less specific qualities wanted for all Englishmen, —as wasteful of life and lavish of suffering. There would be a great deal less true life, and a good deal more true suffering, if we had not shown the sort of public spirit and contempt for danger which these expeditions train and hold up to the admiration of the nation.
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