stefansson-wrangel-09-25-005-008

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been replaced by a plan we thought we could carry through.

Since Wrangell Island was already British, we could
keep it British by merely occupying it. As we understood international law,
it would make no difference whether such an occupation had been specially
ordered by any government so long as the government in question eventually
confirmed it. I wired Knight and Maurer to ask whether they would go to
Wrangell Island secretly and whether they would exchange their American for
Canadian citizenship in order to make the occupation legally effective. Both
replied eagerly in the affirmative. Since I was just then engaged under
contract on a piece of work that did not allow me a day’s vacation until
September, I got Taylor to undertake the actual organization of the expedi-
tion. Since the Canadian Government had decided to do nothing for a year, we
could not take even them into our confidence. We confided in no one except
that Taylor had to place the facts before his private attorney to get an opin-
ion of the legal aspects of the case. The attorney told us that an applica-
tion for Canadian citizenship by Knight and Maurer would not turn them
forthwith British in the sense needed to make an enterprise British which was
led by one of them. He advised the organization of a limited liability
company under the laws of Canada. This company would employ all the men who
were on the expedition, and that would make the enterprise indubitably
British. Later he revised this opinion, coming to the conclusion that we
could not feel the enterprise safely British unless a British subject were
in command. This led to the employment of Allan Crawford, the son of
Professor J. T. Crawford of Toronto, Canada, to be in formal command. We
had previously corresponded about his possibly going north and I now tele-
graphed him to join me on the Pacific Coast.

It took us several weeks to get all details arranged.
Most of that time Crawford spent with me, and part of the time Knight and

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