State gives away the store again

THE REAGAN State Department has been quitely trying to give the Soviet Unioin a piece of American territory larger than the state of Delaware, under which there may be millions of barrels of oil. It is Wrangel Island, located north of Siberia in the Arctic Ocean, and it is the only piece of American territory ever successfully seized by a foreign power--although that seizure has not been recognized until now.

The U.S. lost Wrangel on August 20, 1924, when the Soviet gunboat Krasny Oktyabr (Red October) seized the island, captured 14 American fur trappers (two of whom died in captivity), and raised the red flag. The Soviets made the island part of Gulag: Avraham Shifrin, an Israeli expert on Gulag, claims Raoul Wallenberg was held there at one time.

The U.S. has never ceded its claim to Wrangel or four smaller islands nearby that were also seized. But the State Department, which has been negotiating with the Soviets since 1981 to formalize the Alaskan-Siberian frontier, seems to be trying to do so, arguing that "the U.S. never formally claimed those islands." History shows otherwise.

Wrangel, located about 270 miles northwest of Alaska, was discovered in 1881 by Calvin Leighton Hooper, a captain of the U.S. Revenue Marine (Coast Guard) and acting governor of Alaska, cruising aboard the cutter Thomas Corwin. John Muir, the famed naturalist and founder of the Sierra Club, was part of the landing party that claimed the island on August 12. He later noted in his book The Cruise of the Corwin: "A notable addition was made to the national domain when Captain Calvin L. Hooper landed on Wrangel Island and took possession of it in the name of the United States." The island had been first sighted 14 years before by U.S. Navy Captain Thomas Long. He named it after the Russian naval officer Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel, who had explored the area. But, according to his own memoirs, Wrangel never saw the island that bears his name.

THERE is no evidence that the Russians ever laid legal claim to the island. The only visitors were Americans, mostly trappers from the American Lomen Co., who clearly established occupation under international law. The State Departmetn actually recognized Lomen as the owner of the island on May 13, 1924. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletins issued in 1900, 1902, and 1906 show the islands as U.S. territory. So do Russian naval maps of the same period. In 1922, the British government backed off on a tentative claim to the islands, conceding, in the words of the colonial secretary, that "the United States Government is thought to have a strong, if not indusputable, claim to the islands." The U.S. never recognized the Soviet seizure, and as late as 1973 the State Department, in its Digest of International Law, stated that "the U.S. has not relinquished its claim to Wrangel Island."

But the present State Department is trying. When the U.S. purchased Alaska in 1867, the border question was left open. The U.S. has always maintained that the border line drawn on maps at the time--which would exclude Wrangel--was merely for convenience and did not constitute a boundary. But on December 28, 1984, Assistant Secretary of State W. Tapley Bennett Jr. announced that the U.S. Government regards the 1867 line as its maritime boundary with the Soviet Union--thus, in effect, attempting to cede U.S. territory without so much as a by-your-leave to Congress or the President.

Congressional opponents of State's attempted giveaway, including Senator Jesse Helms and Representative Mark Siljander, are drafting legislation to require congressional approval of any agreement ceding U.S. claims in the area. But some observes fear that the President, under pressure to "sign something, sign anything" at the summit, might bow to State's "expert advice" and sign away the islands without proper consideration.

Obviously, the U.S. has little chance of regaining possession. But officially accepting the Soviet theft would underscore once again our eargerness to placate the Russians at whatever cost to honor, and would further discredit the U.S. as a reliable partner against Soviet bullying. At the very least, we should hold out for some concessions, such as a share in the petroleum deposits that a number of large oil companies believe may be under Wrangel. Ronald Reagan should not go down in history as the first American President to acquiesce in the conquest of American territory.

COPYRIGHT 1985 National Review, Inc.
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