861.0144/13
The Secretary of State to the Chargé in Great Britain (Wheeler)
Sir: The Department directs attention to its instruction to the Embassy No. 643, of September 12, 1922, on the subject of Wrangell Island. The Embassy was instructed to make formal inquiry of the Foreign Office as to the views and purposes of the British Government in this connection. No report has been received from the Embassy. If no word has come from the Foreign Office, the Embassy is directed to renew its inquiry.
In this connection attention is drawn to the following sentence in a statement respecting Wrangell Island which appears on page 725 of Whitaker’s Almanack for 1923:
“On September 21, 1921, the British flag was hoisted on the Island by an expedition despatched to the island by Stefansson, the annexation being notified to the Government of the Dominion of Canada on March 17, 1922.”
I am [etc.]