Correspondence
A LETTER FROM ICELAND [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
SIE,—When we hear news from England we become quite envious, for we have had practically - no snow and only very
little ice. Ski-ing has been an impossibility while of skating we have had but some three "days. The ptarmigan -remain on the hills, declining to come 'where they may be more conveniently shot: Since NOvember the temperature has varied but very above or below freezing point and we complain of a general "-mugginess," measles and some influenza. We feel aggrieved, for in February and March we rather enjoy a regular four or five degrees of frost. How- ever, we hear of two metres (6 ft. 7 in.) of snow in Denmark and in Sweden, so cannot say what the near future may have in store for us. While it is darkly hinted that the Gulf Stream has lost its way it is also asserted and known to be fact that sea-fishing continues unusually good and prices are high—though, alas ! our trawler men have been on strike since January 1st ; and their example was followed a fortnight later by the seamen of the Iceland Steam Ship Co. This latter institution is known in the vernacular as Eims- lcipafielag Islands, and the fifteenth anniversary of its inaugura- tion coincided exactly with the declaration of the strike. Were the whole thing not likely to prove tragic one might smile at the strikers' adhesion to established precedent. The rank and file are workless and wageless at the behest of men who suffer no pecuniary loss while attaining an unwonted glory of notoriety.
Yet, to do Icelandic strikers justice, it must be admitted that at times they have shown themselves capable of some- thing more than mere.slavish imitation. Witness the printers' little flutter of a month ago : both Linotype operators and compositors demanded an immediate 10 per cent. increase, intimating that it was not their wish to strike, and adding that if a strike were forced upon them by nen-compliance with this demand their claim would at once-be for a 20 per cent. increase. By way of postscript it was further stated that any strike thus forced upon them must be paid for by the masters. The 10 per cent. materialized.
These troubles have been largely brought about by pros- perity—other people's prosperity—for 1928 proved a par.. ticularly good year for the whole country. The credit balance on the year's trading was more than twenty-two million Kronar or about nine pounds ten sterling for every man, woman, child and bald-headed baby in the country. For a nation compelled to import all building material, coal, salt and iron this is an undoubted achievement. Many British merchants refuse to accept small initial orders from Iceland on the ground of their triviality. All beginnings in this country are sniall, but development is remarkably rapid. Eighteen months ago an order amounting to five pounds in value was only executed after much persuasion. In the last eleven months business' amounting to more than two thousand pounds has resulted ! Another firm shelved a small order for paper. Pressure was brought to bear, the order was executed and now that firm of paper-makers finds its better class goods being ordered by the ton.
The development of flying, too, is another case in point. In 1919 four or five enterprising men formed an aviation company here. They commenced operations with but one machine of British make, just a two-seater but with controls brought to both seats—the principal idea being to instruct aviators. Joy rides were given at a cost of thirty kr. for five minutes. The little company struggled on through the season of 1920, but difficulties were many. It was easy to fly to the Westman Islands, but sometimes impossible to effect a landing there, usually because on the lee of the great rocks eddies and air-pockets werefrequent. The company was wound up. In 1927 and 1928 a machine capable of carrying four passengers was flying here, under the auspices of Luft Hansa." Twenty-five kr. for fifteen minutes was the general charge, but longer flights were undertaken. These demonstrated two things ; first, sea- planes and only seaplanes are likely to prove really suitable here for very often a ground landing is impossible ; next, the engines must be of more than usually high power. At the end of the 1928 season it is asserted that expenses were just cleared. A little indignation was expressed here when it transpired that the company promoting this enterprise was subsidized by the Government of Germany. The merest suggestion of military aspirations in other countries is looked upon with resentment here. It is understood that the German company wishes to resume operations in Iceland next summer.
Naturally enough in Iceland the term " politics " means little other than politico-economics. Probably our pundits would be grieved to find that the most generally accepted of their so-called " laws " simply do not run here. Neither increased competition nor extended supply tends in the main to reduce prices. The general tendency of middle-men and retailers is to advance prices as the turnover of the individual vendor decreases. For the real student of " The Dismal Science " this country offers a fine field for observation of economic phenomena in their early stages. Up to the present no need has arisen for the safeguarding of home industries except in the matter of biscuits and condensed milk. Moreover, import taxes are not adjusted with any apparent consideration of the difference between necessaries and luxuries. Typewriters come in duty free, but the humble lead-pencil must pay something more than fifteen per cent.
Perhaps, however, the most interesting development is found in stabilization of the krona. At par the value is 18.15 to the £ sterling. Since the end of 1924 it has remained practically steady at 22.15 and at this value the kr. is to be stabilized. Since Iceland is far from being a bankrupt nation this may seem like a dishonourable evasion. It is nothing of the kind, however, for all Icelandic indebtedness in foreign countries is discharged in the currencies of those countries. The actual value of the kr. is essentially the affair of the Icelanders, only a very few of whom can find any fault with the coming change. Those few are, of course, persons who have lent money to their fellow-countrymen and hoped to reap the advantage of repayment in more valuable kronur.
Of recent social development in Iceland there is little to be said. Some months since an effort was made to introduce dancing around tables in restaurants. The good sense of the Icelanders was quick to resent the innovation. Still, however, the promoters of the scheme would not own themselves beaten ; and it became for a time the custom to set apart a space at one end of the room forthe accommodation of those persons who really need corybantic exercise every few minutes. Even this modification, however, failed to ensnare popular taste.
The sun is setting. What a sky ! Usual enough here, yet still an abiding marvel after some ' residence ! The blue of the cuckoo's egg, salmon , orange and yellow. Iceland must be lived in to be known.—I am, Sir, &c., YOUR CORRESPONDENT IN ICELAND.
Previous page
