The Washington critic., 1888-03-24
THE RIGHT CEbEnRArfoN.u
Shall II he in Honorof Christopher Col
umbus or Left Erikson

umbus or Left Erikson?
EmTon CRITIc One who has devoted
nearly twenty years to the investigation
of an historical question the gravest inn
portance, and whose statements on the
subject, up to the presenttime, remain un-
refuted either in England or the United
States, is not inclined TO admit that all
this serious research, pursued for very
definite and practical object, is "diverg-
ence into the realms of the unreal, the
sentimental or the unattainable." To
the people of Iceland, still less than TO
me, Is the Just claim OF Left Erikson,
now for the first time pressed In
earnest, such o divergence And TO the
other Scandinavian lands, Sweden,
Norway and Denmark, as well rs the
SCandinaviansl our own country, these
are realms of the real, the historic and
the fully attalnabe, provided the Gov
ernment of the United States is willing TO
accept historical facts and do Justice.
At the close of my lecture on The Ice
lnndio discovery before the Genealogical
Society, in New York. q distinguished
Danish resident, General Christensen,
said: "There are in the United States to-
day 100000 Seandinavians, and such a
celebration as this" Tiny proposed Viking
one) "would bring great and lasting JOY
TO an earnest people who have for so many
years been kept out of their due place in
history by the boyootting influences Of Q
powerful and unscrupulous church"
The entire scandinavian. press of this
country have taken up the matter most
vigorously A few extracts from the
abundant editorials will show American
readers that ] am not stepping perilously
and alone into the realms of the unreal,
the sentimental and the unattanable."
But before | give the views of Swedes,
Norwegians and Icelanders on this sub
iect of such moment to them, will Just
mention that the very first thing / was
told when / came to Washington was
that "there would be no Columbus Cele-
bration," and this was told me again u
few days ago.
Scdndiadrid, Swedish paper published
in Worcester, Mass, on February 10 con-
tancd stirring appeal "The time is at
hand when the sons of Scandinavia can
secure themselves importance here in
the land and confirm the achievements of
their forciathers as well rs honor their
memory. Rome is exerting all possible
pressure to, within four years attach the
glory ilrevocably to itself with the de-
mand that a statue shall be raised to Co
lumbus and n grand celebration be held
in his honor. Rome knows the way that
leads to the future and its skillful diplo-
mats have closely calculated the gain of
the undertaking. As yet the Church of
Rome has not taken a step which has not
been calculated to be followed by several.
We Scandinavians have before broken q
lance with this powerand gone victorious
from the strife. Why not try once more2
Let the united voices of the sons
of Scandinavia be heard strongly and
plainly. Let us go in alliance with the
Americans who have already given their
support to the undertaking. Let some
hundreds of thousands of our voices
stand behind Ex-Governor Long when he
lays before Congress a just demand and
let us, to his words, say yes and amen
that shall be heard all over the United
States"
Heimskyingla, one of the two Icelandic
papers published in Winnipeg, Manitoba
has, on February %, an editorial of
nearly three columns on my work before
Congress. In the January 8 issue, the
New Years polyglot number, there is on
the English page an abstract of Icelandic
history, which shows the place accorded
there to facts which can still, in the nine
teenth century, he styled unreal, senti-
mental and unattainable" in the pro-
gressive United States. "The colonists or
1celanders, as they were now called es-
tablished a republic, the first in Northern
Europe. Sailing westward, they dis
covered Greenland in 974 and colonized it,
and few years later, at the close of the
tenth century, in 0S7, and the following
years, or nearly 500 years before Colum-
bus, Leifur Eyriksson and others dis
covered America, which they called
Vinland it CODA, or Wineland, tho Beauti-
full. Lately this fact has been recognized
by the Americans"
a private letter have lately received
from an Icelandic gentleman, John ii.
Frost, residing in Nfinneota, Minn., well
deserves to be made public. Written in
admirable English, it is one proof more
that the Icelanders are excellent linguists
which has enabled them to know not only
their own history but that Of every other
nation:
"DEAR MADAME: Your highly-esteemed
favor of the 9th instant did not reach me
until the Goth; since then inclement
| weather has prevented all mail communi.
| cation with the rest of the world and
| hindered me in obtaining signatures TO
| the Memorial. Hence this delay in re-
| turning same. Nevertheless / am conf
| dent that American devotion TO fair play
| will assert itself in due consideration OF
our just claims by the Congress of the
| United States, and feel justified in say
| ing that your heroic endeavors for the
universal recognition of this historical
truth are duly appreciated by every true
| lcelander, whether he is a citizen Of Vim.
land or Gardarsey, May success crown
| your noble efforts"
Thus no longer stand alone, and mine
| is no feeble individual utterance.
| r., A