The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-11-14
IcELAND'S GLOOMY OUTLOOK


l -
u tho subject a special report; and an
interesting little report Il 10. thnugh a
somewhat dismal one. for misfcrtunes have
been rife In the island Of late. Al the
oes. OF times the lcelanders have hard
night to mako both ends meet; for. II ever
there was God forsaken land. It is theirs.
Nothing Will grow there but gnsses, and
they are none Of the best You may 20
through the islsnd from end to end with
out seeing q single tree. To try 10 culti-
vate wheat or barley would be sheer
waste Of time; why. even what rye Is
needed must be brought from over the seas
Nor are there any rich mines TO ccmpen-
sate the natives for the poorness OF their
soil. All the coal they burn must be i'm
ported; the petroleum. too, and even the
SAT- wherwith to preserve their fish. The
only thing the land yields them is rough
grass, and even this was for the most part
lest last year, Tor Just VIXEN the hay har-
vest was ready for loading there came a
series OF earthquakes. For whole fort
night the Island trembled and shook. and
nehriy Thousand buildings were wrecked.
win their cottages all tumbling about
their heads the people, naturally enough
paid but little attention to their crops. and
tae consequence was that, when the earth
settled dawn to rest again. most OF the
hay was spoiled.
large percentage OF the population have
made their living for the last twenty years
by rearing sheep for the English market.
Some times they have sent as many as
IN ell it, ~
and have received in return some $3.50 .0oo
Now In that part OF the world, 1t must
be remembered s25O.O0O is regarded as a
huge sum OF money; it represents, indeed,
the value Of about one seventh of every
thing the island exports IN a year. Little
wonder, therefore. there was CONSERVATION
throughout the island. when It became
known, last year, that the British home
ofhoe had decided to prohibit the entrance
OF live sheep into England. The result of
this decree will be to reduce hundreds OF
small lcelandic farmers from comparatively
easy circumstances TO poverty They are
left with their sheep on their hands. for
they have no arrangements for transport
ing them dead, and new markets can not
be round at moments notice.
The loss OF the sheep trade is. however,
but small misfortune compared with an
other with which the Icelanders are now
threatened Their one real source of wealth
the only commodity they have on which
they can count to provide them with the
means wherewith to pay their way in the
world. has hitherto been fish Sixty-two
Fer cent OF the average value of the ex-
ports OF Iceland is the product of the fish
cries. 1t Is said In the report. Fishing
and the sailing, drying and packing OF
fish, indeed, is the chief work to which the
InnlanhprS th1r, nl.ta.
They send large cod to Spain, small cod
TO Italy. behring's to Norway and cod,
place, paddock and hulbut TO England
for. until within quite recent days, they
have had practically n monopoly of the
finest fisheries in the world. But, unluckily
for them. this state Of things is now chang
ing. Foreign smacks have begun to hover
around the shores OF Iceland and, what
is still worse, foreign trawlers-Britsh for
the most purt--haye taken up their station
there Last year FAKE bay, the best fishery
district CT all. was thronged with them
This threatens to be very serious mat
ter as the fishing banks of FAKE bay are
too limited to afford room for both the
boat fishers and the trawlers and the
former 1celanders fish in small boats
by means of hand lines, long lines and
nets" being weaker, must yield" When
trawlers ere constantly steaming back and
forward, dragging their travis over the
limited area OF the fishing banks. 1t is
inI Ctsible for the native fishers to set
their lines or nets on these banks without
exlcsipg them to the inevitable fate OF
teing caught and torn away by the travis
Trawlers and net-and-line fishermen can
not work alongside each other, and as the
nf fhp feel ha,, IL
bay lie outside the three. mile limit. ii is
impossible for the native fishermen to con-
hre themselves within territorial waters
which the trawlers may not enter.
To do so would be the same thing as
to abandon fishing entirely, and this would
involve their utter ruin and the depopua-
ton OF the district Thus look which way
they will, these luckless people see moth
tng but misfortune before them.
The lcelanders certainly merit better
treatment than they receive from the fates !,
for they are frugal. hard working race,
who strive lard to walk in the narrow
path and do their duty TO their neighbors
They are eminently law abiding. There arc
only two policemen in the whole country.
and Of these the one Is too old and DELI
cate to be able to go out in bad weather,
while the other finds time in which to
write novels, Their procedure for dealing
with criminals Is quaint to say the least
OF It, Supposing man is to be arrested.
instead Of sending some one to arrest him.
Iceland magistrates dispatch little note
calling upon him TO deliver himself up TO
them at the prison door By given date.
And, oddly enough, the man. as a rule,
obeys the summons, although sometimes.
instead of doing so, he writes--or sends
messenger--to explain that he really can
not go to prison just then, as he has other
work on hand, In this case, unless his
crime be OF an unusually startling nature.
an arrangement is entered into between the
magistrate and himself by which he is al
lowed to go into seclusion at the time that
suits him best.
The Icelandeis pride themselves, and with
reason. on the humanity with which they
treat the poor They never send their old
pauper folk-excepting the bed-ridden and
the insane--into work houses or institutions
Of any kind. but they receive them into
their own homes as visitors. Once a year
the authorities draw UT a list OF the in
habtan,s who are wealthy enough to con-
trihufa tn the stIpDorf Of the moor. then in