New-York tribune., 1907-08-18
ICELAND A REPUBLIC.
Islanders MoUing Tozcard RESTORE
ton of Former Government.

Though Iceland lies out of the beaten track
of the American tourist and is seldom heard of
in the daily press and periodical literature oi
the United States yet it is an island that pos
sesses many interesting associations with this
country 1t is from Iceland that came the first
European discoverers of America, who a thou
sand wears ago had their prosperous settle
rnents all along the New England coast. as far
south as Long Island. 1t TO Iceland that
Columbus went for information about the New
World before starting off on the first Of his
epoch making voyages across the Atlantic. He
is known to have spent several months in the
great Thingore monastery, delving among the
old manuscript Sagas for data concerning the
tenth century Icelandic colony of Ninand. on
the Massachusetts, coast and it was the knowl-
edge thus obtained that emboldened him 10
sail later on for the Western Hemisphere Ice
land has furnished both 70 the United States
and Canada some of their most industrious
and useful immigrants. and it now appeals to
the sympathy of republican America In It's aspi-
rations toward the restoration Of that rcpu6-
lican government under which it nourished III
the days of its greatest prosperity. prior 10 the
unpopular domination OF Denmark.
Iceland's grievance against Denmark. like that
of Ireland against England. is Of an economic
rather than political origin. So long the Ice
landers were free 10 trade with whom they
listed their island fiourished. They carried on
an extensive trade with Great EYitain and Ger
many and il was in Il large measure owing To
its prosperity and TO it's unrestricted inter
course with foreign nations that In pre-Refor
nation times ii was centre Of much culture
and learning. as Is shown by its beautiful
medieval literature. which exists to this day.
and which is of such priceless value to stu
dents When Denmark established her hold
upon Iceland she pledged herself to maintain
unimpaired the advantages of autonomy and
of unhalnpered foreign trade until then enjoyed
by the island. But as has been often the
case with other countries she failed to fulfil
her promises, and gradually filched every yes
tige Of that commercial Independence which had
been guaranteed to the island by the treaty Of
union She put n stop TO all Iceland's thriving
, trade with the Hanse cities and especially with
Great Britain, converting it into a Danish
MONOPOLY run for the benefit of Danish, and no5
Icelandic purses. and, not content with this.
subjected the people to onerous taxation, with
out comforting upon them any corresponding
benefits Under the circumstances It is not
astonishing that industry and commerce should
have been reduced to such extent that the
people lost most of their interest in life. Fam
ines sheep and cattle diseases and epdemics
of various kinds devastated the island through
out the eighteenth century the inhabitants be-
| coming so discoura Sed that they made little
| or no efforts to defend themselves from the
ravages of these visitations, and to such a con-
dition of destitution and OF misery was the
island reduced by the beginning OF the nine
teenth century. that it seriously proposed
| to remove the surviving remnant of the popula-
/ ton to the mainland. i'm order to preserve II
. from extinction through starvation.