Heimskringla - 08.08.1928, Blaðsíða 2

2. BLAÐSÍÐA
HEIMSKRINGLA
WINNIPEG 8. ÁGÚST 1928.
OH
f
AT THE CROSSING

Alone a weary watch I kept,
One winter night, while others slept,
When Death into my chamber crept
And coyly ’round me puttered.
“All hail to thee, my hoary friend,” I muttered.
My heart, to the a-calling, cries:
O can’st thou show these weary eyes
What hope beyond the harbor lies,
And what there is to dying;
And whether preachers really live on lying?
I have longed to live and see
What lies within Eternity,
Beyond the mist that far and free,
Confuses mind and story —
A land of faith that promise paves with glory.
In the grass will glitter then
The golden tablets that we, men,
Had carved to tell the tale again:
A tale of years departed —
A tale of joys and sorrows since we started.
As thro the reeký room he pries
The Reaper trains his ghostly eyes
And says: “My friend, the fates advice,
Thy flame of life will hover
Until the dawn shall drive the stars to cover.”
But re-aWakened wilt thou see
The wonders of the life-to-be.
A drowsy faint now falls on thee.
How favored is the number
Of those who, weary, in my arms may slumber.
P. B.
■9 but, the great truth, so well express-
| ed by the astute Nial, that under
2 laws shall a nation live and prosper,
f under lawlessness, perish. With-
(out precedent or guide, save their
customs and their instinct and shrewd
É sense, they set up a system-of gov-
l j ernment and laws admirably suited
I to the temper, needs and
of their nation.
is common to all people of Norse
origin and manifests itself whereev-
er they have settled and taken root,
is their strong sense of nationality.
It is noteworthy because in this age
one hears so many prate of internat-
ionalism, as if it were a condition
precedent to world wide good will
purposes anci peace and the forerunner of the
| r.iillennium. National feeling has
loften led to strife and even bloodshed
, wihen misdjrected but it has also been
Their constitution was practical
and its nature so elastic as to read-
ily lend itself to such adjustments |'the m°St Poweríul factor in the ad
►<o
Mrnni Canada
Ræða flutt á Islendingadaginn
Winnipeg, 1928, af Col.
H. M. Hannesson.
Two years hence the Icelandic
people will commemorate at Thing-
vellir, the establishment of a free
Parliament 1000 years ago. Cen-
turies before the “Mother of Parlia-
ment,” had even attained the stage
of effectively voicing grieveances,
the Althing was exercising para-
mount jurisdiction in matters of
law-making, administration and law
enforcement. The rights so posess-
ed and exercised were, it is true,
surrendered in 1271 to the King of
Norway, but the Althing has already
recovered most of its pristine author-
ity and may we not hope that by
1930 the last vestiges of alien suz-
erainty will have ’disappeared and
the Althing then meet the assembled
people clothed with supreme power
and in unhampe.ped control of the
nation’s destiny.
Many here present will attend the
millennial jubilee but every nlan of
Icelandic origin, wheresoever he may
be, will then join in rejoicing and
know a thrill of pride that he comes
of a race that throughout its hist-
ory has fearlessly and steadfastly
upheld the cause of personal free-
dom, government by the people and
the maintenance of law and order.
It is our right and privilege to re-
member this when we, who have ac-
quired a new nationality, gather as
we do today, imbued with a complete
loyalty to the nation of our adopt-
ion, yet answering to that comon
bond of origin and the ties of affec-
tion w« feel to the old Mother who
gave us life and such mental and
spiritual endowments as we posess.
It is, indeed, because we have come
prepared, willing and able to give as
well as to ,receive, that we konw
ourselves to be an integral part of
tfhis Canadian nation, enjoying, as
of right, equality in the privileges
og citizenship, and bearing, as of
duty, the incident burdens and re-
sponsibilities. And it is lest we
racial endowments that we bring
them to mind at our annual gather-
ing seeking, anew, inspiration þow
best we may give of them for the
enduring benefit of our _new nation.
It is true that, basically, we are of
the great Norse Race that for such
long years held the world at ran-
som and has since played so signifi-
cant a part in the advancement of
civílization. O.f truth, we owe to
that origin many of the finest char-
asteristics to which we may lap
claim. But we may also remem-
ber, that by reason of differences,
the Icelandic people separated from
the parent stock and developed insti-
tutions and characteristics distinct-
ively their own. Though the con-
solidation of the petty kingdoms of
Norway and the concentration of auth
ority may have been a necessary, an
inevitable, step in the progress of
the nation, it is their sturdy individ-
ualism and independence, that urge
in the blood to resist thé impositions
by force of overlordship, that caused
many of her noblest sons to migrate
from the land of their fathers,
“where no free man could live.”
They turned the prows of their ships
into the unknown wastes of the Nor-
thern seas. They were the first of
the deep sea sailors and their ports
lay beyond the ends of the earth.
They were sons of the “true North,
strong and free,” and their hearts
guided them home.
Ingolf is said to haven “taken’’
land in 874 but few followed immed-
iately. It was not until Harold
had defeated the last of the resisting
element at Hafurfjord, and harried
in their homes those who had estab-
lished themselves in the Western
Isles, that the great flow of migration
to Iceland took place. It took some
sixty vears for the habitable parts
of the Island to be taken and settled.
Though chaotic conditions prevailed
during the high tide of the move
ment, by 930 the Constitution of UI-
fljot had been adopted and Hrafn
chosen as the Speaker of the Law.
Pirates though they have been call-
ed, our forefathers were a legally mind-
ed and law abiding people,so the gov-
ernance and law were their own de
vising. They have always under-
forget the duty to contribute of our stood, not only the value of freedom
and emendations as the changing
conditions of life might make nec-
essary. It may with oonfidence be
asserted that it would have contin-
ued in healthv operation and growth
to this day, had it not been for the
interference of the church and the
intrigues of the kings of Norway.
It embodied all the elements, of e-
quality, 'freedom and control by the
people, that democracy strives for.
That same genius for governance
that race has displayed wherever it
has dwelt. To illustrate, we have
only to recall h'ow our first settlers
at Gimli set up a local government
in the unorganized territory of Kee-
watin that y<as sufficient to thjbir
needs and required no fundamental
changes when the colony became part
of the organized area of the prov-
ince.
The laws of the public were based
on the ancient customs of the race.
Every free man belonged to some
Godord but, in general, could att-
ách himself to another at discretion.
The Godi \vas a leader in a union
for mutual protection. In the
Thing he was the spokesman, named
the representative on the bench of
Judges and upheld the rights of his
followers. But all citizens were
free and equal in the eyes of the
!aw. Every freeman could own
land and his title was allodial, with
the right to make disposition there-
of as he might see fit, effective dur-
ing his lifetime or after his decease.
He had the right to open trial by his
peers acording to the law of the
land as declared or defined from
time to time by the Speakers of the
Law at the open couft of the Lög-
berg. No change in the law was
effective until approved by the Al-
thing and proclaimed by the Speaker.
Theirs was no code or stereotyped
bocfk law, but a living, growing
thing. Resting on the bedrock of
well organized customs, proven
through experience, and certain
fundamental principles, that law
grew to meet changing conditions as
they arose, primarily by means of
the interpretation thereof by the
Speaker, and only where absolutely
necessary, by legislative amendment.
It is a remarkable thing how mitch
we find in the spirit and matter an-
alogous to the common law of Eng-
land. But whereas the two are in
a class by themselves, when con-
sidered with the laws of all other
r.ations, for whom apparently an
exact and written code seems ess-
ential, there is this to remember,
that the Common Law of Englanfl
is the creation of the Norman law-
yers who . eliminated nearly every
trace of the ancient Saxon law,
while the law of the Icelandfc Re-
public preserved and continued the
ancient laws and customs that were
common to the Teutonic race. He
who would find them must seek in
the treasure house of Iceland. As
stated, legislative amendment was
used but sparingly and only to en-
sure the proper functioning of the
State. The rights of the individ
ual were not lightly regarfled. This
was not merely owing to the primi-
tive conditions; the modern means
for legislation and compulsory re-
formation was foreign to the nature
of our forefathers. May it not be
a part of the mission of the Icelandic
element in this nation, while uphold-
ing the constitution and law and
order, to combat this theory of a
divine ríght vested in the majority
and restore somewhat of the rights
of the individual and the minority?
vancement of civilization. It pro
motes unified effort,, making the
individual forget himself in the ser-
vice of a larger cause; it gives a
sense of power and purpose, opens
to the eye of the im-
agination visions of beauty,
splendour and glory, and drives man
1 to the fulfillment of the divine pur-
pose for which the nation exists.
With it nations wax in power and
culture; without it they thrive but
as the beasts. Wherever in the hist
ory pf the nations national feeling
future lies in the development of the
north country. The lure of the fat
and wealthy land to the south draws
the eyes of the young and ambitious
only because they have not been dir-
ected to the north and their spirit
of adventure stirred to rolling the
map northward. Who should be
better fitted to show the way, to
spur to venture than the sons of the
farthest settled north, the sons of
those who first ventured into the
unknown seas of the north, of the
blood of Leif and Thorfinn who
first discovered this land, and of
Snorri, the first white man born in
it?
making in this well endowed land a
great nation, great in its manhood,.
in its purpose and in its accomplish-
ments, and in that making they saw
their sons playing their part.
And have those visions been trans-
lated into reality ? Great material
progress has been made, but what of
the nation-building ?
We, as Canadians, must remember
that this great land was handed over
to us in trust by the great British
Empire, of which we are and will
continue, a part. Our institutions,
all moulded and formed, are Brit-
ish; the traditions and culture of
that great people are part of the
national heritage. Part of the great
British Empire we belong to a league
of nations, that will endure, because
And it is a privilege as well as a
duty. To no land has a richer
heritage been given than to Canada.
Its natural wealth almost passes
comprehension. It is a land cap- its intangible but unbreakable ties
able of not only supplying its own are woven of affection and under-
every need, but posessing surpluses standing and common purpose; a
of many things of which the rest of league, that with our help, wilí
the world has become denuded. But do more to further the cause of
it is wealth to be won only by enter- good will and peace throughout the
has run strong and high, the splend- pr;se and energy and toil. And are world than any league that lacks
our of national accomplishment has not those qualities of the essence of such sanctions. To those institut-
been igreatest. Recall but the Ath-| our raciai makeup. Of the energy ions, traditions and culture, we, who
ens of Pericles; the England of ancl enterprise mention has been are of Icelandic brigin, naturally
Elizaljeth and the golden age of Ice-; macie_ And where shall we find respond* for they have been our own-
land that began and ended with the people who so fully recognized the ! for a thousand years. And because
Republic. Nationalism arises from clignity of honest labor. Our the era of emigration from Iceland is
a love of home, it is a growth of the Sa.gas of the great chieftains show [ over, our days of settlement past,
soil, nourished by the native air. Yes, how they dignified labor and Iabor ! we can look dispassionately and with
wherever they have settled and taken them. Gunnar of Lithend sowed understanding at the difficulties
root, the Norse race has stirred or his 0wn corn and Glum, brother of that must be met in the making of
created national sentiment. Erbm a Speaker of the Law rounded up this Canadian nation.
the birth of the Icelandic Republic his own sheep and Gísli Súrsson
its people were staunchly, almost hnew well his foreman’s house, be-
fiiercely and arrogantly
It was the Norseman element
France that remained after the con-
quest of England that led the way,
that consolidated the people and cre-
And first we must guard against
Icelandic. 1 cause he had lent his hands to the imPatience- Canac>a can afford to
ln (building of it when they
friends.
wait. It is better to build well than
Farmers and builders and <luickly if the structnre is to endure-
And in no respect should greater
navigators were they as well as
warriors. Assuredly we can give
care be taken than in the selection
ated the great French nation. It to this nation in the development of of the materialsi 9uality teíore quan-
was a branch of that same Norman jts rjches. úty, aiways- Why this great cry
race that gave Sicily national life
and made it for generations the
centre of civilization. In our
neigbboring republic the men of the ^ B is the quality and gifts and spir-
same stock are the most ardent nat- |it; ot its people. Many are too
ionalists in the land. It is in the Pk£>ne t0 stress the desirability of
very nature, the essence of the spir- quick and easy prosperity and over-
it of the race. They are nation lo°k the fact on the future of the
builders. nation. And yet our fathers, who
emigrated to this land, sought not
And so I say,we who have chosen to ,, . , ,, ,, .
. their own profit, but rather the wel-
make our homes in this land, to form , , ,, . ,
’ _ fare of their descendants, for the ín-
part of this nation, a nation still in1 , , ., ,, .,
v creased opportumty, the wider scope
the making, have not come unfitted , ,, ,, . •
& and growth this new nation prom-
f<or immigration Our neighbor-
But it is not material wealth that ing Republic has proven the falsity
makes a nation or makes it great. of the theory of the ‘melting pot.”
Our basic stock is sound and unassi-
milable elements will not better it.
or wholly unprepared for our part.
It is not of blind chance that the
•
choice has been made, bbut follow-
ing an instinct that runs true. We
have come to a land to whose consti-
tution and laws our hearts respond,
whose aspirations we understand and
can share. We have come to a
land where the basic stocks are of
our kin. In Northu’mberland and
Scotland and Ireland our ancestors
dwelt for many generations. Gud-
brandur Vigfusson, our great schol-
ar, estimates that fullv three-fourths
of the settlers of Iceland had a
strong admixture of British blood.
Even the French of Canada have,
in a large measure, a strain of the
Norman. We, blood brothers to
our co-workers, we of the race of
nation btiilders, have come to join
in this nation building venture and it
behooves us to do our share. This
is moreover a northern land, and its
ised to tTieir sons. Canada was
not thought of as a tenting place for
the night on the road to a promised
land. It was here they thought to
find it, and their judgement was
sound. They shared their. visions
of the Fathers of Confederation, of
And while we work for alien immi-
gration, we disregard the emigrat-
ion of our trained and educated
young men, our own kin, in blood
and mind. Is it so, that nations
are made? Is it not largely be-
cause we have not yet acquired a
sotind national spirit, a national
consciousness and feeling that we-
lose so many of the best of our
people, a lack that has given us ari'
“inferiority complex’”? Here ini
this land is every opportunity, every
reward for him who will strive and
endure. The far fields are not as
fair as they seem, but we aid the ill-
•v-
SKIFTID
YÐAR FORNFÁLEGU HÚSGöGNUM
Skiftið óþörfum og úr sér gengnum húsbúnaði upp í
nýjan. Símið eftir matsmanni vorum. Páið hæsta verð
fyrir. Þér getið látið gömlu húsgögnin ganga upp í
þau nýju.
ViSskiftatími
8:30 a.Ki.
til 6 p.m.
Laugardögum
opið til
kl. 10 p.m.
SÍMI 86 667
J.A.Banfield
LIMITED
492 Main Street-
Húsgögn
tekin í
skiftum seld í
sérstakri deild
með góðum
kjörum.
Another characberistic of our people
that shou’d be reca’led because it
EIGIÐ ÞÉR VINI A GAMLA LANDINU
ER VILJA KOMA.ST TIL CANADA?
FARBRÉF
FRAM OG
AFTUR TIL
allra staða
í veröldinni
SJE SVO, og langi yður til þess að hjálpa þeím
hingað til lands, þá komið að finna oss. Vér
önnumst allar nauðsynlegar fraimkvæmdir.
ALLOWAY & CHAMPION, Rail Agents
UMBOÐSMENN ALLRA FARSKIPAFJELAGÁ
667 MAIN STRBET, WINNIPEG SÍMI 26 S61
E»a hver iimhoftMiun ÍSur CANADIAN NATIONAL »em er.
TEKIÐ Á MÓTI FARÞEGUM VIÐ LANDGÖNGU OG Á LEIÐ TIL ÁFANGASTAÐAR