Heimskringla - 29.10.1930, Side 5

WINNIPEG 29. OKTÓBER, 1930.
HEIMSKRINGLA
5 BLAÐSIÐA
tion of Western Icelanders in the
great celebration in Iceland this
summer and the preparations mado
in connection with such participation,
least of all with my father, whose
kmdness to me in the past and whose
labours for my welfare I shall never
be able to repay.
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It has seemed to me, however, that
there has been a good deal of mis-
understanding as to the part I have
Played in connectiDn with the cele-
bration and particularly with Cana-
da s official representation at the
celebration, and in fairness to myself
and to my friends I set out the fol
lowing facts.
When the question of accepting
tke invitation of Iceland to Canada
to participate in the celebration came
UP for consideration the Prime Min-
ister, the Rt. Hon. W. L. Mackenzie
K*ng was kind enough to tell me that
I would be one of the persons whom
the Government would send to Ice-
land to represent Canada at tíe cele-
bration, an honor which I would very
gladly have accepted if it had been
Possible for me to do so. It was also
considered that a Minister of the
Crown should also go as the other
Canadian representative and at the
request »f the members of "Heim-
fararnefnd” I urged the Prime Min-
ister that he should go himself or
that if he could not go, he should
send the Hon. E. Lapointe, the Mins
Ister of Justice. who was the second
kighest in rank of the Cabihet Min-
isters or the Hon. Raoul Dandurand
who was the leader of the Govem-
ment in the Senate, so that both
houses of Parliament could be re-
Presented. The Prime Minister was
exceedingly sympathetic to this re-
quest and I am sure it would have
been granted if the Electiori had not
Intervened. When the Elections
Were decided upon, however, these
Plans had to be abandoned and the
I’rime Minister informed me that, of
course, under the circxmstances no
rnember of the Government and no
hiember of the party could be sent,
the date of the Elections should
Þ® such that they could not come
hack in time to conduct their cam-
Paigns and attend to their political
duties in that regard.
Heimskringla says: “Hitt mun
vera satt, að einhver, sem í blaðifi
ritaði undir fullu nafni, mun hafa
vikið að því, hversu lítil þjóðrækni
iýsti sér i þvi hjá hr. Thorson fyrst
hann fór á annað borð að skifta sér
uf þessu máli og gat haft áhrif á
Það, að hann skyldi eigi sjá svo til,
að einhverjir hátt settir stjórnarherr
ar væru sendir frá þessu landi, svo
sem aðrar þjóðir, sem minni við-
skifti höfðu við Island, létu sér sæma
að gera og töldu kurteisi i.”
1 can hardly believe that Heims-
kringia would have made these re-
hrarks had it been aware of the a-
bove facts.
Heimskringla also says of me: “Og
hann þá ekki einu sinni heimboð til
Islands.”
It surely requires no argument on
hry part that I would gladly have
Sone to Iceland as one of Canada’s
cepresentatives if I had been able to
'to so. I had been looking forward
to the event with great pleasure. My
riuties, both to my constituency and
to the party of which I was á mem-
Þer, intervened and my own personal
desires had to give way to my public
duties . Surely this statement will
finaily dispose of that particular
charge against me.
It was then necessary for the Go-
vernment to name representatives in
place of a Minister of the Crown and
myself. Many suggestions were
made, both to me and to other mem-
bers of Parliament and to several
Ministers of the Crown. The session
was> rapidly drawing to a close and
it was necessary to act quickly. The
name of Dr. B. J. Brandson was a-
mong the names suggested and I for
one considered him an admirable re-
presentative. If there had been no
controversy, no one would have ques-
tioned the suitability of Dr. Brand-
son as one of our representatives,
and I did not intend that the contro-
versy should influence me in the
least against his appointment. On
the other hand since the controversy
had arisen I wished to be fair to
both sides of it and I did not wish
either side to have the opportunity
of “crowing” over the other as re-
gards any appointments that the Go-
vernment might make. Accordingly
when it appeared likely that neither
nor any minister of the Crown
could go I wired on May 8th, 1930,
to J. J. Bildfell, President, Icelandic
Millenial Celebration Committee, C
P. R. Building, Winnipeg, and in the
latter part of my wire I said, “Un-
likely that any minister or myself
will be able to go as delegates stop
Have yau any suggestions as to al-
ternative delegates. Intend to
make recommendations without re-
gard to recent controversies. Writ
ing you fully Friday ”
At that time while the election
date had not been set it appeared
likely that it would be either Julv
28th or August llth. If it should
be the former it was obvious it would
be impossible for us to go.*
I dictated a letter to Mr. Bildfell
on Friday, May 9th, but did not send
it because I received a telegram from
Mr. Bildfell in reply to mine, dated
May 9th, as follows:
“Hold all matters in abeyance.
Delegate arriving in Ottawa Mondav
morning.”
On Monday morning Mr. Arni Eg-
gertson arrived in Ottawa and I
dealt with him as a representative
of “Heimfararnefnd” to whose Presi-
dent I had wired for suggestions.
There are very few Western Ice-
landers who have interested them-
selves more than Mr. Arni Eggertson
in maintaining contact between
our people in Canada and our people
in Iceland and I consider him emi
nently deserving of appointment as
another representative. The third
person whom I was instrumental in
appointing was Sigtr. Jónasson and
I am proud of having had the oppor-
tunity of having this tribute paid to
him in some slight recognition of his
services in the cause of our people
in Western Canada.
The appointment was discussed
at a meeting of the Manitoba mem-
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bers and Mr. Bancroft, M. P. for Sel-
kirk and I were delegated to make
the recommendations to the govern
ment and on May 16th I wrote to
the Prime Minister íecommcjnding
for appointment as Canada’s repre-
sentatives at the Celebration the
three gentlemen whose names I have
mentioned. These are the facts re-
lating to the appointment of these
gentlemen. The appropriations for
their expenses as delegates of Cana-
da did not pass Parliament until the
last day of the session and they were
formally notified of their appoint-
ment immediately.
Heimskringla accuses me of breach
of faith towards “Heimfararnefnd”
and says further:
“En um leið og hann brást trausti
heimferðarnefndarinnar, sem hann
átti þó sjálfur sæti í, og vá (sic)
þannig aftan að henni, með því að
ganga í lið með svæsnustu fjand-
mönnum hennar, þá brást hann
trausti Þjóðræknisfélagsins, sem bak
við hana stóð, og þeirra maima, sem
íslenzku þjóðerni unna hér í álfu.”
And says also:
“að blaðið gat ekki stutt hann af
þeirri einföldu ástæðu, að hann var
á móti þeim flokki er það fylgdi að
málum, og auk þess hafði hann
reynst heimfaramefnd Þjóðræknis-
félagsins slælega, sem eins og öllum
er kunnugt um, Heimskringla hefir
jafnan fylgt að málum.”
I do not quarrel with Heimskringla
for lack of political support of me in
the recent election campaign in so
far as that lack of support was due
to difference of opinion in matters
of political policy, but it cannot fairly
base its lack of support on the other
ground which it professes.
I have never been a member of
"Þjóðræknisfélag” and fail to see in
what respect I owed any special duty
to/it. When I was asked to become
a member of “Heimfararnefnd” I was
glad to do so in the hope that I might
be of assistance and my association
with its members has been friendly
as far as I was concerned. Although
I had been urged to resign from the
committee I declined to do so for
the reason that I did not consider it
would be fáir to the Committee and
I knew that if I did it would be the
signal for a fresh attack upon them.
I have throughout regretted the con-
troversy and done my utmost to
reconcile the two warring factions
with a view to promoting unity a-
mong our people on the occasion of
this great event in their history. I
see no object to be gained by any
one in reviving the controversy and
to the extent that the two articles
I have referred to tend to such re-
vival I regret their publication. Per-
sonally I have never allowed the
controversy to affect in any way my
personal friendship towards the per-
sons engaged in it, no matter on
what side they were engaged and I
intend to maintain that attitude of
mind whether the controversy re-
vives or not. I have refrained from
engaging in the controversy and I
intend to continue to refrain.
To state that I deserted “heimfar-
arnefnd” and went over to “sjálf-
boðanefnd” or that I went behind the
backs of "heimfararnefnd” is an ab-
surd statement to make when the
above facts are known. As á mem-
ber of Parliament I owed a greater
duty to the community as a whole
than any duty owing by me to any
particular committee, even although
I was a member of such committee.
As a public man I owed the duty of
being fair to both factions and I tried
to discharge that duty fairly by re-
commending the appointment of Dr.
Brandson, an outstanding and dis-
tinguished Western Icelander who
had taken a prominent part on one
side of the controversy and the ap-
pointment of Mr. Eggertson, anoth-
er outstanding Western Icelander,
who had been sent to Ottawa by
“Heimfararnefnd” Itself as its dele-
gate. What could have been fairer
treatment of the two factioVis than
that? If I had recommended ap-
pointments only from among persons
on the same side of the controversy
then indeed I could have been ac-
cused of breach of faith and duty. I
hope this will satisfy all fair minded
men who read this article.
Reference was made both in my
father’s article and the Heimskringla
to the honorary degree of Doctor of
Law which the University of Iceland
conferred upon me. Whether that
great honor was -deserved or not is
not for me to say. All that I can
say is that I value it highly. I am
also quite certain that the controver-
sy had nothing whatever to do with
the awarding of the degree to me.
t
^níí^ouylDott Oímn|iang,
INCORPORATED MAY 1670.
^Govwnorwq^
'•^•Wntuirre ofP'nOU,uly]<^
IKTOHUOSOMS ftAY

DemeraiA-
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)
INCORPORATEO 2” MAY 1670.
To suggest that the stand in the re-
cent controversy whether for or
against monetary aid from the pro-
vincial governments to “Heimfarar-
nefnd” is obviously absurd particul-
arly when it is remembered that both
Dr. B. J. Brandson and Rev. Rognv.
Petursson both received honorary
doctor’s degrees and it can hardly be
considered that these two gentlemen
saw eye to eye with one another in
the recent controversy. Fair minded
men will agree that both deserved
their honors for their scholarly at-
tainments, and for the parts they
have played in enriching the life of
the Icelandic people. Several others
were áionored in a similar manner
who took no part in the controversy
as far as I have been able to learn.
Nor do I intend to argue with the
Heimskringla as to whether I am
guilty of “óþjóðrækni” or not. I know
of no act of mine that has ever
brought any discredit upon the Ice-
landic people and I do know that T
have done my best to so conduct my-
self as to merit the confidence which
my friends and supporters have from
time to time reposed in me. It is not
always those who boast most loudly
of their “þjóðrækni” who best serve
the interest of the race to which they
belong. I hope that I have done
something towards helping to place
our people in Western Canada in thc
present high place which they occupy
jn the esteem of other peoples who
are associated with them in building
up this new country. If I have done
so, I feél amply repaid and can af-
ford to disregard the remarks of
Heimskringla. I have not worn my
heart on my sleeve, but my heart,
I can assure my friends, is in the
right place in so far as the interests
of our people in this country are con-
cerned.
I have only one other comment to
make with regard to the article in
Heimskringla, and it relates to the
gift of Canada to Iceland in comme-
moratoin of the celebration.
Heimskringla says: ‘íFrá gjöf
Canada var jafn hirðuleysislega geng
ið og öllu öðru, er fráfarandi stjórn
í samráði við Thorson og sjálfboða
lagði hendur að”.
I am sure Heimskringla would not
have made that statement if it had
been aware of the facts. I discussed
the question of Canada’s gift to Ice-
land with the Prime Mini.*er on a
number of occasions- I also discus-
sed it with other members of the
government, and with other mem-
bers. I asked for suggestions as to
the form the gift should take both
from members of “heimfararnefnd
and from members of "sjálfboða-
nefnd”. The metnbers of “heimfarár-
nefnd” finally settled upon a scholar-
ship fund scheme and certain mem-
bers of the committee met with the
Prime Minister himself and other
members of the Cabinet to discuss
the scheme with them. I was in fa-
vor of the proposal and did my ut-
most to have it adopted as members
of “heimfararnefnd” know. The
Prime Minister himself was sympa-
thetic towards the idea and submit-
ted it to council for consideration.
The Government after giving it
careful consideration decided that it
could not set up the precedent of
establishing scholarship schemes from
other countries since if such a scheme
was established from one country,
there would be requests made from
other countries. and it would not be
possible to draw any line between
countries. This difficulty had been
made known to me and while I still
had hopes of putting the proposal
through I wished to have some alter-
native proposal ready to submit to
the government in case it could not
see its way clear to accept the schol-
arship scheme. On numerous oc-
casions I requesfed my friends to
make alternative suggestions for
some gift which would fittingly ex
press Canada’s desire to honor thc
Icelandic nation in commemoratior
of the thousandth anniversary of
the establishment of Parliament of
Iceland, I never received any such
alternative suggestion from “Heim-
fararnefnd” although I asked for it
many times. When the governmen*
decided that it could not accept the
scholarship scheme for the reason
that I have indicated, I wired to Mr.
Bildfell as I have ándicated again
asking for an alternative sugges-
tion but none was forthcoming. It
sometimes seemed to me that the
factions were too busy quarreling
with one another to give thought to
the matter The government finallv
decided that the delegates should
discuss the matter in Iceland and
confer with one another on tbeir re-
turn and then make suggestions to
the Government as to the form of
the gift. The failure to agree upon
the form of the gift was certainly
not my fault. At my request the
Prime Minister made a statement on
the flour of the House of Commons
which I am sure will be of interest
to all and I quote it here. I am also
happy to quote the remarks of the
present Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon
R. B. Bennett. These statement were
made on the last day of the session
and appear on pages 3098 and 3099
of Hansard as follows.
““To provide for participation in
the celebration of the l,000th anni-
versary of the founding of the Par-
'iament of Iceland, $6,000.
MR. BENNETT: Why the differ-
ence, $6,000 in this case as against
$2,000 in the other?
MR. MACKENZIE KING: In re-
gard to the celebration of the one-
thousándth anniversary of the found-
ing of the Parliament of Iceland, it
has been thought desirable to have
three delegates attend from Canada
The event is a very important one
in the history of parliamentary ins-
titutions, and it will be an interna-
tional event. The Government had
in mind the presentation to Iceland
of something of a permanent nature
which would be a worthy memorial
of the occasion, and I ^hould like the
House to know that next year, if the
present administration is in office
some proposal along that line will be
made. I hope and feel quite sure
that if some other administration
should be in office, it will be prepared
to make a similar appropriation.
SIR GEORGE PERLEY: When
is the celebration to take place?
MR. MACKENZIE KING: In a
month or two; in June, I think.
MR. BENNETT: Last year I made
some observations in another place on
this historic event, and I think it
highly desirable that Canada should
be represented., Whether three dele-
gates should be sent in view of the
present unemployment condition I
am not prepared to say; but as to
manifesting our interest in an event
of such historic concern to all the
world as the establishment of parlia-
mentary institution a thousand years
ago, I certainly think that perhaps
my hon. friend to my right if he
were in the place the Prime Minister
suggests, would undoubtedly take
care of the matter in the way of giv-
ing some permanent memorial to
Iceland„ and I should regard it as a
privilege and an honor to make a
similar proposal.
Last year I acquired an address
presented by settlers from Iceland
to Sir John A. Macdonald on the oc-
casion of his first visit to Winnipeg
It is written on parchment and is an
impressive story of their own strugg-
les against the conditions they found
in this country and their hopes and
aspirations for their future develop-
ment; and the results attained have
been in keeping very largely with
the expectations they then expre3-
sed.
Item agreed to ”
I was very glad to write Mr. Ben-
nett in appreciation of his remarks.
In view of the facts that I have
mentioned I am sure that Heims-
kringla will withdraw its remarks as
to my carelessness in the matter of
Canada^s gift to Iceland.
I personally hope that the good
sense of our people will prevail to
prevent any revival of the unfortun-
ate controversy that has divided
their ranks and will now unite in th6
effort to make some proposal to the
government that would be a perman-
ent memorial of the esteem in whlch
Canada holds the Icelandic natiou.
I am prepared as I have always beet>
to assist to that end.
One suggestion has been made to
me since my return from Ottawa
which I believe should receive con-
sideration and that is that Canada
might aid Iceland in forestation.
Trees that grow in the northem latl-
tudes of Canada ought to grow in
Iceland. Canada is rich of trees of
that sort and Iceland poor. It would
be a splendid thing for us to know
that part of Canada is in Iceland,
just as part of Iceland is in Canada
I merely throw the idea out as a
suggestion which I believe would be
acceptable. There may be other sug-
gestions. Let us have them.
I am writing this open letter to
the Editors of both Heimskringla
and Logberg with the desire of plac-
ing certain facts before their readers
with relation to myself in order to
clear away misunderstandings.
May I also take this opportunity of
thanking my friends and supporters
during the past four years that I
was a member of Parliament and
during the recent campaign in which
I was defeated, very cordially indeed
for theií friendship and their sup-
port and for the confidence whlch
they reposed in me. I have never ex-
pected political support from my
political opponents but as I have al-
ways endeavored to show fairness
and truthfulness to my political op-
ponents so I expect it from them.
Yours sincerely,
J. T. Thorson.
Kolin á þrotum.
Nauðsyn nýrra orkullnda.
Dr. Herbert Levinstein flutti ný-
lega erindi á ársfundi i félagi efna-
iðnaðarins í Birmingham, þar sem
hann sagði að tímabil olíu og eink-
um kolanotkunarinnar væri senn útt
í heiminum, því helztu kolanámur
heimsins mundi vera eydd&r af næstu
10 til 15 kynslóðum. Nauðsyn þess
að læra að hagnýta nýjar orkulind-
ir yrði því sífellt meira og meira að-
kallandi. Tvenn helztu verkefni
mannsandans væru nú, að læra að
nota loftið, jarðveginn og sólina
sem bezt, til þess að auka fæðu og
hráefni jarðarinnar. Hitt verkefnið
væri það, að minnka mannlegar
þjáningar með því að sigrast á sjúk-
dómum með vaxandi þekkingu &
efnasamsetningi hverrar lifandt
frumu. Hann sagði að það, hvernlg
tekist að nota “nitrogen” loftslns tU
að auka frjósemi jarðarinnar, væri
ein merkasta uppgötvun mannsand-
ans. Sagði hann að í þessa stefnit
mundi meira og meira verða fartð.
að vinna úr efnum loftsins og breyta
þeftn margvíslega; til þess mundi
vatnsaflið fyrst og fremst verða not-
að, fossar og sjávarföll og svo bein
sólarorka.
/