Lögberg - 02.09.1954, Blaðsíða 7

LÖGBERG, FIMMTUDAGINN 2. SEPTEMBER 1954
7
S. A. THORARINSON:
A Toost to Canada
Gimli, August 2nd 1954
Nóg framboð ó vörum innanlands og
almenn velmegun þjóðarinnar órið 1953
Mr. Chairman,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
I wish to thank you, Mr.
Uhairman for the warm and
friendly introduction.
We have, of course, arrived at
the part of the program where
the speeches are prevalent. This
reminds me of an occasion
where two university students
were talking over a banquet
speech at Yale University,
which had been given on the
evening previous. It seems that
after dinner several of the pro-
fessors had spoken long and
fluently on various subjects.
Finally the Dean stood up to
deliver his address and his
subject was a toast to Yale Uni-
versity.
In his speech he decided that
iu order to make it more ef-
fective he would toast each
letter of the alphabet in the
word “Yale.”
He, therefore, first toasted the
letter “Y” and stated it stood
for Youth and spoke on Youth
for 15 minutes.
Next he toasted “A” stating
fhat it stood for Ambition and
spoke on Ambition for 20 min-
utes. By this time the audience
Was obviously becoming a little
restless.
Undaunted he proceeded to
toast “L” the next letter in the
word “Yale,” stating that it stood
for Loyalty. On Loyalty he spoke
for 25 minutes and by this time
the audience was becoming
quite belligerant and had it not
been such an occasion or had
there been any ripe fruit avail-
able it’s hard to say what would
have happened.
When he toasted “E” the last
letter, there was a tremendous
sight of relief as now surely the
speech must be near an end.
However, claiming that “E”
stood for Energy, he lived up to
il and spoke for another half
hour. By this time great
vacancies were clearly marked
around the tables in the audi-
ence.
After the speech was over and
at the table occupied by one of
the university students I men-
tioned, an Icelandic student
ioaned back in his chair and
oasually made the remark, “It’s a
good thing he didn’t toast the
Hniversity of Reykjavík.”
The toast to Canada should be
a solemn occasion. It should be a
tribute given by us to a great
nation within whose vast
'fomain we are indeed fortunate
and proud to exist.
J( At this time, the event of our
“Icelandic National Day” Picnic
we look with pride and thanks-
giving to our forefathers who
Were responsible for choosing
this land in which to settle.
In most instances these fore-
lathers were our mothers and
athers or perhaps grand-
Parents who, burdened down
jvith the difficult times in Ice-
iand, came to Canada with the
°pe that they could make here a
home and a new life out of the
rich but untamed wilderness.
When these Icelanders left
heir homes they understood
at life for them in the new
Jand would be one of toil and
atruggie. Yet all they asked for
Jhemselves was the oppor-
Uriity to live in a free country
'vhere their toil would give their
^hdren an education and a start
Kaupið Lögberg
VIÐLESNESTA
ISLENZKA BLAÐIÐ
in life, something that had been
denied many of them in Iceland.
They worked hard and did not
spare themselves and now we
today, are reaping the reward.
It is with great pride that we
can look back on their courage
and hardship and see the pro-
gress they made during these
few decades since their arrival.
We are also fortunate that there
are still some of these pioneers
left with us, some of whom are
these grand old people seated
here to the right. We wish to
bid them a hearty welcome and
trust that they will be with us
for many years to come. Also
it speaks highly of our country
which has enabled these pion-
eers and ourselves to prosper.
Here there has been abun-
dance and opportunity. Here
there has been a way of life
where our individual rights and
liberties are protected and
cherished. Here there has been
amongst other freedoms, free-
dom of speech, freedom of
religion, freedom of political
views and freedom of enter-
prise.
I can remember as a small boy
coming to these Icelandic Day
Celebrations and unfortunately
listening with a slight degree of
criticism to the then seemingly
flowery praises with which the
speakers talked about Canada.
I must confess I found more
enjoyment in eating “skyr“ and
„rúllupylsa“ or in watching the
sports and very rarely lingered
long at the afternoon festivites.
As a youth one takes all these
things for granted.
Well I do not think that these
speeches were flowery any
more. This country has been
good to our family and it has
been good to me and without
exception I am sure it has been
good to you.
Nature has been most gener-
ous in the giving of gifts to
Canadians. Canada has so much
good soil that her farmers can
raise far more food than is
needed to feed all her citizens;
the surplus helps feed people of
other lands. Canada’s forest
wealth is enormous; of the
world’s newspapers three pages
out of every five are made from
Canadian forest trees. Our
broad belt of northern forests is
one of the few remaining sources
of firs. Canadian fishermen
catch far more fish than is
needed. From Canadian mines
comes nearly every kind of
mineral product, including oil
and natural gas, which brings
prosperity with it wherever it
is found.
And happily for us most
Canadians have begun to think a
great deal about conservation.
By Government regulations and
advice, through the research of
our scientists and because of
broader education, our citizens
are beginning to co-operate with
nature. Thus through the wise
use of resources we can expect
to continue to reap bountiful
harvests from our waters, woods
and topsoil for the years to come.
Even our mineral resources are
virtually untapped and appear
to be greater than was thought a
decade ago.
Not only are we learning to
cooperate with nature but we
are learning to cooperate with
our fellowmen. No one can pro-
vide everything for himself as
did some of the early pioneers,
each has come to work more and
more for others and less and less
for himself. We enjoy a better
living now with less effort
mainly because we have learned
to specialize, each in his own
kind of work. Because of this
cooperation and because we
have learned to put to work the
forces of nature for our benefit
we can rightly look forward to
even better living for more
Canadians in the future.
Shortly after I was invited to
propose this toast I read an
article in “Canada at Work” a
book published by Wilfred
Eggleston, in which he refers to
a message recently delivered by
H. H. Rogge, President of Can-
adian Westinghouse Company,
and I quote:
“It is the people, not just the
rocks, minerals, factories and
money that make a country
great.” And he added, “It is
something special about these
people, too, very often a sort of
special Faith in the future of
their country, and a willingness
to trust in it and to work for it
that makes a country great.
“The other day,” pursued Mr.
Rogge, “ some one showed me a
clipping from an old magazine
that illustrates the importance
of this sort of Faith—and the
miscalculations that can result
when it is lacking. It was a
clipping from an article that ap-
peared in 1881, in an English
magazine called “Truth.” This
magazine published most of the
leading financial articles of the
time. On that day, the Editor of
“Truth” wrote as follows:
“The Canadian Pacific Rail-
way has begun I see, to launch
a bond issue. It will run, if it is
ever finished, through a country
frost bound for seven or eight
months in the year, and will
connect with the Western part
of the Dominion, a province
which embraces about as fore-
bidding a country as any on the
face of the earth—British
Columbia is a barren, cold
mountain country, that is not
worth keeping—Fifty railroads
would not galvanise it into
prosperity.
“A friend of mine told me, and
he knew what he was talking
about—that he did not belive
the much talked about Manitoba
Settlement would hold out for
many years. The people that
have gone there cannot stand the
coldness of the winters.—“
He further added, that “While
the money is being spent all
will go well enough perhaps,
but in the end the Dominion will
have to go into liquidation. One
of these days when the load
gets too heavy, Ontario is pretty
certain to go over to the States
into which it dovetails and
where its best trade outlet is.
When the day comes the Domin-
ion will disappear. The Do-
minion is in short a fraud all
through and is destined to burst
up like any other fraud.”
“Well,” concluded Mr. Rogge,
“that appeared in the magazine
called “Truth” in 1881 and
history has amply proved how
little truth was in it. I have a
feeling that whenever we may
be tempted to doubt the future
of our country today—to see
the obstacles ahead more clearly
than the promise beyond—we
may be making the same kind
of mistake as the writer of that
article—who knew all about the
difficulties but reckoned with-
out the people.”
The period of early struggle
and hardship is now fortunately
over but we are just embarking
on the era of adventure and
opportunity.
In conclusion I should like to
say that the visions, hopes and
dreams of yesteryear stand now
on the threshold of fulfillment.
We whose destiny it is to parti-
cipate in this final fruitful phase
in our development must regard
this opportunity with humility
and thankfulness ever conscious
of the responsibility and trust
which is ours and ever conscious
of the contributions Canada can
and will make to the future of
mankind in the decades to to
Þróun efnahagsmálanna þó ekki
að öllu leyti hagstæð. — Úr
Árbók Landsbanka íslands
IIAGUR íslendinga er mjög
H háður áhrifavöldum, sem þeir
fá sjálfir lítt við ráðið. Afkoma
helztu atvinnuvega fer að miklu
leyti eftir árferði og gjafmildi
náttúrunnar, bæði til lands og
sjávar, en utanríkisviðskiptin
byggjast á hverfulum erlendum
mörkuðum. Árið 1953 bjó að
þessu leyti vel að íslendingum.
Veðrátta var mjög hagstæð
bændum og aflabrögð yfirleitt
sæmileg nema á síldveiðum.
Ýmsir erfiðleikar voru á sölu ís-
lenzkra afurða erlendis, en þó
tókst að lókum að selja mestalla
framleiðsluna fremur hagstæðu
verði. Verðlag útfluttrar vöru
lækkaði um 1% miðað við árið
áður, en innflutningsverðlagið
iækkaði um 8%, og bötnuðu því
viðskiptakjörin allverulega. Auk
andvirðis útfluttrar vöru höfðu
Islendingar til ráðstöfunar all-
mikinn erlendan gjaldeyri vegna
tekna af varnarliðinu á Kefla-
víkurflugvelli og lána, er tekin
voru erlendis. Varð allt þetta til
þess, að innflutningur varð
meiri exy dæmi eru til áður, og
var nóg framboð á vörum innan-
lands og almenn velmegun.
Hér eru tilfærð inngangsorð í
Árbók Landsbanka Islands, um
hagþróunina á árinu 1953, sem
út kom í gær. — Þar segir síðan
orðrétt á þessa leið:
Þróun efnahagsmála þjóðar-
innar var þó ekki að öllu leyti
hagstæð. Mikil þensla var á ár-
inu á peningamarkaðinum.
Rekstrarafgangur ríkissjóðs fór
rnjög fram úr áætlun, en vegna
mikilla útgjalda utan rekstrar-
reiknings varð hann ekki til þess
að hamla verulega á móti þensl-
unni innan lands. Verðlag hélzt
að vísu stöðugt allt árið, en þó
voru þess glögg merki, að dulin
verðbólga var að búa um sig.
Eftirspurn eftir vinnuafli var
orðin svo mikil í árslok, að fyrir-
sjáanlegur var vinnuaflsskortur
í ýmsum greinum útflutnings-
atvinnuveganna. Er það ljóst, að
ný veVðbólguskrúfa, sem á eink-
um rót sína að rekja til varnar-
liðsframkvæmdanna og mikillar
fjárfestingar samfara ónógum
sparnaði, mun ná fastari tökum
á efnahagskerfinu áður langt
líður, ef ekki er spyrnt við fæti.
Fjárfesiingin
Á árinu 1953 var fjárfesting á
íslandi vafalaust allmiklu meiri
en mörg undanfarin ár, en ekki
eru til neinar heildartölur um
hana. Mun fjárfestingin hafa
numið alls um 767 millj. króna.
Hér eru hinar miklu raforku-
framkvæmdir við Sog og Laxá
mikilvægastar, en þeim var báð-
um lokið á árinu 1953, og einnig
bygging áburðarverksmiðju,
sem var að mestu lokið á því ári.
Fjárfestingarleyfi til þessara
framkvæmda námu alls 174
millj. króna á árinu 1953.
Húsbyggingar fóru vaxandi á
árinu. Rúmmál nýbygginga í
Reykjavík jókst um 70% frá ár-
inu áður og tala nýrra íbúða úr
329 í 340. Svipaða sögu er að
segja annars staðar af landinu,
en upplýsingar eru enn ekki
fullkomnar.
Á Keflavígurflugvelli voru
miklar framkvæmdir á vegum
varnarliðsins, sem höfðu sömu
áhrif á hagkerfið og önnur fjár-
festing kostuð af erlendu fé. Á-
hrifin á greiðslujöfnuðinn voru
hagstæð, en hins vegar juku
þessar framkvæmdir mjög
þensluna innan lands og sköp-
uðu mikla eftirspurn eftir vinnu
afli.
Utanríkisviðskipti
Utanríkisviðskipti urðu meiri
á árinu 1953 en nokkru sinni
fyrr. Útflutningur nam 706
millj. kr., en innflutningur 1,111
millj. kr., og var hinn mikli
verzlunarhalli jafnaður með
duldum tekjum.
Sala íslenzkra afurða erlendis
tókst að öllu samanlögðu vel, en
markaðsaðstæður kröfðust all-
mikilla breytinga bæði á verkun
sjávaraflans og skiptingu við-
skipta íslendinga á lönd. Vegna
lóndunarbannsins í Bretlandi
var ísfiskmarkaðurinn lokaður
mestan hluta ársins. Einnig varð
nokkur samdráttur á útflutningi
saltfisks vegna sölutregðu, eink-
um fyrra hluta árs. Hér varð
það til bjargar, að góðir markað-
ir unnust fyrir skreið, og var
verð á henni mjög hagstætt
fram um mitt ár, en eftir það
gætti nokkurra söluerfiðleika.
Er hér um nýja markaði að
ræða, sem vænta má góðs af í
framtíðinni, enda var skreiðar-
útflutningur að mestu greiddur
í frjálsum gjaldeyri. Gekk sala
flestrar annarrar framleiðslu
vel, svo sem lýsis, mjöls og salt-
síldar, og var verðlag hagstætt.
Lítið af landbúnaðarvörum kom
til útflutnings á árinu.
Enn er ónefndur freðfiskur-
inn, sem nú er orðinn lagmestur
að verðmæti allra útflutningsaf-
urða. Gekk mjög misjafnlega að
selja hann á árinu. Bandaríkin
voru enn höfuðmarkaðurinn, en
útflutningur þangað varð all-
miklu minni en árið áður, og
einnig minnkaði mjög sala til
Bretlands. Af þessum sökum
hlóðust upp miklar birgðir af
freðfiski fyrra helming ársins,
og leit mjög illa út um sölu á
þeim, þar til gerður var við-
skiptasamningur við Rússa í
ágúst, en þeir tóku nær þriðjung
freðfisksframleiðslu ársins á
sæmilegu verði.
Greiðsluviðskipti
Þó að hinn óhagstæði verzlun-
arjöfnuður næmi 405 millj. kr. á
árinu 1953, batnaði afstaða bank-
anna gagnvart útlöndum um
25,4 millj. kr. Verzlunarhallinn
var að fullu greiddur með duld-
um gjaldeyristekjum, en helztu
liðirnir þar voru tekjur vegna
varnarliðsins, 213 millj. kr., og
óafturkræf framlög vegna efna-
hagsaðstoðar að upphæð 104
millj. kr. Lán erlendis, sem
notuð voru á árinu, námu alls
48 millj. kr.
Verðlags- og atvinnurriál
í lok ársins 1952 voru gerðir
nýir kaup- og kjarasamningar
við verkalýðsfélögin. Var í þeim
einkum stefnt að því að lækka
framfærslukostnað með auknum
niðurgreiðslum og öðrum ráð-
stöfunum. Samningar þeir, sem
þá voru gerðir, giltu óbreyttir
allt árið 1953, og hélzt því bæði
vísitala og kaupgjald stöðugt.
Meðal vísitalan 1953 reyndist
156,9 stig, en 157,8 stig árið áður.
Húsaleiguvísitalan var óbreytt
allt árið 1953 í 212 stigum
(1939=100), en vísitala bygging-
arkostnaðar fyrir tímabilið 1/10
1952 til 30/91963 var 801 stig, en
790 stig næsta tímabil á undan,
sem er hækkun um aðeins 1,4%.
Lækkun sú, sem varð á vísi-
tölunni um áramótin 1952 og
1953 fyrir atbeina ríkisstjórnar-
innar, ásamt þeim niðurgreiðsl-
um, sem fyrir voru, hafa orðið
ríkissjóði dýrar í auknum út-
gjöldum, og samkvæmt bráða-
birgðatölum voru útgjöld ríkis-
ins vegna dýrtíðarráðstafana
árið 1953 47 millj. kr. eða rúm
11% af rekstrarútgjöldum rík-
isins.
Seðlaveltan
Seðlaveltan varð lægst á árinu
23. febrúar, 192,205 þús. kr.
(1952 varð hún lægst 26. febr.
173,865 þús. kr.). Síðan fór hún
hækkandi og varð 284,700 þús.
kr. 30. desember, og er það nýtt
hámark, en áður hafði hún orðið
hæst 23. des. 1952, 227,240 þús.
krónur.
—Mbl., 25. júlí
Dóttirin, 8 ára, horfði efa-
blandin á móður sína og sagði:
— Segðu mér eitt, mamma! •—
Hvernig stóð eiginlega á því, að
þú giftist honum pabba?
Móðirin horfði lengi á dóttur
sína og sagði síðan:
— Elsku barnið mitt! Er það
nú komið svo, að þú ert líka
farin að undrast það!
«111!
IIIHIIIHI
TIL
LÆGSTA FLUGFAR
ÍSLANDS
ASeins $Q«jQ
fram og tll baka
fil Reykjavíkur
Grípið tækifærið og færið
yður í nyt fljótar, ódýrar og
ábyggilegar flugferðir til
Islands í sumar! Reglu-
bundið áætlunarflug frá
New York ... Máltíðir inni-
faldar og annað til hress-
ingar.
SAMBÖND VIÐ FLESTAR STÓRBORGIR
Finziið umboðsmann ferðaskrifsiofunnar
n /~~\ n
ICELANDICl 'A I R L I N E S
ulAil±j
15 West 47th Street, New York PLaza 7-8585
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svo að segja um víða veröld. Sérhvert útibú er trygt með öllum
eignum bankans og eru því peningar yðar ávalt í öruggri vernd.
Þér getið byrjað sparisjóðsreikning með $1.
Viðskipii yðar eru kærkomin!
THE ROYAL BANK OF CANADA
Hvert útibú nýtur trygginga allra eigna bankans,
sem nema yfir $2,675,000,000.
come.