Ný saga - 01.01.2001, Page 16

Svanur Kristjánsson
Mynd 14.
Franklin D. fíoosevelt
Bandarikjaforseti.
Skálaræða Franklins D. Roosevelts forseta Bandaríkjanna,
flutt til heiðurs Sveini Björnssyni forseta Islands í Hvíta húsinu,
Washington 24. ágúst 1944.
Toast Of The President
For The President Of Iceland, Sveinn Bjornsson
State Dining Room Of The White House
August 24, 1944 9.30 p.m., e.w.t.
(With The Latter's Reply)
Only four members of my Cabinet are here tonight,
the others are off on holiday or for some other rea-
son, but I am glad to say that half of them have been
in Iceland. The Secretary of War and the Secretary
of the Treasury have been there, so in having been
there they know more about Iceland personally
than I do. However, as I said to the President, I have
always been a student of Iceland.
About two years ago there was put up to me the
great question as to where Iceland was. Was it in the
European hemisphere or the American hemi-
sphere? And I used the judgement of Solomon, I
said it was in both hemispheres - which is true. It
belongs to the life of both hemispheres. And in the
future - this is a prediction - I think that Iceland
will always be considered, for certain practical rea-
sons, a part of the Americas, and a part of Europe.
For practical reasons we all know Iceland is nec-
essary to our defense, illustrated some three years
ago when there was real danger, when Germany
was not only on the offensive but was over-running
a greater part of the world. And there was the dan-
ger in those days - when all of us were on the defen-
sive, and I am speaking from the American point of
view - that Iceland would be occupied by the
Germans.
On that particular occasion, whether it was con-
stitutional or not the historians will determine a
hundred years from now, the State Department
took up with the Icelandic government - which was
then closely associated with Denmark - the possi-
bility of our making sure, by sending troops to
Iceland, that Germany could not use it as a "fait
accompli" against this continent. We were selfish.
We couldn't afford to let Germany use Iceland as a
base from which to bomb or send expeditions
against the American continent.
And therefore, because of the cordial relations
that existed, we were able to make a perfectly legal
agreement with the government of Iceland by which
we sent in our troops. We said quite frankly, and we
meant it as the President knows, that when this dan-
ger of a German occupation of Iceland was over
and the world returns to peace, we not only would
recognize but we would work for the complete inde-
pendence of what is the Iceland, not of today but of
a thousand years back, the Iceland that essentially
has always been an independent nation - and this is
something that perhaps some people could use to
some advantage - Iceland is Irish in its origin.
I was asking the President, who incidentally is
the first President of their Republic - we haven't
had many, thirty-two, that's all - who were the first
people in Iceland, were they Esquimaus? No, an
Esquimau was never there. He said the first people
in Iceland were the Irish, which is extremely inter-
esting. Not only the Irish, by the founding of a
monastery in Iceland, but the first white people - as
we call them - in Iceland were the Irish, followed
after that, after the Norsemen had come - the
Vikings had come - by another influx of Irish,
including an Irish princess, the President said. So
there you are.
And from that time on, for more than a thousand
years - we celebrated their thousandth anniversary
a short time ago - we have had an independent
nation in Iceland, the oldest of our civilization in all
the world, with a parliamentary government, with
complete independence in the best sense of the
word, not only making their own laws but living
their own lives, not only their own government but
a people's government, who said what they wanted,
and who always had their way, including the right to
elect the present President, who incidentally - prob-
ably a good thoughl, which I won't press - was
elected unanimously (laughter) I catch the eyes of
Senator Vandenberg. (more laughter) But that is
the way they elected their first President.
And, of course, we did, too, in 1788-9. We elect-
ed George Washington unanimously, and he was
the firsl and the last that was elected. So I warn my
colleague for you (laughter) - if he should run for
a second or a third or a forth term, he mustn’l
expect to be elected unanimously. (more laughter).
And so Iceland is a great deal more than a name in
mythology.
In the last few years, Iceland was a name to us.
One and eighth-tenths percent of our trade to
Iceland went that way. Things differ from time to
time. Today it is 58 percent, something like that, due
primarily to the war - we might just as well admit
that. But at the same time, and thinking of the
future, we want to keep Iceland on the map, that is
the great point, always. The whole of civilization
want Iceland as the cradle of the oldest republic
that has ever happened - something lo teach the
world a lesson. You run your own universities, you
are friends with all the Scandinavians, and those
who are in lceland too.
But you run into the curious fact that last year or
the year before - a few years ago - Sweden issued
stamps to celebrate the freedom of the Swedes from
Danish control. Remember that. The Norwegians
have insisted on their independence from Sweden.
The Norwegians and the Dancs are first cousins.
You have Scandinavian blood, with a very good
Irish admixture. And, on the whole, in the family of
nations, the American people have a greal deal of
Scandinavian blood in them, a lot of them - there
are a great many Swedes, and Norwegians, and
some Danish and a few Icelanders here. But we
want the future to look at it from the point of view
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