Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1939, Page 57
PROGRESS IN MODERN ICELAND
By Eysteinn Jónsson,
Icelandic Minister of Finance.
IN the eyes of most foreigners who take any interest in Ice-
land, it is still above all the land of Edda and Saga, the
country which in the late Middle Ages produced a remarkable
body of poetry, tales and historical works, and where the people
later on, through all the vicissitudes of fate, kept up their literary
traditions, their language, and their national selfconsciousness.
On the other hand the economic conditions of the people were
for centuries not only stationary but declining. This is clearly
shown by the fact, that while the population about noo is
estimated some 70—80.000, it had by 1785 come down to 39.000,
an appalling figure when we take into consideration the natural
fertility and healthiness of the people, and bear in mind that up
to that time and for a long series of years afterwards there was
no emigration from the country. The historical reasons for this
backwardness of the nation can not be gone into here. The nine-
teenth century saw some progress made, but down to about 1890
it was very slow and insignificant, and in no way comparable
with that of most other countries.
In this respect the last few decades mark a new era. Changes
have been effected in almost every walk of the nation’s active
life. The following facts and figures will show a few traits
characteristic of this progress.
Fifty years ago there were no carriageable roads in Iceland.
All travels had to be made on horseback, and all transport done
by pack-horses. Very few of the numerous large rivers had been
bridged and had therefore to be forded or crossed in boats.
About this time, farming, the main occupation of the people,
was almost exclusively based on the yield of hay obtained for
the stock from soil either badly cultivated or not cultivated at
all. There were, indeed, small manured plots round the farms,
put these were generally uneven and hummocky, and all harvest-
mg was done with the primitive scythe and rake.
The fisheries, the second main occupation of the nation, was
at that time carried on mostly from open boats. Of decked vessels
there were only some fifty or sixty, all small of size (30—90
tons) and driven by sails. The nation, though inhabiting an island
Le Nord. 1939, 1. 4