Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1942, Page 277

ORGANIZATIONS IN WAR-TIME DENMARK 265
have obtained work, and valuable material that would otherwise
have been lost has been brought to use.
Other L. A. B. branches have organized the collection in gar-
dens, parks, and forests of chestnuts, mountain-ash berries, hip-
seed and other kinds of fruit which at present find a good market
in various industries.
In the summer of 1940, consequent on the cutting off of Den-
mark from its normal markets and the main supply of its raw
materials, a considerable increase of unemployment was menacing.
The Danish Government set up a large programme of employ-
ment, partly by the planning or speeding up of public works,
partly by encouragement to private enterprise in fields where
some development was still possible. Already before this large-
scale activity started, the L. A. B. had prepared the ground
through a campaign for repairs with the double object of pro-
viding employment and protecting values worth protecting, par-
ticularly buildings, in town and country, where neglect rather
than protection is likely to occur during times when prices are
high.
Legislation providing for subsidies and loans for building
repairs and improvements was enacted in the autumn of 1940.
Although the L. A. B. has always been quite independent of
public authorities, it of course wishes to be on the same line as
the Government. It did its utmost to promote comprehension of
the new legislation and to stimulate the Public to take advantage
of the Government’s offer.
'While the majority of the unemployed are normally found in
cities and towns, there has — for reasons which it is impossible
to develop here — been a considerable exodus from country to
town during the last 10 years. It is, however, a fact that most of
the possibilities of new employment in the present situation, where
the raw materials for town industries are scarce, will have to be
found in the country districts. Through various legislation the
Government has encouraged reclamation and improvement work,
aiming at thereby increasing agricultural production and at the
same time providing useful work for the unemployed. In order
to speed up matters and do away with resistance, the L. A. B.
started a campaign in various parts of the country. Its local re-
presentatives — there are now representatives almost everywhere
— went from farm to farm, trying to reach all land-holders, in
order to induce every individual farmer to find one or more
Le Nord, 1942, 4 1?