The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1945, Síða 8

6
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
June 1945
settlement. Each meeting chose a com-
mittee ot five men to draw up a set
of by-laws, the committees to act in-
dependently. When both had their
drafts ready they were to meet together
and consolidate these into one set of
regulations to form a constitution.
The constitution, which came into
effect when it appeared in the “Fram-
fari”, January 14, 1878, made the colony
virtually a republic. It regulated elec-
tions; defined the duties of voters as
well as of officials; provided for taxa-
tion and public works; for relief to the
needy, guardianship of minors, appraisal
and disposal of estates; arbitration of
disputes with a court of appeal; the
keeping of detailed records over all
matters including vital statistics, eco-
nomic progress, and handling of estates
and wardships.
Matters of general policy which af-
fected the whole had to be referred
back to the electors, while individual
districts had full autonomy in affairs
which affected only themselves.
The constitution consists of 18 arti-
cles, many of which have several sub-
sections. The first Article divided the
colony into four primary electoral dis-
tricts which were called “BygSir”, each
of which was to elect annually an ex-
ecutive committee of five to have charge
of local affairs, and together with simi-
lar committees from the other districts
to form a Governing Council for the
whole colony. The set-up thus seems to
have been four municipalities united
under a grand-council made up of all
their joint executive officers.
The Governing Council elected a chair-
man and vice-chairman from among
their own number. Elections were for
one year only, the districts going to
the polls on Jan. 7 eaqh year and the
Council meeting within one week there-
from.
All men over 18 years of age who
were farmers, property owners, or regu-
larly employed and who had nothing
against their character, were on the
voters lists. All who were over 21,
except ministers and school teachers,
were eligible for office.
Article five, under seven subheadings,
defines the duties of electors. They must
attend a rate-payers meeting between
March 15 and April 15, each year at
the call of their District chairman to
discuss matters of interest and concern
to their own community; each elector
over 21, had to contribute two days
work a year to roadmaking, or else
pay two dollars; each head of house-
hold had to give notice of births and
deaths within a week, and bridegrooms
had to report marriages; each house-
holder had to fill in a special form
itemizing holdings and economic prog-
ress each year; householders also had
to provide relief to the needy, and to
pay a tax of 25 cents a year to the
District chairman.
The District Committees had charge
of road making and upkeep in their
own area; appointed trustees of estates
and guardians, and saw to it that they
made a strict accounting; provided
widows with capable advisors and such
other aid as needed; safeguarded public
health, and were authorized to take
any measures considered necessary, to
stop the spreading of disease. And final-
ly it was their duty to stimulate civic
consciousness, sociability, co-operation,
and ambition in their electorate. Besides
all this, they were members of the
Council for the whole.
The District Secretaries must have
been especially hard-worked. They had
to keep a set of five books—Book one
for minutes; Book two for census figures
and economic returns; Book three for
road work and attendant accounts;
Book four for vital statistics, and Book
five for all records pertaining to
valuation of estates, and sale of same
together with trusteeships and guardian-
ships. All municipal records were to
be displayed for inspection at annual
meetings.
A fee was set for valuating estates,
and if the heirs were outside the colony,
these had to be wound up within a year.
Two important officials elected each