Aid to Iceland

The world's oldest democracy, which had been having a hell of a time in World War II, was temporarily bailed out of trouble last week by the world's biggest democracy.

Iceland, whose Parliament began meeting on the sounding, desolate plains of Thingvellir (pronounced Thing-vod-lef) in 930 A.D., found itself overrun by British and U.S. soldiers, all with a healthy taste for blondes. Prices had risen 70% in less than a year and a half. Fishermen--fishing is Iceland's chief industry--netted almost as many mines as fish. The State liquor monopoly was being wrecked by bootlegging. Premier Hermann Jonasson's Cabinet had fallen twice in less than a month. The 1,011-year-old Parliament (the Althing) had rejected price-control plans as smacking of State Socialism.

The British wanted all of Iceland's fish and fish oil they could get, but could not pay in the wheat, machinery and coal that Iceland wanted.

Into the White House last week marched youngish Thor Thors, Iceland diplomat. Franklin Roosevelt accepted his credentials as first Minister to the U.S. from Iceland, acknowledged an agreement to underwrite all British trade obligations to Iceland under a special Lend-Lease agreement, at an estimated cost to the U.S. of about $20,000,000 annually. The U.S. will pay dollars to Iceland for all the fish and fish oil shipped from Iceland to Britain, will treat the little democracy as a Good Neighbor.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.