230 
THE AMERICAN-SC AN DIN A VI AN REVIEW 
keting is attended by many difficulties. The country is extensive, 
nigged, and thinly settled, with the consequence that roads are tew 
and poor, and much transportation has to be effected by means of 
pack-animals—an expensive method indeed. Again, the lack ot ade¬ 
quate modern slaughter-house and refrigerating facilities results in 
much waste and makes it impossible for Icelandic meat to be sold to 
the best advantage. Most serious ot all, however, is the shoitage o 
J a bor—due principally to the competition of the fisheries which often 
forces the peasant to operate on a much smaller scale than would 
normally be necessary, thus preventing him from utilizing Ins capital 
to the full. Hampered by all these unfavorable conditions, the peas¬ 
antry holds its own with difficulty, and the near future, at least, offers 
little prospect of amelioration. 
Far different is the case of the fisheries, where marketing is easy 
and the profits great. At present foreign trawlers still get an over¬ 
large share of the catch, but the native fleet is steadily growing, and 
continued prosperity for the fishing interests seems assured. 
Industry in Iceland is for the most part still in the artisan stage, 
so far as it has at all survived foreign competition. The few factories 
that exist are of limited capacity and absorb only an infinitesimal 
portion of the annual output of raw material. Although water power 
in abundance is available, lack of capital has hitherto prevented its 
utilization, thus necessitating the importation of coal and oil at ever 
increasing prices. Until a plentiful supply of cheap native power is 
obtainable, there is every likelihood that the products of the country 
will continue to be exported as raw material rather than as finished 
articles. 
With the exception of certain trades, such as printing, labor, 
whether clerical or manual, is only slightly organized; nor has any 
keen sense of class solidarity as yet developed. Beginnings of such 
a development are observable, it is true, but in a non-industrial country 
like Iceland class warfare is less obvious than in a highly organized 
industrial state, and it may be doubted whether the Icelandic labor 
movement will ever assume serious proportions so long as present 
conditions prevail. . 
There remain the middlemen, or agents of distribution. I hese 
include the banking and transportation interests, the various firms 
and individuals engaged in the export trade, the wholesale dealers, 
and the shop-keepers. A o hard and fast lines of cleavage can be 
drawn between such categories, however; thus the wholesaler is regu¬ 
larly an importer and frequently a retailer as well. Formerly dis¬ 
tribution was for the most part in the hands of foreigners, chiefly 
Danes, but of late this state of affairs has been largely remedied, 
though “big business” (so far as it exists) has not yet achieved inde¬ 
pendence of Copenhagen. For many years the importance and power 
