GREENLAND’S FUTURE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 June 1939, Page 8

GREENLAND’S FUTURE

EMIGRATION POSSIBILITIES. COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE. Denmark believes that Greenland, Danish colony since 1774, has a great future, states the “Christian Science Monitor.” Is Greenland suitable for emigration from Europe? This has become such a vital question today that a commission is to be formed consisting of experts from England, France, Belgium, Switzerland, as well as Denmark. The minerals, agriculture, industries, marble and cryolite quarries, the reindeer and eider duck are to be studied with a view to creating employment for emigrants to the country. It is believed that the colonist, if he will go through with the hard experiences of the pioneer and win the land for himself, can make a living there. Through economic systems similar to those which have been successful in the homeland, it is felt, Greenland can be developed into a habitable and prosperous land. Greenland is 1,650 miles in length and 800 miles in breadth, with a population of 37,000 Eskimos, in addition to Danish Government officials. A trade monopoly has been maintained fpr the protection of the native population. The Danish Government does not secure economic advantage for itself. For some years there has even beeh a deficit on its undertakings. The coastal fishing is confined entirely to the Eskimos, and Danes and Faroe Islanders can only land there by special permission.

The prospects of building up a better travel service are being studied with a view to putting Greenland on the tourist's map. Experts have agreed that Greenland has large mineral resources. Native iron was found by Nordenskiold in 1870 and in 1897 Peary brought to New York a nodule weighing many tons. The iron is said to be of meteoric origin and contains both nickel and phosphorous. Greenland claims to he the only country in the world producing Cryolite in large quantities. This white, transparent metal, consisting of sodium, fluorine, and aluminium, is found at Ivigtut. Other known sources of small supplies are at Pike’s Peak, Colorado, and at Mitsk in the Urals. Cryolite mined in Greenland is of great importance to Denmark. About 60 per cent is used in the aluminium industry at Copenhagen, 30 per cent in the enamel industry, and the remainder in the making of opalescent glass. Other minerals found are copper (in small quantities so far), soft coal, graphite (in abundance at Upernivik), and soapstone. There is sunshine and much grassland in South and East Greenland, and although sheep farming is not carried on on a large scale at present, it is felt that with the help of instructors the Eskimos would become good agriculturists. Many flowers bloom in Greenland in the short summer, on the edges of the glaciers and in the valleys. In the north the ground is covered with mosses and creeping dwarf plants. In the south dwarf birches rise to a few feet in height, and willows grow to more than six feet. At Umanak, said to be the most northerly garden in the world, broccoli and radishes grow well. At Jacobshavn, 15 miles from the inland ice. lettuce, spinach, chervil,.leeks, parsley, turnips, and radishes are cultivated. Potatoes give fair results, and strawberries and cucumbers can be ripened in. forcing frames. The mean temperature is 50deg F. (lOdeg C) in summer months.