Note 144 — SECTION III. HISTORICAL NOTES.[111]

The Icelanders’ view of the connection between their country and Denmark is simply this: They declare the union, dating from 1264, and renewed in 1380, to be personal, not real, and limited to both countries being under the same king. The Rigsdag cannot therefore legislate for the Althing, and the constitutional law of Denmark has never become that of Iceland. They consequently demand that the Althing should have legislative and not mere counselling powers; that it should sanction in the island the laws proposed by the Danes; and that the minister who advises the Crown in Icelandic matters should be responsible to this Diet. On the other hand, Denmark denies the validity of mediæval treaties, the relations of the mother country and her dependency having been completely altered by historical events; consequently Iceland is now an integral and inseparable part of the Danish kingdom, and the laws of Denmark must be valid in Iceland as in the other colonies. Iceland, they say, cannot claim any self-rule as a right; still, it may be desirable, on account of their peculiar circumstances, to allow the Icelanders a voice in the management of their own affairs, subject, however, to the supervision and consent of the Rigsdag and the Home Government.