| Revenue. | Expenditure. | |||||
| I. | From the trade, | $12,600 | 0 | I. Expenses of the administration and medical staff of Iceland, | $34,653 | 0 |
| II. | ” Crown property, | 12,080 | 0 | II. Expenses of the bishop and the educational establishments, | 27,212 | 72 sk. |
| III. | ” Royal tithes, | 3,750 | 0 | III. Sundries, | 4,000 | 0 |
| IV. | ” Repayment of loans, | 8,192 | 15 sk. | |||
| V. | ” Sundries, | 8,165 | 6 | |||
| VI. | Deficit, | 21,078 | 51 | |||
| $65,865 | 72 sk. | $65,865 | 72 sk. | |||
“It will be seen from the above that one of the chief items in the Iceland revenues is derived from Crown property in the island, which in round numbers now amounts to $12,000. This is entered in the annual budget to the credit of Iceland. In 1866, $175,037 had been paid into the Danish treasury for Crown property sold in Iceland at different times. Neither this sum nor its interest is, however, mentioned in the annual statements of Icelandic finances. But if Iceland has a right to the revenues derived from the Crown property still unsold, it has an equal right to the interest of the money paid for that which is sold. This sum, amounting to about $7000, ought to be added to the annual revenue, thus making the annual income from the Crown property $19,000 instead of $12,000. There are also several smaller items which ought to be entered on the credit side of the Icelandic budget.
“No. II. of the expenditure, viz. the salaries of the bishop and the professors of the colleges, and other expenses connected with the colleges, form a heavy item in the expenditure of Iceland, or, in round numbers, $27,000 annually. It is, however, not correct to charge this sum against Iceland unless an equal sum is entered on the credit side of the budget, because all the property supporting the two bishops and the two colleges of Iceland was sold according to a royal command of 29th April 1785, and the proceeds of the sale were paid into the Danish treasury on the understanding and implied promise of the king, that the expenses of these institutions were to be defrayed by the Danish treasury for the future. This sum is nevertheless annually charged against Iceland as if Denmark never had received any equivalent for it.
“The budget arranged according to the foregoing observations will be:
| Revenue. | Expenditure. | |||||
| I. | From the trade, | $12,600 | 0 | I. Expenses of the administration and medical staff of Iceland, | $34,653 | 0 |
| II. | ” Crown property, | 19,080 | 0 | II. Expenses of the bishop and the educational establishments, | 34,212 | 72 sk. |
| III. | ” Royal tithes, | 3,750 | 0 | III. Sundries, | 4,000 | 0 |
| IV. | ” Repayment of loans, | 8,192 | 15 sk. | IV. Annual surplus, | 13,134 | 21 |
| V. | ” Sundries, | 8,165 | 6 | |||
| VI. | ” No. II. Expenditure, | 34,212 | 72 | |||
| Total, | $78,999 | 93 sk. | Total, | $78,999 | 93 sk. | |
“Thus it will be seen that the Icelandic budget, instead of showing a deficit of $21,078, 51 sk., has, when properly stated, a surplus of $13,134, 21 sk. The claims of Iceland arising out of these financial misstatements were partly recognised by the Danish Government in the Act of 2d January 1871, by which it was provided that $30,000 per annum should be paid perpetually from the Danish treasury to Iceland; and, in addition, an annual sum of $20,000 for ten years, after which period this latter sum is to decrease by $1000 per annum until it is extinguished.
“In conclusion, I will present the reader with the ‘little bill’ of the Icelanders against the Danish treasury. The rent of the Crown farms was always paid in kind, and the present money value of the articles paid as yearly rents for these farms at the time they were seized by the Crown is $41,055, 40 sk. When the rents of the still unsold farms are subtracted, there remains,
| I. | An annual claim against the Danish treasury for the balance, amounting to | $27,855 | 40 sk. |
| II. | The Icelanders’ claim for loss of interest of money paid into the Danish treasury for sold Crown property, the annual sum of | 6,900 | 0 |
| III. | For the rent of farms belonging to the bishop sees, and sold for the benefit of the Danish treasury, calculated in the same way as the rent of the Crown farms, the annual sum of | 31,769 | 52 |
| IV. | For movable property belonging to the episcopal sees, and appropriated by the Crown, the annual sum of | 2,400 | 0 |
| V. | For the trade monopoly, the annual sum of | 50,800 | 0[149] |
| Total annual sums, | $119,724 | 92 sk. |
“Thus the Icelanders consider themselves to have good claims on the Danish treasury for the annual sum of $119,724, 92 sk., or a round sum of $3,000,000.