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most of the Danes present are persons of the adventurous type,
who have left for Greenland in the hope of finding an outlet
from the oppressive Socialistic wellfare state they have at home,
They are pioneers, and are doing well at it, @espite the fact,
that up to very recently there was not mush wealth to be gained
on the Islands, The main part of the population is nevergueless
neither fully Daniéh, nar Eskimo. It is a mixture if both races.
d, incredible as it may sound, this mixture is a very happy pnes
he half<breéds seem to inherit the qualities of both races. “hey
have the kindness and ability of the Eskimo, the bussiness, work
and sense of enterprise of the Danes. It is this mixture which is
today in the front of progress.
of a change in the total outlook of the Island - an outlook whose
full potentialities will be felt only in the future. The warming
up of the climate has brought the departute of the seals, till
then the tradational base of the life of the Eskimos For one time
it looked as if the population faced by starvation would have to
abandon the areas But then it was discovered that the seals having
left, the waters of the Island began to be heavily populated with
fish, who moved up from the South, Thecmost important of these
fishes are the cod-fishe Hence increasingly the movement was to
fishing and canning, And this industry h :
And this industry which is just in the very beginni stages
its development, has the tendency of pln Hs the való pln
and the complete outlook of the country. Even from a Danish |
point of view the importance of the island has completely
changed. ;
is is best dramatized by the visit just now under
way of the ng and Queen of Demmark, who are spending the whole
month of July and the beginning of August on the island, visiting
all the settlements, This visit is of the greatest political ímpp
tance and foreshadows even a greater emphasis on the island.
The first impoxtant step in this new policy is the
administrative reform, T is has been planned between 1948 and
1950, and has been in operations now for over one year, It ends
all the discriminations between Danes and Natives, and establishes
complete equality of rights and duties between them, The head¬
administrator of the Colonies is getting a predominantly economic
function, in which work he is assisted by elected officials. Jus¬
tice continues in the hands of Danish Justices, but the assessors
are local people. A special unified and mode¥nly equipped police
force is organized. The municipalities are organized on the :
elective Danish systems nevertheless the Danish Pastors continue
to have great influence in municipal affairs, This reorganization
is now finished and is the pattern for a few years to come, befor
ad.