House of Evidence(51)
In order to provide enough electricity for the railroad and other developments it will be necessary to embark as soon as possible on harnessing the river Sog, something that has already been proposed. With a moderate increase in costs, it will be possible to provide villages and whole regions along the path of the railroad with as much electricity as production permits.
It is of great detriment when planning major projects not to allow for natural growth. We Icelanders have often fallen into this trap, and it has done us much harm; it cannot be overstated that when embarking on expensive developments, one of the main issues is not to do a shoddy job for the sake of short-term economy, but rather to go for perfection from the start in order to secure the long term.
Behind the article in the file was a folded map, showing railroad routes under consideration in thick pen markings. The map was shabby, its corners worn.
Jóhann leafed through several pages of expense calculations and plans before coming across a newspaper article that someone had marked throughout in red pencil.
Comments on the Railroad Affair by A Southerner.
In my opinion it is totally unacceptable that the citizens of Reykjavik and “those below the heath” should be the only ones to take part in the discussion on the transport affairs of us southerners, and for this reason I contribute these few words to the debate. It looks as if, for whatever reason, the fiercest railroad preachers here to the east have more often than not had some vested interest not unconnected with the proposed railway. And they keep banging that particular drum to this day, that a railroad must be built, without offering any reasoning in support of their case.
I am not in possession of information enabling me to discuss the railroad affair in detail. I am not in possession of engineers’ estimates of the cost of laying railroad tracks here to the east, although I seem to remember a sum being mentioned of approximately six million krónur, according to the latest “reduced” and “amended” estimates. So it would not be far off the mark to assume that the cost would in all probability reach not less than nine to ten million krónur, bearing in mind those engineers’ estimates for some enterprises here in the east that we remember with pain and heavy hearts. We have probably had greater and more costly experience of engineers’ estimates than other regions of Iceland and, if truth be told, we have concluded that it would be foolish indeed to assume anything other than that all such estimates are more or less wrong, and always far too low. Low estimates are more dangerous than high ones, as they frequently lure people into enterprises they would not dream of undertaking if they knew precisely from the outset what the cost would be.
And then the railroad is supposed to be our only salvation. Apparently there are those who have convinced themselves that all our problems will vanish when it arrives. And yet they would have a job on their hands showing that the railroad can meet any of our region’s needs that cannot be met with other and much cheaper means. The railroad would not pay for itself, not even given the desperate and heavy-handed measure of granting it a monopoly of commercial transportation.
But the nation, all Icelanders, would have to carry the can forever, for the benefit of no one except possibly the very few.
I readily admit that we who are against this business have kept quiet for too long, but our silence stems from a natural apathy coupled with our tendency to trust in the common sense and conscience of our nation’s guardians to ensure that matters such as this would never proceed.
Jóhann continued to leaf through the file, finding more articles both for and against the railroad. The discussion seemed to have gone on for years, and many weighed in on the argument. Among the papers were also parliamentary documents showing that this had been frequently debated in the Althing. In time, the affair seemed to have died a natural death, despite engineer Jacob’s attempts to engage the interest of persons of authority through correspondence. In the end, he had formed the Iceland Railroad Company Ltd. and taken matters into his own hands.
Diary V
December 24, 1918. I have just received the most tragic news that Lieutenant Peter Faidley, Elizabeth’s fiancé, was killed at Verdun in November 1916. I had a letter this morning from Miss Annie Barker, who says that she asked her father to exercise his influence in the Foreign Office to find my address. Now I know what the consul in Reykjavik wanted with me. Annie says that Elizabeth is very unhappy. I have been thinking this over all day and there is no doubt in my mind; I must go to England immediately…
December 25, 1918. It is a cause of great regret to me that I had to interrupt Mr. Wolfert in his Christmas celebrations, but I could allow no delay in resigning my post here. He accepted my resignation, but urged me strongly to come back to work for C&NW, saying as we parted that there would always be a place for me in his office…