Ericson, Columbus, St. Brandan

The parliamentary body with the longest continuous history is Iceland's Althing. Founded to settle disputes between bellicose land-owning chieftains, it celebrates its millennial (1,000th anniversary) next year. The U. S. Congress has received an invitation to attend the ceremony, through the Danish Minister.* Last week the house of Representatives accepted the invitation, after curious developments. Representative Olger B. Burtness of North Dakota, large of frame, round and red of cheek, presented a resolution to send five U. S. delegates to Reykjavik next June, to provide them with $50,000 for a statue or memorial of Lief Ericson, Icelandic hero. Republican Floor Leader Tilson called the proposal "one of those handsome things we ought to agree to." The resolution would have gone through with a unanimous cheer, but for the fact that Congressman Burtness, anxious to make a gesture pleasing to his many constituents of Scandinavian extraction, began his resolution with a flowery preamble which said, among other things:

"Whereas the first white man to set foot on American soil was a native son of Iceland, Lief Ericson, an able and fearless sailor who, ... in the year 1000 discovered the American mainland which feat constitutes the beginning of authentic American history. . . ."

Quick to his feet rose New York's short, swart Congressman La Guardia. The La Guardia corpuscles, and many a La Guardia constituent, are Latin. Mr. La Guardia arose to defend the fame of that late great Latin, Christopher Columbus. "The House,'' he cried, "ought not to attempt to write history." While expressing 'the greatest admiration and love and affection for the people of Iceland." he clung to the "tangible historical record of the discovery by Columbus."

The question became further tangled when Representative James O'Connor of Louisiana, with true Celtic pride and vigor, sought official recognition for St. Brandan and "a number of Irish heroes" as the first voyagers, in the Sixth Century, to the new land across the ocean.

But Mr. La Guardia, who aspires despite a number of Irish politicians to be Mayor of New York, was not to be talked out of his contention in behalf of Columbus. His objections were overcome only when Congressman Burtness consented to strike the whole preamble out of his resolution, to leave the question of America's discovery, so far as the House of Representatives was concerned, wide open. Grinning with satisfaction, Congressman La Guardia sat down and the resolution was passed.

*Iceland, a sovereign state in the form of a Constitutional monarchy, is united to Denmark by a common Crown.