115
patients at sanatoria, hospitals, and nursing homes for children, in
case the patients themselves or those on whom they are dependent are
too poor to defray the expenses. Under these circumstances the ex-
penses are borne by the treasury, to which, in consequence, the dis-
fricts and towns concerned have to contribute 2 krénur per every re-
sident, or a lump sum not exceeding two-thirds of the expenditure in-
curred by the State in connexion with the treatment in consumptive
hospitals of the patients they are liable for.
A sanatorium (60 beds) was built in northern Iceland in 1927, part-
ly for private means and partly at the expense of the State. In the
neighbourhood of Reykjavik a small convalescent home for tubercu-
‘ous patients (built by a private society) was opened in 1926.
The following table will show the State budget for tuberculosis un-
der the act of 1921:
1922 . 131 thousand krénur 1926 . 492 thousand krénur
i923 . 281 —_ -_ 1927 . 861 —- Ls
1924 , 332 it] —_ 1928 . 912 — —
19256 , 503 — —
HOUSING
The Great War brought a very large increase in the costs of build-
ing houses and a consequent diminution in output. Therefore the de-
mand for housing accommodation, especially in Reykjavik, where the
population rose rapidly through influx from outside, was confronted
with a complete lack of eupply of free dwellings. The municipal au-
thorities of Reykjavik had a few houses built as an emergency mea-
sure, which, howcver, failed to bring any noticeable relief. And as
Reykjavik was most severely affected by the housing shortage, a special
act was passed in 1917 prohibiting all unnecessary raising of rents.
Under this act, too, the right of giving notice was legally restricted, and
made subject to the legitimate interest of the landlord (personal re-
quirement) or offences committed by the tenant (arrears in payment of
rent, disturbances of peace, etc.). A rent committee was set up, to which
landlords and tenants might apply for rent fixation. The act remained
in force till 1926, but in spite of all these restrictive measures, rents
went on rising steadily, though not at the same rate as the building
costs, which for Reykjavik were estimated to have increased five-fold
by 1920 as compared with the prices ruling at the outbreak of the
war, whereas the average rent had but trebled or scarcely even
that. Thenceforward there has on the whole been a gradual de-
