The Gisborne Herald. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED “THE TIMES.” MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1939. "TO THE BITTER END"

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20111, 4 December 1939, Page 6

The Gisborne Herald. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED “THE TIMES.” MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1939. "TO THE BITTER END"

The declaration of the Finnish Government that it “will fight to the bitter end” rather than submit to Soviet domination is typical of the traditions of the small but courageous nation whose history is written so largely in the records of invasions. That the end will be bitter indeed in view of the overwhelming odds seems to be inevitable. In the meantime, however, the Finns have given their would-be oppressors a foretaste of the metal of which they are made, so much so that the operations on the Soviet-Finnish borders have virtually thrust the major war in Europe out of the news. Once again the Russian “steam-roller” has proved more cumbersome than effective, for, despite the preparations that had been made by the Soviet forces, they appear to have made comparatively little gain—unless, of course, it can be called gain to massacre innocent women and children and destroy towns and cities with incendiary bombs. From a purely military point of view, the Finns so far have held their own against the invaders and have taken heavy toll of Russian men and machines. It is to be feared, however, that this position is too good to last, for all the courage and all the will in the world will hardly enable a nation of fewer than 4,000,000 people to hold its own against a well-equipped and highly-mechan-ised army drawn from a population of. more than 170,000,000. The heroic stand of Finland, nevertheless, will add still further to the high estimation in which that country is held.

The tactics of the Soviet is setting up a puppet Finnish Government with which to negotiate have lost their piquancy and effectiveness through constant repetition. This procedure was successfully adopted by Russia some years ago in dealing with Mongolia, but Mongolia was a different proposition to a progressive and advanced country like Finland. A similar procedure is now being attempted by Japan in China, and even the methods of Germany in Austria and Slovakia bear a striking resemblance: In no other instance, however. has a puppet Government been less lacking in support, less representative of the people, than that which has been sot up by Russia in Finland. Strangely enough, there are those who are sufficiently inconsistent to have condemned this process when applied by Italy, Germany and Japan who find merit in it when adopted by the Soviet, Even they, however, can hardly overlook the fact that the workers of Finland, as represented by the trades unions and the Social Democrat Party, have expressed their loyalty to the Helsinki Government and pledged themselves to fight against the attempted suzerainty of the dictator in the Kremlin. That it has been possible to persuade a few disgruntled Finns to participate in a bogus Government is not surprising, for even in New Zealand there is doubtless a small group which would

willingly act under the tutelage of Moscow—and it would be just as representative of the people as is the puppet Government of Finland. This specious device is likely to assist in the consolidation of world opinion against Russia, of which there is already ample evidence. A world which has been considerably hardened by events of recent history is still sufficiently imbued with feelings of decency to display horror at the wanton brutality of the Soviet and to protest against its callous disregard of the elementary principles of humanity imd justice. In the Scandinavian (Jtates, where proximity encourages a just appraisement of Finnish character and virtues, there has been a spontaneous rush to offer service in her defence. In the United States, tangible expression to outraged feelings is shown by the unofficial embargo which has been placed on the supply of munitions to Russia and by the public demand for the severance of diplomatic relations. In Italy there has been a hostile demonstration outside the Soviet legation and evidences of sympathy and support for Finland. 'The feeling in Germany is left to the imagination, but it may be taken for granted that the real attitude of the people, and particularly of the army—which previously stood by Finland in its fight against a bolshevik invasion —is sympathetic to Finland. The Nazi press, it is true, attempts to defend Russia, but the people themselves must be asking just how much Herr von Ribbentrop sacrificed when he purchased the connivance of Moscow in the invasion and rape of Poland. The developments which have resulted from the Soviet-German pact inevitably recall the fruitless negotiations between Britain, France, and Russia. There was a tendency in some quarters to assume at the time—on the •principle that Russia can do no wrong —that the responsibility for failing to Teach an agreement rested on the 'shoulders of the British Government. There was a suspicion, however, that the real cause of the deadlock was the insistance by Moscow on certain concessions in the Baltic, if not further afield, and this view has now been confirmed by a semi-official statement from London, even if Russia’s actions did not provide sufficient confirmation in themselves. In effect, Russia was prepared to join the so-called “Peace Front” on condition that she was permitted a free hand to expand in areas selected by herself. This price Britain and France clearly could not pay for <t would have meant that, under the guise of a non-aggression pact, they would have been acquiescing in Soviet aggression—and the victims would have been some of the smallest, most independent, and most democratic States in the world. The policy of the Soviet has now been exposed in all its brutal nakedness; it takes no heed of right or wrong, of justice or humanity, but is directed solely to its own glorification at the expense of others and represents in its worst form the spirit of aggression which has plunged the world into its present turmoil.