Wairarapa Times-Age THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1939. THE LIBERTY=LOVING FINNS.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 December 1939, Page 4

Wairarapa Times-Age THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1939. THE LIBERTY=LOVING FINNS.

“OPEN the window to Europe, and if you can’t get it. opened, then smash it,” the Czar Peter the Great is supposed to have said. In the room of the Kremlin in Moscow where Stalin does his work, there is a portrait of Peter the Great on the wall, together with portraits of Lenin and Karl Marx. Soviet Russia seems to be carrying out. the order of Peter the Great. Einland and the Baltic States appear as the first links m Russian expansion round the Baltic —this ‘‘Russian Sea as Peter himself said on one occasion. The Einns, in their long history, have known six centuries of Swedish rule and more than a century under the Russian Czars. About twenty years ago, following civil war and revolution, they declared their independence, and this was recognised by Russia. In the intervening years they have attained a stable government and achieved some degree of prosperity.

Unrelated to any other European race, except the Estonians and the Magyars (Hungarians), the Finns appear to have migrated into Europe from the area between the i rals and the Volga. One branch of this people turned southward and settled in. the Hungarian Plain. The other migrated northward to Estonia and thence to Finland in the first century oi the Christian era. They were a race of hunters and trappers, with a. tribal organisation, and in these desolate regions of lakes, forests and marshes, with its severe climate and severe soil, it was centuries before settlements were established. . Helsinki, or Helsingfors, as it used to be called, is now the capital ->f one of the most progressive countries of Europe, with advanced legislation and social laws, and with a very energetic population. Right through most of the 19th century, when Finland was a semi-autonomous Grand-Duchy under Russia, the Finns were already practising the arts of self-government, and so when entire independence, came, they had had useful preliininai,> practical experience, unlike some of the other new States created by the war. But, until the present invasion, there were few outward signs to remind one of Russia’s long connection with Finland, apart from a few Russian Orthodox churches, with their distinctive architecture of rounded cupolas.

There is no illiteracy in Finland. The general cultural standard is among the highest, in the world. Women play an important part in the national life of Finland. They are to be found everywhere, working in the fields and farms with men and in all the professions. There are women bus conductors in Helsinki and women cashiers in the banks, women dentists and architects and so on, and in the war against Russia Finnish women are taking a prominent part in the defence of their country. All workers in industry are entitled by law to an annual summer holiday of not less than seven working days, and clerks, shop assistants and warehouse workers get from seven days to a month, according Io length ol service. Wages, judged on a cash basis in comparison, with other countries, tire low? But, on the other hand, there are no extremes of wealth and poverty. The Prime Minister of Finland receives a salary equivalent to £4OO a year, and a judge of the (Supreme Court a. similar sum. Finland is the sixth largest country in Europe, the other countries larger being Russia, France, Spain, Germany and .Sweden. It is a country of lakes and forests, lakes forming 11 per cent of the territory and forests more than 73 per cent. The Scotch pine is the tree of absolute predominance. Although Finland is large in area its population is about three and a half millions, that is, ‘27 persons to the square mile. Next to Russia, Finland is Europe’s richest country in timber, and its timber exports rank with those of the United (States of America, and Canada. The economic lifeblood of Finland is the sap of its forest trees. A sturdy democratic race, jealous of liberties that have been won after hard striving, Finland is demonstrating to Russia that freedom-loving people are difficult to conquer. The war news today concerning operations on the Finnish front-is evidence of this.

Why has the Russian campaign degenerated into a “snail’s war,” when every passing day brings the approach of midwinter nearer, and emphasises the need of rapid decision; Primarily the answer must be in the complete unexpectedness of the Finnish resistance. The Russians undoubtedly expected a “walk over.” They certainly cannot be accused of not knowing the nature of the countryside. Finland belonged to Russia until some 20 years ago, and the Red forces have always made a great fuss about their manoeuvres in Karelia under the precise climatic conditions which now prevail. The only possible conclusion is that, expecting no gruelling resistance, they were simply not prepared for it. The main Russian weaknesses seem to have been the failure to make adequate use of the air force and the navy, and a tendency to rely overmuch on tanks and other mechanised formations. Four years ago a visiting French general said that “the Russian officer, like

the Russian peasant, is bewitched by machines, but cannot use them.” The delusion that is so impressed upon them in their training, that mechanised warfare is an especial invention of the Russians, appears to have made them slow in adapting themselves to answer the Finns with methods that the defenders are showing to be so effective.