Show the NATION aU 1 r I 1 t az l lV r r. v i a t tand r People Are Passive i V Y V ru and Unfathomable Yet Y et V I V Their Love of Independence Independence Inde Inde- V A V Promises Bright q I 4 pp N 1816 1810 Emperor Alexander I of Russia wrote to- to to lt then governor general of Finland i in inthe inthe inthe the following terms As regards re re- gards the conditions of Finland I r my Intention h has hns as be n to X SI 0 a 1 4 this tills F stence people a J political l es so that mn n of t s riquer ered 1 I b RUSSia but u n 0 for their own clear r It b WI advantage therefore therefore- not not only their i civil choU b but t their political laws must be maintained Today a century after niter those words were written there there seems at last good hope that Alexander Is I's Intention may nin may maybe 1 be e permanently fulfilled writes s' s Rosalind Travers ers Hyndman In New York Sun A race of Mongolian origin and language age the the or pe people of the fens fens were were Christianized Christianized Chris Chris- very early In the thirteenth century by the Swedes who treated them on the whole with equality and justice and Intermarried with them freely not however allowing the Fin Finnish nish language to be written or spoken to any anyS ex- ex rent The result was that In 1808 Russia Russin conquered conquered conquered con con- a people who spoke Swedish and ami regarded and regarded themselves as ns Independent Swedes and although the Finns have passed through enormous national changes In the course of the century Russians of the ruling classes could never get it our of their heads that Finland desired to belong to Sweden again I IThe IThe The governors of Russia having much vaster affairs in hand did not realize that the r remarkable remarkable remark remark- mark mark- able development ment of Finnish nationalism was dl- dl first and List last ng against the Swedish lau lau- and Swedish Finn domination The Finnish language was spoken only by the remote t peasantry peasantry peas peas- antry and nd Finnish names names' even eyen were not legally recognized Yet meanwhile a great movement was vas was steadily growing up for the revival of Finland's Fin Fin- Finland's Finland's Fin Fin- lands land's own singularly rich and beautiful tongue The Finnish people began to think of their country as Suomi something utterly distinct from Sweden or Russia having a language and literature of Its own From 1849 onward when published publIsh d the second edition of the Kale mIa rala Finland's national epic educated Finns were Beginning to give up up P Swedish as a means menns of communication communication communication com com- and learning to use the strange difficult difficult dim dim- cult sonorous language which was their birthright birth birth- right Naturally this development soon cleft the country country country coun coun- try In two Many Finns urged not unreasonably that It was hardly practicable for so small a a people peppie peo- peo pep pep- pie to cut themselves off from Scandinavia from Russia Hussla from the rest of Europe In fact by climbing on to a language Island In this way But nationalism triumphed In 1863 the nice little constitution granted by Alexander II left the Finns linns fr free e to govern themselves in all Internal matters mutters In a fairly representative manner and from this time the study of Finnish ish became an Integral part of the general education The use of the revived u inn VL of L u VL L grew so fast that Sw speaking Swedish ish Finns began to find themselves In a minority and in 1894 after a Yer very hot debate the Finnish language was placed on an equality with wilh Swedish In the Finland senate senate sen sen- ate Swede-Finn Swede and Finnish Finnish Finn became cries of warfare and nd the language conflict fell teli roughly Into line with the divisions i of class The progressive tind and proletarian proletarian prole prole- tarlan elements In the country were while the middle class conservative e and aristo aristo- antic forces were for a long while by speech and Swede All this time the Finns as a people and as a a nation kept strictly to that policy of detachment and Independence which has alwn always marked them They took tool no part at all ali In Russian affairs and showed little Interest In those of S 'S Scandinavia they hey appeared to Europe generally as ns' ns self self-cen- as ns I a Chinese colony In the We West t might be Finland m meant ant to work out her salvation n alone In Tn literature and art Indeed the country was open to European Influences for the Finns have always s been great grent travelers wandering about the continent coati conti lent nent with appraising eyes selecting and Ink tak- taking I tag jug back with them such Ideas as they considered likely to be of use TI They ey t took ok political Ideas also alst alsofrom from Scandinavia unU uni from Germany but they had no desire to make propaganda for their ow own ideas or their own race Yet Inevitably the they Je to be a growing bleto to the time Russian government and a u stumbling stun stun- bling hung block blok to Slav Pan policy Obviously a democratic democratic demo demo- demo demo- cratic and almost self governing province was out mt t f place among the time folds of the lie vast autocratic rule which covered all ull the then But nut a a far m more re Important objection was this The duchy of Finland alien In language character slid and administration was a complete break brenk in iii that scheme of one vast homogeneous Russia stretch q It cc from Vie the Norwegian coast to the Pacific one language lows laws tHY religion and 1 government that Ir am of giant jian unity and antl monotony which seems t T have hap filled the minds 1 of If the directors of Russia for tor 30 years sad nod more There Ther seems little doubt Hint dint the deposed d cherished this design resign designas as fiS the did that of I Mittel Europa It was a similar huge dull magnificent mischievous ous JUS Idea trampling even more widely over oyer the fhe rights of oth 1 nations patrons and Intended to produce an sn even more dismal uniformity of rule So dispassionately viewed vIewed and and the Finn even when ng his own misfortunes Is eminently eminently eminently emi emi- dispassionate Russia's Russia's first attack upon he liberties I Jf f Finland In 1899 was WitS Inevitable a of n nature ture There T lere Is little need to recall the the bad bad years from 1899 to 1906 when tho the Finnish constitution was suspended and the country country coun coun- try was placed under the rule of a n military dicta dicta- or lor G General They t form rm a monotonous ecord of press censorship dismissals of native Illegal arrests and exile The Tho great s strike of 1906 1905 Yer r- r n ul In Its main man objects achieved two things N V j T lc rY f. f i r J r. r aT k y v Q 1 I THAY Locue i iSid O SI The fIle election of the Russian duina dumn and the temporary ternS tern tern- S ary restoration of Finland's ds d's constitution Yet restored restore Is 1101 hardly the word for that restricted cautious and ami er eminently bourgeois constitution rf rr ISBa 1863 was resurrected Into something democratic and terrible a n a popular government based upon full adult suffrage and anti proportional representation with an n elected house hous containing at t Its first assemblage assemblage as as- In April 1907 1007 80 social democrats out of a total of Aral And these were genuine uncompromising uncompromising promising Marxist social democrats the outcome of a n party part which was first formed in 1899 Since then the social democratic representation of FI Finland Finland Fin Fin- land has 1105 steadily increased at every election From the spring of 1907 to that of 1909 Finland experienced d two years crowded years of glorious life life in which t the e country simply h hummed bummed with jl Internal progress and political development The old feuds of and were taken talen up with renewed vigor although h the Swedish w speaking Finns were now only one-ninth one of the population and nd still sUIl decreasing We all remember r how In May U 1910 10 members mem mem- hers bers of the British parliament a memorial ai aito to the duma expressing exp the apprehension with which they regarded the proposal to deprive FInland Finland Finland Fin FIn- land nf or her constitutional rights while a large number of German French Italian Belgian and Dutch deputies formed and addressed similar memorials But nil all this was in vain and by July 1910 uno the hill bill for the of Finland linland became be bt- became came law It was not Immediately and violently put into practice Time The was still assembled at Intervals intervals In in- though It had rather ruther less fess po power Cl than s a municipal council A number of official took tool place Russians were giver given full full Finnish rights in Finland and the usual series of arrests imprisonments and s exiling followed but until 1912 the Fh Finnish pr press ss was only Intermittently censored However this second series of or bad years was much hard harder r for tom the the Finns than the period period of 1899 Soon after the war began Finland was practically practical practical- ly Iv cut off from m the civilized world set set In with full force and the time most stringent censorship censorship cen cen- of the pr press ss of correspondence and of all written matter whatever was was' established Even the Internal business of the country suffered greatly great great- ly lr and the whole people were put put under hatche hatches hatches- as it were and assuredly on very short rations for foran foran foran an unlimited time One pi piece ce of news only came through In the early days of war to th the effect that the dowager dowager dowager dow dow- ager empress of Russia had returned from frolD Den Denmark mark by way of Finland and had shown much courtesy and common sense on her passage It was said that that she she had canse caused 1 her person personal 11 guard to he be greatly relaxed that she had talked with Finns everywhere and had taken pains to create a good Impression But nut shortly after her liar return the Finns were were specially specially and officially warned not notto notto notto to build any false hopes of restored liberty upon the friendly demeanor of the dow dowager ger empress Naturally lIy this Ill advised policy has had very had bad results At the the beginning of the war many Fl Finns ns were In favor favor of of the allies chiefly by reason of their English trade connections and English sympathies But when Russia's most powerful tad ind necessary ally to say one word In favor or a of a reasonable treatment of Finland and andu when u the English press by Its undiscrIminating praise of all things Russian actually gave more strength to the powers o of reaction t then 1 n the Finns cannot be blamed for blamed for looking elsewhere Their exiles flocked clocked to Germany in great numbers numbers num num- bers and i It is said sald that more than Fl Finns ms took up their their residence there The Germans are further credited credited with making a active tive propaganda for their cause among the professors and students of f Finland but it seems doubtful whether they would really have found It worth while when the allies themselves were unconsciously doing so much to spread pro-German pro sympathies there If It but but no one can can say more than If Finland if-Finland Finland f was waso o occasionally caslo used as a n channel chann l for communication communication cation atlon between Germany and the traitorous party In nu Russia sla the allies hove have only to blame However this tilis may be It seems pretty clear cItar that there w were re severn several 1 German agencies In more than than- one part of Finland trying to stir the people up to an nn armed revolt Since our reactionary press at nf one time took upon Itself to repeat at the venerable and d discredited cliches about Finland's desire for Independence or f for r union with Sweden it is well to say bay ay once more more that F Finland's lands land's great nationalist movement was all nIl directed against Swedish Influence and that there are not five wiseacres in tn the whole country who vho would dream of the time possibility of such Ii a union Nor has the time fiercest advocate ocate of Finnish freedom ever contemplated absolute In In- dependence ce The The position of the country and Its itI very veri sma small population wholly forbid It tt Surely this tiny nation has a magnificent future I It mn may may even even be possible for them highly trained and politically qualified n as they are to hurry through the Intervening stages of of their economic development and show to Europe the working model of a n operative co-operative commonwealth They are In th the main Mongolians 1 patient passive secret and unfathomable and their kinsmen in Japan and aad China have bave done equally marvelous things Yet alien from us as they are are racially their development development development de de- is so so western that no Englishman who has spent much time In Finland has an any sense of ofa a n race barrier On the time contrary they seem sem once one known curIous curiously y appealing and sympathetic this brave ugly little people people- with their high cheekbones cheekbones cheekbones cheek cheek- bones great foreheads and s set deep t eye Their ThIr literature like their landscape Is extraordinarily ex ex- extraordinarily varied and beautiful and there ther runs through It a sense of the timeless forests and t the le unbounded North It haunts you no one who ho has halt felt the charm of Finland Is really content till he hes s sees cs the Land of Thousand Lakes again |