Show FINLAND POLITICALLY From the Westminster Review Politically the position of the Fin landers is peculiar Their country enjoys en-joys a large measure of freedom and internal in-ternal independence yet it is under the ultimate supreme control of Russia I Most natives demur to the Idea that it has been absorbed in the Russian empire em-pire and they point to the fact that each successive czar during the present century on assuming office as grand duke of Finland has entered into a solemn sol-emn pledge to maintain unaltered the original rights and constitutional law of the grand duchy A copy of the first imperial warrant to that effect granted in 1S09 is hung up on view in all the I churches of Finland The administration administra-tion of the country is presided over by a governor general whois appointed toy the czar and with that functionary there is associated a secretary of state who must be a native of Finland The four legislative orders are convoked con-voked every three years and each sits separately but they may deliberate In common If this is asked by one of the orders and supported by another of I them The privileges of the nobility have been abolished except so far as j concerns representation in their own diet where unlike the other orders they are allowed if absent to vote by proxy The clerical chamber is always presided over by the archbishop and includes in-cludes the bishops and twentyeight deputies elected by the priests also two chosen by the universities and certain representatives of the public schools The third chamber consists of about fiftysix representatives of the bourgeois bour-geois class one from each town except in places with a population of over 6000 where one extra member is allowed al-lowed for every additional 6000 inhabitants inhab-itants With the exception of the nobility clergy women soldiers and servants 1 ratepayers in towns have a vote but the rating qualification is high and excludes a large proportion of the inhabitants in-habitants from the electoral register 12 a residont has not an income of more than 200 marks yearly he is not rated and consequently has no vote What is known as the Swedish party com nrisincr the better class of t6Iumenle defend plural voting Those reformers I who call themselves the Finnish national nation-al party advocate both a lowering and I simplification of the franchise The fourth or neasant chamber consists 01 sixty members and every 2000 electors return a representative Members of narliament must be natives of Finland I like all those who vote for them |