RUSSIAN RULE IN FINLAND

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXL, Issue 6164, 9 January 1904, Page 6

RUSSIAN RULE IN FINLAND

An observant woman, who signs the name ■of Gertrude Greeni, luui puuiisiuti wliat she saw and heard of tiie results of Russian , tyranny mi Finland, tihe has ivc£ntly returned from spending a suninur in that unhappy countiy, and her narrative appears in the Boston Evening Transcript. "I stopped," she says, "wi.xi friends— native I , inlanders—very highly educated* and intensely interested in the ponuti: .... tion of the country. I found the family and their frknds very sad, enduring eLoically the depression which rested over everybody and. everything. The first excitement following the coup d'etat of 1899 has .subsided, and the people are watching with grim attention and anxiety the various repressive measures wliich are constantly being put into operation. As the newspapers that ventured to print anything unfavorable to the Russian Government have been suppressed,. i those that continue to exist give only the : foreign news. "There is, however, a newspaper issued secretly every week which gives an account* of all that transpires. This is printed on very thin paper, when, where and by whom in unknown; but it is read and passed from one friend to another. The Russian officials are using every effort to detect tha perpetrators, but thus far they have not been successful. In this way all classes of society are kept informed as to the latest moves of the Russian contingent, but it is a venturesome business circulating copies."There are spies 'everywhere in the t;ervice of Russia—in the streets, .hot&Ls and restaurants, on the trains and particularly on the boats. Finland lias a large passenger- service between the Russian ports,. London,. Denmark, Germany and England, and these steamers are infested with spies. I fancied I wais watched pretty sharply myself. There are many Swedes employed and bribery has perverted the worst class of native FinJanders, so that it is impossible for a householder to- know whether he has spies or not under his own roof tree. "I asked a friend how she dared to speak so openly of political affairs in the hearing of her servants- She shrugged her a bit. 'We must speak,' she said, 'we canfc live in constant fear. I think that waitreyj of mine is loyal, but I can't know whether she is or not,, and life is not worth living if one is in a constant state of terror. .Wβ must take risks..' "In the same way they dared to risk pistol shooting. Practising with ■ firearms has been forbidden by Russia, as has also the isinging of certain national songs. 'Why- do. you want to karn to 1 shoot?' I inquired on one girl. 'One never knows when it will be necessary to know tshe answered* and added: 'I never intend to see the inside of a Russian prison.' 'BuY I said, Vhy should there be any danger of your being arrested? You- are , a private individual living a quiet life.* 'That is no she answered. 'Anybody who dislikes mc or my family^, or/thought he could, in any way advance;his' own interests by so doing, could,'report* some trumped up charge and. there , would V be no, inquiry into the matter."i f JT would' 4 .simply be deposited in some prison in Rus r sia.. She told mc of a party of eighteen ' or. twenty friends who, in the summer of ' 1902,. went, on a picnic by train to a spot some.- miles distant from the city. While there one young girl read aloud from the secrett paper already mentioned. On the ' return to the city, the train was stopped just before it got in and two Russian policemen arrested the girl: and took her off then and th'erie. She was found later in a prison in Viborg. One of thie small party was a traitor,.and had evidently reported by telephone to the city: The use of the telephone ' is umveassal in Finland. People are suspicious even of each, other. "La&t- winter, a Russian pedlar was caught (Stealing, and put in prison, pending trial. A special order came from tlie Ozar commanding that, he be released immediately without: trial or waiting for any formalities ■■'■ Another ca*e of spying. This last winter, ■ also for Jie first time since 1899, the youngsociety; people of Helsingfors began, to give ■ email, informal dances.. It was decided by the older, social leaders that it was too bad to debar, a rising generation from all the amusements of youth. 'One of tha worst things;about the new order of tilings is the "' meddling with, the schools,' said a native to mc. It seems that every year more Russian is to be taught in the schools/ and tins necessarily; crowds out other subjects and .changes for the worse.'the curriculum. Ihe schools of Finland have , for years been ' noted throughout, Europe for their excellence, and many educators have made the •long trip .to Finland to; visit them. Now the high standard is being lowered, and it,will -J •not be many; years probably before ah order will be issued-requiring ail sußjects-to.be ■ taught, in Russian. Such is the belief of thoughtful; , people, .and it is the harder to contemplate as it will necessarily displace "' the present, efficient*, teachers, whose places will be filled by Russians. 'It is only a matter, , of;, time when my brother A— will lose his position, , said one friend. A is- a lawyer in the employ of the Mate. 'Some Russian will covet his position and A will Be ousted to make' room for him.' "Then there is B , a successful young business man who is -casting about, to sea if he can make a favorable transfer to this side of: the water. Then 0—- again is going to emigrate to 'Sweden, where he has relatives, and so it goes on. These people-see-nothing afcad of them. : If they stay; their children , will be taught to speak Russian in the schools and will probably receive- a. second-rate education. -All. the beet and most lucrative positions are being filled byr Russians, and there is no chance for the rising generation to earn its living. But the worst. feature of all is that the Russian standards, not only of education, but of morals,, are a hundred years behind those of Finland, and what can these bring but degradation to the countiy ? "While I was staying there a certain well known: and influential citizen, spending the summer at his country villa, was visited at 'midnight by soma Russian officials and invited to_sign ia- paper or else to be marched. • off to. prison. This paper purported to havebeen written by this citizen and declared; ~-s approval of General Bokrikoff—the Russian Governor of certain verystringent and offensive measures of his. The , man's signature only was lacking. He, thought it over in the allotted half hour. He ■bad a, wife and six children dependent on , him, and although his wife, to her urged 'him not to sign it, he finally did so. This testimonial can of course be used to assure the world of the entire approval of existing conditions of one of Finland's solid , men. General Bobrikoff, on the occasion of! some demonstration, has been β-een to place ■ his wife in front of him as a shield, and he is never seen without a guard. _ "Most of the - Russian officials live in one big building—a building the Russians wera forced to buy as nobody would house them when they came to take the places of- the Finnish patriots who were expelled from the Senate and elsewhere. Within, this" last month all the proceedings of this Senate •hove been conducted in Russian, a fact that pleaeee the Petersburg papers: very much. In a square in front of the domed cathedral, on the hill up. to which , leads a. Jong flight of steps, there stands a big statue of Alexander 11.,' the friend of Fin- ' land. On his birthday anniversary it is decked with flowers % the people of the city. This spring, in the year of our Lord 1903, a man standing at the foot of this statue began to speak of political affairs. A large and orderly crowd gathered. Word •» ■was sent it to disperse, but the people Btill remained. General Bobrikoff wae informed of thear disobedience and sent mounted Cossacks to enforce the order. These Cossacks carried whips with leather thongs tipped with ' lead, and with these ■wMps they laid about Wiem, trampling and riding down the crowd. Some were seriously injured and a" number killed. A friend who happened to be passing with two children was obliged to *eeek 111 . a 6t <** :t©yavoid beinglurt. • J f. Finlandjto-day—M. Plehve notwithstanding. Who would choose to live

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