Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1939. FINLAND.

Greymouth Evening Star, 7 November 1939, Page 6

Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1939. FINLAND.

JENSION continues in the relations between Finland and the Soviet, the result of the situation created by the Russian demands not yet being apparent. The members of the Finnish delegation have been travelling to and from Alose.ow. the negotiations being attended bv the usual contradictory

reports from various correspondents. but the Foreign Minister (M. Frkko) has now declared (hat Finland has given her final answer, and that the decision

rests with the Soviet as to whether the - negotiations should he eontinnecl. It is claimed that the limit has been reached in the concessions made to the Soviet, and that Finland. rather than give up her independence, will fight in its defence. On the Russian side, 't is contended that the demands made are necessary in order to ensure Soviet security, and M. Molotov has issued a thinly-veiled threat, to lhe effect that it will he harmful,- hoih to the cause of peace and the Finns themselves, if they remain obdurate. The Fin-1

nish Government has referred to the existence of the non-aggres- ) sion treaty concluded with Russia : in 1932, and extended two years later to remain valid until 1945, under which it was agreed that all differences between the two countries should he set lied by peaceful means, but it is doubtful, in view of the recent record of Soviet diplomacy, whether such an agreement will carry any weight. Stress has frequently been laid upon the neutrality of Finland, and it has been denied that aid has been sought; from any other Power, while M. Erkko further repudiates the idea that Finland is acting under pressure from any outside Power. He has obviously done his utmost to avoid giving the Soviet any excuse for taking action on the lines of that adopted by Germany against Poland, in which case the Allied guarantees to the latter were regarded as sufficient justification for invasion. On the other hand, the fact must be faced that, although the Finns may be willing to fight for their independence, their chances of success in an armed struggle against the Soviet forces would be even less than those of the Poles against the Germans. Every effort has been put forth by the Finnish Government to strengthen the country’s defences, but it is only necessary to consider that the total population is merely about three and a-half millions, to realise that the Red Army would have an easy task. A conquest by the Soviet would form another chapter in an uneasy history. The Finns were first conquered by the Swedes, who ruled them from the twelfth to the beginning of the eighteenth century, when Peter the Great of Russia took the country from the Swedes. A bone of contention for nearly a century, Finland was in 1809 ceded to Russia, and was given the status of a grand duchy, with a Senate, and semi-autonomy. After the breakdown of Russia in 1917, Finland declared her independence, which was confirmed by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Two years later, the Finnish Diet sot up a republic, which was recognised by the Great Powers, and has existed to the present time. In ihe past two decades, Finland is reported to have developed her assets and multiplied her talents in a way scarcely equalled by any nation in Europe. The number of freehold farmers, now 300,000, has more than doubled; the country is no longer dependent on the Russian market for grain, there being a steady increase in cultivation; cattle-farming shows the same upward tendency, and an important export trade has been established in timber and timber products, also in dairy produce, while the trade balance is favourable, and the foreign debt has been enormously reduced. Finland now faces the tragic prospect of losing her hardly-M r on independence and democratic liberties, in exchange for which she is expected to accept Russian domination. In this, she would share the fate of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, who in turn have fallen victims to Soviet ambitions in the Baltic. Meanwhile, M. Stalin continues to demonstrate that he has nothing to learn from Herr Hitler, and the latter must be feeling far from easy at the prospect of a further increase in Russian power. So far, Berlin has derived little advantage from the treaty with Moscow.