The DeLamar nugget. [volume] (DeLamar, Idaho) 1891-1900, 1891-12-07
MORALITY In FINLAND.
A Land Where a Good Name Is
More Than Riches.
The Punishment for Crime Does Not Wipe
Out the Stain, and Wealth Cannot
Compensate for Loss of
Reputation,

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The standard of morality in Finland
not that morality which consists mere
ly in the keeping upof appearances and
the throwing of dust in our neighbors
| eyes-is much higher than in most coun-
tries, decidedly higher than in Sweden,
which has grated so many of its civil
izing institutions on the Finnish stock.
Finland is united to the Russian empire,
and its capital, Helsingfors, is but a
nights journey from st. Petersburg,
and yet the difference between the two
countries in religion, morality and we'll
separated from each other by the earth's
diameter.
This enormous difference is manifest
in outward things; in nothing so strikr
| ingly as the aspect of the streets of Fin
nish cities at night. A woman, or y
| girl, would be afraid to walk alone at
night, even on the Nevsly Prospect, il
St. Petersburg, and this feeling is ampl 7
! justified by the insults to which thos ,
respectable females are occasionally
subjected whom dire necessity drive S
In Helsingfors, on the contrary, a gil |
may walk alone in any quarter of the
city at any hour of the night without
the slightest risk or apprehension. And
this outward appearance of decorurn
and propriety, which surpasses any
thing have noticed in any other Eu-
ropean city, is not mere ornamental
mantle. a coating of whitewash given
to a moral sepulcher, a beautiful out
side, but within full of dead mems bones
and of all uncleanness, says writer
in the London Telegraph.
1t is very fair indication of the NOR
al condition of the Grand Duchy. In
Finland public opinion is an irresistible
force-incomparably stronger than mere
legal restraints and barriers-and it is
wholly enlisted on the side of morality
and Justice. The population is one inn
meuse family of two millions and half,
all the members of which, when once
they have attained a certain standard of
public usefulness, are more or less
known to each other, and each one feels
that in all the turning points of life the
eyes of all his countrymen are fixed
upon him. and disGraceful action is re-
membered for generations.
A good name and fame, therefore, is
a concrete reality in Finland. where, |
without t. q man is disqualified from
occupying post of trust in the Office |
OF any LARGE firm and serving the state
in any capacity. The only refuge open |
to hin-if here chance to be a vacancy |
lis the post of censor of Finnish books |
and newspapers for the Russian gov
ernment, an occupation which erects
an impossible barrier between him
and his countrymen for all time.
In Finland bankrupt, whatever the
cause Of his failure, is under cloud
which, even in favorable cases. it re-
quIres some time and great efforts to
dispel; and, if dishonest bankrupt, he
is under lock and key as well. And al
though when he has undergone his SEN
tence in prison and afterwaTd remained
in moral quarantine for year, or two
Or three, during which he must keep
aloof from all trade and commerce, he
is permitted to begin anew, a saddcr
md a wiser man, he is usually wise
enough to refuse to avail himself of the
privilege, well knowing that no amount
If capital can compensate for the loss
If ones good name, without which
rade or commerce in Finland is an
litter impossibility
The visible results of this healthful
moral tone of the community are that
,ice and crime are rapidly diminishing
md show strong tendency to disap-
,ear. And this is perfectly natural.
The collapse of most men in all coun-
ries in the struggle for life can be
hown to be in consequence of moral
ather than intellectual defects, and it
S to this collapse that the greatest
lumber of vices and crimes are attrib-
table.
Now, the Firms are Intellectually less
limblc and plastic than the French,
ess imaginative and subtle than the
russians and less sentimental than the
bit they make up for GER
ain mental sluggishness and stiffness '
Y an extremely delicate moral SEN
lbility, to which they are indebted for :
lost Of their political and economical l
uccesses. |
Easily Settled.
A famous Chicago lawyer once had a