New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-01-25
ANOTHER POLAND.
RUSSIA'S CAMPAIGN OF TYRANNY IN THE
LAND OF THE THOUSAND LAKES.
st. Petersburg, January 3.

here. but Province For the past year the Gar
has piled that patient and loyal land with every
sort of indlgnity and tyranny. RAIN mas poc"
broken and justice outraged. And to-day sees wv
whole country in state of anarchy, places VI
amusement closed, the newspapers printed WIFI
mourning rules and a Russian Army masslhS Oh
the frontier. Any day may provoke desp'I""
revolt against intOerable tyranny, and thch'-oI-
der will reign in Warsaw There Is now apSo
lutely no criminal law in Finland. The pena'
code has been suspended by the Gar. although he
himself approved and promulgated 1t year ago
and none has been put in its place. The admin
istratiOn of Justice is therefore at stands'lii anu
the country is saved from perfect saturnalla oil
crime only by the fact that the Firms are the most
moral and law-abiding people on the face OF the
globe.
The troubles of Finland first assumed serious
aspect early last summer. II then became EVIL
dent that the wave of intolerance and tyranny
that was sweeping over the Empire was not u
spare the Land of the Thousand Lakes kusSil
for the Russians the order of the day. anu
Russia included Finland The first step toward
the Russianzation of the Grand Duchy was the
resignation of Senator Mecheln. the forcmoS' Llo-
eral statesman of Finland. Technically, ne IT,
signed. In reality, however, lie was forced ouo
of Office by the whole power of the Cars Govern
ton through every Finnish heart. The press ami
public of every party joined in tributes to MS
worth and expressions of regret at his retirement
But the official organs here openly reJolced ana
said that a great obstacle TO the Russanizatlon OF
Finland had been removed They made no secret
of it. The RussianZation of Finland was TO DC
accomplished. by fair means or foul
Soon after that the Gar and CzaIlna went OF.
their usual summer holiday 10 Finland and were
received with GOODNESS. 4 Finnish singing So
cietv went TO serenade them and sang some
of the National airs of Finland. The imperial
visitors sent out word to them. "Sing Russian
songs" Dead silence was the answer, and thu
serenaders marched oway without another note.
Several similar incidents. occurred. which appar-
emily only dcepened the Cars determination 10
crush the spirit of the people He dccreed
that the Finnish postal system should he merged
into that of Russia. and that the Finnish POSTAGE
stamps should be forthwith replaced by Russian
He was led TO this step by an incident which
gave him great personal evaporation. While he
was cruising in his yac!t along the Finnish coast,
he one day wrote a letter. and stamped 1t with
Russian postage stamp W,lch he had on his writ
ing table. Al officer sent shore with it
so as TO insure It going by the first post, as 1t
was important. Some hours aftcrward II was
returned 10 the imperial yacht with the remark
that Russian postage stamps were no good III tlE-
land. This made His Majesty simply wild with rage,
and he swore that there should thenccforth b,
nothing but Russian stamps in Finland. Accord
.rgy the decree went forth that the Finnish
postal service. in all its details. was abolished and
a purely Russian service substituted Russians
being sent to man all the Offices These men were
ignorant of the Finnish language. and could not
read the addresses on the letters, and the whole
f.,ft = lnffa
entrusted TO the post was delivered and when
complaint was made, tie Gar replied, Z" Learn
Russian. then. AMI address your letters IL it,
The question of unfying the customs and cur
rency systems Of Finland and Russia has also
been under consideration. But il is not 10 be-
settled just yet. To abolish the existing Finnish
Customs in favor of a Customs union with Russia
would prove detrimental to Russian industry. pre-
tccted as the latter is from Finnish competition
by the existence of the Customs frontier. Fin
nish industry is in q far more developed stage
than that of Russia, and in the establishment of
a Customs union. Finland. and not Russia, would
have the lions share result which the Govern
ment AZ ST. Petersburg do not for an instant
contemplate The currency question IS for the time
being to he abandoned, for on due consideration %
this perpleNing matter. W. Nishnegradsld, Minister
Of Finance has come 10 the conclusion that Russia
would not be the 9ancr by the abolition Of the
Finnish currency N favor OF that OF Russia while
Finland would hc greatly the loser.
But the most serious phase of the whole matter
is the penal code For several years the ablcs
men in Finland worked on this code, ana when
completed it was a masterpiece No country ever
had a better. The Gar examined it and cor
daily approved il, and il was dccreed That
il should 90 into force at the beginning OF the
present year But 10. Without warning. Few
DAYS ago. Just before Christmas, in fact, the Gar
sent forth decree annulling the new code Inc
news Of this produced the greatest lma@lnapH
considerations The theatres and other public
placos were closed. Flags were raised AZ hall
mast The more daring newspapers put on MOURN
ing, and many ministers preached patriotic ser
mons on the subject. The Russian press, of
course were quick TO seize upon these things as
manifestations Of disloyaty on the part of the
Firms. and compared it with the anarcmcal CON
dition of the Kingdom Of Poland before the out
break of the instruction of 1863. The abusive
language to which the Russian press gives utter
ance in cnlarging on events in the Grand Ducly
will indeed, only tend 10 render yet more an
tagonistic the antipathy between the two nations
And now Finland presents the unique spectacle
Of q great nation without penal code.
II is of interest to make brief retrospect, 10
understand more perfectly the relation Of the
NrdlQ DuCIS u Ii' i-H'P'''' anu ~ "''''''''''
how such a cultivated and liberal country as
FINLAND comes to be subject 70 the sway of a much
loss enlightened country indeed, comparatively
barbarous country like Russia Finland is
rather larger country than Norway, and is one OF
the most beautiful regions in the world Its
population is something less than 100000. The
vast mass OF the people speak Finnish; about II
per cent speak swedish and few only some five
or six thousand are Russians. In the towns,
especially. great many OF the Finlanders proper
also speak Swedish. Swedish was for centuries
the leading language in literature and elsewhere,
and il is only during the latter hail of the present
century that Finnish has begun to assert itself
AT present it must be said to hold about the same