The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1891-08-08
MORALITY IN FINLAND.

MUkALlJ1 LIN ElNLAND.
A Land Where Good Name Is,
More Than Riches.
The Punishment for Crime Does Not Wipe
Out the Stain, and Wealth Cannot
Compensate for Loss of
Reputation.
The standard of morality in Finland
not that morality which consists mere
~ 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 it's civil
izing institutions on the Finnish stock.
Finland is united to the Russian empire,
and it's capital, Helsingfors, is but
nights journey from St. Petersburg.
and yet the difference between the two
countries in religion, morality and we'll
being could not be greater were they
separated from each other by the earth's
diameter.
This enormous difference is manifest
in outward things; in nothing SO strik-
iugly as the aspect of the streets of Fin
nish cities at night. A woman, or a
girl, would be afraid to walk alone at
night, even on the Nevsl1y Prospect in
St. Petersburg, and this feeling is amply
justified by the insults to which those
respectable females are occasionally
subjected whom dire necessity drives
out after eight or nine o'clock at night
In Helsingfors, on the contrary, a girl
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 decorum
and propriety, which surpasses any
thing have noticed in any other Eu-
ropean city, is not a 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
orce-incomparably stronger than mere
wholly enlisted On the side Of morality
and justice. TIE population is one inn
nlense family Of two millions and a half,
all the members Of which, when once
they have attained a certain standard OF
public usefulness, axe 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 liked
upon him, and disgracef'1l action is re-
nremhered for generations,
A good name and fame, therefore, is
concrete reality in Finland where,
without it, man is disqualified from
occupying a post of trust in the office
of any large firm and serving the state
in any capacity. The only refuge open
to him--if there chance to be q vacancy
lis the post of censor of Finnish books
and newspapers For the Russian gov
eminent, all occupation which erects
an impossible barrier between him
aud his count1yraen Tor all time.
In Finland bankrupt, Whatever the
cause of his failure, is under a cloud
which, even in favorable cases, it re-
uuires some time and great efforts to
dispel; and, if dishonest bankrupt, he
is under lock and key as we'll And al
though when he has undergone his sem
tence i'm prison and afterward remained
in moral quarantine for q year, Or two
or three, during which he must keep
aloof from all trade and commerce, he
is permitted to begin anew, 81 sadder
and a wiser man, he is usually wise
enough to refuse to avail himself OF the
privilege, well knowing that no amount
of capital can compensate for the loss
of ones good name, without which
trade or commerce in Finland is an
utter impossibility.
The visible results of this healthful
moral tone of the community are that
vice and crime are rapidly diminishing
and show strong tendency to disap-
pear. And this is perfectly natural
The collapse of most men in all coun-
tries in the struggle for life can be
shown to be in consequence OF moral
rather than intellectual defects, and it
is to this collapse that the greatest
number of vices and crimes are attrib-
utable.
Now, the Films are intellectually less
nimble and plastic than the French,
less imaginative and subtle than the
Russians and less sentimental than the
Germans, but they make up for GER
tain mental sluggishness and stiffness
by an extremely delicate moral SEN
sibility, to which they are indebted for
most of their political and economical
Successes