The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-04-23

Is rNss4s~f~s ~ae~ rs ss~irses taken ssve
s~v4s ps,rs~sss~svA 20 sA< ssssitss attendant.
YES Asv@ sss4aatst IL morality aas been
yn@semsv4s 81 rlasss ssasetysrs BY sae c"n%
sstss.sss sss sh~ ssNnfsa streets al nsghs.
ssssssea Ass.aw sAas II II uezase Ia walk
ssnue ~ fsaaAs liz khe stress ~ 81 Peters
hs.n wAiss Is as,iv niSas's Journey from
tsetxaagfass. hsas ne enc ever thinks IL
aaeat& 80 I've oa Vie streets ~ Heising-
ease. The side streets and byways are
asass "a safe as the main ssoroughfares,
ard s.ar ~ Insult Is unknown
Public opfnfon's Force.
In Finland puSiie opinion is an irresist-
it.se force ard IL is wholly enlisted on the
side of morality and justice The poaa-
lation has been spoken Of rs one immense
family OF 25a.aa3 all the members OF
which. when onca they have attained a
certain standard % public usefulness. are
more or less known To one another, and
each one feels that In all the turning
points OF life the eyes Of all his country
men are axed unen him. and Disgrace
sgi action is remembered for generations.
good name and fame. therefore. are
a concrete reality in Finland where with
out il man IL disqualified from opening
al place ef business. from occupying a
post 81 trust in the office OF any large firm
and from serving the state in any capac-
ity.''
They are grave. serious people who
understand joke even less than the
Scotch. and char 20 them. is absolutely
uniu;eligihie. Life is Il serious matter
with them They sing continually but
ali their music is sad and their dances
have nothing rofIicking beisterous in
them The men and women enjoy great
freedom. they are educated in the same
schools and are brought up to ignore sex,
the chapsroH is unknown. and still az So
ciai gatherings there is an unexpected
restraint. At parties the men occupy
enc end of the table or one part OF the
room ard the women the other. and not
withstanding the boosted freedom, the
young people rarely exchange word.
The elder people always monopolize con-
yersation, two persons leading and the
others listening
According To the statistics on file in the
office of the ''Siirtolainen'' tt'The Colo
nist',. there are about TWO hundred and
fifty thousand Firms in the United States
and Canada. The first Films who came
10 This country settled on the Delaware
river near Philadelphia, and built a
church there in l6aa They were sturdy
soldiers who had earned their spurs under
Gustavus Adolphus. The immigration was
small for many years, and had its first
real boom in 1853 when many Finlaniers
came TO Tue Il3lNl STATES q
boom began in 1879 Great numbers Of the
sturdy men and women went To Cape Ann,
Mass. and TO the copper mining districts
In Michigan. The men We're industrious
and thrifty. and in short time after
their arrival in this country money and
steamship tickets were sent 10 Europe TO
bring wives and families to the new homes
in the United States.
Michigan offered the greatest attrac-
ND f1a. In Efsaraf Sh
iation than any other State. Minnesota
comes next. and then. in the order named,
Massa chusetts, New York, Ohio. Oregon.
Washington. California. Wyoming. Mon
tana and the Dakotas.
One OF the Distinguishing character
istics of the Finlanders in the United
States" says J. +. Saari of the Finnish
Publishing Co., us that they can all READ
and write their own language. This is
the result of the compulsory education
system OF Finland. Nearly one-third of
the Firms can speak Swedish They are
good men and women who have been
reared in the atmosphere Of western civil
ization. and who naturally rebel when
they think of the Russian or Asiatic meth
cd being enforced on those who still re-
main in the old country. Educational
statistics give the best proof OF the Rus
sian inferiority. In Russia s. per cent OF
the people can neither read nor write;
In Finland a fraction Of per cent is Hit
crate. Finland has twenty-four schools to
every one in Russia. and there is no part
of cur community which Is so far behind
the times as the Slavs who are making
desperate efforts to reduce us 10 their
level"
The FiniandeTs want 20 retoin the
rights which they enjoyed and which the
czar guaranteed them: they ask Ia be pro-
tected in their right 10 worship as their
fathers did before them and il is their
hope 20 continue 10 occupy a place among
the people Of the world n free nation
These are not new no. unrea sonablc de-
manGs, but hy granting them the czar
would only ill promise which his grand
father and his father were perfectly will
ing - grant. Even the present car re-
newsi the promise Of his predecessors
when he assembled the throne and he kept
his promise for a short time. bat his lat
est manifesto wipes out his pledge. ana If
his ideas are carried into execution the
t'inlandcr. despite his superiority, his
pride and his patriotism. viii be degraded
Ia tbe level Of the Russian peasant who
atill bears tina nnmistakahIe mark Of siav-
cry and DEGRADATION New York Tribune