Elko independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1915-current, 1917-12-06

~Ns'AAt'iSSiohSi vi the finish govern
ment for negotiating the release OF
foodstuns by the United States gov. !
eminent. in statement to The Asso-
ciated Press. The threat to Finland is
not privation or even chronic starva-
ton. he declares. Concerning Fin
lands needs and its causes, DR.. Igna-
thus said:
In :egard to food supply, Finland
is worse Oil than any of the European
states who sufferings ahve been
brought before the American public
For months past, our people have been
eating bread made out of -four mixed
with pinebark and ichens; but even
with this expedient We cannot hold
out, as the flour reserve virtually is
exhausted, and even our hardy popu-
| latiOn cannot eat unmiXed bark
The suIerings endured in the sum
mcr were terrible; and since | left
Finland in September they have be-
come much worse. Nothing can save
us except the prompt release of the
American government OF the flour
which We have already ordered and
paid for in the United States.
Finland has never been sclf-sup-
porting AS regards food. Her three
and half millions of people scat
! tered over 373 square kilometres of
territory, have depended largely upon
foreign supplies of grain, in exchange
for which they exported forestry prod
ucts. Before the war, we imported
annually about 100000 tons of bread
stuffs; and OF these about $4,000 tons
/ came from the United States. The
rest came from Russia. With war,
the import from America ceased and
as Russia's own food troubles grew
organized, the import from Russia
! ceased also. Then starvation began.
, All | want Is the release of enough
Il Hour to save us from death and hun.
!. ger. Privatioin we have stood and
are willing TO stand. We ask for this
concession and we base our demand
upon justice as regards the past and
upon policy as regards the future.
AS regards the past. we are only
asking for payment for services al.
: ready rendered to the allies. These
Y services have been of great value
Finland Loyalty helped Russia as long
as Russia was fighting, and she is
; willing to help in future if Russia re
. sumcs fighting.
During the war, Finland has beer
absolutely loyal. This in the face oil
great proyOcation by the now extinct
autocracy. In September. 1914, in re
turn for Finnish expressions of loyalty
Nicholas II issued a decree further
; supprcssing the Finnish language and
abolishIng what little was left of our
constitution. Yet we remained loyal
We modified our industries on a wal
; basis with thoroughness and eff
cheney which have been acknowledged
. repeatedly by the Pctrograd govern
ment.
| "All our cities. in particular Hell
singfurs, TammcTfors, and Abo at once
became munitions workshops. They
. supplied Russia with uniforms, boots
leather goods. shells, cartridges. anC
machine guns. In our ports we bull
: dostroycrs and torpedo boats. Tn,
former minister of war, General Poll
vanOff, informed n newspaper CORE
| spOndcnt that Finland's war lndustrie!
were fOurishing and were a model Il
| Russia.
| These war industries, importan
| factors In Russia's resistance. PROVED
to be one cause of our present lam
entablc plight, and that is why we cit,
] TENN as reason why America shOul'
help us now. Under normal cond
tons, we should have been paid TO
our munitions in Russian money an,
| allowed with this Russian money 4
| import Russian and foreign fOUdstuiGs
| In fact, we were Hooded with Russian
| paper rublcs; but were not allowed tC
buy ncCcssaries of life either in Russia
or abroad. We got so far as to ordeI
brCadstufis in Russia we even paiC
for them in advance; and the proyi
| sional government promised to allow
| their export TO US; but owing TO trans
port disOrganization we got nothing
Thus we suffered directly from oul
help to Russia. IL we had not con
ccntratcd Ia munitions making, w
might have diverted our industrial
labor into agricultural channels. anC
conditions would not have been quite
80 bad as they are.
we supported Russia in othei
ways. As long as we could, we sen
her milk and butter. We supported I
vast Russian naval and military gar
rison, which alone adds a big per
centagc to our population figure, ant
We support an innumerable army
estimated at 2OO.O00-of civilian Rus
III SLAMS: and thus relieve the food strait