The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1917-12-08
Firms THREATENED
WITH STARVATION
UNLESS U. S. AIDS
speedy Death from Hunger win
Result Uniess America Can Fur.
nish Flour; Country Worse OF
Than Any Of European States.
~ kssocirtsd Press
New York Tee

Aftfh munger tnre1ttra the greater
part OF the population Of Finland un.
lees tney can obtain flour from the
United States. 4sscrts pr. kaarlo
IEnatius. commissioner OF the Fin.
nish government for negotiating tho
reieas. OF foodstuffs BY the United
states government. In a statement 20
the Associated Press. The threat 70
Finland is not ~privation or even
chronic starvation. he declares. Con-
corning Finland's needs and lis causes
DR.. Ienatlus said.
In regard 70 food supply. Fin
Ian n worse off tina any Of the
European states whose sufferings
have been brought before the Amer
ican public. For months past. our
people have been eating bread made
oss Of flour mixed with pinc-bark
a iichens. but even with his ex-
pedicnt we cannot hold out. as the
flour reserve virtually Is exhausted.
and even our hardy population can
not eat unfnixed bark.
The sufferings endured In the
summer were terrible: and since I
left Finland IN September they have
become much worse. Nothing can
save us except the prompt release BY
the American government Of the flour
which we have already ordered and
paid for In the United States.
Finland has never been seif-sup-
porting as regards food. Her three
n n half millions OF people scat
tered over ga. 900 square kilometers
OF territory. have depended largely
upon foreign supplies of grain. In ex-
change for which they exported for
estry products. Before che war. we
imported annually about 100000 tons
OF breadstuffs; and Of these about
10000 o n came from the United
states. The rest came from Russia.
With war. the import from America
ceased n as Russia's own food
troubles grew and her railroad scr-
vice became dis~organized. the import
from Russia oeased also. Then star
walton began.
"Aii ! want Is the release Of enough
flour TO save us from death and
hunger. privation 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 Ar regards the future.
a regards the past. we are only
asking for payment for services al
ready rendered TO the allies. These
services nave been OF great value.
Finland loyalty helped Russia as long
as Russia was fighting. and she Is
willing TO help in future II Russia re-
sumes fighting.
"Durlng the war. Finland has been
absolutely loyal This In the face
OF great provocation b. the now-ex-
tinct auiocraey. Ia September, 1910
In return for Finnish expressions OF
loyalty. Nicholas n issued a decree
further suppressing the Finnish Ian
Euage and aboiishing what little was
left OF our constitution. Yet we re-
manned loyal. We modified our In
duetries on a war basis with n thor.
ouEhness and efficiency which have
been acknowledged repeatedly by the
Petrograd government.
"All "a cities. In particular lIoi-
singforr. Talnmerfors. and Abo at
once became munitions workshops
They supplied Russia with uniforms.
boots. leather goods. shells, cartridges.
and machine runs. In our ports We
butlt destroyers n torpedo boats.
The former minister OF war. General
p~olivanoff. informed a newspaper
correspondent, hat P1nand's war In.
dussries were fiourishing n were a
model 10 Russia.
These whr-industries. important
factors in RuSsia's resistance, proved
70 be one cause OF our present la
mentabls plight. and that N why we
cite them ~ a reason why America
should help us now Under normal
conditions. we should AVE been paid
for u munitions In Russian money
and allOwed with this Russian money
70 import Russian and foreign food
stuffs. In fact. we were flooded with
Russian paper rnbles; but were not
allowed 20 buy necessities Of life
either IN Russia or abroad. We got
70 far as 10 order breadstuffs in Rus
STA Ne even paid for them In nd
vance and the provisional govern
p1ent promised 20 allow their export
20 us but owing 20 transport disor-
Eaniza;ion We got nothing. Thus we
suffered directly from our help 20
Russia. II we had not concentrated
os munitions making, we might have
diverted Dur Industrial labor into agri-
cultural channels. and conditions
would not have been quite 80 bad az
they are.
W supported Russia In other
ways A. Ions az we could, we sent
her milk ms butter We supported a
vast Russian naval aud military gar
riHon. which Hone adds a big per
centage 20 our population figure. n
We support an innumerable army
estimated az zoo. 00o-Of Russian civ
ilians: and thus relieve the food strain
in Russia.
Justice demands that we should
be punished for our past hacri.
nces. Policy demands that we should
be ensured against starvation in "a.
iuro. our war industries are SIN
mobilizsd; they are highiy efficient:
ana 81 Russia continues the war. we
can give her greater help than SHE
can expert from her Inefficient
anarchicsl Industries. But this
viii bs possible only " we have the
necessary food The aliiep cannot ex-
pect hungry artisans whose wives and
children are perishlng to keep 20
munitions work.
sOur population Ia not pro-German