The Coolidge examiner., 1934-01-19
One Debtor Nation That
Meets Its Payments.

MeetS It's TaymenLS.
Washington.-In these days Of war
debt defaults and token payments"
Finland, the far north land of
forty thousand lakes" continues to
set a good example for European
debtor nations
Alone among them, Finland has
met each payment in full. Her
debt is considerably smaller than
.nost but her population. too, is
small. and her location astride the
Arctic circle is not conducive to
great wealth.
''Often referred to as little Fin
land by those who have not care
fully studied q map, this hardy and
thrifty republic stretching from the
Baltic sea to the Arctic ocean has
an area considerably larger than
the British isles" says a bulletin
from the National Geographic so
clety.
NHO"T DJ us FNtniCbSo.
ITO most Americans Finland Is
known chiefly through the exploits
of it's Olympic athletes. headed by
Paavo Nurml. Beginning with the
success of Hannes Kolehmalnen at
the Stockholm games in 1912. Fin
lands tight-fisted, strong-bodied
young men repeatedly placed their
country at the top of the world
in the Spartan sports Of long dis
tance running.
Believed to have originated In
the Volga basin In southern Russia,
the Firms were driven gradually
northward to Estonia and thence
crossed to the Finnish peninsula
during the Iron age.
For some six centuries after
1857 Finland was Joined to Sweden
while constant wars were waged
with the Russians. Finally cap
tured by Russia, Finland in 1909 be-
came grand duchy of the Russian
empire and remained in that status
until the red revolution of 1917.
"By a declaration of independ-
ence, December 9, 1917. the Films
broke the Russian yoke, but a sharp
civil war ensued In which red
forces with Russian Communist
backing were defeated by the White
guards under General Carl Gustav
Mannerheim. called the George
Washington of Finland
although forced to borrow at
the outset, the canny Firms. tasting
independence for the first time In
their centuries of struggle. quickly
placed their country on a sound
financial footing. Educational fa-
ciities are good.
Woman suffrage has long been
established in Finland. Like this
country, Finland tried national pro-
hibition after the war and later
abandoned it. Instead a system
of strict governmental control has
been set up.
Lying in the same latitudes as
Alaska and the frozen wastes of ST.
IBERIA, Finland has long, hard win
ters, but the climate Is tempered
somewhat by the many lakes, its
low altitude, the proximity of the
Baltic, and prevailing southwest
erly winds.
Hot and Cold Baths Popular.
"A national custom handed down
from remote ages Is the steam bath,
followed by a shower. first warm.
then icy. In the country districts,
the Firms often dress outdoors in
the cold and the youngsters roll in
the snowdrifts for fun
"Finland's population in recent
years has passed the 3,500OO0
mark. Between the Firms and the
Swedish elements among them
some feeling exists. The power of
the Swedish-speaking group in both
politics and education has been
somewhat curtailed. The dwarfed.
pathetic Lapps. in the extreme
north, number only about 1000.
"Abo, Nurmi's home town, was
the ancient capital In 1929 1t Gel
ebrated It's seven hundredth ami.
versary. The seat of government
is now at Helsingfors, modern
though modest capital.
Half of Finland is clothed with
valuable timber. Railway locOmo-
tives burn wood instead Of coal.
''In the days of wooden ships Fin
land held an important place In
ship-building and on the seas. More
and more of the square-rigged
Cape Horn grain ships have fallen
into Finnish hands. But with the