Evening star., 1938-03-06
Finnish Enjoys Wife Credits
Unborn Traits for Paying 2 Debt
Nine. Jar,efeh to Tell
H0,U HelsingfOrs Cut
Auto Toll.
BY JESSIE FAINT EVANS.

part of that country, but to the genius
OF a single man and Finnish charac-
teristic, according to Nine. Jarnefelt
wife of the Finnish Minister.
Risto Ryti. head of the Bank of Fin
land, who originally negotiated the
loan, is the responsible individual, she
declares, adding, And we Firms are 6
hard-working. simple people who have
been taught to spend little less thar
we earn 1t is enough for her that
1--WE owe the money"
This young cosmopolitan, university
educated woman will address the
Women's Safety Committee of the Dis
trict Club of the American Automobile
Association when it meets with the
Mems Advisory Board at the Sulgrave
Club for luncheon Wednesday. She
will tell how Helsingfors. capital OF
her country, is cutting down its acci-
dent rate despite an increase in motor
traffic.
As Big as France.
Finland, she insists, is not the little
country geographically that many peo-
pie think 1t Is. As big as France, it is
actually second only to Sweden among
the Scandinavian countries in physical
size. she says.
The emphasis of her government on
education is shown, she declares, by the
fact that over fourth of its national
budget Is spent for this purpose. Today
the illiteracy in Finland is less than
one-eighth of one per cent, including
the feeble-minded and otherwise men
tally incapacitated. The Lutheran
Church, for instance, will not confirm
any one who cannot read or write.
Education in Finland, Mime. Jarne-
telt continues, is triune in its empha-
Sis upon character training, the ac-
quiring of knowledge and making its
population physically fit. It was, as q
matter OF fact, at one of the Olympic
games that the Finnish flag was frs
raised as an independent nation rather
than as a grand duchy of Russia.
Nor is physical education limited
only to Finland's masculine population
its emphasis being equally stressed
among her school girls, especially with
regard to all kinds of folk dancing.
Proficient in Skiing.
Nine. Jarnefelt is herself proficient
at tennis and skiing. but brushes the
latter accomplishment aside with the
laughing remark, I'VE have the ex.
preston In my country, All Firms are
born with skis on their feet
The oldest document in Finland!
history, dated 1916, has to do with the
position OF women in its history.
1t was the first nation to grant suf-
trage to women, in 1906, and complete
local suffrage was achieved by 1917
as well as the right to sit in the Diet
beside the men.
Today every field of service is oper
to the women of Finland except the
army, the navy and the right to prea cl
IN Its pulpits, although by competitive
examination with men they are per.
mitted to sit in its church councils.
Over 20 per cent of Finland's in.
dustrial workers are women, as art
over 10 per cent Of its drug store own.
ers and 80 per cent of its clerks ane
bank employees 1t is not unusual ever
to see an efficient woman switch
tender knitting busily before and after
the train has passed.
Easy Divorces Unwanted.
Finland, Nine. Jarnefelt emphasizes
Is far removed from being matriarcllal
Divorce figures are very low despite
the fact that they are neither difficult
nor expensive to procure. There is on
record the case of a guilty rich wom-
an having to pay her former husband
allmony because of her unfaithfulness
Finnish women are actively inter-
ested in movements having to 90 with
child welfare and other kindred SUBJ
tects. In the Martha League, upon
whose central committee Nine. Jarne-
felt has served, she believes her coun-
try has one of the most progressive
and effective Women's organizations in
the world. 1t is composed of thousands
OF housewives of every station from
the most aristocratic to the humblest.
Its purpose is to foster better homes
and housewives for Finland.
This it achieves by means of ma
tion-Wide lectures, competitions and
demonstrations conducted by travelling
counselors who show how to make
practical the best available theories of
homemaking. Making the best of
whatever lies within your means" is,
Nine. Jarnefelt feels, another way of
stating the Martha Leagues sphere of
usefulness, "in addition to inspiring
women to look beyond their immediate
midst to a better and more progressive
world
Modern Capital.
Helsingfors, the capital, is a very
modern city, without the typical main
street development which is a char
acteristic Of many American cities. It's
population is centered chiefly In
apartment houses, run on a commu-
nifty basis in many instances, even to
the serving of meals and the launder-
ing Of clothes.
Each apartment house is so planned
that it provides in its under structures
sufficient night parking space for the
automobiles owned by its tenants.
This, however, only piles up their day.
time congestion on Helsingfors' streets,
With the recently lowered duties on
American-made cars and the resulting
heavy purchases by Helsingfors' citi-
zens, traffic regulations and how to
cope with mounting automobile acci-
dents threatened to become her most
acute problem
So well have her commissioner of
police and his associates solved it, that
Helsingfors, despite its greatly aug
mented traffic, actually has reduced
its number Of traffic accidents by
nearly so per cent.
The method proved simple-a COM
bination of education of the public,
heavy penalties and no ticket fixing. "
Asked what she most admired in the
American people, Nine. Jarnefelt i'm
mediately replied: Many, many things