Evening star., 1939-12-03
Urgent Meeting
Of Council May
Be Requested
By LYNN HEINZERLING,


HELSINKI, Dec. 3 Sunday.
Embattled Finland, proclaimlng
anew her determination to remain
independent, decided today to lay
her case before the League of Ma
tions as her stubbornly fighting
troops withdrew slowly in the face
of overwhelming Russian invaders.
Military authorities said Finnish
forces fell back along the border
in the Karelian Peninsula, aban-
doning five villages, after int1ict-
ing heavy losses" on the Red Army
legions.
The decision to refer to the League
the question of Finnish-Russian re-
lations was reached during two
meetings of the Cabinet presided
over by Premier Risto Rytl.
CAT Geneva, Finlands perma-
nent delegates to the League OF
Nations indicated they might
ask an urgent meeting of the
Council to discuss the Finnish
Russian conflict. They said, how
ever, they had not yet received
instructions from Helsinki.
(Soviet Russian delegates sit
in the Council. Soviet spokes-
men here said Moscow still was
loyal to the League. League cir
cles speculated that the Russians
might be embarrassed by the
Finnish demand to submit the
matter to the Council for arbl-
tration0
Heavy Red Losses Claimed.
Tine aggressors suffered heavy
losses" military communique said
last night in announcing the with
draWal. The enemy made several
attempts to capture our positions, but
the troops have been able in most
cases to throw them back. The hard
est fighting of the day was at Suo-
iarvi (about so miles north OF Lake
Ladoga on the Russian-Finnish bor-
DER"
The Firms said they withdrew
from Jappinen, Maitonen, Sirklal,
the island of Saaroinen and Teri
joki.
Authorities said all the abandoned
towns had been held only tempo
rarily to delay the advance OF the
Russian troops.
Terijoki Regime Recognized.
1eriioki is the town in which Tass,
official Russian news agency, re-
ported a Finnish peoples govern
ment" had been organized. Russia
has recognized the Terijoki govern
ment.
Russian reports of the establish
ment of the government at Teri
joki were treated with scorn by Fin
nish officials here. Authoritative
sources said the government was
"another Russian gesture"
A government spokesman de-
scribed Otto Kuusinen, head of the
Soviet-recognized government, as
"the so-called prime minister who
lived for 20 years in Moscow as a
traitor to the Finnish cause and
at present is seeking revenge"
Finnish officials refused further
comment on the regime organized
by kuuSlnen, a founder OF the FIN
nish Communist party.
Tanks Reported Destroyed.
Finnish artillery and anti-tank
guns smashed at the invading Rus
sian forces and many Soviet tanks
we're said to have been destroyed
yesterday in addition to the 36 pre-
viously reported.
The fortified Mannerheim Line
from which the Firms fought last
night is a system of blockhouses
and pillboXes stretching for miles
along the frontier.
In blackened and bomb-torn Hell
sinki, police and firemen worked
grimly to quell blazes caused by
Russian bombs and clear the debris
streWn streets of the capital.
Evidence that the Finnish will to
resist remained unbroken despite
the assault upon the tiny country
by land, sea and air, was seen in
statement by Field Marshal Baron
(See HELSINKI, Page A-5.)