Evening star., 1939-11-29
Finnish Envoy, Denying Reds
Charges, Forecasts Resistance
Country Will Fight
OFF Invasion
Man.


a man will resist invasion, Hjalmar
Procope, the Finnish Minister, de-
clared last night in a radio address
in which he denied the Moscow
report that Finnish artillery fired
Sunday on Russian troops.
In an address broadcast nationally
by the National Broadcasting Co.,
the Minister said the Firms have
no artillery within range Of the
Russian frontier, and that care
full investigation" Of the Moscow
report showed the firing could not
have taken place on the Finnish
side"
Explaining that he had mo par
ticular information" about the in
cidents reported, he added he want
ed ito point out again and again
that the Finnish army has not
attacked and is not going to attack
Russia"
Won't Open Path for Reds.
Mr.. Procope stated that while Fin
land was willing to withdraw its
army as far as is strategically prac-
ticable from the Finnish bor-
der provided Russia did the same
1t could not and would not leave the
Karelian Peninsula defenseless. This
southeastern border of Finland
which touches Russia north of Len
ingrad, he pointed out, has been
the one path OF the invader in early
history whenever the Czarist armies
marched on to Finnish soil.
AN attempt against Finland
SAID Mr.. Procope, "is aimed not
only at Finland but at a much more
distant target
He explained that possession of
the Aaland Island, which Russia
asked permission to fortify, would
threaten Sweden, and said seizure
of Finland by any great power would
mean the possession of ice-free ports
in the North only a few miles from
Great Britain.
Text of Procope's Address.
Following is the text of Minister
Procope's address:
Friends of Finland all over the
United States! Ladies and gentle
men:
May I at the outset express my
thanks to the National Broadcastine
Co. for giving me this opportunity
of addressing the people of the
United States This is for me q
quite particular privilege and this
so much the more as we Firms now
pass through hours of great concern
1t has come over us a threat we
certainly have not provoked. Oul
only aim is to live our own life in
peace and peaceful cooperation
with other people. We have taken
nothing from anybody and we
threaten nobody.
When Finland became a fully In
dependent state in 1917 she could
look back upon history OF almost
1000 years as nation. From 1908
to 1917 Finland had been under Rus
sian rule, but even then not as a
Russian province, but as an auton-
omous grand duchy. We had our
own administration, our own Parlla-
ment, our own laws, our own money
and state finances and our own state
debt, which already at that time
we used to pay. We had our from
tiers-in fact, Finlands frontiers to
the east were on the whole fixed
already about 300 years ago.
When, toward the end Of the
Russian period, the Czarist govern
ment began to violate our autonomy
and tried to introduce their auto
cratic methods and to make us Rus
sian, all the Finnish nation put up
against this a firm and stubborn re-
sistance, protecting her national
character and culture. The Finnish
people are absolutely different from
the Russian, so also our religion and
all our conception of life and our
language have less similarity with
the Russian than your language
the2 English-has. West and East
do not mix on Finnish soil and the
oppression during the Czarist time
only increased and strengthened the
Finnish nations will to freedom.
independence Declared.
"After the Russian revolution in
1917, the legally-elected Finnish
Diet declared the complete indie
pendence of our country. This inde-
pendence was recognized at once by
several states, by France, Germany
Soviet Russia and the Scandinavian
states. Later on, the remaining
powers gave us their recognition. the
United States and the United King
dom in the spring of 1919 Thus
Finland was now an internationally
recognized and established state
when, in 1920. we regulated our re-
lations to Soviet Russia now def
nitely regulated through the treaty
of Tarttu.
Finland did not through this
treaty take anything from Russia,
We got our old frontiers confirmed
only a strip of land at the Arctic
Sea was ceded to Finland, but this
1ldO loSdlly OCCll JlOIIllScu US ny tllc
zzar of Russia already in the 1860s
as compensation for some Finnish
districts we had given to Russia.
Three times has Russia solemnly
recognized our independence and
our boundaries. First through the
act of recognition in 1917, next
through the Treaty of Tarttu in
1920, and finally through the Treaty
of Non-Aggression in 1882, the treaty
which was mentioned in the in
PRODUCTION tonight.
"Finland's foreign policy since our
country became independent has
had only one aim: To maintain our
country's position as a free nation
among other free nations. Finland
has always scrupulously avoided be-
coming involved in the politics Of
the great European powers and her
policy and that of the other Scan