Evening star., 1940-03-15


paper; Chamberlain expected to
reveal assurance of help if Finn
aid spread war. Page Ais
EORWAY'S PARLIAMENT head ar
rives in Stockholm; first definite
step toward alliance seen in visit.
Page A
BRITAIN BATTLING German-Rus-
sian-Italian bloc; three new meas
ureS utilized to thWart attacks on
trade. Page "A
BY the Associated Press.
HELSINKI, March 15.-The Fin
nish Army slogged through the
SHOWS today in funereal retreat, be-
ginning its withdrawal from the
fronts it so stubbornly defended in
three and one-half months of war,
but which now are ceded to Soviet
Russia.
Ahead of the soldiers there hur-
ried 100000 dispossessed civilians.
They Travelled by automobile, wagon
and train or on foot, herding their
livestock before them and carrying
bundles that were the salvage of
personal property.
These 100000 bring to about AGO.
600 the number who must find new
homes. A half million persons al
ready are refugees, but 100000 of
them are from battered territories
which Finland retains and to which
they will be able to return.
Reds Marking Time.
While the Red Army held its po-
sitions, marking time until Finnish
troops have fallen back the required
z kilometers (about AZ niles in
one day, the Finnish withdrawal
started at 10 am. along a zigzag
226-mile front in the southeast, ex-
tending from the Virolahti archi-
pelago on the Gulf of Finland to
the Russian frontier northeast of
Lake Ladoga.
These daily marches, on a sched-
ule provided in connection with
Tuesdays peace treaty, will continue
until the newly narrowed Finnish
frontiers are crossed.
The entire Karelian Isthmus and
the area northeast of Lake Ladoga
must be cleared by March 26. With
drawal from other ceded areas north
of Lieksa and in Eastern Finland
will begin at 10 am. tomorrow.
The garrison from Taipale, eastern
end of the Mannerheim Line, will
have the longest march-about 100
kilometers (62 niles.
viipuri to Be Turned Over.
The hollow shell of viipuri, once
the metropolis of the Karelian 18TH
mus, will be one of the first places to
be occupied by the Russians, for
they already are in its outskirts and
may move up tonight as soon as the
Firms have put kilometers between
them.
(The Russian command had
reported Viipuri was occupied
five hours before hostilities ended
at IL am March 49,
Juho Koivisto, assistant minister
of agriculture in charge of moving
the homeless civilians, said they
were not required to leave the ceded
territories, but that practically all
of them were leaving. About 1000
persons are remaining, however, at
Hanko, leased to Russia for naval
base.
The Karelian Isthmus, turned over
to the army during the war, already
was almost empty of civilians Most
of those now on the move are from
north of Lake Ladoga.
Government Paying Cost.
The Finnish government is pay
Ing all costs of moving and reset
tlement and will try to keep together
friends and neighbors in new homes,
Koivisto said.
Nevertheless, "very grave social
problems" are involved, he pointed
out, for the shock of moving families
from ancestral homes is serious
one.
Some of the farming population
will be placed in Western Finland
near Vaasa Karelian Isthmus fish
ermen will be given homes on the
Gulf of Bothnia, so they can con-
tinue their vocations.
All available trucks, automobiles
and railway cars are being used
to hasten the removals. The gov
ernment refused to let newspaper
men visit the frontiers for the pres
ent, pleading the need of every We
hicle