Evening star., 1940-04-02
Soviet Arguments;
On Defense Of Finn
Invasion AssaiIed
Some Class Feeling
Found by Newsmon,
But He BeIittIes 1t
BY w. L. WHITE.


,PARIS.-This is addressed to the
American Left wing because have
just come across a copy ! of an
English Communist paper, and am
. little staggered to see what the
Stalinists are trying to put over
about the Finnish war.
Now you can argue, if you want to,
that maybe Russia was justified in
the broad light of history in her
assault on Finland because the
Finnish frontier was really so near
to Leningrad that foreign power,
landing in Finland, might seriously
menace the Soviets' second largest
city. You can argue that way and
while I won't agree with you, never
theless will concede that you aren't
completely daft.
But stick to that argument which
Is your only coherent one, and don't
advance any fantastic theory that
the Kremlin and its Kuusenin
government were "liberating" any
Finnish proletariat from any foreign
capitalistic yoke. The Finnish
government which was democracy.
as ours, when Russia broke off
negotiations and sent her army
over the border, had an overwhelm-
ing majority of good southern pro-
gressive, thick-necked social demo-
Gratis. And you can take it first as
last that the Finnish proletariat
no more wants to be liberated by
Kpneorir fbon N6oipo opd uoro,o,,t
in '36, wanted to be liberated from
their loyalty to ALI Landon by Earl
Browder.
No "Mannerheim Clique"
When you read the Stalinist
press you wade through a lot of
childish monkey business about
what is called the "Mannerheim
clique which is supposed to be con-
trolling Finland. When the war
broke out Gen. Mannerheim had
been retired for many years and was
as completely devoid of political
support as Gen. Pershing.
Whatever additional prestige Man.
nerheim has today was given him
by Stain. For the Firms have
since used his name around which
to build confidence in the people
in the way this war was conducted,
because Mannerheim was, after all,
their grand old man who had won
their war of indendence against
Russia in 1920.
There isn't any "Mannerheim
clique" The officers under Man.
nerheim were for the most part
trained in Germany. I think they
rather enjoyed fighting Russia more
than any other country, but you can
be sure that if Germany were the
invader they would have been in
there doing their stuff for their
legally elected government just as
loyalty.
When I first got to Finland, I
was a little suspicious and did some
intensive smelling around to find
lurking opposition to the war, but
the more I shifted the less there
was. did turn up very interesting
class angle on the war, however,
some pretty bitter latent feeling,
and maybe you would like to know
what it is.
Before Finland g~ined her in
dependence, there was a definite
class division between the pure
blooded Firms and the Swedish
speaking Firms. The country was
for several centuries part of Sweden.
Numbers of Swedes settled in the
larger towns and kept their Ian
guage, and the complaint of the
pure-blood Firms has been that these
Swedish-speaking Firms had
monopoly on the professions, we're
intrenched in retail business, and
that they divided among them
selves most of the political jobs.
Little of Old Feeling Persists.
But the Finnish-speaking Firms,
who are nine-tenths of the people,
have, since 1920, been more than
gaining back their own to the point
where the Swedish-speaking Firms
almost feel they are a prosecuted
minority.
But little of their old feeling
against the Swedish Firms still
persists, and it comes out in this
way: The Finnish Firms, who speak
the language of the peasant and the
worker, will take you aside to criti-
cize the Swedish-speaking Firms,
charging that many of the Swedish
Firms are quietly packing their
families out of the country and
maybe even transferring their
money, too, so they can get away
with it.
And the point that the Finnish
Firms make is that these Swedish
Firms are maybe a little jealous
and disposed to hedge their bets
on the future of Finland, and to
get out ahead of the Soviet while
there Is yet time, whereas the
Finnish Firms say, in no uncertain
terms, that this is their country,
and they and their families are
going to stay in it until every
Bolshevik has been chased back
over the border or else die fighting
on their own land. And these tough,
stocky, little peasants and workers
mean what they say.
Now that, my loyal Stalinists
and fellow travellers, is the only
class angle to the Finnish war, and
you are welcome to make the most
Of it.