Evening star., 1950-10-22

his was achieved, thanks to a COM
freedom. That is due to two fac
tors. First, the Finnish labor
movement is split right down the
middle; second, an important
group of bourgeois" political
leaders now favor certain conces-
sions to Russia in internal affairs.
and that group includes the
present Prime Minister.
Labor Movement Gains
Finnish communism is a gen.
uine native force, not a sect Of
Russian puppets as are the Com
munists elsewhere in Scandinavia.
1t does not dominate organized
labor as the Communists do in
France and Italy, but it has been
formidable rival of the Socialists
in the struggle for trade union
control throughout the last 80
years. The roots of this struggle
go back to the 1918 civil war when
an undivided Finnish labor move
ment fought for power with Boil
shevist support and was defeated
by the whites" with German sup
port. and to the repression that
followed.
The labor movement then split
and the Socialists turned to demo.
cratic legality. The Communists,
though always on the verge of
suppression. retained control Of
the unions until 1890, and until
1889 the employers refused to ne
gotiate collective agreement. Not
until then, in the resistance to
Russia's unprovoked attack on
Finland, was national unity
largely restored; not until then
were Finlands home guards open
for the first time to Social Demo-
Gratis.
The effect of this history is that
since the last war the labor move
ment has become far more power
full than ever before. The result
is that Communist propaganda
can ascribe this increased inf1u-
ence to the Russian victory and
can put forward absurd economic
claims without losing its follow
ing. To this day, the Communists
control the unions of the food and
textile workers inside the trade
union federation; the transport
and forest workers unions have
remained outside the federation
since their expulsion for partici-
pating in last years Communist
inspired general strike The metal
and wood workers, who were on
strike, were won over by the So
cialists only recently. One pow
erful motive of the present strike
is the Socialist leaders desire not
to lose control again.
What it all amounts to is that
the Communists are in a position
constantly to endanger Finland S
economic stability. Last year the
general strike attempt would have
paralyzed all Finnish harbors but
for the readiness of Socialist
workers to break the strike in
order to save their e1vernment
(then headed by Karl F'agerholm,
a Social Democrat. The Kek-
konen government, which has
allowed prices to rise and has
antagonized the Socialists to
please Russia, has no such re-
serve of loyal support to call on
now.
Here is the second cause Of
disunity. After Juho Paasikivi,
the man who three times negoti-
ated peace between Finland and
Russia, was reelected President
last March, he called on Kek-
konen, leader of the Agrarian
Party, to form a broad coalition
government, including the Com
munists. The move seemed plaus-
ible. The Russians showed strong
dislike of the Socialist minority
government of Karl Fagerholm
and were holding up the signature
OF long-negotiated trade agree
ment. The Socialists, however,
took the line that on no account
must the Communists be admit
ted back to government positions,
Russian displeasure. they argued,
could not do more to Finland
than voluntary decision to hand
the keys of the country to the
enemy within the gates.
Country Drifts
After the Communists Joined
the government. the Socialists
would not. Faced with this re-
fusal, Kekkonen decided, appar-
emily with the backing of the
President, to form a government
without either of the working
class groups. This finally led to
the Conservatives staying out as
we'll. and leaving Kekkonen's
Agrarians alone with the support
of some minor splinter groups.
Since then the country has been
drifting. Kekkonen and all his
government have signed the So
called Stockholm peace appeal"
sponsored by Communist-domi-
mated "Partisans of Peace" except
for the Minister of War, Mr.. Tiitu.
Periodical suggestions that it is
time to include the Socialists in
the government are rejected by
Kekkonen on the grounds that
Russia would not like that"
Meanwhile, economic stability
is sacrificed. although the country
is prosperous and the standard of
living slightly above that of pre-
war.
Yet this year, with exports
booming and foreign payments
balanced, the vicious spiral of in
f1ation has been restarted.
The reason is simply because
the Agrarians representing farm
ers) and trade unions here each
put forward arhitrarv ooopor,;o