Having at enormous expense in life and material secured what may serve to pass for a lace-saving victory, Kussia is apparenuy waung Wo negOuate peace on terms waicn, 20 Jar as they nave peen reported, appeal w be narsner than those whicn were orgiany put forward, and which led to war. 4ne carnage which has been infBctea upon the Russians advancing in masses across the Bay of Viipuri, easy marks for machine-gunners and aeroplanes, the enormous losses which they have suitored during ihe whole of the campaign, have been a high price to pay for tne small gains achieved up to the present, and the tact that negotiations are proceeding towards an armistice during which pé&ce can be considered is probably due more to Russian desires to discontinue a struggle in which their losses have been so heavy, than to any desire for peace on the part or the Finns. it may be stated at the very outset that no nation has ever covered itself with greater glory than have the Finns in their stubborn defence of their rights and liberties. They stand high in the admiration of the world and will continue to do so down the long years of history. But, admirable as their conduct has been, it is necessary to view the situation now in all its stark reality. What Finland will do now is a matter for the Finnish Government, and outsiders have little right to presume to give advice. There are, however, factors of which it is as well that all should take note, for this Finnish-Russian struggle already involves more than just the two contestants. Others may be drawn into it if it is prolonged. The position of the Finns from the point of view of being able to prosecute this war to victory is not particularly happy. fighting with all the material help which they nave received they have made an excellent showing against their enemy, but recent weeks have made it quite plain that material aid is not sufficient if the Finns are to prevail against the more powerful adversary, and that assistance in men, and plenty of them is imperatively necessary if the Finns are to continue to struggle with any prospects of victory, Norway and Sweden desire to keep out of this struggle at all cost because of the threat which Germany has made to them that if they go to the aid of the Finns Germany will march against them. The threat is the same if they give passage to Allied troops going to the assistance of the Finns, so that, in either event the probability of an extension of the war to Scandinavia is something which cannot be lightly disregarded. Nor is it the function of other nationals to seek to instruct those nations on their duty in this present crisis. They are to be admitted as knowing their own business best, and if they seek to escape from the blood-bath into which the whole of northern Europe would be plunged if they were to enter into the fray, who is really.to blame them? The arguments of the capitulationists in Finland are not without cogency. The United States will not give assistance in the form most urgently needed, the Scandinavians are maintaining strict neutrality, for the reasons stated above, while the Allies, willing to help, would in doing so bring down upon the Finns and also the Scandinavians German armed force. Large quantities of material have been and are being placed at the disposal of the Finns, but unless very substantial reinforcements in men go to their assistance the sheer weight of numbers of the Russian armies may be expected to gain the day in just the same way as they succeeded in breaking through the Mannerheim Line. The utter disregard of the value of human life, as shown by the readiness of the Russian command to send hundreds of thousands of men to slaughter, as they have done during the past few months, means that even at a much greater price the Soviet will battle on until the Finns have been completely subjugated. They will then have lost all, save glory, and reached that state of subjection from which a peace now, no matter how distasteful, may serve to save them. And the view can be accepted that this will not be the final settlement, that with the victory of the democracies over the aggressors such necessary adjustments will be made as will secure for such countries as Finland that independence and integrity for which she has fought with such great gallantry.
"What is of significance at this moment is the fact that Russia invited Sweden to mediate, and that the request did not come from the Finns. At the same time enormous pressure is being brought to bear upon the Finnish Government. The German Minister to Helsinki has informed the Foreign minister that his presence in the Finnish capital would be useless unless informed of the discussions going on, a threat to break off dipplomatic relations and all that might follow after. Sweden, on the score of completing her own mobilization to stand ready for any emergency, has suspended all transport lines leading to Finland, thus holding up whatever supplies the Allies and other nations wish to send to the Finns, and the position now is that they are being submitted to a form of siege which in the long run will assist the Russians to achieve more quickly general victory over them. The question which the Finns have to answer for themselves is whether the loss of the whole Karelion Peninsula and Viipuri, of Sortavala and territory north of Lake Ladoga, northern Lapland, Petsamo, and Hangoe, and its peninsula is too high a price for the benefits of an immediate peace which could in no way dishonour the Finns after the big showing they have made. It is one which they alone can answer, and it would be presumptuous to seek to give them advice in this connection. Whichever w; it is answered there will remain nothing but respect and admiration for them in the noble manner in which they have faced the Russians and inflicted such punishment upon them. The pressure which is being brought to bear upon them is something which cannot be ignored for it is obviously intended to place Finland at the greatest possible disadvantage should she decide to continue the struggle. In this defeat around Viipuri which the Finns have sustained, the Soviet may think they have saved their face. They have not. The whole campaign has shown that the Russian military machine is a very much overrated weapon, its command unintelligent, and in demonstrating this fact to the world the Finns have gained a victory which no such reverse as that at Viipuri can ever diminish. They have glorified their manhood even if they now decide to bow to the latest Russian ultimatum, the ultimatum of an oversized
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.