The only Russian troops which would have any chance of competing with the Finns on more or less equal terms would be units composed of Karelians or Russian peasants from the Archangel, northern Ural, or similar regions, and perhaps troops stationed in Eastern Siberia and the Far Eastern province, where no doubt skiing is part of their regular training. But it is scarcely likely that the Soviet Government will feel it advisable to weaken the Far Eastern army, while it may be by no means inclined to use Karelians or North Russians; for these people, especially the Karelions, would be more likely than any others to feel sympathy, with the Finns. Practically all the natives of North Russia in the forest country of the Upper Volga, Northern Dwina, and the rivers flowing west from the Urals have a large admixture of Finnish blood, and, though they have become more or less completely Russianized, they might have their kinship revived by coming into contact with pure Finns, The only line of communication for the Russians in the central and northern sectors is the Murmansk Railway. It l is not already frozen it will be very soon, and the small ports on the west coast of the White Sea, such as Kern, Kandalaksha, Keret, and Kovdo, are certainly closed to shipping by now. Therefore all supplies, not only for the land forces but for the naval forces at Murmansk, must be carried by the railway—unless the Russians attempt to send ships from the Baltic all the way round Norway, which seems rather risky. The line was built in a great hurry and very badly in 1916 to enable Imperial Russia to import munitions through Murmansk when Archangel was closed. So far as is known it ie still single track.
If the Finns should succeed in breaking the line, say by bombing a bridge where it crosses one or other of the numerous rivers, it would place the troops to the north of the break in a very precarious situation, for the country produces very little in the way of food, or of anything but timber. The total population of the Karelian Autonomous Republic is less than half a million, so that large local stocks of provisions are not expected. There will also be a difficulty in finding shelter for the troops, for the towns, or rather large villages, have little accommodation, and these in any case are situated along the railway on the sea coast, a long way from the frontier. The nearest is Kandalaksha, which is about 45 miles The Shanghai Society for the
Works to ameliorate the suffering Prevention of rent te Animals animals in Shanghai by INVESTIGATION, PUBLICITY,
EDUCATION and PREVENTION
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.