Vapaa Sana, March 28, 1942

              a i& _ a a ti MUnMtMM 4 H I March of the Peasant ftHlflHfft
theFlnnishCoiisul Rebel Army and Co-0p-er atioa
Messrs Vapaa Sana Press
260 Spadlna Avenue Toronto
Dear Slrs:—
You have been klnd enough to suggest that I mtgbt wrlte a
brlef artlcle for your tenth Annlversary number and that I mlght
perhaps reralnlsce a little in connectlon Uh the Finnish Consular
work at Toronto during the lat ten years
I was appointed Consul in 1933 and at that tlme the appolnt-men- t
ot a Canadian as unueual but as part of a deflnite policy
hlch the Government or Finland had decided on ith the object I
believe of maklng their country better known to the people of Canada
and the United States The appointment was an honour hlch I deeply
appreciated Some of the steps hlch the Consulate asslsted in ere
as folio ws: —
Hecognlzlng that there ere may
unlts of churches and ocieties e
formed a loose body havlng represent-atlve- s
from these organlzatlons and
Uh thelr asglstance e lmmedlately
undertook as an experiment the pre-entatl- on
of an exhlblt at the Cana-dian
National Exhibition 'Ihls be-ca- me
the Finnish Advancement Atso-ciatlo-n
under the tlrst president Air
KS Parviainen and now under the
Presldency of Mr August Kaplas 1
as gratlfylng to feel that this -- ork
as done for several years volunUrl-l- y
by Finnish orkmen and that a
commendable exhlblt as glveii to
the Canadian people Later tne Fin-nish
Government recognized the lm-portan- ce
of the ork and asslsted us
Uh a small ftnancial grant from
year to year 1 belteve this unlnter-rupte- d
exhlblt beteen the years
1934 untll 1910 gave to Canadian
people an llluminatlng picture ot that
little Republlc'8 accomplishmenls ana
Us anvanced clMllzation
I endeavoured also to bring as
peakers to the various Independente
Day Functlons Kale ala Cclebni-tlon- s
and the other pubiic occaslons
promlnent Canadian and outstand-in- g
Flnns on the Comment orking
on the assumption that wnile Can-adla- ns
ere partlculariy intcreated
In eelng Finnish costumes and cus-to- m
and hearlng Flnnsh music Fin-nlsh-Canadl- ans
ere eiually tnterest-- 1
In seelng Canadlans and hearlng
thelr addresses and their music
lt as an opportunity ot creatlng u
bond of frlendship beteen old Can-adlans
and new Canadlans and I am
snre that lt as appreciated enuall)
by both
At the tlme of the World s Falr in
New York a shlpment was recclved
of splendld books on Finland and
these ere dlstrlbuted to every pub-11- c
and hl?h school in the city ot
Toronto and to environs and the
volume of replles e receivcrt from
prlnclples of these scnoois oetokened
the extreme tnterest the educatlonal-ist- s
had for Finland
Ve must also remember the assUt-nnc- e
hlch the Finnish Government
gave us In another -- ay of advancing
knoledbe of Finland to mnadlans
In 1938 they ent out nt a suosiantiai
cost that onderrul group ot young
men knon as the iU Choir Their
ojourn as brlef In 'loronto but the
publlcUy attained and tne tncndsmp
hlch they made among canadlans
nceompllshed much they cie so
uccesful that In the tollo Ing year
the Finlandia Choir nn outer group
came to this city in the courso of I
thelr American tour Uh the same
uccess as their prertecessors
lt Is no exaggeration thcrcrore
to ay that In Canadian hcarts es-teeni
for Finnish people and lor
Finland has been ollcliy tostered
and hen the Itrst war Uh Flnlind
nnd Ilula broke out in 1939 the af-ftvtion- ate
rcgard ot Canadlans for
the Flnns as armly demonstrated
At the present tlme one ould
assume that Flnns unin Canada
ould be In an embarrasin? Itua-tlo- n
by reason of the tact that ha
Is at ar Uh Itussla and tnat llussla
is ah ally of Great Uritaln Such
however lias not been the rae the
Canadian Government has regaulcd
Finland together ith ltumanla nnA
Hungary as being piaced m her
present position by torce ot rtrcums-tance- s
and therefore peclal and
aluable concessions have been glven
to Finnlsh-National- s tn Canada Finnlsh-
-Nationals as xvell as naturalized
Fians are vrorklng in Canada' ar
Industries and haTe volunteered for
servlng In Canada'8 anny and haTe
been carrying on thelr orK wlth the
ame Industry and integnty hkh
characterlzed thelr --wort 1 Pace
times and they wlll contlnue thelr
work In this democracy untll Finland
Itself Is afe from dictatorship
U Is tili very much in our mlnds
and we remember Uh gratltude the
concerted eftort put forard by Cana- -
LbbbbbbbbbbC ''' Laal
ra 2
BIIIIIIIk ii__ H
A Klngsley Graham
ilians and Finns allke during 1939
and the sprlng of 1940 hen Finland
as In dlre perii for her very exiat- -
ence Not only in Toronto but
thioughout Ontario and the whole
Dominion of Canada a pirit ot unlon
preailed among Finnish people and
unlty between Flnns and Canadlans In
thelr hour of need
I eli remember golng to the Church
of AU Nation and seelng the cascs
of goods plled up and ready for chip-me- nt
to( Finland from the Canadian
Hed Cross The Tastor the Ileverend
August I-ap-pala
had gUen thera the
use of one of thelr largest rooms In
the church for this purpose From the
Imperial Order of the Daughters of
the Kmplre alone came glfts of new
clothlng valued at several thoujand
dollars hlch ere packed and sent
over nt this crlttcal perlod The Itev
K) osti Toppila ns indefatlzable in
his ork as 1'adre of the Finnish
Volunteers and lookcd after their
comforts
The Finnish people also ralsed a
Commlttee for endlng funds dlroaly
to Finland Ith Mr Uno Salonen as
President and Mr Matti Pennanen as
Treasurer This as a dlrect cubs-crlptlo- n
by Finnish people and ai-thou- gh
I have not the exact amount
approxlmately $10000 as ralsed la
addltlon to other sums aforementlon-e- d
for Finnish Ilellef
This ork as belng done in dozens
of centres throughout Canada and I
am happy to thlnk tliat although e
are not able to forard nld to Fin-land
the groups are tili orklns
for the beneIt of Canada and the
Canadian soldlers allors and air
men and hen tho opportunity arlei
they 111 be able to play once morc
the Good Samarltan to thelr kln in
Finland
Ali Canadian reallze that Flnns are
better citizens of Canada because
they were true and loyal to the lanJ
of thelr blrth
Ali Finns reallze that they are bet-ter
representatives of Finland b:ue
they are true and loyal to the land
of their adoption
It has been my pnvilese to sen e
under three Consul Generais Mr Jal-kanen
Mr Aitio and Mr Kuusarro
the last for a tery bner pertotl nnd
thelr asslstance and guidance a
tlmulatlng and ise unout excep- -
tlon they tressed their desire that
Finnish Nationals unin tne bouud-arle- s
of Canada should be loyal
useful resldents In the land rnicn
they adopted and that Finns rithln
Canada hould be recognized as out-tandln- g
and delrable retdent of
this country and that by being such
resldents they rere pertormlng In
effect a contlnuous useful enrice
as to the quality of citizens Finland
ent from her hores
Not only In Toronto out throngh-ou- t
the Provlnce and the Dominion
ha a pirit ot harmony and acconl
prevalled among Finnish people and
small dlfferences ha e been adjusied
and a toleration typical ot boih the
democracy of thelr homeiand and the
democracy of this country nas been
By V A Koskennierpi
(This poem as rltten In memory of the Finnish peasants
unsuccessful armed revolt In 1596 againsti the oppressive
Swedish autocratic rule of Klaus Fleming)
Around us is the snow and ice the frost and the hate
and severe commandments from Fate
Who is struck by our club
he never again stands up
The gales have chosen us
The night has confidcd her secrets
the wolf has lent his teeth
and the lynx his sharp eyes to us
Around us is the snov and ice the frost and the night
Tremble! Tremblel
Our love and hate are blazing like flames
Who could hold out on our ways!
VVhen once is struck our zero hour —
Hait the victory is ours!
VVe don't care for charities of strangers
we carry on the torcli of the North
VVhosoever ia born on the Northland's gate
he knovs his vay and fatc
He must go straight not step aside
Tremble! Tremblo!
evldenced 'Ihere ere nard ana i
dltricult jears during tne uepresaion
and there ere harder years aheau
during the ar but durliig ali these
troublesomc tlmes the finnish lesi-dent- s
I am proud to ay havt
shouldered their burden ithuui
grumtling and have made thelr cont-ributlo- n
lojally to this country
During the tlrst Mnnish-KusMa- n
War the Finnish resldents nnd Canad-lans
too gae unqualtliea support to
FInland'8 effort under tlie tlmulat-lng
leadershlp of Colonel Fraser-Hunte- r
and thelr Organizer Mr Kino
Lackstrom
Today e are unaote to do tor
Finland as much as e -- ould like to
do Dlfflcult and adverse circums-tance- s
have made her an enemy ot
this country but one 1 may use
the term ho is a "tnendiy enemy'
llefore the second innisn-KusÄla- u
ar a commlttee ralsed some $20000
for graln to be shlpped to rinland
The purchase as not accomplished
because of the clrcumstances above
rererred to ibut through tlme 1
promlse jou the object of this :a-a- m
collectlon III be accomplished and
it III be done at the earnest poäMble
moment To the memoers of tho
commlttee and to the contributors
to this fund Mnland Hl ome day
glve thank
It has been a very real pieasure lor
me lo nsslst in these various orks
nnd ihe frlendshtp nich l have ma
de and the ords of nppreciatiou
hlch I have recelved trom the Fin
nlsh people from tlme to time has
more than repald me tor natever
matl results have been accompllsheo
Scandinavian Solidaiity
haslcountries had likeulse to
by "see hands"
t„f nl the
Scandinavian natlons Not that tho
a new far But
the and durcss of the
ar hlch outvardly hxs eparated
countrles more ever
has come into full bloom lt vouM
bo to quotc publit leaders
cspeclallv in Sweden to
that no hov
var or hov the future Is to
be shaped countnei oufht to
have pooltd interests more
closely in the and slm?ly
try to do In the future
In the Interval betvvecn the to
orid wars many steps verc taken
that There vvtre for
instance the special trcatles signed
in the "tvi-enti- es niaking war
among for any vvhatever
iiixrat nnt vrn cxceptlng the
honor" and
terests" which
ho in instances In
the early the j-cal-led
pacts were a promisiru
beginnlng ot closer economic coope-ratio- n
were included
small Europan states such
as and The Nethertanda
of states already
practised a certain amount of
cooperatlon as the so-call- el vitml Uie I-ea-pn
on behalf of Finland l express tne
that in to come the orK
of the multltude of rinmsn indiia-ual- s
ho hae so unseiiisnty cont--
ributed to these unuertakings
of real alue to nniand
It has been a pmilege
recelve from tiine to time various
members of and otltceis
of the Government in
Toronto and to have extended to
the of our local city
and also our provincial authoiltles
I believe that they have bacic
to Finland ith them tne impression
that Canada also is a
demociacy un idea is and aims very
simllar to of nniand
I express also a vord
my colleague Sven Madius tie
untiringiy and uneuishly on
behalf of the Finnish people uunng
the entlre nlne of his asso-ciation
Ith the Consulate Vice-Cons- uI
and his enthusiasm anu
service as invaiuame to tne Hn-nls- h
people
In closln? this rambling
narrative may l ay tnat during the
nlne of my ervice our pui-lt-utlo- n
— Vapaa Sana — has
evtremely helptul In ork -- hlch i
consider valuable to tne consulate
has always tood tor good Citizen-shl- p
and harmony betcen old
and new Canadlans and 1 express
the that this tlrst ten ot
your publlcatlon is but the beginnm
of of successtul journal-ls-m
on the part of our nespaper
for the beneflt of ali
ery
Klngsley
If Is one idea been
Ibeen vlndicated the var lt is that let each other their —
tv for unltv nmonc" that Is exchange ndvancu tnfonra- -
idea Is one fiom it
under stress
these than lt
easy frem
show their
convlction matter tne
ends
these
their
past must
lt
tovvard goal
earlv
cause
"national
hnve
rt minv
'thlrtles came
Oslo hlch
these also
other
Belgium
Most these had
poU
tlcal
Bloc" ithin
hope years
lii
pioe
great to
parliament
Finnish
them elcome
taKen
progiessive
those
May special
to
orked
yeais
as
ratner
years
beeu
It
close
hope years
many years
Yours truly
Graham
there vhkh wont
them
tion But whlle much prosress was
undoubtcdly mad toward greater
unity the kestono in the arch
namely full political merer or
even a system of mutual mlMtary
defense was novcr sllppcd Into
place The common danger was not
realized untll too late
ImvanTy too much progress
toward unlty was made after thf
first World var New contacts vtre
established and new coordinatlon
achleved In such various fields as
business leglslatlon cooperatives
(retail and wholeja!e as vell as
manufacturlng enterprlses) labor
unirn organlzatlon social welfarc
promotlon sclentific rcscarch and
university cducatlon and flnally—
certainly of no lcss Importance—
competltive iports hen "forelgn"
Mtal in teams can be tlcomed and treated
sened as fatrly by the "fans" as well as by
In
the players there is hope for Inter-national
cooperatlon
In the promotlon of such frlendly
relatlons between the Scandinavian
countries much useful ork has been
done steadily and persistently by
a oclety called "Norden" havlnz
branchei In each country It has
arranged -- frequent conferencei
especl&Uy among teachers who are
im nc wst iv'"wi v -- -
of Nstlons In the negotlations of future mind It has sponsored ex-post- -ar
trade trcatles vtth thj!Changes of lecturers It has arranged
larger powers the Scandinavian joint art exhibits and translationj
Canadian Finru ccnstitute one of
the smaller lmmlgrant groups thelt
total number betn? approlnately
40000 They are scattered across
our vast country although Uie largest
Finnish centres are in tlic Port
Arthur district the t1n cities la
the Porcuplne Gold Belt in the
north in central Ontario around
Sudbury and Oirult Ste Marie and
in the south in Toronto
Nevertheless the Finns tertalnly
lead overwhelmingly in one partl-(ul- ar
sphere desplte their minority
namely: In co-cpcratl- ve enlerprises
According to Information in the
the possession of the wnter the
Finns In Canada own and op-iht- e the
follolng co-opcrat- ive conccras: in
British Columbia the Solntula and
Vebster's Corner Consumor co-operat- ive
stores In Ontario: tvo
co-opera- ties at Pcrt Arihur the
People's Co-opcratl- ve stcres and the
International Co-operatl- ve Coticern
Nipigon Co-cpcrat- lve Concrn Sault
Ste Marie Co-optrat- lve Conccrn the
Sudbury co-operat- ive Dairy tvo
concerns at Timmins The Con&UTjers
Co-operat- lve Society and the
Vorkers Co-opcrat- lve Concern and
the Wanup Farmers Co-opcratl- ve
Concern Hence ten fairly succcssful
co-operat- ive concern3
No statlstics are to hind of the
total annual busincs3 tuiToer but
for eample the Tiiainin3 Cu-opera-t- ive
Concerns tar exceed the nilllon
mark Alco In the others busness
transactlons amount to con3iderable
ums so that allos-the- r their annual
business Is worth milllons of dollars
And this not ali These concerns
have brarch stores elsehere thu3
Increaslng the number of Finnish
co-operat- lve enterp ie3 in Canada
nearly to thlrty
Furthermore the Flnns ha"c other
co-operat- lve enterprlses such as co-cperat- lve
boardln? hourei restau-rant- s
and bakeries
Besidcs some co-operat- lve con-cerns
established by Finns have
fallcd The reason for thld was not
of books as ved as stimuated a
more vvidespread readmg kiuledgo
of ali the Northern langiages lt
has publlshed "year books" Even
after the war be?an lt managed to
stage a "Danlsh Week" in Stockholm
and a "Swedish Week" in Copen-hagen
Literary men exchanged
vlslts and gave lectures or reaa theit
orks A book about Siden was
publlshed In ooth Swedish and
Danlsh But perhaps most sihrnlftcant
of ali Joint commlttees of his-torta- ns
have been appointed to
revise the text books m htetory so
as to eliminate lrritatlng errors ard
unnecessary exprc3Ions of jmgoism
Finslly there have been e:changs
of old var trophies Just as between
the Northern and Southern states to
vlpe out the final traces of bltter-nes- s
from the Civil War hen such
things can be donp there Is good
hope for "a morc perfect union"
The war to be sure has put an
end to many of these activies out
on the other hand it has also hclght-ene- d
the desire for greater unlty as
lt has brought suffering vhether
physical or mental or both to each
country In a lecture at the Univer-sity
of Gothenburg glven last Octo-be- r
Professor Curt Welbull of Lund
University as able to demonstrato
that historically too the Scandina-vian
countrles whlch orlglnilly had
the same language and the same
customs had alvvays sought greater
unlty unen under Gcrman pressure
As early as 1363 he sald a monk at
Vadstena wrote in the clolster re-cor- ds
"Birds of prey sat on the
mountain tops: the Germans tyrän-nlie- d
the country for many years"
The Kalmar Union was formed on
1389
This movement of fraternizatlon
in the European North dcspite the
unequal fortunes of var can le aided
by closer cooperatlon among the
various nationality groups in Ame-rica
whteh have Scandinavian back-groun- ds
or afflliatlons Thl applies
to rellgious bodies educatlonal ln-kytuö- ons
culturrf socIeUcs fra-tern- al
and social organlzatlons
With the special tinäerstanding of
Scandinavian problems xvhlch comes
from blood relatlonshlps and more
or less close contacts with the old
countrles the members of such or-ganlzat-ions
can help msterlally xvlth
constructlve thinklng about a mo-vement
of great slgnlflcance to the
future of Europe
K)3l- -i
the lack of suoo' ort hn v_ "-- Jn inns pontical vie s cli
Hn1pnt1v HtiHnr i H -- „ „6 ast lW(- - thn thla Irlll ' T-1- I „tu any a Jrrt
MA HAt -- _ f m-vjÄTia- uve enierpiiSe TV
thlng happend in Sudbary
irB= w-uperau- ve cencerr XA uuinruji miu aiso in ToroU
a communist controlleö :0fp concern as nuo rjbstn
uiuiiiuuiam in Aorthcra O- - u iUi Anrur uie irisu
aforesaid party resulted in th v"
" -"- n_ woperauve contm w
cC1c u ueniotraiic co-o- pe vonsumers ana irey hae bee3
successiui
We of ten hear Canadians tn 1
wv-v1M- uä
OTf- -J wonuenn5 ai me finns kea cv in it It is dif hcult to Imi t 1
eApianaiion as me nnns' lotertp the Co-operati- ve Movement & pan oi nts Kinnlsh tem?n un unmrormed person begu
understand lt soon ho-ee- r mJ
it-ani- 3 uiai in i-inia-nd
the OhI
uv e Muvemem nar cevelored toti
penection hardly equalled eJ m the World Finland U
poor couniry and iu Cooe-j-- J Movement ennnot be judged ca J
basis of statlstic3 vr the exte- -t commercl! transactlons but n
on tne great number of vudesfJ
co-operat- ive institutlons u
not one privately oned dajj
creamery in the whole countr
oeins co-opera- tle daires
have their own Central organo
vhich transact their mivm
domestic trade Ali cheesc vip- -
irom h inland Is produced and i directly by the co-opent- ive ia_J
In addition farmtrs hae BuirtrJ
co-operat- lve societies sucli a al
ings and credit societiej kt i flour mill tlephone bus stoaniJ
and farm machinc}' co-op- er rith their Central on?amzatfct a
net work spread across the i
nearly ali of the larger comMq
havlng one or tvo co-optn- trl
Co-operati- on has extended tvea J
the field of Insurance in the njl
Insurance associations end !j :
large trade unions hica fr
operauve in the unse that l
members incltidirg their fr
have sickness and unemplojrJ
Insurance
Apainst this background t j less acqualnted with Finri
stands why thelr first tffofj !
are directed tovai '% the tfin
ment of co-operati- es Thej!
livcd in the co-ojera- tle at")
and it has becone instilled ia :
nature
There Is still a 0eper miLnl
Finn belleves in econonvc itrM
and rtgards with suspicion yl
♦ Viof rnnloa fKrt rin fif
xvealth at othor's expens?
Finnish temperament doei
approve of exploitatlon and i
tlon therefore Inc Cc-cp- c
Movement has made suA z?
ahle nrorrpss In Finland £1
arrlving here the Finn Is rxs'
organlzing a co-operat- He t--
store In order to avoid r
hleh Drices for the nctt
life and to makc P possible to c
better ouality gocd t fur
Co-operat- ion ar ig
Finns ould be m
political feuds such
and peoples also hav
regrettable disintogr
which Co-oper_- iti
has suffcred severl
"f"afc
otv 'öl
the v '
Sudbury Finns Ve
100 Behind the
Victory Loan
The nwspaper Scanls- -
published in Oct
about the last Caa5'
Loan campaign that the fc™
a brilliant succers and vr-1- 1
rnectations But
shown to the Canadian
by the Finn In the SudbuJ Jby purchasing these 1
ahlnlng exampie i "-- --
f it n bond wxJF- -
per This is a 'J
as It provea that uie — -
Sudbury District
percent behind the an™
a'di3l
Lordon
famUy
„u ia a cornedT inc uit" = - ji
who thlnk a tragedy w
feel — Walpole
Youth Is a
struggle old sge
Wundr' — _— ' lt- a p-