Finland can never be efficacious if achieved by
violence and constraint instead of by pacific means. The Finnish people
should be left to appreciate the benefits which would accrue to them
from union with a powerful empire: for an adequate understanding of
their own interests will, in the words of the Imperial rescript of
February 28, 1891, "inspire them with a desire to draw more closely the
bonds that link Finland with Russia." There is no doubt that even at
present a certain tendency is noticeable among the Finns in favor of
closer relations with Russia: the knowledge of the Russian tongue is
spreading more and more widely among them, and business relations
between them and us are growing brisker from year to year. The
desirable abolition of the customs cordon between the two countries is
bound to give a powerful fillip to the growth of commerce, which is the
most trustworthy and most pacific means of bringing about a better
understanding and strengthening the ties that bind Finland to Russia.

Harsh, drastic expedients may easily loosen the threads that have begun
to get tied, foster national hate, arouse mutual distrust and
suspicion, and lead to results the reverse of those aimed at.
Assimilative measures adopted by the Government, therefore, should be
thought out carefully and applied gradually.

J.N. REUTER

"Might can not dominate right in Russia," said M. Stolypin, Russian
Minister of the Interior and President of the Council of Ministers, in
the speech which he delivered in the Duma on May 18, 1908, when pressed
by the various parties to declare his policy with regard to Finland.
This noble sentiment has the familiar ring of Russian officialdom. It
may, perhaps, be worth while to consider it in the light of recent
history and present-day issues.

Alexander I., the first Russian sovereign of Finland, addressed a
Rescript to Count Steinheil on his appointment to the post of
Governor-General. Therein he wrote: "My object in Finland has been to
give the people a political existence so that they shall not regard
themselves as subject to Russia, but as attached to her by their own
obvious interests." It is not the place here to give an historical
account of subsequent events. It may, however, be briefly stated that
the political ideal expressed in the words quoted here was at times
forgotten, but was again revived, and, in such times, even resulted in
the extension of Finland's constitutional rights. Then, agai