File No. 860d.00/181
The Minister in Sweden (Morris) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 14, 10.03 a.m.]
2293. Referring to your telegram 831, June 7, 6 p.m., and my 2256, June 8, 5 p.m. Finnish Legation at Stockholm has to-day given me copy of note verbale to French Minister at Stockholm dated May 16. Finnish Legation states that position of Finnish government on this subject has not changed and is the same as outlined in this note which reads:
From the note verbale of 30th of April of his excellency the French Minister it appears that the French and British Governments for desirable [are desirous?] that the Finnish government [Page 793] should abstain from every enterprise which could facilitate the union of Finland and the Karelian provinces situated outside the present frontier of Finland.
In this regard the Finnish government cannot refrain from calling the attention of his excellency the French Minister to the note of April 24 of his excellency Sir Esme Howard, the British Minister, in which Sir Esme expresses the desire of his government that the Finnish government should not undertake any aggressive action against the Murman Railroad. In a despatch of April 14, 1918, to its representative in London, Mr. Holsti, the Finnish government had, however, already declared itself ready to conform to the desires of the British Government concerning the above-mentioned railroad. This despatch which was communicated to the British Government was then made public.
On the other hand the Finnish government believes it necessary to state that it does not understand the justice of putting in the way of the realization of the efforts of the Karelian population to join themselves to their brothers in Finland for the future free and independent.
This population is entirely Finnish except for a small number of Russian immigrants. In spite of Russian oppression which for centuries has in every way prevented the development of their culture they have always kept their national character. Up to the present the Finnish government has not, however, had the opportunity of supporting their national aspirations. But in time the Finnish government believes it impossible to fail in its duty of intervening in order to liberate Karelia from the bands of Bolshevik brigands of Russian or Finnish origin, who are terrorizing the peaceful population there. Intervention will already become necessary for purely defensive reasons for the said Bolshevik bands menace and infest the territories near the Finnish frontier. Several attempts to invade these provinces have already been repulsed, but at the same time the Finnish government is unable to decline to pay attention to the pathetic supplications presented to the government by numerous deputations and petitions by which the representatives of the Karelian population have asked the aid and help of the Finnish government for the establishment of administrative and economic order in the provinces, where the arbitrary rule and negligence of the Russian employees have made all civilizing work impossible by creating a state of affairs absolutely intolerable.