SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[tinder this heading we notice such nooks of the week as hare not been resigned for review in other forms.] Finland. By N. C. Frederiksen. (Edward Arnold. Os.)— This volume gives us a very careful and complete study of the "Public and Private Economy" of Finland and the Finns, while, it throws much light on the political aspect of the Russia v. Finland question. Here some quite unexpected resemblances come to the surface. We are reminded of Ireland in the strangest and most " topsy-turvy " fashion when we read of pedlars travelling through Finland at the instance of a Panslavio Society, and not without the knowledge of the Russian Govern- ment, promising that the Czar would give landless persons land from large proprietors. The Czar did actually cause two million marks to be taken from the surplus of the Finnish Budget for this purpose. Finland is not favoured by Nature. In the Southern division it has an average temperature of 41° Fahr , in the North the average sinks as low as 24.80. Oats are the chief crop, followed by rye and barley; in the North, however, up to the cereal limit barley prevails. Dairy farming is more hopeful. No little attention is being paid to the breed of cows, the native kinds being improved by importations from England and Scotland. Not a tenth part of the country is capable of cultivation. Forty-five million acres (exactly half of the whole area) are described as valueless ; and dry forests occupy about four-fifths of the remainder. The fisheries, however, must be reckoned. The salmonidae are numerous and valuable, especially when they can be taken by sportsmen. What are called " coarse " fish here are found not only in the lakes and rivers but also in the sea, which is there but very slightly salt. In the concluding chapter, where the political organisation of the country is dealt with, we find an account of the Russian inter- ference with Finnish liberties, all the more impressive on account of the dispassionate language in which the author's opinions are stated. It is satisfactory to observe that he does not fear that the attempted Russianisation of the country will succeed.
Previous page
