Peace?

First-string correspondents shook their heads last winter and spring every time a peace rumor emerged from Helsinki. Wait, they counseled, until the name Paasikivi appears; that will be time enough to expect results. Paasikivi knows the Russians, knows how to deal with Stalin. When the Finns really want to quit, they will call on Paasikivi to go to Moscow.

Last week 50 big Finns waited on Banker-President Risti Ryti, urged him to shelve stiff-necked Premier Edwin Linkomies, hand the job to 73-year-old Juho Kusti Paasikivi. Few expected the old man to accept the Premiership, if offered; many counted on his willingness to try to talk realities with Stalin, if asked.

To the Russians the terms are clear: resumption of the frontier established in 1940 after the first Russo-Finnish War. If the Finns could have Viipuri back and the Saimaa Canal which floats lumber to the Gulf of Finland, many believed they would accept these terms. Paasikivi was the only Finn with a chance of talking Stalin out of Viipuri.

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