Burglaries & Fires

Russia last week was hotting up its propaganda barrage against Scandinavia. In Moscow, the Red Fleet accused Swedish General Helge Jung, commander in chief of the Swedish armed forces, of trying "to use the Swedish armed forces as an appendage of the American military machine and to subject the foreign policy of Sweden to the expansionist activities of the U.S. in northern Europe." Izvestia warned Norway that "the Marshall Plan holds nothing good for Norway except that it endangers her independence and is fraught with her complete subjugation to foreign imperialists."

In Finland, closest to the heat, two members of the Finnish-Russian treaty negotiation delegation hurried home for worried talks about Russian demands. By week's end, Finland's coalition government had not yet stomached a Russian demand that Finland admit Russian troops whenever Moscow decided that Finnish "independence" was threatened.

The local Communist press grew restive and menacing. Tyokansan Sanomat (News of the Working People) snarled that the opponents of the pact were "dirty intriguers who imagine that by trying to postpone a solution they can still discover a way to join the imperialistic war camp. . . . This rubbish element must be wiped out of history, at least in the next elections, if not earlier."

In reply to such pressure, the commander in chief of the Finnish army, General Aarne Sihvo, suspended army leaves and increased guards around munitions dumps--to prevent, he said, "burglaries and damage by spring fires."

In Sweden, the influential daily Dagens Nyheter came out with a proposal that neutrality-minded Swedes would not have dreamed of a few months ago--Swedish military cooperation with the Western powers. In Madison, Wis., Norwegian Ambassador to the U.S. Wilhelm Morgenstierne spoke bluntly: "Peace can always be had--by individuals and nations--by giving in on every point until one is stripped of everything except peace--the peace of the grave. . . . We shall of course stand up against any future aggressor, from wherever he might come. We shall fight with everything we have. . . . Once more we shall prefer to die on our feet rather than live on our knees."

To encourage Norwegians to remain standing, the U.S. announced that the aircraft carrier Valley Forge and five other warships will visit Norway, "for the promotion of good will," at the end of April.

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