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90 EUGENIC WORK IN SWEDISH FINLAND
dish undergraduates at the University of Helsingfors — the only state University
— amounts to 666 against 2,602 Finnish alumni. Moreover the Swedish academy
at Åbo, just lately founded, whose Principal is Edw. Westermarck, the renowned
Professor of sociology, counts about 140 alumni.
I beg here specially to point out, that Swedish culture is of a considerably
earlier date than Finnish. It is only 50 to 60 years ago since government offi*
cials were mostly recruited from the ranks of the Swedish population. Lately,
thanks to intense Finnish propaganda an ever increasing number of Finnish schools
have been founded and the Finnish educated classes are steadily increasing in
number.
The boundaries between the two spheres of language have undergone chan=
ges partly in favour of the Finns, partly in favour of the Swedes. During the
last few decades a remarkable immigration of Finns has taken place into the Swe*
dish towns and also in some places on the country*side. Above all industrial en*
terprise has attracted the Finns. However, lack of hands for farming purposes in
consequence of immigration to the towns and emigration to foreign lands (chiefly
America) have given Finnish workmen employment in Swedish districts. Part of
these immigrants have remained in their new abodes on the Swedish land and
many have bought large or small farms.*
At first this immigration aroused little attention but with the growing cons*
ciousness of nationality, now manifest amongst the Swedish population, the view
is more and more gaining ground that measures must be taken to ensure that
Swedish land should remain in Swedish hands.
The Swedish population wants to ensure its future also through measures of
another kind. They desire to be regarded as a part of the population of Finland
on an equality with the Finnish majority both as to administration and cultural
rights. Indeed, a protection of the minority is demanded and legal measures are
claimed, for the sake of procuring selkgovernment within certain bounds to the
Swedish minority.
Hitherto however, these requirements have met with serious resistance from
the Finnish side. Even if they were granted, it is clear to the Swedish popula*
tion, that laws cannot offer the Swedish an unfailing protection against pres=
sure from the Finnish majority, unless the Swedish themselves possess the will to
live and are ready to make sacrifices in order to create an innate power, which
under all circumstances constitutes the most unfailing defence of a people. Through
considerations of this kind it became evident, that it was indispensable to take
measures towards ameliorating the standard of health among the people in Swe*
dish Finland.
A circumstance which helped to a great extent to hasten the realisation of this
plan may be shortly mentioned here.
In 1911 Miss Jenny Florin made a donation of Fmk. 100,000:— to the Swe»
dish Literary Society in Finland, on condition that the interest of the fund should
be used to promote medical science. This was outside the proper sphere of work
of the Society, of which fact the donatrix was aware. However, knowing that
* The facts stated above are mostly taken out of the work: »La Nationalité Suedoise de la Finlande par G. Nikander et
E. von Born. Helsingfors 1920.
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