"Aid" to the Finns

U. S. shippers are not in business for their health. Finland is fighting for its life; some observers think, for more lives than its own. Last week U. S. shippers were sending to Finland's mortal enemy, Soviet Russia, copper, wheat, oil, other materials. They indicated that shipments would continue so long as the State Department allows (see p. 69). Meanwhile, last week, the Congress of the U. S. tepidly gestured its sympathy for beleaguered Finland.

A resolution passed by the Senate called upon the Securities and Exchange Com mission to expedite consideration of any bonds which the Finnish Government wanted to issue in the U. S.

Nearer actual aid, but still cautiously in the air was the Brown Bill, authorizing an increase in the Export-Import Bank's loan capital of $100,000,000, and making possible an additional $20,000,000 credit to Finland. The bill was favorably reported by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week, had the approval even of such isolationists as Senators Vandenberg and Hiram Johnson, seemed destined to pass. Debatable was the bill's practical or potential value to the Finns. The money would have to be spent in the U. S., and for non-military products. And final sanctioning of the credit would be up to hard-headed Jesse Jones, Federal Loan Administrator, who is reported to have said that he did not think the Finns, who have already borrowed $10,000,000, were a good risk for more than an additional $10,000,000.

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