The representatives of the people had no time to consider the measure
before the Czar's decree was issued, February 17, 1899, declaring that
thenceforth the laws governing the Grand Duchy be made in the same
manner as those of the empire.

It is not necessary to dwell upon the deep feeling of indignation and
grief that pervaded the country. It has found a freer expression
outside of the Grand Duchy than within its boundaries. Wherever the
human heart is beating in sympathetic harmony with universal progress,
the oppressed Finnish people have found moral support. In spite of
this, one by one the Finns have been deprived of their hereditary
rights and privileges. To the Finns this new order of things seems
appalling. It is like the drawing of the veil of the dark ages over
their beloved country. They have lost everything that is dear to the
human heart: their language, their religion, and their independence.
They can do nothing but mourn in silence and mortification, for a
strict Russian censorship prevents the expression of their just
indignation and grief.

The present condition of Finland is apathetic. Last fall the loss of
crops was almost complete, and pestilence and famine are devastating
the country, which has been drained of its vitality by an excessive
migration and military conscription. The young men of Finland are
forced to serve five years in the Russian Army, and the country is
suffering from a lack of men to till the soil. The credit of the
country has been mined, and panic is spreading rapidly. Wholesale
migration of the more thrifty has made the already difficult problem of
readjustment more complicated. Those who remain behind are literally
suffering from physical, intellectual, and moral starvation. There is