Page:Lars Henning Söderhjelm - The Red Insurrection in Finland in 1918 - tr. Annie Ingebord Fausbøll (1920).djvu/115

 Here all expenses for clothes, food supplies, and arms are lacking. The clothes and food were procured by "seizures," i.e., the direct plundering of private and public stores, the arms it fell to Russians to provide. They were imported from St. Petersburg and Reval. Besides, command was issued to all the Russian troops that left Finland—on the 26th February it was decided that all Polish, Ukrainian, and Estnian soldiers were to go (they were not Bolsheviks, you see)—to hand over their arms to the Finnish Red Guard. Finally, the Russian Red Government on the 20th February took over all movables in Finland belonging to the Russian State. There were great quantities of weapons, ammunition, explosives, food supplies, and other things, which thus fell into the hands of the Red Guard. The supplies were, of course, to be paid for, and in the liquidation committees, appointed everywhere, the Russian Svetshnikoff was chief representative for Finland!

It was, however, necessary to have trained men for the service of the seven armoured trains, for the armoured motor-cars, the cannon and quick-firing machine guns on hand. Such were procured from Russia, and they were even advertised after in the papers—"no matter of what nationality." The artillery men received a monthly salary of 1,200 Finnish marks, the machine gunners got 900. But the shortage never seemed to be quite remedied—so large was the importation of arms. In illustration of the Red Finno-Russian co-operation, we shall here communicate a telegram sent out by Svetshnikoff and Vice Commissioner for the Interior, Taimi, together:—

"To the Special Staff at St. Petersburg.

"By order of the Finnish Government, we request you to hasten the despatch of volunteers to the General Staff of the Red Guard at Helsingfors: ten officers from