New President

At Helsinki (Helsingfors),* capital of Finland, 300 Finnish citizens assembled under the Chairmanship of Premier Lauri Ingman. They were the electors appointed by the people to elect a President for the years 1925-31 in succession to Dr. Kaarlo Juho Stahlberg who, amid many protestations, had declined to stand for reelection.

President Stahlberg, the first President of Finland since that country, in 1917, declared itself free and independent of Russia, was elected by the Diet in 1919. The present popular presidential election is the first to be held.

Under a system of proportionate representation, M. Lauri Relander, Governor of Viipuri (Viborg), Agrarian, defeated his nearest rival, M. Ryti, Governor of the State Bank, Progressive, on the third ballot by 172 to 109 votes.†

The second President of the Finnish Republic is a leading light in the Agrarian Party. His name was put forward at the last moment and his election was due to the almost solid vote of the Conservatives, which, in a country seething with Bolshevism only a few years ago, is a significant fact.

Beside being famous for her Nurmi, Finland was the first country in the world to grant suffrage to women; this was done in 1907 without any agitation on the part of the females.