extremely: light on the Soviet's methods of on foreign trade is thrown by the letter from "British Merchant" which appears in our' correspondence columns to-day. In the opinion of the merchant in question the time was suitable for a resumption of business con-noxious established in Vladivostok, long before the war, and accordingly he proposed a visit to the port. As we see, he set about it! at the beginning of. November, and now, after three months' waiting, during which time he: spared no effort to obtain permission to visit Vladivostok, he finds definitely that he cannot. It is very useful for the commercial community at large that, his and similar experiences should. be made known, for-they tay' save others wasting time and money on equally fruitless efforts, to bring about a resumption of business on the lines formerly The Soviet representatives in this part of the world were undoubtedly interested in our correspondent's business, and offered to save him the trouble of making a personal visit by letting him know that there was not sufficient demand for his goods in Vladivostok to make it worth his while going. Very considerate on their part this may seem, but quite unsatisfactory as far as the average merchant is concerned, while utterly bad for the state of trade generally, While enterprise is thus being stifled the economic rehabilitation of Russia can only proceed in the slowest and most. laborious manner, and even the Labour Party's proposed gift of £40,000,000 to the country would searcely have hastened it.
While trade is thus being hampered by rigid government control which the Soviet knows so well how to impose, Russia's foreign commerce is undoubtedly enlarging. Against shipments of timber she was able so far back as @ couple of years ago to buy tea on the London market, while more recently Vladivostok has. again appeared as a purchaser in China. Since then a connex has been established with India, also for the purpose of obtaining. supplies of tea, while operations have been further enlarged by importations of sugar, tallow and the like. And only' this week there was the welcome announce: ment of the purchase of a million pounds of yarn from Lancashire, Naturally with evidences before them of such expansion in the foreign commerce of the count it ly but natural to find private firms wishing to take & teitimate in it, but the present policy of the Soviet contemplates nom thing of the sort. Government departments make the necessary arrangements for the purchase and financing of the imports to which we have previously: alluded, and are able to strike a balance by exports of timber and the like from European Russia and of beans, ete, from Vladivostok, What hasbeen created ly a "gigantic monopoly, and the Government means to seo that it ix not infringed upon. It has not succeeded entirely in bringing this monopoly about, because certain private firms are established in Vladivostok and elsewhere, and further, foreign banks have to be employed in financing the trade. Nevertheless as matters stand just_now it is on a scale ut to deter private enterprise from seeking to resume normal trading rela tions, The object of the Soviet policy is twofold—political and protect= ive. Politically it means that trade is being nationalized, and no doubt the Soviet regards this monopoly ax one of the most efficient methods of keeping a atip on the populace. Its fiscal aspect is certainly to some extent concerned with the fostering of native industries, and in the case of our correspondent there seems no doubt that a distinct apprehension existed in the minds of Soviet officialdom that he would be in a position to Uundersell native manufactures, A protective tariff would seem to be the natural remedy in such a case, but the Soviet has presumably a surer method in mind—by keeping foreign competitors out of the country altogether. It has embarked upon a huge experiment, the result of which will not be seen for some time to come. As, however, the hi ness men of the world are seldom socialistically inclined, they regard its outcome as' a certain failure. They are not prepared to believe that Soviet officialdom will be less expensive and wasteful when carrying on business
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.