Harbin, Oct. 1.
From the moment of the signing of the Habarovsk "Protocol the Soviet authorities have been devoting their energies to the conquering of Manchuria by peaceful. means. In the first place the Far Eastern Bank, the Torgpred, the Neftsyndicot' and the Textile Syndicate were opened. The first named mediately comnienced commercial operations of all third brought in oil to compete with the American and British companies and the last flooded the market with first class cotton goods at prices below the British and Japanese made article.
Following the above great syndicates, opters have followed, each one being a blow to manufactures! of some other country. There the Tobacco Trust whose cigarettes are of the best quality and which compete with the products of the B.A.T.; there is the Rubber Trust. which''is now importing rubber tyres of every kind in competition with American and British makes, particularly with Dunlop; there is the Messelprom whose biscuits and sweets are to be seen in every shop) in the town and have taken the place of the famous Huntley Palmer and other foreign makes; and there are all kinds of canned fish and fruits which are just as good as any foreign ones and are' cheaper.
Very shortly pianos from the famous old St. Petersburg firm of Becker and Schroeder will be} brought to Manchuria and these will be tetter and cheaper than the German pianos which are now the only ones which can be bought here. The large watch and clock factories! of Soviet Russia will also very' shortly threw in watches which will compete with Swiss manufacturers. All this is the first sign of the steady advance in the five year plan and as month after month Passes there is no doubt that more and more Sevice goods will appear in the Manchurian markets to the detriment of similar goods from other countries.
During the past week large quan-of timber have been imported from Soviet Rassia, timber of superier quality to that found in Manchuria, and of correct measurements, while the price is lower than the local. To enable local ber to compete, river and rail freights nfust be reduced as it is evident that the Soviet is determin. ed to capture the market at any. cost, Coals are also likely to be imported next winter.
The quality of all the manufac-tared goods is equal to the best of pre-war days when Russian manufactures stood high in the jon of commercial men. Russian tobacco has always been of the: best, Russian cotton is superior to! Anieriean, and Russia has a bounty ful supply of sugar for the mianufacture of sweets. The mass production of the Soviet manufactories and works can easily beat Ford at his own game, and how other countries are going to compete is a ques-which must be taken up by Chambers of Commerce all over the world.
The Manchurian market is an enormous one and is worth fight ing for, therefore the Soviet authorities are right in trying to secure strong hold on all buyers before! other countries commence 0 com-Pete on a more energetic basis. With such enormous capital and such mass work as the Soviet syndicates, it is difficult for foreign private owners to compete and it Will be necessary for foreign firms to combine or to secure credits from their governments for the purpose of fighting the greatest industrial combine in the world.
The news of the manner in which the U.SS.R. is beginning to conquer getting about and the arrival of important directors of great British, industrial concerns, in Harbin ie a sign.that many are already alive to the situation. Full page advertisements in every paper in the town of Huntley and Palmer's biscuits have caused quite a sensation as) no British firm has ever advertised on such a cease in Manchuria before. Sunlight Soap have also suddenly begun to advertise on a very large scale, completely overshadowing the adverts of other soap firms. Thus it appears that the fight for Manchurian markets is beginning and it is likely that America and Japan will also have to take strong measures not to lose their hold on certain buyers.
One gloat difficulty will be credit, as the Soviet institutions are selling on credit or instalment pla Thus you may buy a splendid Schroeder piano for 500 yen, and payments over three years," and textiles are sold on three months'
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.