Harbin. May 20, The main topic of talk in Harbin concerns the constant stream of Russians, both Soviet and emigrant, who are leaving for their native country every week, this having its effect on retail trade, restaurants and theatres. During the past few days shopping has consisted principally of clothing and other articles required by those who are Leaving Harbin permanently and who are spending their money on Woods rather than to take with them cash, the purchasing power of it in Harbin being far above what it is Ju Russia, "The Soviet Consulate Is besieged by crowds every day. On al sides people say that they cannot make a living here and their only possible solution is to go home and assist in developing their own country.
Furthermore the Bureau for Russian emigrants insists that every Russian firm should discharge its Soviet employees even if they have been In service for over twenty years. If the Proprietors do not comply with thie demand, things are made uncomfortable for them, This demand has. also been made to British and other for-ign firms, and though they do not want to comply, they find that they, suffer various petty annoyances whids almost compel them to give way. The police are constantly on the watch to see whether these instructions are carried out. In some eases foreign firms have reluctantly discharged food and faithful servants, because] they themselves have asked their employers to do s0, fearing arrest under some pretext, if they are not discharged, On the other hand the Japanese trading quarter of Harbin Is now a blaze of light, lit with lamps superior {0 those in any other part of the city. The municipality have decided to spend" more money in lighting up other streets in the district where Japanese shops are and where Japanese live. Within another year the famous Kitaiskaym street will have taken a "back seat" a3 a shopping! centre, when almost all Europeans will have forsaken the city, In re staurant and cafes, waiters and waitresses have been engaged wha can speak Japanese, The Unfortunate House Owner Landlords are in a terrible plight in Harbin, as year by year the value of their property decreases and rents drop while municipal rates have. increased. Many owners are yeats in abeyance, The head of the Municipal wrtment thas told the press that unless rates in arrears are paid, houses will be put up to auction and sold at any price. As there are praetteally no buyers excepting Japanese and they are not keen on buy-Ing, the properties will be sold for gong. The Municipality, however, slate that If the owner can pay in instalments, {t will be possible to come! to some arrangement, the banks are situated and where practically every firm of any importance has Its offices.
Tre action of the Postal authorities has caused a storm of protest from commercial firms and the press has also taken the matter up. Tt should be remembered that it would cost both time and money to have to send to New Town several times a day for mails, while the proposal to take boxes in New Town would involve changing of letter headings with the new numbers of boxes and would take weeks to advise correspondents abroad. The authorities, however, show no signs of altering their decision and thus all business houses will have to suffer delay in the delivery of their mails.
Asan Instance of mail delivery. a certain British gentlemen receives a cheque from home every month, but ast-month it did not arrive at the proper time. He waited two weeks and was about to cable for remittance, when a Russian called on him and handed him a cheque which he stated hho had found on the floor of the Post Omce, and had been making enquiries as to find the owner. The letter was a registered one and as the cheque had been allegedly found on the floor, the correspondence must have been opened and a means of delivering the cheque was found, but the letter in which if was enclosed was not delivered. It has been the custom ff the Post Office to deliver all correspondence to any person taving 3 box number, even if only the name of the person was on the letter, but now the authorities have given notice that any letter addressed to a box number owner without the number being stated on the envelope, will be considered as "not known."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.