russians in SRanan sre wont snocoaies are sold for 00 cents "in: aware of their numerical strength but Scidom discuss and still more seldom Tuminate upon whether they have! made use of their numbers to further their interests to the fullest extent, Before the Revolution, when the local Russian colony was' small in the extreme Russians enjoyed the same tights and privileges as the Eth, French and Americans after that holocaust, when their num! swelled with such rapidity, all rights extraterritoriality were taken way from them. True, up to the year 1027 Russians continued to have voice in the election of councillors fof the French Concession and con~ trolled a good hair of the votes, but at that juncture M, P. B, Naggiar, the newly-appointed French Ambassador to Moscow and then the Consul-General in Shanghai, changed the system of elections due to the approach of the Canton Revolutionary Army and Russians lost their last eights in Shanghai, True, they have yet the hope that should the Constitution drafted out for Shanghai by Judge Feetham ever be put into effect, they will once again enjoy equal rights to all other Shanghailanders, But at present their cir~ cumseribed privileges and prospects are a subject about which they fect keenly and discuss hardly ever.
Russian Unity Theoretically they realize that were they unified to the degree that, say. the Jows or the Japanese manage to be unified, they would win for them-solves much that they at present lack, even with their state of jurisdie-Uonat poverty, But knowing that their present disunion may last for many a day to come they confine themselves to conjectures—more joke ing than serious—as to what they would be able to achieve in Shanghat should they present a united front Such a question was raised recently in one of their newspapers. The author of the article propounded the whimsical view that if Russians in Shanghai suddenly decided to talk only in their own tongue, unemployment among them would be quickly eradicated. Fifteen years ago, foreign banks and stores, there was no one speaking Russian, Today many have Russian employees, and numerous advertisements in the Russian press promise readers that "Russian is spoken at our Bank."
This seems to prove that the purchasing power of the Russian colony steadily rising. Russians form large percentage of cinema audience They support the Russian Theatre, Operetta and even the Ballet. Large numbers throng to the Municipal Orchestra Concerts. Without them Several of these enterprises would never be able to cover overhead expenses and would rapidly pass out of existence, The Russian public Is not so evident in banks and stores as a good part of It speaks English. But should Russians when they make any purchase or give any firm a chance to make money make it a point to speak only Russian, the number of Russian employees of these firms would increase to auch a degree that unemployment in the colony would be radically curtailed or eradicated together. If it be remembered that Russians form a good half of the foreign population of Shanghai, it be evident that this half-joking suggestion that Russians in Shanghai speak only in their own tongue bears a note of seriousness.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.