The Daily News. THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 1920. TRADING WITH RUSSIA.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 June 1920, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 1920. TRADING WITH RUSSIA.

When considering the possibility of resuming trade with Russia, it should be remembered that before the war this trade with Britain was next in importance to that of Germany. In 1910 the value of Russian exports to Britain amounted to £43,644,648, and the value of British exports to Rufcsia was £21,220,727, making the total trade worth nearly sixty-five millions. It is this large volume of trade to which may be ascribed the movement to re-open commercial relations with Russia in spite of the deplorable state of the country. That there is a considerable element of risk in having trade relations with a country dominate! by Bolshevism cannot be denied, but British traders have built up their great trade edifice by taking risks in all parts of the world. In the case of Russia, as we know it to-day, there is the special risk that imports may be seized by Lenin or- his colleagues, there being no stable Government to protect property or merchandise, but the project of re-opening trade is wholly based on the poAver of the co-operative societies, with whom alone it is proposed to deal. The secret of that power is the huge membership these societies enjoy, and though Lenin tried to break them by force, he signally failed, and was only too glad to resort to conciliation. That they have good reason to rely on their great numerical strength is appai'ent from the fact that even under the misrule of Lenin, these societies have multiplied to such an extent that out of a population of seven-ty-eight millions in thirty-three Russian Governments, as many as fifty-seven million people are served by these societies. In all the chaos and turmoil that exists in Russia, this vast co-operative movement stands out as a tribute to the common sense of the people in banding themselves together in order that they may exist and have a reliable means for buying, selling or bartering goods. In so doing they have probably saved themselves and their country from utter ruin. To-day, they would seem to be the only stable institution in Russia, and it is quite evident that with no other body would it be politic to transact business. Having asserted thenpower to resist Lenin, they have eschewed partisanship and devoted their energies to trade in a spirit of toleration of Bolshevism, but with a determination to serve the purpose for which they were created. Practically these cooperative societies constitute the commerce of Russia. The question naturally arises as to how it would be possible for British traders to do business with a country in which all the usual facilities of payment and exchange are absent. But one way is possible rr-barteix. &ad_exes_ .that methpj.

must necessitate the provision of special means for safeguarding both imports and exports from the unscrupulous rapacity of the Bolsheviks. The societies themselves may be worthy of trust, because it would pay them better to be reliable in the case of outside trade than to be treacherous, yet it is manifest there must be proper safeguards taken against those who are bent on seizing everything of value on which they can lay their hands. The difficulty could be overcome by the' Soviets agreeing to neutralise a suitable Russian port, guarded by Allied warships, which could be made neutral, territory, and there a clearing house could be set up for the reception of both exports and imports and the exchange of commodities carried out with the consumers' and producers' societies. These societies appear to be able to make some .such arrangement as we have indicated, and there should be no difficulty in arranging a workable system of barter on the basis of British values. If Russia is to be restored to sanity and to become strong once more it can only be through the working of the economic lever, and the restoration of trade would certainly be a potent factor in gradually restoring Russian credit, as well as in bringing about rehabilitation politically. The experiment of re-opening trade with Russia appears tobe worthwhile, and though the risks cannot be ignored, they can be minimised to such au extent that few traders would give them much anxious thought.