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Taranaki Daily News, 1 December 1920, Page 4

trading with soviet Russia That the announcement recently made by Mr Lloyd George relative to resuming trade with Soviet Russia should he received with' mingled feelings is natural, but until the terms of the agreement, are known it is impossible to form any reliable opinion as to ih° probable effect of the adoption of such a conr'.e. It is evident, howeve-, Unit the full bearings of the proposal an aeing kept in view with regard to R us . ?»'* fin «ncial liabilities ier loans raised in Britain and France before the war, amounting to half a billion and a billion respectively, as well as half a bilJion sent to Russia for war material, 'hough it is considered the recovery of the latter is not very hopeful. So far as can be seen at the moment any trade agreement is bound to be onesided, and pra.cticaliy wholly for Russia's benofit it is improbable that Russia will ] lave any exportable goods to sell for some " met 0 eonie > so 0«t it i» difficult to understand why, in face of her present large indebtedness to Britain, goods are to be supplied to Russia on credit. Anparently the first condition for resuming trade should be the cessation of all Soviet hostilities, for until peace and a stable government exist there, it cannot be expected the people will produce sufficient commodities for export. When it is considered that in 1913 the Rus«an exports to Britain were valued at over forty millions sterling, and that the imports from Britain amounted to over eighteen millions, it will be seen that a considerable trade existed before the *ar, and had Russia not been decimated y internal and external strife, it is probable that, the trade between the two countries at the present time would have exceeded over 100 millions i n value