The Washington times., 1914-09-23
To the Editor OF THE TINES:

To the Editor OF THE TINES:
Your editorial of last Saturday on
trade with Russia was Of timely interest
and importance. The prospect OF in
4 creasfnS our trade with South America
1 and with the great Russian empire,
which has population perhaps greater
than that of all the Americas COM
bined. should awaken the commercial In
stincts and activities of our best busi-
| ness men. and it renders important the
question of how best to equip ourselves
, Tor the task Of winning supremacy in
these promising fields.
First Of all, 1t Is suggested, is the
task of equipping and sending forth
bright men who are experts In their
own lines of business. and, above all.
who are practical masters Of the Ian.
guase OIL the country to which they
are Hent. The Russian business men
can not be expected to hav ae knowIedse
of English. although the Russians are
among the best linguists of the world.
Even II they could speak English, they
would naturally prefer to do business
with AGENTS speaking Russian: an ac-
complishment which Is an implied COM
pliment to them. and the surest pass
port to their good graces.
The Russian government itself has
sent US finely equipped business rep-
resentative in the person Of Constantine
]. Medzikhoffski, commercial attacke
Of the Russian embassy at Washing
ton. who. in addition to knowing the
business interests of his country in de-
tail, can express himself well in Eng
lish. French, and German. and can also
mingle with our best social circles In
Boston, Mr.. Medzikhoffski was shown
marked attention by the State legis-
lature and by the commercial and civic
authorities of New England, where the
leading men are fully alive to the I'M
portance Of improving our trade rela-
tions with the land Of the Czar.
Many will be surprised to know that
the Russian language Is more easily
pronounced than French by the aver
age American, and that II is not so
difficult to learn as generally supposed.
Several seudents Of Russian are form
ing a class now in this city to perfect
themselves in the language under the
instruction of a lady graduate Of the
University of Petrograd, and doubtless
the study of Russian will in time form
a part of the higher institutions OF
learning, and especially of commercial
colleges in this country. The study OF
Latin and Greek might well be set
aside for Russian b. prospective COM
mercial agents who expect TO travel
in that country. One result OF the
present war Will De 10
crease the number of high grade i'm
migrants Of all nationalities into this
country and in that way the best OF
Russian influence will make itself felt
here. and the student OF Russian will
find himself amply repaid for mastering
such a beautiful, flexible and express
sive form of speech. in the pleasure or
speaking it with refined natives OF that
country.
Last winter. two prominent Rus.
slams, A A Yurievitch. OF the Imperlal
household, and V. V. Agaionon, were
in this country. looking into the matter
of extending Russo-American commerce
Mir \gafonofr advanced the interesting
nIan of establishing permanent ex-
bibits Of Russian export wares In Wash
,neton and other leading cities OF
America and OF soliciting similar ex-
bibi,s bv American merchants in th.
iarga citjes Of Russia. Mr. MedZfk-
hntsski last year presented to the com
r,e-ciaI department Of the Russian gov
arnmsnt a plan for the erection of q
oarmanent Russian building and bazar
~ washington. and II is believed that
such an institution may yet be realized
n is we'll to agitate the matter through
the press for momentous economic
changes will come after the present con-
iict. and our country should prepare
to be on the winning side when they
come L. S. PERKINS.