The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-05-12

ny - - fNft'kt w t~Id
The siberian problem Is "a part
lorr important part ~ the Russian
prnhieu1 and the Russian problem
eftll remains. IN our opinion. tfc cen
trail point in The allied problem
The great German offensive in the
west has diverted public attens ion
from the RUSSIAN tragedy fer the
time being This is a natural hu'
a. the same time n very unfortunate
effect on tho public mind II things
were understood by the large public
m Their proper perspective. the Ger
man offensive in the weet would EN-
phasze once more the necessity TOR
the allies TO take M The Russia
problem actiEelN hecaus" without
Russia or r. her with Russia under
German dom inatjon. the allied war
aims. The program cf making the
world safe for democracy viii never
be executed
The siberian problem can Re taken
up from two angles First il must
he established most eWphatically
that n the future economic and a.
nancial resurrection of Russia ST.
heIit N'li PLAY the most i'm portant
role The BolSheviki with their
naive political and economic expert
ments. will disappear as soon as the
instinct fur preservation reasserts
itself IN Russia. as soon az Russia
I h62lns to recover from her grave
wounds Young fun ~ latent power.
she Is passing through q perlpd of
utmost disorganization known to every
country that has passed from tyranny
TO free, democratic development FL
naIlY with the disappearance Of the
! Eolshevtki. transportation viii he re-
established, the banks Will be reopen
ed the financial system will recuper-
ate. the management Of Industries
viii be placed in the skilled hands
of he industrial class as soon as the
nation, coming out Of lis crisis viii
bring into existence stable demo
cratic government com posed of the
best representatives Of Russias mind
and Statesman ship.
The Socialism proclaimed by the
BolsheVlkl--ail the great Socialist
leaders naturally repudiate such
Kind Of Socialism has resulted in the
utmost disorsa nthation OF industry
transportation. finance, and has Great
ed situation in which entire pro
vtnces are suffering from real. ply
seal hunger \ country like Russia
wirh undeyeIopcd resources. with the
masses uneducated must inevits bly,
pass through a stage or capitalistic
developm ent, which alone is able 10
organize the natural resources of the
nation. TO build up the Industries and
10 bring them to tho proper sta sc
Of etf1ciencv
This brings us Ia the economic pro-
esam Of the first provisional gov
eminent, a program to which every
future democratic government in Rus
STA viii have to turn Russias eco
nomic future lies in the development
Of her natural resources and for this,
first OF all. foreign capital Ia needed,
This in turn neCessitates the e-estab
lishme nt OF Russia < credit in the for
eigr markets. and the Bolshevfkfs re-
rudistton Of Russia national debt Ia
therefore only chid's play which will
be ohliterated az coon az their tyranny
IN overthroWn. Every future Russian
dem ocratic government will have to
begin with acknowledgment of the
Russian debt and honest payment Of
the interest and principal
As the secretary of trade and In
dustrv In tho provisions government.
A. |. konovalov, stated in his address
before the Moscow stock exchange, on
April IA, 1917. the Russian budget
after the war will amount 10 not
lass than eight or nine billion rou-
nles, and II is impossible to cover
such a budget by means OF increased
TAXATION. '"The extent OF taxation is
limited by the country's productivity"
said A. !. konovalov and Its In
crease is possible only in proportion
to The Increased value of the total
production OF the countrys indus
tries The imperative demand for the
Development Of our industries has
com PEELED the ministry of trade and
industry to start sea rching for new
sources of wealth in the country. for
the pur pose of developing them at
the earliest possible moment In this
connection the ministry has, in the
first place, turned to the undeveloped
riches OF the north. our ministry has
appointed a special com mittee for the
purpose -of studying the natural re-
sources Of our northern provinces in
order "a deyelop their economic life
in general and hove all to increase
our ium Der export
This special meatieniHg Of the aso-