naturally looks to England as the home of co-operation.
There ought to be no difficulty about international trade and business generally, if those who desire trade with Russia are animated with the true co-operative spirit. There will be difficulty with those whose sole desire is, by means of trade relationships, to re-establish competitive commercialism with all its horrors. That the pure and simple communism aimed at by the Bolshevik revolution will, of necessity, be modified, is of course true. Russia, as part of a world made up of commercial nations, cannot live her life exactly as she pleases, and the strength of the Bolsheviks lies in the fact that one and all of their chief men understand this.
Krassin, who is Commissar for Trade, Transport and Commerce at home and abroad, is under no delusions as to the conditions under which the ordinary capitalists will consent to do business with his fellow countrymen ; but to be forewarned is to be forearmed. Consequently when concessions are granted or business done with great monopolist concerns, very severe watertight conditions will be laid down for the purpose of preventing the servants of capitalism corrupting the minds of the Russian workers. Krassin, in his interview with me, laid stress on all the vital needs of Russia, but was emphatic in his declaration that real busi-
6
