Russian Bankruptcy Court they must be issued in Russia and entered in the books kept by the responsible agent of the company.
In general, it may be said that the existing law has been held by eminent Russians to be unsatisfactory, and reform has been urged for many years past. One of the worst features of the system is the absence of definite and universal regulations, and the dependance of the foreign trader or investor on the attitude of local officials, which is always an unknown factor, and difficult to estimate. Moreover, the "responsible agents" or local boards may become the media through which British capital is unwittingly made responsible for acts over which it has no control. It will doubtless be remembered by the reader how, in the spring of 1912, a riot and massacre took place in the Lena goldfields, as the result of certain grave abuses which had been perpetrated by the mining company's officials. Contrary to the Russian law, these officials had systematically underpaid and ill-housed their employees, bribing the local police authorities to keep quiet. At last a strike took place, and the company's officials succeeded in commanding the local military forces to crush the revolt against their own cruel and illegal actions. Everyone who knows Siberia is aware that such a case as this is rare at the present day, but the fact that it has occurred in spite of all Government regulations to the contrary in some of the remoter parts of the country, where local officials are almost uncontrolled, is a reminder to the foreign investor of the need of extreme caution. It is most essential that the British public should be aware of these facts and recognize its responsibility in financing
