as possible in Russian, using however, at first, the words which the students already know, or, if this is inconvenient to the students themselves, they are recommended to a private Russian expositor of the language for conversational purpose only. At the end of two semesters of such work, it has been found that the students who apply themselves to this rather exigent method are well able not only to converse on simple topics, but also to read a newspaper in Russian and to enjoy the easier forms of Russian literature.
With a force of men trained in this way to an independent use of the Russian vernacular, the United States would be in a position, both during and after the War, to avoid all foreign agents and middlemen in mutual trade, and thus to establish an American sytem of credit with Russia. That the possibilities of Russo-American trade are enormous, may be seen from the fact that Russia is already calling to us in this country to take the place of her natural ante-bellum market — Germany, whose indefatigable agents have already broken the ground for us. Before the outbreak of hostilities, the Russo-German trade amounted to the immense sum of £60,000,000 annually, and this is only the beginning of future demands from Russia for foreign goods. The country which foresees the situation commercially is going to be one to reap the great benefits of the Russian markets, the needs of which have been ably pointed out by the pamphlet recently issued by the Boston Industrial Development Board: "Russian Trade and New England," March, 1915. At the present moment the Russian commercial attache, M. Medzikhovsky, now stationed in New York, is ready to point out to various American trade centres the most efficient means of establishing direct commercial relations with Russia. The Russian Minister of Commerce and Industry and the Russian Chamber of Export are inviting Americans to engage in mutual trade. In other words, Russia has opened her arms to us commercially, and, if we do not take advantage of this opportunity we may be sure that other countries will get the start of us in this new and rich field of activity.
The keys to the situation are: 1) general information, which may be had for the asking, and 2) personal investigation of Russian opportunities on Russian soil, which can be done only by Americans who can speak Russian.
