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THE ECONOMIC RESOURCES OF RUSSIA 131
be an endeavour to supply the market as cheaply as possible.
Nobody would suggest that trash should be sent, but, at
any rate, it does not seem necessary that the goods exported
should be of the finest or first quality.
The thorny question of credit should be handled with
the utmost delicacy ; there should be a " give and take "
in the matter. It must not be expected that the Russian,
accustomed to long credit, will be agreeable to the
cash-down principle of the English, but it may be assumed that
he will be ready to come to a compromise with the
Englishman on this important point. The great trouble is, after
all, not so much long credit as the fact that British banks
will not buy foreign bills. They will collect, but will not
purchase them. Probably the question of facilitating the
payment of the Russian buyer will be effectively taken in
hand by commercial banks lately formed for that purpose,
or by those already of long standing. Such banks having
at their disposal adequate information relating to those
manufacturers requiring financial facilities should be able
to accept Russian business even in cases demanding credit
to be extended for eighteen months or two years. The
banks should form the necessary connecting-link between
the British manufacturer and the Russian consumer,
financing the former and charging the latter with the commission
and interest to be paid. The peculiar circumstances of
Russian economic life demand long credit. Not less than
85 per cent, of the people live on the land. It is, therefore,
impossible for the merchant to pay cash because he never
knows what the harvest will yield. He must be given
grace until the harvest has been gathered. The Germans
studied this point, saw the difficulty of the consumer, and
decided to give long credit. That was one way in which
they ingratiated themselves with the Russians. The British
manufacturer bluntly refused to accommodate the customer :
the British attitude of " take it or leave it " was fatal to
success in the Russian trade market.
The following example will illustrate the lack of pliability
on the part of the British manufacturer compared with the
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