The Court of Appeal on Thursday, May 12th, decided in
the ease of Luther v. Sagor that the property of British subjects confiscated by the Bolsheviks and sold to other British subjects could not be recovered by its rightful owners when imported into this country. Mr. Justice Roche had given judgment for the plaintiff last winter, because the British Government had not then recognized the Bolsheviks as the de facto Government of Russia. The Court of Appeal found that since then the British Government had recognized the Bolsheviks in April, 1921. Therefore, anything that the Bolsheviks had done since December, 1917, must be accepted by our courts as the acts of a de facto Government. Lord Justice Scrutton in- cautiously went further in suggesting a parallel 'between our heavy direct taxes and death duties and the arbitrary con- fiscations practised in Russia. There is, of course, no such parallel. The judgment of the Court of Appeal -may be good law. But so long as the Bolsheviks assert the right to rob private persons, whether natives or foreigners, there can be no serious revival of trade with Russia. No sane person would invest money in such a barbarous community.
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