We regret to see that the trado agreement which we
recorded on September 16th as having been concluded between Mr. Leslie Urquhart and M. Krassin has not been ratified by the Moscow Government. An edict signed by M. Lenin on behalf
of the People's Council, which was presented to Mr. Urquhart in Berlin last Saturday, states that, although the Soviet leaders had recognized that the co-operation of foreign capital, and especially the agreement with the Russo-Asiatic Consolidated, Ltd., were desirable in the reconstruction of Russia, the recent action of the British Government in refusing to admit Soviet Russia to the Conference on the Near East alters the situation. It is rather hard on the 12,000 shareholders of Mr. Urquhart's company that they should thus suffer from the repercussion of the affair of the Straits. It is equally hard on the Russian people that they should be debarred from once more sharing in the benefits conferred on Russia by the influx of foreign capital and energy. Unfortunately, the Moscow Government will have no difficulty in finding precedents for the use of com- mercial agreements as counters in the political game. A semi- official announcement from Paris that Russia may after all be admitted to the Conference on the future of the Straits— which certainly concerns Russia more largely than any other country—inclines us to hope that, as Mr. Urquhart told a repre- sentative of the Morning Post on Tuesday, what has happened is rather a hitch than a breakdown.
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