Williams, Harold Whitmore (1876-1928) Russia of the Russians - London 1914
XII. Trade and Industry
...Peter made the merchants more important than they had been by opening a way out to Europe, and the importance of the merchant class has steadily risen in proportion as Russia has been steadily drawn into the movement of world trade.
...The arguments employed in favour of a commercial rapprochement between England and Russia are first, that the two countries are economically complementary, the former being an industrial and the latter an agricultural country, and, secondly, that Russia with its latent resources and its lack of adequate means for developing them presents an eminently suitable field for the investment of English capital.
...Within the Government there is a curious division of opinion on the subject of the introduction of foreign capital, a minority of extreme Nationalists holding the view that it simply means taking wealth out of the country, while a majority, which generally carries the day, points out that Russia can only gain by any development of her natural resources which may result from the employment of foreign capital in their exploitation.
...Peter made the merchants more important than they had been by opening a way out to Europe, and the importance of the merchant class has steadily risen in proportion as Russia has been steadily drawn into the movement of world trade.
...The arguments employed in favour of a commercial rapprochement between England and Russia are first, that the two countries are economically complementary, the former being an industrial and the latter an agricultural country, and, secondly, that Russia with its latent resources and its lack of adequate means for developing them presents an eminently suitable field for the investment of English capital.
...Within the Government there is a curious division of opinion on the subject of the introduction of foreign capital, a minority of extreme Nationalists holding the view that it simply means taking wealth out of the country, while a majority, which generally carries the day, points out that Russia can only gain by any development of her natural resources which may result from the employment of foreign capital in their exploitation.