Page:The Russian Review Volume 1.djvu/341

Rh Englishmen having a technical knowledge of engineering.

The distribution of imports in Russia is in the hands of two or three classes of wholesale houses, all of which are grouped in a few of the chief cities. Moscow is pre-eminent as a center of this character and handles about fifty per cent. of Russian imports. The general character of the imports handled by Moscow are of a class that appeals to a peasant market, as against the business transacted from Petrograd, where the trade is of a high standard and where Government purchases and contracts are settled for the whole Empire. The large cities have wholesale houses, which employ travelers to work the surrounding provinces. The orders as received are combined and transferred to the foreign manufacturers concerned, the merchants themselves carrying very little stock. Wholesale houses in the Provinces are few in number and of relatively small account. The wholesale dealers in the cities sell direct to the provincial retailers. The selling firms belong to the class that offer exclusively the goods of the foreign manufacturers they represent.

Another class of wholesalers have no travelers and rely upon catalogues; they have their regular clientele throughout the Provinces, mainly retailers, who effect their purchases by correspondence or in person. A few other firms have branch houses in different towns in Russia, which send out travelers in their respective districts, but these firms specialize, as a rule, in a few lines. All wholesalers do a large retail trade with users of goods, such as factories, railroads, etc. Travelers for the Provinces carry ample collections of samples, together with catalogues. Their catalogues are of two kinds; some houses issue only retail catalogues and sell at the prices quoted, less a certain discount, whereas others issue wholesale catalogues only and sell at net prices to provincial dealers, these wholesale catalogues being restricted to the trade.

The Far Eastern business, in the Transbaikal and Amur regions, is in the hands of a few large firms with headquarters at Vladivostok. It is a specialized business not touched by the ordinary Russian houses. The Vladivostok firms do a large trade with their magnificent stores and well organized wholesale departments, sending out travelers who cover the whole of the Far East. Each of the largest two has a purchasing house in Moscow, and one has also a house in London. Vladivostok is suggested as a good place for representation on the group plan.

In Russian dealings the question of credit is of great importance and calls for careful investigation. The Russian wholesaler is compelled to allow his customer credit in practically all lines, sometimes for as much as twelve months. A cash payment of not more than twenty-five to thirty per cent is common. In many cases, however, the wholesaler is satisfied if his client will pay railway freight and expenses to destination. Manufacturers should be prepared to grant liberal credits to dealers—three, six, nine, or twelve months, according to the article and