Russia—From the Commercial View-point.
Page 12
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By A. E. Gelder.
A. city of domes and palaces, albeit mostly in stucco, St. Petersburg, to those who knew it previously to the Russo-Japanese war, would hardly commend itself as a place wherein the motor would quickly come and come to stay; yet, that is precisely the situation at the present moment. Russia has risen to the strain imposed by the burdens of the war, and has risen to such purpose already she may be said to leave recovered. Whereas, even a. few months ago, gold coins were practically unobtainable, the currency for anything above two roubles being almost entirely in paper, silver and gold are to-day plentiful and readily obtainable in lieu thereof. This monetary ease is naturally reflected in the commercial life of St. Petersburg, and business houses from all parts of the world are rapidly establishing themselves there. With his natural trading aptitude, the German is first and foremost. -He is shrewd enough to discern the signs of the times: to him, Russia., now that she is awaking from her centuries of sleep, is a country of vast potentialities. Its mineral resources are enormous; its lands teem with life; its harvest grounds are rieb and apparently bonndless: so far, these resources, these storehouses of nature, are barely tapped. Lack of transit facilities is the barrier.
Herein will be the opportunity of the commercial-vehicle producer. The moment for actual use is not yet, but it rapidly approaches, and now is none too soon for the manufacturer who 'is a business man to make his enquiries --to map out his plan of campaign, and to open his propaganda. The German is first in the field, and, despite the disability of his being exceedingly unpopular racially, he puts sufficient acumen and business ability into his educational work and his canvass for orders to justify himself. The psychology of the moment is with Great Britain: there is no nation so popular in St. Petersburg at the present time, as our own. Concessions or one sort and another are readily obtainable, and even capital may be found there. The roads in St. Petersburg itself are more suitable for commercial traffic than is usually supposed, the main roads being almost all paved with wood, of novel shape but average quality, and I was credibly informed white there that large sums are to be spent on superseding the pave streets with the smoother wood.
Horse hire is cheap, but the type of vehicle used is archaic. In St. Petersburg, there are just at the moment few commercial vehicles, and a goodly number of these are GovernmentArsenal lorries, but there is, I am assured, an existent demand for the light delivery van. Our German friend has not scored bore : his are the motorbuses; his are the five-tanners. The 30-cwt.-vehiele trade is waiting for the man who will take the trouble to size up the requirements of the position. and to give the detailed thought necessary to establish himself, but the man who premoditntes placing his production in the hands of an agent, who is at the same time a distributor of ether kinds of goods, had better keep his cash in his pocket. It is essential to have a keen, live representative there, who must talk Russian fluently, and also have a knowledge of French and German as well as English. Catalogues must be printed in Russian, with weights and dimensions given in both Russian and metric figures, and they should be copiously illustrated with 0(1-Aires of the daily life of such vehicles in actual service. Your Russian is more to be tempted with a visual representation of what a vehicle can do, than by many pages of descriptive matter. For the first time in his history, the Russian is becoming awake to the motto of the West, " 'lime is money," and he wants rapid transit. There is a fine electric car service in St. Petersburg, and even some motorbuses, though these are somewhat prehistoric. Taxicabs are also plying for hire, and, although there are Cie:ment-Talbots, Unics, Darraeqs, de Dims, as well as other makes, the majority are 15 h.p. fourcylinder Fords (1908 models), and these seem to be more popular than any other, chiefly, I fancy, on account of the lively and sensitive springing and the broad track, which tend to . comfort on the somewhat varied roadways of St. Petersburg. This sensitive springing and broad track, with ample clearance beneath the chassis, should form a strong feature of any vehicles sent to Russia, as there are few main roads in the country, the majority being earthen tracks. With regard to the profits of operating taxicabs, I was unable to obtain any data, but, as—although there is an official schedule of prices—everyone strikes a bargain before starting with his drosky-man at a much lower figure than the official rate, a mile and a half to two miles for about 30 kopecks (about 71-a.) being the usual pay, I don't see how taxicabs can pay well.
The Russian drosky is like a small victoria, with seating for one, or at the most two passengers ; the horses are entires, and probably the finest in Europe, although the breed is not being kept up to the former standard. All the droskies are rubber-tired, and a certain small amount of tires are imported into the country.