Page:Samuel Gompers - Out of Their Own Mouths (1921).djvu/230

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
204
OUT OF THEIR OWN MOUTHS

that is, through alienating the patrimony of the Russian people without their consent.

There can be no question that the Soviet British trade agreement was a tremendous victory for Soviet prestige both in Russia and in every country of the world. There is ample ground for the following statement from Soviet Russia published on April 16, 1921:

The full extent of the victory won by the workers of Russia over the rulers of England is revealed in the text of the Anglo-Russian trade agreement published in this number of Soviet Russia. In the issue of January 22, 1921, there were published in Soviet Russia two preliminary draft agreements, one submitted by the British government on November 29, and the other submitted by the Soviet government on December 13, 1920. A comparison of the two papers afforded a view of the divergent and conflicting claims and purposes of the Russian and British Governments respectively. The final agreement is the outcome of the contest in which Mr. Krassin, representing the power and purpose of the Russian workers, met Sir Robert Home, representing the power and purpose of the British imperialists. It was a test of strength, a significant skirmish, between Communism and Capitalism. We purpose here to examine the final document paragraph by paragraph, to see by comparison with the previous drafts which of the two powers prevailed in the adjustment of their opposing contentions. The examination will show that the Workers' Republic won an" overwhelming victory over the Capitalist Empire. Point by point, clause by clause, the claims and principles advanced by the Soviet Government broke down the objections and evasions of the British Government.

The final document consists of a preamble and fourteen articles, and is accompanied by a separate declaration of claims, signed on the same day.