Some Russian immigrants hold pessimistic views about the future of the Russian colony.

This is what they say: No new Russian immigrants come to America. The young Russian people are being educated the American way; the old immigrants are scattered all over the city and become inconspicuous. In some ten years the Russian colony will become like dust; it will be drowned in the sea of American life, will almost disappear and be absorbed by the general stream of life. All that will remain of the colony will be two or three churches where the services will be attended by a few hundred people; the rest will all vanish as vanish all artificial creations, not having in them the germ of life.

There exists, however, another view concerning this question. This view is shared by many members of our colony. And, what is more, this is the 2opinion of those among our colonists who are more farsighted, practical and experienced.

The Russian colony, say these persons, is experiencing now the same things which have occurred earlier in the life of some other foreign colonies. The Russian immigration is the youngest, the latest; therefore it passes through certain stages of development later than the other colonies.

And this is what is happening at the present time in our Russian colony. The old Russian immigrants acquire homes of their own, settle in places where they intend to reside permanently. Some of them start some enterprise of their own. Those who hold jobs and are working for others are comparatively well off; they earn enough money, manage to work in decent conditions. The young people have been Americanized, but just the same they love their fathers' native country and the Russian language, and are interested in Russian life. The Russian colony gets organized, it is getting stronger, richer. Its future looks rather attractive.

3

Such a view of the future of our colony is certainly correct.

In the past there were only vague aspirations in the colony; the outlines of the future forms of its life were hardly perceptible; everything was just in a state of formation.

At that time there was nothing definite in the colony.That colony, like a child that is only starting to develop, was just beginning to take shape.

The colony was only babbling something indistinct; it was a sphinx.

Now its face is getting clear cut features.

Extremes get rubbed off, moderated; both the extreme views of the rights and those of the ultra-radicals.

We hear less shouting and see more things done.

4

The number of businesslike organizations in the colony increases. We mean such organizations as schools, mutual aid societies, life insurance, etc.

Russian commercial enterprises are cropping up.

A center of the Russian colony takes definite shape - a healthy center built on a solid foundation. The men belonging to this center are progressive members of the colony, humanists who have assimilated the best sides of American experience and life and who have also absorbed the Russian spirit, Russian culture. These persons cannot be made to swerve too much to the left, and still less so to the right.

There is still too much darkness and ignorance in the Russian colony. There are also other undesirable things:superstition and moonshine are still making great devastations. Some parts of our colony are still being rent on one side by noisy blabbers, and on the other side by servants of the reaction and a handful of trouble-makers. The spiritual 5and material creative activities of the colony take form, are crystallized and manifested very slowly. Still they become more and more conspicuous. And an attentive observer of the life of the Russian colony cannot but point out its growth and progress.

The Russian colony gets richer both materially and spiritually. But this growth, this manifestation of its progress, is hampered very much at the present time by the fact that truly friendly relations between Russia and the United States have not been restored as yet....

A. Zemetchinsky.