ODAY, of all the Manchurian cities, Harbin is the only one still preserving its Russian appearance. This may be explained by the fact that one-half of the entire Russian population of Manchuria (54,000, according to the 1940 census) lives in Harbin. Manchuria never belonged to Russia,. but it is so situated that Russian interests there, political as well as economic, are of the utmost importance. Russia needs a free outlet to the ocean, and the road across Manchuria to Vladivostok is the shortest one to the Pacific ports. This fact forced the former Russian government to seek from China a concession for the building of a railroad across Manchuria. Another reason for Russia's interest in this territory is based on the fact that northern Manchuria is the hinterland for Vladivostok and the Maritime province. The latter is a long, narrow tract of land adjoining the lower Amur, and if the vast territory of northern Manchuria, which is to the west of this province, should, with its well-developed system of railroads, become thickly populated by the Chinese or Japanese, this would become a source of constant danger to the Maritime province. Thus, the problem of Manchuria becomes for Russia not only an economic problem of transportation, but of political safety as well. When the Russians completed, about forty years ago, the building of the railroad joining European Russia and Siberia with Vladivostok and the port of Dalny (now Dairen), Manchuria was still a wild and thinly populated region. The construction of the railroad caused, as is usually the case, rapid growth in population and great economic development. The truly American tempo of this progress is explained also by certain accompanying favorable circumstances. Three times during the first quarter of this century a golden rain, so to speak, fell upon Manchuria. The first of these was the prosperity caused by the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway. The builders did not spare the government's money, and many contractors made their fortunes, and remained in Manchuria, continuing their enterprises as lumbermen, miners, and builders. In 1904-1905, during the Russo-Japanese War, gold again rained upon Manchuria. This time, other supply