Treaty With Russia Lapses; No Friction.

New York Times 100 years ago today, January 1, 1913:
Business Relations Will Be Unchanged Under Informal Modus Vivendi.
CONSUL'S STATUS A PROBLEM
Their Functions Probably Unimpaired — No Haste for Concluding New Treaty.
    ST. PETERSBURG, Dec. 31.— It is stated here that the purpose of the Government to maintain the present tariffs and the procedure regarding the admission of Americans, including Jews, after the termination at midnight to-night of the formal commercial Russo-American treaty, is in virtue of an informal modus vivendi arranged at Washington.
    The treaty, which was abrogated by the Congress of the United States because of this country's attitude upon the passport question, will thus continue practically unchanged so far as the interests of the two parties are concerned. The other existing Russo-American treaties are not affected by the American denunciation of the agreement of 1832.
    A source of prospective embarrassment remains in the status of the Consuls. The present appointees are not affected by the passive agreement to recognize the validity of their official acts despite the lapse of the treaty, but no method appears through which new appointees may receive their exequaturs. This may become a matter of considerable importance if the change in the American Administration next March is accompanied by extensive consular changes. It is quite possible that the anomalous situation may be indefinitely prolonged. Apparently there is no disposition in Russian Government circles to take the initiative in the regulation of a new treaty. The Government will await proposals from the Wilson Cabinet, meantime "standing pat" on present passport regulations.
    It is true that Premier Kokovsoff announced in the Duma the intention of the Government to introduce legislation revising the passport system, but this measure, which has been hanging fire in successive Ministries of the Interior for years, is still apparently in an inchoate form; it is uncertain when it will emerge from the Ministry and still less certain when Parliament, which is still grinding on a grist that has awaited action for years, will find time to consider the bill after it is introduced.
    The situation attracts comparatively no popular interest. The press pays no attention to it, and those chiefly interested here are American importers, who are not wholly convinced that there is a possibility of a tariff war which might cripple their business.