.t-x 
 
 
 I 
 
 STATESMAN'S HANDBOOK 
 
 for 
 
 RUSSIA. 
 
 fidited by the Gljancery 
 
 of the Committee of 
 
 vol. i. 
 
 St. Petersburg-. 
 Eugen Thiele, Success. 5, Blagovestchensky Square. 
 
 1896. 
 
Aenaypoio, C.-neTep6ypi"6, 28 ^espaja 1895 r 
 
 ' /WX ^^** ^ j/ H 
 
rtc 
 fu 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Preface I n 
 
 Unity of the Russian Empire 12 
 
 State organization 2 16 
 
 General principles. The Sovereign State Power: 
 Rights. Prerogatives. Succession. Institu- 
 tions of the Imperial Family 2 
 
 Rights of subjects 1649 
 
 Acquirement and loss of nationality. Rights of 
 subjects according to classes. The origin of 
 classes. Class divisions since Peter the Great. 
 Class rights at the present time 16 
 
 Rights and duties of Russian subjects in ge- 
 neral: Freedom of religion. Inviolability of pro- 
 perty. Inviolability of the person 31 
 
 Heterogeneous races: Eastern races. Jews. 
 Finns. The rights of foreigners in Russia. . . 42 
 
 State administration. 
 
 The higher institutions of State . . 4974 
 
 Council of State. Council of Ministers. Com- 
 mittee of Ministers. Committee of Siberian Rail- 
 way. Committees of various kinds. Ruling 
 Senate. Holy Ruling Synod. 
 
 Ministries 74 103 
 
 Their history. Present organization. Separate 
 
 Ministries 74 
 
 Institutions in direct cognizance of the Mo- 
 narch: Ministry of the Imperial Court, (Russian 
 Orders). Special Chancery of His MAJESTY the 
 Emperor, (Table of Ranks). Chancery of Peti- 
 tions presented in the Imperial name 88 
 
Page. 
 
 Separate "branches of State administration. 
 
 International relations 103 115 
 
 State defence 115154 
 
 Military service 115 
 
 Land forces. Cossacks. Their history. Orga- 
 nization of military administration (Ministry of 
 
 War) 120 
 
 Naval forces. Administration of the Navy 
 (Ministry of Marine) 141 
 
 Material resources of the State. 
 
 1. Finances 154192 
 
 The relation of the Budget to the national 
 
 revenue. State and local expenditure 154 
 
 Direct taxation 159 
 
 Indirect taxation . 169 
 
 State credit 178 
 
 Table of State Budget for 1896 188191 
 
 2. Agriculture and rural economy 
 
 in general 192275 
 
 Importance of agriculture for Russia 192 
 
 I. Distribution of landed property 196 
 
 1. Peasants' proprietorship. Peasants' Agra- 
 rian credit. Migration to free territories. 
 Siberia. Organization of petty rural credit . . 197 
 
 2. Private land. Hire of village labourers. 
 
 Long and short credit for landowners 217 
 
 II. Distribution of the different kinds of land. 
 Forests. Law of 1888 for the protection of 
 forests. Systems of cultivation and auxiliary pur- 
 suits. Rural economy in the Caucasus, Siberia 
 
 and Toorkistan. Extent of production of cereals 230 
 
 III. Agricultural education ......... 257 
 
 IV. Improvements of rural economy: Irriga- 
 tion. Dessication 263 
 
 V. The grain trade. Export. Internal routes 
 
 of the grain trade. Freights 266 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Middway between Western Europe and Asia stretches 
 a vast State, occupying more than V 2 f Europe and Vs 
 of Asia, or I /Q part of all the land of the globe (about 
 19,000,000 square versts). This State, having in the 13 
 and 14 centuries screened European civilization from 
 the frequent incursions of Huns and other barbarous 
 Asiatics, and having accepted that same civilisation for 
 its own 1 20 million inhabitants, is now planting Euro- 
 pean culture among the denizens of Asia itself, and uni- 
 ting in one compact mass a large number of races and 
 peoples from the shores of the Baltic and Black Seas to 
 those of the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 With all its variety of inhabitants, (over 140 diffe- 
 rent races), this State is the inheritance of the Russian 
 people, who have gradually but persistently spread to 
 the West, South, and East, and who comprise more than 
 70% of the total population. This is no artificial unifi- 
 cation of separate and distinctive regions, but the Rus- 
 sian Empire, strong in unity and disinterested devotion 
 to its Emperors. 
 
 Its importance from the civilizing, national, and po- 
 litical points of view stamps the Russian Empire as a 
 first class power, and attracts the attention of foreigners 
 to everything taking place in the political, social, and 
 economical life of our country. Therefore foreign govern- 
 ments, statesmen, scientific men, and publicists now pos- 
 sess pretty accurate, and even detailed, information on 
 
II 
 
 everything which concerns Russia; but among the majo- 
 rity of intelligent people in Europe and America this 
 information has not yet taken any definite shape, owing 
 to the want of a book in foreign languages, which 
 would give a general and more or less popular picture 
 of our organization as a State. 
 
 The present work is intended, to a certain extent, 
 to supply that general picture. Here the reader will find 
 an exposition of the principles underlying the organiza- 
 tion of the State, and the rules which regulate the separate 
 departments of government. This book, however, does 
 not profess to give all the details of government busi- 
 ness, nor the fullest statistical data on every question: 
 the facts, historical details and figures which it affords 
 are simply by way of supporting and illustrating the 
 narrative. 
 
 The first volume contains an account of the prin- 
 ciples of Russian State organization; a description of the 
 higher institutions of State and those attached to the person 
 of the Emperor, and likewise the branches of administra- 
 tion: international relations, State Defence, Einances and 
 Agriculture. 
 
 The second volume contains a sketch of industry 
 and trade; w r ays of communication; church administra- 
 tion and popular education; different branches of the police 
 of security (public charity, national food supplies, preserva- 
 tion of public health, etc.); justice, and finally, the orga- 
 nization of local administration and local self-government. 
 
UNITY OF THE EMPIRE. 
 
 I. UNITY OP THE EMPIRE. 
 
 Unity has always constituted the basis of the power 
 and stability of the Russian Empire. The kingdom of 
 Poland, an inseparable part of that Empire, consists of 
 territories, which, prior to their annexation, did not form a 
 special state. Even the boundaries of Poland were till then 
 undefined. The Vienna Congress called the inhabitants of 
 the Polish territories, annexed to Russia Russian subjects, 
 and left it to the Russian Emperor to establish the or- 
 ganization of these territories. The' Polish territories were 
 annexed to Russia on June 2o th , and the Constitution 
 of the kingdom of Poland was granted by the Emperor 
 Alexander I only on December 25 th , 1815. After the 
 insurrection oi 1830, namely in 1832, this constitution 
 was repealed and, after the revolt of 1863, the complete 
 incorporation of the Polish Governments with the other 
 provinces of the Empire was effected. 
 
 The unity of the Empire is in no way impaired 
 by the independence of the institutions, granted to the 
 Finns by the Russian Emperors. Before being annexed to 
 Russia, Finland did not exist as an independent State. 
 Its present territory was divided between Sweden and 
 
UNITY OF THE EMPIRE. 
 
 Russia. Besides being devoid of autonomy, the Swedish 
 part of Finland did not form a whole, but was broken 
 up into several provinces, or lens. By the treaty of Fre- 
 dericksham Sweden ceded to Russia, not Finland as a 
 whole, but only several provinces; it being expressly 
 stated, that these provinces henceforth pass into the 
 possession and holding of the Russian Empire and are, 
 for ever annexed to it. In the summer of 1808 the 
 population of Finland took the oath of allegiance to 
 the Russian Sovereign, and only subsequently, did the 
 Emperor Alexander I, of his own free will, convoke the 
 Diet, or Seim, at Borgo, and grant the organization of 
 that institution, which had never before existed in Fin- 
 land. Thus only special institutions were established, 
 and not a separate Sovereign power, such as would have 
 transformed this land into an independent state. 
 
 II STATE ORGANIZATION. 
 
 1. GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 
 
 The principles of the state organization of Imperial 
 Russia are set forth in the fundamental laws of the 
 Empire. According to article I st of these laws the 
 Emperor is a Monarch, autocratic and unlimited . The 
 sovereign power in its entirety is concentrated in his 
 person. The term ((unlimited)) points to the absence of any 
 laws, restricting the ruling power of the Emperor. An 
 exception is formed only by the laws of the established 
 religion, and the order of succession to the throne: the 
 
GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 
 
 Emperor must profess the orthodox faith, and, on ascend- 
 ing the throne, he pledges himself to strictly respect the 
 laws of succession to it. 
 
 The Russian Emperor is called autocratic to distin- 
 guish him from constitutional Monarchs, as he does not 
 share his Sovereign rights with any institutions or class 
 in the State. 
 
 Consequently, the government of the Russian Empire 
 rests upon a firm foundation of law, proceeding from the 
 autocratic power. This fact gives to the whole order of 
 the State in Russia a lawful character, which thereby diffe- 
 rentiates it from arbitrary forms. It implies, that in Russia 
 the law alone determines both the rights of power and 
 the obligations of subjects. Such a rule is in no way op- 
 posed to the principle of autocracy, as it always lies 
 in the Sovereign power of the Emperor to abrogate this 
 or that law. Yet it serves as a reliable guarantee to 
 his subjects, that a law, issued in regular form, is in- 
 deed an act of Sovereign power, binding on all other 
 powers in the State. To the Sovereign power this prin- 
 ciple of law is of no less importance: the wide ex- 
 pansion of the functions of the State make a complete 
 system of subordinate institutions unavoidable; these may 
 not, however, be permitted to use their own discretion; 
 while, at the same time, the personal control of the Sove- 
 leign, considering the vastness of the territory, is fraught 
 with extreme difficulty. It is therefore indispensable to 
 regulate the functions of subordinate institutions by cer- 
 tain general rules, determined by the law. Only with 
 this condition will they be organs of Sovereign power, 
 
GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 
 
 and not independent authorities, acting in their own 
 interests. 
 
 The necessity of written laws for the government and 
 the administration of justice was admitted in Russia at an 
 early date. What has survived of the legislation of Nov- 
 gorod and Pskoff does credit to that epoch. In North- 
 eastern Russia the princes used to issue so called regu- 
 lation charters. The Codes of the Moscow Sovereigns, and 
 the Statutes of the Tsar Alexey Mihylovitch had in view 
 the protection of the people from the arbitrariness and 
 extortion of the judges. Peter the Great regarded the 
 codification of the laws as the principal condition for 
 attaining promptness in the administration of justice and 
 good administration. And Catherine II in her Instruc- 
 tions, or Nalcaz, given to the Committee, formed for draw- 
 ing up a new Code, was of opinion, that the political 
 freedom of a citizen lies in the peace of mind, proceed- 
 ing from the belief, entertained by each, of his safety. 
 To enable the citizens to enjoy this freedom it is ne- 
 cessary, that the administration should be such, that one 
 citizen should not fear another, but that all should fear 
 the laws and them only.* 
 
 The honour of issuing a Code of laws, founded on 
 separate legislative acts, promulgated previously, which 
 forms the basis of the entire government of the Empire, 
 belongs to the Emperor Nicholas I, under whose direc- 
 tion this extensive task was accomplished in 1832 by 
 Count Speransky. 
 
RIGHTS OF THE SOVEREIGN POWER. 
 
 2. ON THE SOVEREIGN STATE POWER, 
 a) Rights of the Sovereign power. 
 
 The rights of state power in their entire extent be- 
 long to the Sovereign Emperor. But the Emperor does 
 not directly exercise all his rights. Catherine II explained 
 in her Instructions, or Nakaz, that the fundamental laws 
 of the State necessarily assume middle channels, i. e. 
 institutions, through which the Sovereign power is 
 exercised)). Hence the division of the government into 
 supreme and subordinate. In the supreme government 
 the power of the Sovereign operates in a direct manner. 
 In subordinate government a degree of power is entrusted 
 by him to persons and institutions, acting in his name, 
 by his orders, and within the limits, laid down for them 
 by law. The general principle, defining the sphere of 
 direct application of the Sovereign power, is clearly de- 
 ducible from what has been stated above as to the law 
 and its significance in the organization of the State. The 
 direct application of the Sovereign power is indispen- 
 sable either when a single matter cannot be determined 
 by existing laws, or when the general necessity of alter- 
 ing a law presents itself, whereas all, that is sufficiently 
 defined by the law, is subject to the jurisdiction of sub- 
 ordinate powers. 
 
 Consequently the Imperial power acts directly in 
 the first place in legislation; no state institution can in- 
 dependently establish a new law, and no law can be car- 
 ried out without the confirmation of the Sovereign power. 
 But even in the administration it sometimes becomes 
 
RIGHTS OF THE SOVEREIGN POWER. 
 
 necessary to take measures, which, owing to their impor- 
 tance, can be put into force only by the Sovereign 
 power. Such are, firstly: the most important external 
 relations, as the declaration of war, conclusion of peace, 
 of conventions and treaties with foreign countries; se- 
 condly general internal measuies in extraordinary cases, 
 as for instance in matters, concerning the public peace and 
 safety, public alimentation, the building of railways etc. 
 
 As representative of Sovereign power in the State, 
 the Monarch is the source of all distinctions and privi- 
 leges: preferment to the dignity of nobility, the gran- 
 ting of hereditary titles and other callings, ranks, orders 
 and forms of distinction, all depend on him. 
 
 As head of the State, the Emperor disposes inde- 
 pendently of all the personal and material forces of the 
 Empire. He commands the army and navy, appoints to all 
 offices in the civil service, the army and the navy, and con- 
 firms the appointment of officials to certain posts in the 
 provincial, municipal and class administrations. The Sove- 
 reign power alone can impose general taxes and contribu- 
 tions, can order the , employment of state funds, by con- 
 firming the estimates of state revenue and expenditure, etc. 
 
 As head of the government, the Emperor has 
 supreme supervision over the course of the whole go- 
 vernment of the State; therefore the ministers and gover- 
 nors present annual reports to His MAJESTY, showing the 
 course of affairs in the departments, entrusted to them. 
 
 Finally, as a Christian Sovereign, the Emperor acts 
 with supremacy in Church affairs, in as far as they refer 
 to civil relations, independently of dogma and internal 
 
RIGHTS OF THE SOVEREIGN POWER. 
 
 hierarchal administration. He is supreme defender and 
 protector of the dogmas of the established Orthodox 
 Greek-Catholic Church. 
 
 He therefore protects the orthodoxy and purity' of 
 the Church, and assumes the right of appointing bishops 
 from among candidates nominated by the Synod and of 
 controlling the functions of ecclesiastical institutions. 
 
 The same rights, exclusive of the protection of the 
 purity of creed, belong to His MAJESTY in respect to other 
 Christian and unchristian religions, existing in the Empire. 
 
 Though the duty of Justice consists exclusively in 
 the exact application, under His MAJESTY'S authority (by 
 Ukas), of the acting laws to separate cases, nevertheless 
 the Monarch confirms the verdicts of the Courts of Law, 
 as far as regards the deprivation of the rights of nobility, 
 officials, church functionaries and all persons, possessing or- 
 ders or badges of distinction; as no subordinate power can 
 enforce deprivation of what has been granted by the 
 Sovereign power. 
 
 As the source of mercy, being above Justice, the 
 Sovereign has the right of pardon and mitigation of pu- 
 nishments beyond the limits assigned to Justice itself. 
 Finally, in certain cases even proceedings may not be 
 instituted without Supreme resolution, namely, in violations 
 of duty by high dignitaries, as these persons are appointed 
 by direct selection of the Sovereign. 
 
 b) On the prerogatives of the Sovereign power. 
 
 As distinguished from the rights of the Sovereign 
 power in the regions of legislation, administration and 
 
 - 7 
 
ON THE PREROGATIVES OF THE SOVEREIGN POWER. 
 
 justice, stand the prerogatives, enjoyed by the Monarch, 
 which raise him above all persons and institutions in the 
 State. To these belong: 
 
 1, Exemption of the Monarch from the action of 
 the general laws, as these laws proceed from himself, 
 and personal impunity in breaking them, as the power 
 does not exist, which could call the Sovereign to ac- 
 count. 
 
 2, Inviolability, consisting in the appointing of 
 especially strict punishments for attempting the life, 
 health and honour of the Monarch 
 
 3, The Imperial Court. The Monarch has his 
 Court, i. e. persons for the purpose of executing his 
 honorary service. These persons enjoy all the privileges 
 pertaining to the state service. The Imperial Court is 
 maintained by the State. 
 
 4, As prerogatives of honour the Monarch's title 
 and coat of arms. 
 
 The title of the Russian Monarch is Emperor and 
 IMPERIAL MAJESTY. Originally the Russian Sovereigns 
 bore the title of grand dukes. With the uniting of 
 Russia under the dominion of Moscow, the title of Tsar 
 began to be used, and was definitely adopted by Ivan 
 IV, in 1547. This remained the title of the Russian So- 
 vereigns till 1721. In 1721, by the peace of Nishtadt, the 
 Great Northern war, carried on so successfully by Peter the 
 Great, was concluded. In celebration of this event, the 
 Senat and Synod resolved to beg Peter I to accept the 
 titles of Emperor, Great, and Father of his Country. A 
 supreme Ukas was issued to that effect, on November n, 
 
ON THE SUCCESSION TO THE SOVEREIGN POWER. 
 
 1721, which gave rise to a protest on the part of many 
 European states, as it placed the Russian Sovereign on 
 the same level with the Emperor of Germany, the sole 
 Monarch of that rank then existing. First to acknow- 
 ledge the new title were Prussia, the Netherlands and 
 Sweden, last Poland, in 1764. 
 
 The Coat of Arms has for its principle element 
 the two-headed eagle, adopted by the Grand Duke Ivan 
 III, after his marriage (in 1472) with Sophia Paleolog, 
 niece of the last Byzantine Emperor. On the eagle's 
 breast is depicted the coat of arms of Moscow: St. 
 George on horseback, slaying the dragon with a golden 
 spear. 
 
 c) On the Succession to the Sovereign Power. 
 
 In its substance the Sovereign power is perpetual 
 i. e. its functions do not terminate with the death of 
 the Monarch, as by the law his rights are immediately 
 transferred to his Successor. The order of succession 
 to the state power in hereditary monarchies, as in Russia, 
 is determined by the laws of succession to the throne. 
 
 In contemporary European states there exist three 
 systems of succession to the throne, distinguished by the 
 degree of female participation m them : firstly, the system 
 of complete exclusion ot females and female issue, called 
 the Salic system. This system was adopted by the 
 Salic Franks in cases of succession to landed property, 
 but it has survived principally in state law, and is in 
 practice at present in Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Italy, 
 Denmark and Prussia. 
 
OX THE SUCCESSION TO THE SOVEREIGN POWER. 
 
 In England females are admitted to the succession 
 to the throne in the following order: male heirs in the 
 same degree of relation exclude females; so if, for in- 
 stance, the daughter of the king is older than the son, 
 still the son succeeds to the throne. But if the king 
 leaves a daughter and a nephew, then the daughter suc- 
 ceeds to the throne, as being in a closer degree of rela- 
 tion ship. Besides England, this system is in practice in 
 Spain and Portugal. It is called the cognate, or Castile 
 system. 
 
 Lastly comes the third system, occupying, as it 
 were, the middle between the two foregoing: females 
 and female lines are not absolutely excluded, but the 
 male heirs enjoy superiority in all the lines and all the 
 degrees of relationship. Only in the case of the entire 
 extinction of the male descent in all the male lines, 
 does the throne pass to the female line. 
 
 This system, called the German Dutch, was esta- 
 blished originally in Austria by Leopold I, in 1703. 
 At present it is in practice, except Austria, in Holland, 
 Greece, Bavaria, Wiirtemberg and likewise in Russia by 
 the act on the succession to the throne, April 5, 1797. 
 
 Several systems had hitherto been used in Russia. 
 Previous to the growth of Moscow, i. e. during the Kief 
 period of Russian history (from the end of the X-th till 
 the middle of the XlV-th century), there existed in fact 
 no system. By a general rule the inheritance belonged 
 to the whole family of the Grand Duke: each brother 
 had the right to a part of the domains and a throne in 
 a certain town. The throne of Kief was considered the 
 
OF THE SUCCESSION TO THE SOVEREIGN POWER. 
 
 principal one, and it passed with the dignity of Grand Duke 
 to the eldest brother. But the seniority becaming obscure, 
 through the numerous growth of the ducal family, the 
 birthright led to armed strife, when not unfrequently the 
 elder would submit to the younger. 
 
 In the Moscow period single succession was gra- 
 dually attained. But in 1598, the dynasty of Rurik 
 came to an end, and the throne was ascended by Boris 
 Godoonoff. The electing system prevailed during the 
 whole of the Turbulent Period until 1613, when the 
 Romanoff dynasty was elected to the throne, as being 
 the most proximate to the Rurik family, the mother of 
 Theodor loannovitch, the last Tsar of that dynasty, 
 having been a Romanoff. In this dynasty the throne 
 passed at first from father to son by the right of pri- 
 mogeniture, till Peter the Great, urged by the oppo- 
 sition which all his reforms met with from his eldest son, 
 the Cesarevitch Alexey Petrovitch, determined to adopt the 
 system of bequeathment. He died however intestate, but 
 his nearest successors adhered to this plan, giving not 
 unfrequently rise to riot and discord. 
 
 Consequently in 1742, Elizaveta Petrovna, issued 
 a manifesto, declaring the heir to the throne to be 
 her nephew, the duke Peter of Holstein, as nearest by 
 blood to the Empress; and subsequently the Empress 
 Catherine II, on ascending the throne, ordered the oath 
 of allegiance to be taken to her and to her son, the 
 grand duke Pavel Petrovitch, lawful heir to the throne 
 of all the Russias. 
 
 Thus the principle of succession to the throne by 
 
 11 
 
ON THE SUCCESSION TO THE SOVEREIGN POWER. 
 
 law was again proclaimed, the legal order only of suc- 
 cession to the throne was unestablished. This was ac- 
 complished by the Emperor Paul I by an act on the 
 succession to the throne, which established the following 
 system: 
 
 The right of succession to the throne belongs to 
 the members of the now reigning Imperial House. Both 
 the sexes are admitted to the succession, though the 
 preference is given to the male sex. The Emperor is 
 immediately succeeded by his eldest son, after whom 
 comes the entire male issue of that son, namely: the 
 grandson, great grandson etc., till its complete termi- 
 nation; then the throne is ascended by the second son 
 of the Emperor, followed by his male issue; upon that 
 the third son etc. At the extinction of the last male 
 line of the Emperor Paul I, the throne passes into 
 the female lines, according to their degrees of proximity 
 to the Emperor, who reigned last. In each of the 
 female lines, preference of male over female heirs is 
 shown according to the general rule. 
 
 The person, possessing the right to the throne, may 
 ascend it only if he or she professes the orthodox faith. 
 In the event of belonging to another creed, orthodoxy 
 must first be embraced. 
 
 It is permissable to abnegate the rights to the 
 throne, provided only no complications in the succession 
 to the throne arise. Whereupon, when the abnegation 
 is proclaimed and made law, it may not be withdrawn. 
 
 The heir ascends the throne immediately after the 
 death of his predecessor, but he begins to reign, only 
 
 12 
 
THE INSTITUTION OF THE IMPERIAL FAMILY 
 
 on coming of age. The heir is held to be of age 
 at 1 6 years, earlier than the subject (21), as is likewise 
 the case in other European states. 
 
 In the event of a minor Emperor ascending the 
 throne, a guardianship and an administration are estab- 
 lished. 
 
 The new Emperor publicly proclaims his accession 
 to the throne by means of a special manifesto. In the 
 manifesto the lawful heir, if he already exists, is an- 
 nounced. 
 
 On the appearance of the manifesto, all male sub- 
 jects, from the age of 12 upwards, are summoned to take 
 the oath of allegiance, each according to the rites of his 
 creed. The oath is taken to the Emperor and to his lawful 
 heir, even though he is not mentioned in the manifesto. 
 The ceremonies of coronation and annointment of the 
 new Emperor are then performed in the Moscow Ca- 
 thedral of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin, in the 
 presence of the highest state institutions and classes, 
 summoned for this purpose by Sovereign power. 
 
 d) The Institution of the Imperial Family. 
 
 By their right to the throne, a special privileged 
 position is created for the members of the Imperial 
 House. 
 
 At the head of the Imperial Family stands the So- 
 vereign himself. He is its perpetual supreme guardian 
 and protector. The members of the Imperial House on 
 coming of age take the oath of loyalty to their Sove- 
 
 13 
 
THE INSTITUTION OF THE IMPERIAL FAMILY. 
 
 reign and Country, and swear to maintain the rights ot 
 succession and the family order. Therefore each member 
 of the Imperial Family owes the Emperor, as to the 
 head of the House, and as to an Autocrat absolute 
 respect, submission, obedience and subjection. 
 
 All persons of both sexes, proceeding from the 
 Imperial blood in the male line, and in lawful mar- 
 riage, are considered as members of the Imperial House. 
 The rights of the male persons are communicated to 
 their wives, who thereby likewise become members of 
 the Imperial House, but without the right of succeeding 
 to the throne. 
 
 Thus the principal condition of belonging to the 
 Imperial House is lawful marriage. In order to be lawful 
 these marriages require the observance of certain special 
 conditions, different from those set down for ordinary 
 subjects. Namely, it is indispensable, firstly, to have the 
 sanction of the reigning Emperor; secondly, that the 
 persons about to be married should be equally high born 
 and thirdly, a person of the male sex, with the possible 
 right of succeeding to the throne, may marry a person 
 of another faith, only on condition that she embrace the 
 orthodox faith. 
 
 The prerogatives enjoyed by the members ot the 
 Imperial House are diverse. 
 
 The highest position belongs to the Empress, who 
 by sanction of the Emperor is crowned, either together 
 with him, or separately, if the marriage take place after 
 the coronation of the Emperor. But the dowager Empress 
 takes precedence over the wife of the reigning Emperor. 
 
 14 
 
THE INSTITUTION OF THE IMPERIAL FAMILY. 
 
 The next position in the line of the members of the 
 Imperial House belongs to the Heir Apparent of the 
 throne, and to his wife. He bears the title of Heir-Ap- 
 parent Cesarevitch, Grand Duke, and Imperial Highness. 
 The wife of the Heir-Apparent is called Cesarevna and 
 Grand Duchess, her title being Imperial Highness. 
 
 Then follow, firstly the Emperor's sons, daughters 
 and grandchildren (children of his sons); they enjoy 
 the title of Grand Duke, Grand Duchess, and Imperial 
 Highness. Secondly, the great grandchildren of the Em- 
 perors in the male line, and all the senior male descen- 
 dants of the great grandsons, i. e. the eldest sons of the 
 great grandsons, the eldest sons of their eldest sons etc; 
 they have the title of Princes and Princesses of Impe- 
 rial blood, and Highness. And at length, thirdly, all the 
 remaining members of the Imperial House, consequently 
 the younger sons and daughters of the great grandsons 
 etc., all entitled to the calling of Princes of the Imperial 
 blood, but with the title of Serenissime. 
 
 The other prerogatives of the members of the Im- 
 perial Family vary according to the difference in station 
 and titles. 
 
 They possess the right to the Imperial Goat of Arms, 
 orders, a court staff, and other distinctions. 
 
 For the maintenance of the Imperial Family special 
 landed estates and a fund are appointed under the name 
 of Appanages. The appanage property was founded by 
 the Emperor Paul I, in 1797, and a special institution was 
 established for its superintendence originally the Mi- 
 nistry of Appanages, at present Head office of the Ap- 
 
 15 
 
THE ACQUIREMENT AND LOSS OF NATIONALITY. 
 
 panages, forming a part of the Ministry of the Imperial 
 House. 
 
 As a subsidy to the appanage estates certain sums 
 are furnished by the State Treasury for the maintenance 
 of the Empress, the Heir-Apparent and his wife, all the 
 other sons and daughters of the Emperor and the Heir- 
 Apparent, till they come of age, and also for supplying 
 the marriage portions of the Grand-Duchesses and Prin- 
 cesses of Imperial blood. 
 
 Besides the enumerated prerogatives, all the mem- 
 bers of the Imperial Family without exception enjoy an 
 enforced protection of the law: offences against their 
 life, liberty, health and honout" are punished with the 
 same strictness, as those attempted against the person of 
 the Sovereign Emperor. 
 
 3. ON NATIONALITY, 
 a) The acquirement and loss of nationality. 
 
 Prior to investigating the rights and duties of Rus- 
 sian subjects, it is necessary to determine who is con- 
 sidered a Russian subject. 
 
 There exist three modes of acquiring nationality: 
 
 jstiy by birth: a u persons born of Russian subjects 
 in Russia or abroad are considered Russian subjects; 
 
 2 ndi y by niarr i a ge: a foreign subject (female) marry- 
 ing a Russian, becomes a Russian subject, and 
 
 ^rdiy by naturalization, i. e. by changing from foreign 
 to Russian nationality. 
 
 16 
 
THE RIGHTS OF SUBJECTS ACCORDING TO CLASSES. 
 
 The adoption of Russian nationality is accompanied 
 by an oath of allegiance. 
 
 Russian nationality is lost by marriage, when a Rus 
 sian subject (female) marries a foreigner, and by the 
 adoption of foreign nationality, which can only be effected 
 in each case with the sanction of the Emperor. Volun- 
 tary adoption of foreign nationality is interdicted under 
 penalty of severe punishment. 
 
 b) The rights of Subjects according to classes. 
 
 With the conception of nationality is associated the 
 idea of certain rights and duties. 
 
 But by virtue of the historical conditions and develop- 
 ment of Russia, as in other states, the rights and 
 duties of subjects are not identical. Russian subjects are 
 therefore divided into groups. Thus, in the first place, 
 the so called inorodsy, or heterogeneous races, on account 
 of their origin, are separated from the general mass into 
 a special category, and include several eastern races, the 
 Jews, and the inhabitants of Finland, who enjoy special 
 rights. All the remainder are termed natural subjects, 
 who in respect of their rights, are divided into classes. 
 The law recognises four such classes: 
 
 i) nobles, 2) clergy, 3) inhabitants of towns, and 
 4) rural population. 
 
 But before considering the rights of these classes, 
 it will not be superfluous to point out briefly the origin 
 in Russia of class distinctions. 
 
 17 
 
THE ORIGIN OF CLASSES. 
 
 1. The origin of classes. 
 
 Ancient Russia, prior to the formation of the State 
 of Moscow, scarcely knew any classes, seeing that there 
 did not even exist subjects in the proper sense of the 
 word, i. e. persons, having permanent connection with 
 certain territory. Even the Princes themselves were not 
 settled, but moved from place to place. Their servants 
 and attendants were bound to them by personal agree- 
 ment or contract and could at any time quit their ser- 
 vice. Under these conditions it was impossible to form 
 corporations or classes of persons in service. The re- 
 maining portion of the population did not in general 
 owe any subjection, and all enjoyed the right of passing 
 from one principality to another. Although slaves and 
 so called servitors existed in ancient Russia as well as 
 freemen, slavery and bondage were not state institutions. 
 Every free citizen was liable, on account of debt, to 
 become dependent on his creditors. 
 
 The present idea of subjection and of class distinc- 
 tions dates from the accession to power of the Tsars 
 of Moscow, who, for the unification of the Russian ter- 
 ritories, stood in need of the permanent services of the 
 Boyars, and of regular payment of taxes and dues. 
 
 In consequence of this, the Moscovj Princes, com- 
 mencing with Ivan III (1462 1505), began to prohibit 
 persons in service from removing to another principality, 
 under penalty of criminal punishment. At the same time 
 the maintenance of serving people underwent a change. 
 At first the Prince himself clothed and fed his military 
 
 18 
 
THE ORIGIN OF CLASSES. 
 
 company, or droojina. In the Moscow era they were 
 allotted a certain extent of land. Each serving man re- 
 ceived a property, for which he had to render service; 
 and consequently he had no right of quitting the land. 
 
 The remainder of the population had to provide the 
 State with material means, by paying taxes and dues 
 on land, trade and industries. The land, on which 
 taxes were charged, was called taxable land. In the 
 towns were taxable houses. A Government, standing 
 in need of the regular payment of taxes, was bound 
 to see that each taxable ward, and each domicile, had 
 its tax payer. 
 
 This was why residents in towns and the rural 
 population gradually lost the right of removing from 
 place to place. At first terms or periods were fixed for 
 removal. In the year 1497 all these terms were trans- 
 ferred to lurief day* (26 th November), and subsequently, 
 in the year 1598, the lurief day term was abolished. In 
 this manner was established from the XVII century a 
 strict delimitation of the three classes, according to the 
 character of their duties. The highest duty was that of 
 service and, consequently, the serving class occupied the 
 first place. It rendered service on a special kind of 
 property; on estates and patrimonial land, and soon 
 acquired the exclusive right of owning such property, 
 in order that the land should not go out of the sefvice. 
 The proprietor of each estate was bound to furnish a 
 certain number of men from among the local peasants, 
 who in consequence of this became his serfs. Lastly, 
 * St. George's day. 
 
 19 2* 
 
THE ORIGIN OF CLASSES. 
 
 in fulfilling this service the land proprietor, by virtue 
 thereof, was exempted from all other taxes and dues. 
 
 The inhabitants of towns paid taxes: a) on town 
 domiciles and b) on trading enterprises. This inaugu- 
 rated the regulation, that town domiciles and trading 
 enterprises in towns could only be owned by persons, 
 who paid town dues, i. e. by townsmen. 
 
 The third class consisted of peasants, who were 
 bound to the soil. 
 
 There were also in Moscovite Russia bondsmen ser- 
 vitors, who possessed no personal or proprietary rights. 
 
 Altogether apart from the other classes stood the 
 clergy. On the adoption of Christianity the church ap- 
 peared in Russia with special privileges, which it enjoyed 
 in the West and in Byzantium. Its mission was to con- 
 vert a heathen community into a Christian one, and there- 
 fore it had to gain influence over all classes, not excepting 
 the Princes, and to take up a privileged position. In this 
 manner there was formed a class of churchmen, who 
 were placed under the jurisdiction of an exclusively 
 ecclesiastical court. This class of churchmen included 
 i stly , clergy in the strict sense of the word and 2 ndly , 
 laymen, who were placed under the protection of the 
 church, as, for instance, physicians, the blind, lame, 
 widows &c. It must not be thought however, that 
 the clergy formed in the very beginning an exclusively 
 hereditary class. Priests and psalmsters \vere selected by 
 the parishioners or appointed by the landowners and 
 confirmed in their post by the bishop. But hereditary 
 succession in this calling became established of itself. 
 
 20 
 
CLASS DIVISIONS SINCE PETER THE GREAT. 
 
 A certain training was required for the clerical office 
 which could only be imparted to their children by cler- 
 gymen themselves. 
 
 Such was the position of class distinctions in Rus- 
 sia prior to the accession of Peter. 
 
 2- Class divisions since Peter the Great. 
 
 Peter the Great, even more than the Tsars of Mos- 
 cow, required the strict fulfillment by the several clas- 
 ses of their obligations and duties. The nobles who 
 failed to appear to do service to the Tsar, were 
 threatened by him with branding; for the remainder 
 there was established a new order of exacting taxes 
 and dues. Before the accession of Peter taxes and 
 dues were imposed on land, domiciles, and shops. It 
 was necessary to attach the payer to a certain pro- 
 perty or trade. But very many were not thus registered. 
 Free, or leisure)) people, without any definite occupa- 
 tion, paid no dues, and servitors, as the personal proper- 
 ty of their owners, were also exempt from taxation. Me- 
 antime the taxes were raised, and it became quite unprofi- 
 table to own property. The result was a general exodus 
 and a loss to the State. It was on this account that Peter 
 I, instead of taxing the soil, taxed the individual and 
 introduced a poll tax, which was obligatory on everyone, 
 wheresoever he might be. Thanks to this, menials 
 {servitors) and peasants became intermixed, and leisure 
 people disappeared. A revision of the whole population 
 in 1719 formed the taxable class. 
 
 Exemption from taxation began to distinguish the 
 
 21 
 
CLASS DIVISIONS SINCE PETER THE GREAT. 
 
 the noble from men of the lower orders, who were 
 amenable to taxation. 
 
 But to become a noble in the reign of Peter was 
 a far easier matter than previously. In 1722 was 
 promulgated the famous table of ranks, or a list of 
 grades, which each servant of the State had to pass 
 through. This table did away with the filling of ap- 
 pointments by right of birth, as was formerly the case. 
 
 Further, it gave to everyone access to the rank of 
 noble. A person, attaining the first grade of officer in the 
 military service, and the 8 th class in the civil service,, 
 became an hereditary noble. The lower civil grades- 
 conferred only personal nobility. 
 
 At the same time, during the reign of Peter, the 
 nobility obtained the final character of a class body un- 
 der the general designation of gentry. A titled class 
 was also formed, on whom nobility was conferred by 
 the Emperor. The rights of nobles to the exclusive owner- 
 ship of serf-peasants and real estate were also confirmed. 
 
 The privileges, conferred and confirmed by Peter 1 
 were maintained by his successors. But the duties and 
 obligations of the nobility became gradually less one- 
 rous. Obligatory service, which Peter watched over with 
 such vigilance, was found to interfere with economic 
 pursuits. Privileges were increased, until at last, in the 
 year 1762, the nobles were entirely exempted from obli- 
 gatory service. 
 
 Catherine II confirmed the immunity of the nobles. 
 In her famous Nakaz she designates the nobles by a spe- 
 cial term as an appellation of honour, distinguishing the 
 
 22 
 
CLASS DIVISIONS SINCE PETER THE GREAT. 
 
 common people from those adorned thereby. Conse- 
 quently, the nobility were invested with a special class 
 distinction, on account of their honourable origin. This 
 idea is very clearly expressed in the Charter, given by 
 the Empress to the nobility in 1785. 
 
 The next class in order after the nobility came the 
 clergy. The Russian clergy are divided into monks, or so 
 called black clergy, from among whom are selected all the 
 higher dignitaries of the church: bishops, archbishops and 
 metropolitans, and parochial, (married) or white clergy. 
 
 In course of time the rights of the clergy were con- 
 siderably extended: thus, during the reign of Peter they 
 were exempted from the poll tax and military conscription, 
 and subsequently from corporal punishment. At length, 
 in the reign of Paul I, the clergy commenced to receive 
 decorations an important privilege, inasmuch as an or- 
 der conveyed with it hereditary nobility, and conse 
 quently the right of owning estates and serfs. 
 
 Inhabitants of towns, as the centres of industry and 
 trade, were regarded as sources of state revenue; and to 
 elevate Russian trade was one of the chief aims of the 
 Reformer. It was he, who first distinguished merchants 
 from the general mass of the town population, by dividing 
 them into two guilds. Catherine II, like Peter I, had in 
 view to raise the class level of the town population, but 
 with other objects, i. e. the creation of a middle class, 
 a middle kind of people, distinguished from the masses 
 not by service, but by rectitude and industry . This 
 idea of the Empress served as the basis for the first 
 Municipal Statute of 1785. 
 
 23 
 
CLASS DIVISION SINCE PETER THE GREAT. 
 
 With regard to the peasantry, the revision of 1719 uni- 
 ted them with the former bondsmen and unoccupied 
 people in one taxable, and at the same time, serf class. 
 
 Simultaneously with such an extension of the rights 
 of serfdom, the rights of the peasants were limited. 
 They were interdicted from owning real estate, under- 
 taking contracts and monopolies, and giving bills of 
 exchange. The authority of the landproprietors over 
 the serfs increased. The cause of this augmentation of 
 authority consisted in the fact, that the landowner was 
 responsible to the government for the due payment of 
 the poll tax; and in demanding payment from the proprie- 
 tor, the government had no ground for interfering in his 
 affairs. In 1742 the right of the peasant to leave the lan- 
 downer for military service was rescinded; in 1747 the 
 landowners were permitted to sell their peasants as re- 
 cruits; in 1760 they were allowed to deport their peasants 
 for settlement in Siberia, and in 1765 to hard labour; 
 while, in 1767 the peasants were deprived of their last 
 means of protecting themselves against their owners the 
 right of petitioning. The penalty prescribed by law for 
 lodging petitions was the knout, and deportatation with 
 hard labour without term. 
 
 As the result of such a policy very serious agita- 
 tions arose amongst the peasantry. Even Catherine II 
 commenced to issue Ukazes, directed towards restraining 
 the licence, which the landowners permitted themselves. 
 Very significant was the Manifesto, promulgated by 
 the Emperor Paul I, under date of the 5 th April 1797, 
 which prohibited the compulsory labour of peasants on 
 
 24 
 
CLASS DIVISIONS SINCE PETER THE GREAT. 
 
 Sundays, and divided the remainder of the week equally 
 between the proprietor and the peasant, i. e. the latter 
 was bound to work for his master only three days in 
 the week. 
 
 On the accession of Alexander I a strong reaction 
 set in against the right of serfdom in general. It was 
 expressed in the famous law of 1803 respecting free- 
 holders; which law allowed the landowners to free their 
 peasants with the allotment of a plot of land. The 
 success, however, of this Ukaz was not great: down to the 
 year 1855 tne number of free-holders amounted only 
 to 116,000 men, freed by 384 proprietors. Besides the 
 Ukaz of 1803, Alexander I emancipated the peasants of 
 the Baltic Provinces, but without any allotment of land. 
 
 In the reign of Nicholas I some measures were 
 also taken for the limitation and control of the lan- 
 downers' authority. On the proposal of Count Kisselieff, 
 who established rural communities in Moldavia and 
 Wallachia, the government subjected the State peasants 
 to a special department and special laws. With this 
 object, in the year 1837, tne Ministry of Imperial 
 Domains was created. Nor were the peasants of lan- 
 ded proprietors left without attention. In 1841 and 
 1843 an Ukaz was promulgated, prohibiting the sale 
 of serfs apart from their families and without land; 
 and in 1848 peasant serfs were allowed to purchase real 
 estate with the sanction of the landowners. 
 
 The Crimean war of 1853 56 retarded for a 
 time the further progress of government measures 
 with regard to the rural condition. But this was only 
 
 25 
 
CLASS DIVISIONS SINCE PETER THE GREAT. 
 
 a temporary interruption. As early as 1856 the Emperor 
 Alexander II expressed to the Marshal of the Nobles of 
 Moscow his unswerving determination to abolish serf- 
 dom. In 1857 a special Committee on peasant affairs 
 began to sit, under the personal presidency of the Em- 
 peror. Earlier, during the coronation (in 1856), the 
 Minister of the Interior entered into negotiation with 
 the Marshals of nobility respecting the impending re- 
 form. The most satisfactory of the propositions sub- 
 mitted were those of the Marshals of nobility of the 
 Provinces of Kovno, Vilno and Grodno. In consequence 
 of this by a Mandate, dated the 2o th November 1857, 
 the nobles of the enumerated provinces were permitted 
 to elaborate projects for the improvement of the condi- 
 tion of the peasants. In each province preparatory Com- 
 mittees were formed, and the labour of all the Commit- 
 tees had to be submitted to the Commission in the town 
 of Vilno. At the same time the Committees were fur- 
 nished with general instructions to the effect, that the 
 landowners were to retain proprietary rights over the who- 
 le land, and the peasants over their holdings, which they 
 could subsequently buy out. The arable land was to 
 be utilized by the peasants in consideration of a certain 
 tax or of labour for the benefit of the landowner. Before 
 a month had passed, copies of the Mandate of 1857 were 
 sent to all the Governors, in view of any of the nobles 
 in their respective provinces expressing a desire, similar to 
 that of the nobility of Vilno. An application in this 
 sense was soon received from the nobility of the 
 province of St. Petersburg. Subsequently came the answer 
 
 26 
 
CLASS DIVISIONS SINCE PETER THE GREAT. 
 
 to the summons of the Emperor from the nobility of 
 Nijni-Novgorod and Moscow, and later, in 1858, from 
 all the other bodies of nobles. 
 
 The projects, drawn up by the Provincial Commit- 
 tees, had to be submitted to the revision of the Chief 
 Committee on peasant affairs. On the i8 th October, 
 1858, the first meeting of this Committee was held under 
 the personal presidency of the Emperor, and by the end 
 of November the main basis of the reform was elaborated 
 as follows: the peasants were to receive personal free- 
 dom; to be divided into rural communities with the 
 management of their own affairs, and to acquire land, 
 which at the outset they could utilize by payment of a 
 tax to the landowner; with the aid of the State they 
 were also given the means to buy out their holdings. 
 As the projects, submitted by the Provincial Committees, 
 were of different kinds, an Editing Commission was esta- 
 blished, February 17 th 1859, for their elaboration. 
 
 Notwithstanding the wide scope and difficulty of 
 the task, the work was finished by the autumn of 1860; 
 and October io th the Commission was closed. On the 
 same day began the sessions of the Chief Committee, 
 under the presidency of the Grand Duke Constantine 
 Nicholaevitch, which met almost daily up to January 
 1861. The scheme, drawn up by the Committee, was 
 examined by the Council of State, under the presidency 
 of the Emperor himself; and on the 19 th of February 
 1 86 1 was signed the famous and memorable Manifesto 
 whereby serfdom, which had existed for 268 years, was 
 abolished for ever. 
 
 27 
 
CLASS DIVISIONS SINCE PETER THE GREAT. 
 
 At first 1 6, 7 per cent of the whole number of libe- 
 rated peasants undertook the redemption, or purchase, of 
 their holdings from the landowners. Subsequently, in 
 consequence of the high rates charged on the loans made 
 by the peasants for that purpose, in comparison with the 
 actual value of the land and the income which it affor- 
 ded them, the operation of redemption proceeded much 
 slower, and not as before, on the basis ot a mutual 
 agreement between peasants and landowners, but princi- 
 pally under pressure from the latter. 
 
 These disproportionate rates of interest, in compa- 
 rison w 7 ith the small remunerativeness of the land, led 
 to the accumulation of arrears of payment, and the ruin 
 of the peasantry and their homes. On the other hand, 
 down to the year 1880, more than 15 per cent of the 
 peasantry had not yet undertaken to buy out their land, 
 and therefore still remained temporarily bound to their 
 proprietors. 
 
 An end was finally put to this state of things by 
 the late Emperor Alaxander III, who issued a decree,* 
 dated 28 th December, 1881, reducing payments on the 
 agrarian loans granted to the peasants, by 27 per cent, 
 and rendering redemption from I st January, 1883, com- 
 pulsory on all those who still remained in the above 
 mentioned condition of temporary subjection, which 
 otherwise threatened to become permanent. 
 
 This last measure completed the great act of the 
 emancipation of the peasantry from serfdom. 
 
 * On the proposal of the Minister of Finance Mr. Boongue. 
 28 
 
CLASS RIGHTS AT THE PRESENT TIME. 
 
 3. Class rights at the present time. 
 
 The emancipation of the serfs was followed by a 
 series of reforms, which considerably modified class 
 privileges. The most important modification in this res- 
 pect was the introduction, in 1874, of general military 
 conscription and the abolition in 1885 of the poll tax. 
 
 The first named reform imposed on all classes the 
 obligation of military service. The second abolished 
 in principle the division of classes into taxable and 
 untaxable bodies. The latter category included per- 
 sons, formerly exempted from the poll tax, i. e. nobles, 
 clergy, and honorary citizens; the first category embraced 
 the remaining classes. Thus, if one consider the rights,, 
 enjoyed by separate classes at the present time, a so- 
 mewhat different picture is obtained from that, which 
 existed formerly. 
 
 As a matter of fact, prior to the year 1861 only 
 nobles were able to own land and serfs; at the present 
 time there are no serfs, and land may be owned by 
 everybody. Formerly the nobles were exempt from 
 military service and poll tax; -- now the first privilege 
 no longer exists, and the nobles are taxed according to- 
 their property, equally with other classes. 
 
 As a remaining privilege the nobles have the right 
 of entering the service of the State, although this right 
 is also enjoyed by certain other classes, and generally 
 by all persons, who have obtained a diploma from the 
 higher or middle educational establishment... 
 
 We have referred here only to the rights, enjoyed 
 
 29 
 
CLASS RIGHTS AT THE PRESENT TIME. 
 
 by individual nobles. The nobility, as a class and a 
 community, enjoy very important rights in the sphere 
 of local government. These will be referred to in the 
 review of the organization of the same. 
 
 The rights of inhabitants of towns also underwent a 
 considerable modification in respect to what existed for- 
 merly. According to the first municipal law of Catherine II, 
 1785, inhabitants of towns were divided into eminent, 
 subsequently called, honorary citizens, merchants, guildmen 
 and boroughmen, or possadskie. These were town inhabi- 
 tants in the exact sense of the word, and into their hands 
 the whole management of the town was transferred. In 
 1870 a new municipal law was promulgated, which 
 enunciated an entirely different principle, viz: that the 
 management of town affairs should be participated in 
 by the inhabitants without distinction of class, seeing 
 that such management was established for the economic 
 needs of the town, equally dear to all the residents. 
 Thus, at the present time, the municipality comprises 
 persons possessing real estate in the town, on which a 
 tax is levied in favour of the civic treasury. The rights 
 of tow 7 n inhabitants in the strict sense acquired a purely 
 class character. For instance, although honorary citizens 
 are termed a town class, many of them have no con- 
 nection with town life, as, for example, the son of a 
 country priest, who may become an honorary citizen. 
 
 Merchants, according to their grade, have the right 
 to engage in trade; those of the I st guild-wholesale, and 
 the 2 nd guild -retail. But these guilds are now open to 
 persons of all classes excepting the clergy, if they pro- 
 
 30 
 
CLASS RIGHTS AT THE PRESENT TIME. 
 
 vide themselves with the necessary licences. In each 
 town the merchants form a special mercantile community, 
 which has its Assembly and Board, consisting of an Elder 
 and 2 assistants 
 
 The burghers, personally, do not enjoy any special 
 rights, and those, residing in settlements, are amenable, 
 in respect of police and courts of law, to the same re- 
 gulations as the peasants. In each town the burghers 
 form a corporation, which elects a burgher Elder and his 
 assistants. 
 
 Lastly, special rights enjoyed by the peasants resolve 
 themselves into the following: in affairs relating to their 
 property and families, they conform to local usages, and 
 are amenable to special peasant tribunals. Their corpo- 
 rative organization is closely connected with the whole 
 system of local government, which will be treated of in 
 a subsequent chapter. 
 
 c) The rights and duties of Russian subjects 
 in general. 
 
 Class rights and duties must be distinguished from 
 the general rights and duties, appertaining without di- 
 stinction to all Russian subjects. 
 
 Among rights of this nature must first of all be 
 mentioned freedom of religion. The fundamental laws 
 recognise as the foremost and dominating faith in the Rus- 
 sian Empire the Orthodox Eastern Faith; but at the same 
 time all subjects of the Russian Empire, not belonging 
 to the dominating church, and likewise foreigners in 
 
 - 31 
 
FREEDOM OF RELIGION 
 
 the Russian service, or temporarily residing in Russia, 
 enjoy everywhere freedom in celebrating their faith, and in 
 religions worship. Moreover, freedom in profession of 
 faith appertains not only to foreign christians, but also to 
 Jews, mahommedans and heathens. 
 
 Freedom of religion was originally conferred on the 
 unorthodox by the Manifesto of Peter the Great in 1721. 
 When inviting the Swedish prisoners to enter the Rus- 
 sian service, the Emperor promised that they and their 
 posterity should retain their native faith, and possess 
 their own chapels and clergymen. Later, by Ukaz of 
 the year 1735, it was elucidated, that freedom of reli- 
 gion conferred on the unorthodox, signified only the 
 right of celebrating worship, but not the right of prea- 
 ching with the object of converting Russians to unortho- 
 dox tenets. Hence arose the rule, that only the Orthodox 
 Church could propogate its faith among the members 
 of other religions bodies. All dissension and departure 
 from orthodox faith is regarded as an offence at law. 
 
 Supporting this principle of the predominance of the 
 orthodox faith, the law enacts, that in mixed marriages, 
 i. e. between orthodox and others, the children shall be 
 brought up in the orthodox faith. An exception to this 
 last rule is made only for Finland. 
 
 Securing in this manner the predominancy of the 
 Orthodox Church over all other Christian faiths, the Rus- 
 sian laws take under their protection all Christian reli- 
 gions against non-christian faiths. Apostacy from Chris- 
 tianity entails the establishment of a trusteeship over 
 the property of the apostate, exhortation to return to 
 
 32 
 
FREEDOM OF RELIGION. 
 
 Christianity etc. Christians, with the exception of pro- 
 testants, may not intermarry with non-christians. The 
 adoption however of any Christian faith by disbelievers 
 is not interdicted. 
 
 A distinction is made by the law between the re- 
 cognised unorthodox faiths and various sects. In order 
 to protect orthodoxy from internal dissension, the law r 
 prohibits the formation of new sects. But, as is well 
 known, there exists in Russia a great number of sects, 
 which to a certain degree are recognised and tolerated. 
 These are the so called sects of dissenters, who from time 
 to time fell away from orthodoxy. 
 
 The commencement of the schism must be referred 
 to a very remote period, but it only became actually 
 developed in the XVII century, when books of religious 
 worship were first printed. Certain dissenting interpreta- 
 tions were imperceptibly introduced into these books and, 
 when later (in 1654), the Patriarch Nicon set about cor- 
 recting these interpretations, the dissenters declared, that 
 the alterations were innovations. The open revolt of 
 dissenters even went to the extent of creating public 
 disturbances. 
 
 One common feature is exhibited in a greater 
 or lesser degree by all the dissenters. They adhere to 
 all that is ancient, which is to say, all venerable obser- 
 vances from the time of S fc Vladimir (988), down to that 
 of the Patriarch Nicon. Consequently, they pronounce 
 and write the name of the Son of God in the ancient 
 style IcycT>, and not lucyco. They recognise only the 
 cross with eight points; the sign of the cross they make 
 
 33 3 
 
FREEDOM OF RELIGION. 
 
 with only two fingers; they do reverence only to an- 
 cient icons, whilst their new icons are always copied 
 from ancient designs, and all their rites are performed 
 according to the ancient ritual. Soon, however, the dis- 
 senters commenced to differ in their views in regard to 
 their relations to the Orthodox Church and they then 
 became divided into two main sects, namely: those, admit- 
 ting priests- Pop ovtsy, and those, without priests-jBe^- 
 Popovtsy. The primary difference between the two con- 
 sisted merely in the first sect, allowing the rites of the 
 church to be performed by priests, who had been or- 
 dained prior to the Patriarch Nicon; w r hereas the priestless 
 sect allow rites to be performed principally by laymen. 
 When, however, in course of time, all the priests of the 
 old ordination had died out, the Popovtsy decided to accept 
 priests, who had deserted from the Orthodox Church, 
 even though they had been ordained after the time of 
 Nicon. The priestless sect Bez-Popovtsy, on the other 
 hand, remained altogether without any clergy. This ma- 
 terial difference exercised a most important influence on 
 the further development of the character of both sects. 
 The sect with priests commenced by degrees to approach 
 orthodoxy. Recognising the necessity of three grades 
 of clergy, namely, bishops, priests and deacons, this sect 
 could not remain satisfied with fugitive priests, who were 
 persons of doubtful character, and were regarded by the 
 sectarians themselves with great suspicion. Consequently, 
 the whole history of this sect is one of a quest for bish- 
 ops, who could furnish a regular supply of priests. 
 But this quest was not attended with success: not a 
 
 - 34 
 
FREEDOM OF RELIGION. 
 
 single bishop could be persuaded to join the dissenters. 
 This induced the Old- Belief)) monk Nicodemus, at the 
 close of the last century to draw up a petition with the 
 terms, on which certain of the Old-Believers would 
 agree to join the Orthodox Church. He asked that the 
 anathema, which had been pronounced by former councils 
 against the ancient ritual, should be withdrawn, and that 
 the Old-Believers should be given a bishop. This peti- 
 tion was received: with favour, and in 1800 the Emperor 
 Paul I confirmed the, so called, Edinoverie, points of 
 conformity, which were regarded as a step towards 
 orthodoxy. Permission was also granted to establish 
 parishes of conformists, but special bishops were not 
 appointed. These parishes of conformists were placed 
 under the jurisdiction of the local bishops. 
 
 Such conformity, however, was very far from being 
 acknowledged by all the members of the sect. Almost at 
 the same time that the monk Nicodemus presented his 
 petition, other members of the sect Popovtsy assembled 
 at the well known Rogosh cemetery in Moscow, and 
 decided not to seek for bishops, but to reconsecrate the 
 fugitive priests. This reanointment of priests was very 
 extensively practised during the reign of Catherine II, 
 the Government having abandoned the persecution 
 of the fugitive priests. The authorities even attempted 
 to entice back into the Orthodox Church the Old-Belie- 
 vers who had fled from the country, by promising them 
 freedom of worship and the gift of 70,000 desiatines of 
 land on the river Irgiz, in the province of Samara, 
 where three monasteries for monks and two convents 
 
 35 3' 
 
FREEDOM OF RELIGION. 
 
 for nuns, with their respective churches, were built and 
 where nearly all the priests of the Old-Believers were 
 reconsecrated. Finally, in the year 1822, the Govern- 
 ment issued new regulations for the priests and the 
 houses of prayer, according to which the Old-Believers 
 were permitted to maintain fugitive priests, and these, in 
 their turn, were allowed to keep registers. 
 
 But it was not for long that the Popovtsy enjoyed 
 these privileges. On the accession of the Emperor Ni- 
 cholas I, the Government began the enforcement of a 
 long series of restrictions. The new fugitive priests were 
 ordered back and the monasteries on the Irgiz were 
 closed. These measures deprived the Popovtsy of their 
 clergy down to the 4 th decade of the present century. 
 Then recommenced the former search for bishops, which 
 led to the foundation in 1846 of the Bielokrinitzkaya 
 eparchy in Austrian Bukovina, where a number of fugitive 
 dissenters from Russia had long before settled in two 
 colonies: Bielaya Krinitza and KlimorT. When the search 
 for bishops began in the forties)), attention was attrac- 
 ted towards Bielaya Krinitza, and delegates were des- 
 patched to Austria from the Russian Old-Believers, who 
 solicited the permission of the Austrian Government 
 to establish an eparchy in that country. Although this 
 eparchy was soon abolished at the demand of the Russian 
 Government, it speedily came into existence again clan- 
 destinely. In the year 1859 it was officially recognised 
 by the Austrian Government with the sole condition 
 only, that it should have no connection with the Russian 
 Old-Believers; but of course this stipulation was not 
 
 36 
 
FREEDOM OF RELIGION. 
 
 observed. As far back as 1849, the Bielokrinitzky metro- 
 politan furnished Russia with a special bishop, who took 
 up his residence in Moscow, and thenceforward new 
 bishoprics began to appear in Russia almost yearly among 
 the Old-Believers. Moscow became the central point of 
 the movement, where an ecclesiastical and consecrated 
 assembly or council)) was established. In this manner 
 the management of the Old- Believers passed finally into 
 the hands of apostate priests of the Orthodox Church u 
 Such a state of things called forth strong protests from 
 some of the Popovtsy and particularly the Bez-Popovtsy 
 (priestless sect). The latter believed that the reign of 
 Antichrist on earth had begun and consequently refused 
 to recognize that the new clergy had been properly or- 
 ganized, insisting that there was no longer any sanctity 
 in the rites, practised by the priesthood. These views 
 were set forth in a long series of publications. The Po- 
 povtsy were not slow in replying, and in 1862 they 
 published a ((District Message)), in which they affirmed, 
 that the true priesthood was preserved by the Greek 
 Church and that the error of the Russian Church lay 
 not in its rites, but in those anathema, which, as far 
 back as the XVII century, it had pronounced against the 
 ancient ritual. But this view, which directly suggested 
 reconciliation with orthodoxy, was strongly protested 
 against among the Popovtsy themselves. A violent polemic 
 ensued, which ended in the division of the sect into 
 District and Anti-District parties, so that, at the 
 present time, out of 19 Old-Belief bishops 13 are 
 District and 6 Anti-District . At the head of both 
 
 37 
 
FREEDOM OF RELIGION. 
 
 parties are two Moscow bishops. All connection with 
 the Bielokrinitzky eparchy has ceased since the year 1874. 
 The Government does not persecute the Old -Belief)) 
 bishops, so long as they abstain from converting the or- 
 thodox to their faith, but it does not recognise their 
 ecclesiastical rank. 
 
 The Bes-Popovtsy possess an entirely special cha- 
 racter. Having from the outset, renounced all clergy, 
 they gradually lapsed into greater and greater difficulties, 
 reaching at length extreme fanaticism. Being convinced, 
 that Antichrist was on the earth and reigning in the 
 Russian church, these sectarians, especially at the be- 
 ginning of the schism, exhorted their followers to burn 
 themselves, in order to escape from the chastisement of 
 Antichrist and his agents, or to starve themselves to death, 
 and thus the sooner to enter the kingdom of heaven. With 
 trie appearance on earth of Antichrist, every thing Godly 
 had ascended to heaven, where the true sacraments were 
 administered by the angels. Consequently, orthodox bap- 
 tism was not baptism at all, and those joining the sect 
 should be rebaptized, as if they were heathens. Not pos- 
 sessing holy sacrament, the Bess-Popovtsy receive sa- 
 crament in faith and hope of salvation and make con- 
 fession to each other before the icon of our Saviour. 
 Marriages also are not recognized, seeing that they can 
 be officially annulled. However, in this respect, certain 
 concessions were subsequently granted. The Bez-Popovtsy 
 do not reverence icons and relics, because, in their opinion, 
 the virtue of these symbols has departed. 
 
 The chief centre of this sect is situated in Moscow 
 
 3 
 
FREEDOM OF RELIGION. 
 
 at the Preobrajensky Cemetery. It is spread in Siberia 
 and on the Northern Sea coast in the Olonetz region. 
 
 This sect is subdivided into numerous smaller sects. 
 The chief of these the Pomorsky (Sea coast), Fedoseieftsy 
 and Filipoftsy recognise in common those principles, which 
 we have cited above. Several of these sects go to an extre- 
 me degree of fanaticism and cruelty; such as the Skoptey 
 (Self mutilators), Khlysty, (flagellants), who approach hea- 
 thenism, the Stefanovtsy, who abandon their children in 
 forests to be devoured by wild animals, the Raziny (Gapers), 
 who, on Maundy Thursday stand with open mouths in ex- 
 pectation, that the Sacrament will be administered to them 
 by angels, etc. Latterly, under the influence of rationalistic 
 teaching, another sect has appeared in the South of Russia, 
 called the Stundists, who refuse to recognise the priesthood, 
 or the sacrament, and reject all outward forms of worship. 
 Prior to the Stundists there appeared the Molokany (Milk 
 drinkers), Dooliobortsy (Wrestlers of the Spirit), who 
 deny the Holy Ghost, and various other sects. 
 
 The attitude of the state authorities towards the 
 dissenters has varied at diflereut times. Up to the end 
 of the XVII century they were persecuted, tortured and 
 executed. During the reign of Peter the Great their civil 
 status was recognised, but double taxation was imposed on 
 them and they were ordered to wear a special dress &c. 
 Since the time of Catherine II the measures, adopted 
 against the dissenters, have been less severe and are at the 
 present moment directed exclusively towards their con- 
 vertion by means of missions, ecclesiastical fraternities, 
 discourses, publication of books, 6xc. 
 
INVIOLABILITY OF THE PERSON. 
 
 On the 3 rd of May 1883, soon after the accession of 
 Alexander III, a law was passed, which radically changed 
 the position of dissenters and sectarians among the or- 
 thodox population. They were permitted to celebrate 
 public worship and perform the religions rites of their 
 respective persuasions both in private houses and other 
 buildings, specially appointed for that purpose, and were 
 only forbidden to form public and religious processions 
 in clerical vestments, to carry sacred images in public, 
 except in cases of burial and to sing sectarian hymns on 
 the streets and public squares. Their pastors and other 
 persons may freely perform the rites of their commu- 
 nity, but are not allowed to spread their errors among 
 the orthodox. 
 
 As far as concerns their civil rights in general, in 
 alteration of previous limitations, the sectarians are per- 
 mitted to occupy public positions and to engage in trade 
 and industry. Passports also are issued to them for re- 
 sidence in all parts of the Empire. 
 
 Only the Stundists and those sects, which are dis- 
 tinguished by particular fanaticism, are entirely prohibited. 
 
 Together with freedom of worship, an essential 
 right enjoyed by everybody is the inviolability of the person. 
 No one, having committed a crime or offence, can be 
 deprived of his rights, or restricted in regard to them 
 except by decisions of a Court of law. Punishment for 
 crimes and offences is inflicted in exact accordance with 
 the law. 
 
 This general rule, however, is subject to certain ex- 
 ceptions. In the first place there are certain petty offences, 
 
 40 
 
INVIOLABILITY OF THE PERSON. 
 
 which do not reach the court various violations of excise, 
 customs, postal regulation &c. In such cases a protocol 
 is sufficient, and fines are imposed by the administrative 
 authorities. In the same category of exceptions are in- 
 cluded also certain offences against public safety, such as 
 violation of sanitary, quarantine regulations, &c. 
 
 Furthermore, pending the investigation of offences 
 committed, the suspected offender may be arrested by 
 the police authorities or Criminal Judge. But every Judge 
 or Prosecutor, who, within the limits of his jurisdiction, 
 becomes convinced of the improper detention of any 
 person, is bound to liberate the person arrested without 
 delay. Persons so detained may lodge complaints in the 
 District Court, which investigates such complaints at the 
 earliest session. 
 
 Besides the cases indicated, special measures for the 
 prevention of crimes against the State are adopted by 
 the administration. These measures consist in placing 
 persons under police surveillance, prohibition to reside in 
 the capital, and other places, and the expulsion of fo- 
 reigners from the country. 
 
 Lastly, in exceptional cases, certain places for a 
 certain period are declared to be in a state of enforced 
 defence, during which the representatives of the local 
 administration (Governors - General and Governors) are 
 invested with the right of placing private persons under 
 arrest, of imposing fines, and of submitting certain cases 
 to the investigation of Courts-martial, &c. 
 
 At the present time this state of defence extends to 
 the Provinces of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Harkoff, Kief, 
 
 41 
 
HETEROGENEOUS RACES. 
 
 Podolia and Volhynia, several localities in the Governor-- 
 Generalship of Turkestan, and the Don Cossack Region, 
 and to the towns of St. Petersburg, Odessa, Cronstadt, 
 Nicholaeff, Rostoff on the Don, Taganrog and Nahitche- 
 van. During the time of the fair at Nijny-Novgorod, 
 the latter town is also placed under a state of defence. 
 
 Besides inviolability of the person, the law also pro- 
 tects the inviolability of property. The confiscation of 
 property is not permitted even as a punishment, decreed 
 by a Court of law. It is only in certain cases, and by 
 virtue of special enactments, that property is liable to 
 sequestration for participation in revolts, or plots against 
 the Sovereign power, or for high treason. But, in con- 
 sideration of equitable compensation, the compulsory 
 expropriation of real property is authorized for state or 
 public requirements. 
 
 Among the general obligations of Russian subjects, 
 the first place must be assigned to general military service, 
 the second to the duty of serving on juries, which devolves 
 on all classes, and the payment of various taxes and 
 dues in favour of the State, communes, municipalities, 
 etc. More detailed information in respect to the obli- 
 gations of subjects are set forth below in treating of the 
 military, judicial and financial organization of the Empire. 
 
 d. Heterogeneous races, Inorodsy. 
 1) Eastern races. 
 
 As stated above, at the beginning of this section, 
 there are certain races, including the inhabitants of Fin- 
 
 42 
 
HETEROGENEOUS RACES. 
 
 land, who are distinguished by their rights and obliga- 
 tions from the general mass of Russian subjects. 
 
 Under this designation are classed certain races, of 
 the east and north of Russia, as the Mongolian, Iranian 
 and Finnish, and also the Jews. 
 
 The law divides these eastern races into 6 categories: 
 1, tribes of Siberia, 2, those inhabiting the Commander 
 Islands, 3, the Samoyeds of the district of Mezen in the 
 province of Archangel, 4, the nomadic tribes of the 
 province of Stavropol, the Nogaitzy, Kara-Nog ait zy, etc. 
 5, the Calmuclts and 6, the Ordintzy of the Transcas- 
 pian region. 
 
 The privileges and exemptions from the general 
 laws of the Empire, conferred on these races and tribes,, 
 are relics of the past. 
 
 As a matter of fact Russia of the period, in which 
 the city of Kief predominated, lost her independence 
 through the influx of tribes and races, who advanced into 
 Europe in an endless stream of migration from the steppes 
 of Central Asia. Moscow, on the other hand, grew up 
 as the new political centre of Russia under the oppression 
 of the Mongolian yoke. During the second half of the 
 XV century it succeeded in throwing off this yoke* 
 and in the XVI century conquered two important centres 
 of Tartar supremacy, viz: the Tsardoms of Kazan (1552) 
 and Astrakhan (1554). 
 
 But the russification of different tribes and races 
 proceeded very slowly, and they were always ready to 
 
 ' The battle of Koolikoff under Dmitry Donskoy against 
 Mamay in 1380 and the reign of Ivan III (14621505). 
 
 43 
 
HETEROGENEOUS RACES 
 
 rise in revolt. Moscow was therefore content, if it suc- 
 ceeded in securing peaceful relations with them in res- 
 pect to Russian trade and Russian landowners on its 
 eastern confines. Thus originated the privileges, which 
 from time immemorable came to be enjoyed by the 
 tribes of the Tsardoms of Kazan and Astrakhan. 
 
 Moscow, however, had not succeeded in gaining 
 complete control over these eastern tribes before the 
 beginning of a period of tumult, when all, who were 
 discontented with Moscow, rose in rebellion, including 
 the tribes in question, and these latter were suppressed 
 with difficulty. Hardly had Russia time to recover from 
 the perturbation of these disorders, when there appeared 
 from central Asia new hordes of Calmucks, whose raids 
 undermined all security in the Tsardom of Astrakhan 
 and rendered it impossible at first to find means of de- 
 fence against them. Although during the reign of the 
 Tsar Mihyil Theodorovitch, (1616 1645), and Alexey 
 Mihylovitch, (1645 1676), treaties were concluded with 
 the Calmucks, securing the integrity of Russian territory, 
 yet these treaties were not observed. Peter the Great 
 adopted measures for the unification of the tribes with 
 the native population. The exclusive position of the 
 former was modified principally by the introduction of 
 the poll tax, which was also extended to them. But after 
 the death of Peter the Great his successors found it dif- 
 ficult to keep matters within the limits, which be had 
 established. During the reign of the Empress Anna loan- 
 novna (1730 1742), fresh hordes of Kirghiz and Bash- 
 kirs made their appearance. These hordes, as well as 
 
 44 
 
THE JEWS. 
 
 the former tribes, took an active part in all insurrections. 
 The vast proportions attained by the Poogatcheff revolt 
 (1773 I775\ in the reign of Catherine the Great, was 
 due to the part taken in it by those tribes. 
 
 In consequence of this character of the tribal popu- 
 lation, the Government was only able to enforce its 
 laws cautiously and by degrees; which is the reason why 
 certain tribes, expecially those in Siberia, enjoy particular 
 administrative and financial privileges down to the pre- 
 sent day. 
 
 The settled tribes, as regards their rights and duties, 
 are placed on an equal footing with native Russian sub- 
 jects, according to their respective classes, but in regard 
 to the management of their affairs they enjoy certain in- 
 significant immunities. 
 
 The nomadic tribes have been placed on a level 
 with the peasantry, but their affairs are managed accor- 
 ding to the usages and customs of the Steppe, which 
 also guide their courts of law. 
 
 The nomadic and wandering tribes have land assigned 
 to them for their use and property, and native Russian sub- 
 jects are prohibited from settling on such land. 
 
 2. The Jews. 
 
 The Jews occupy quite a special and peculiar posi- 
 tion among the heterogeneous races in Russia. In the 
 Moscow period Jews were not admitted into the country. 
 During the reign of Peter the Great no general laws 
 concerning the Jews were passed; but the Ukaz of 1727 
 
 45 
 
THE JEWS. 
 
 decreed the expulsion of all Jews from Russia and for- 
 bade them to return. 
 
 This Ukaz was subsequently confirmed in the year 
 1742 by the Empress Elizaveta Petrovna. But in the 
 reign of Catherine II the Jewish question assumed a dif- 
 ferent form owing to the annexation of several provinces 
 of Poland, where the policy of king Casimir the Great 
 had led to the permanent settlement of a very large 
 Jewish population. 
 
 It was then that a delimitation of territory for the 
 residence of Jews was first established, and they were 
 confined, in respect of permanent residence, to certain 
 provinces. Later, in 1804, during the reign of Alexander I 
 the first general enactment respecting Jews was promul- 
 gated, the main object of which was to induce the latter 
 to engage in productive labour. To this end each Jew 
 was obliged to join one of the existing unprivileged 
 classes, and Jewish landowners were accorded certain 
 privileges. On the other hand, Jews were strictly pro- 
 hibited from keeping gin shops and inns in villages and 
 settlements. 
 
 In the year 1835, a new edict respecting the Jews 
 was promulgated of a similar nature. At the same time, 
 however, certain other measures calculated to strengthen 
 their exclusiveness were adopted. Thus, by the enactment 
 of 1835, they were permitted to have elected Boards i. e. 
 cahals, for the assessment of rates and taxes. These 
 official measures, which were, however, repealed in 1844, 
 merely served to cover the existing ancient system of 
 the cahal. Later, in 1844, a new Ukaz was issued esta- 
 
 46 
 
THE JEWS. 
 
 blishing Jewish schools by means of a special Korobotchnoy 
 tax. levied on the Jews. 
 
 On the accession to the throne of Alexander II, the 
 measures, adopted by the government regarding Russian 
 Hebrews, were again modified and directed towards remo- 
 ving the hitherto existing restrictions of their rights, 
 with the object of assimilating them with the native po- 
 pulation. The main object of these means was to induce 
 the Jews to engage in productive labour. 
 
 According to existing laws, Jews are permitted to 
 reside in all the 10 provinces of the Kingdom of Poland; 
 in the provinces of Bessarabia, Vilna, Vitebsk, Volhynia, 
 Grodno, Ekaterinoslaf, Kovno, Minsk, Mogilief, Podolia, 
 Poltava, Tchernigof, Kief, Kherson and Taurida, with the 
 exception of the following towns in those provinces, 
 Kief, Jalta, Nicholaef and Sebastopol, where only Jews, 
 who are merchants, are permitted to reside. In the pro- 
 vince of Courland only such Jews, as have settled there 
 before the year 1835, have the right of residence. 
 
 Jews are furthermore prohibited from settling within 
 a distance of 50 versts from the frontier, which is a 
 measure adopted in order to prevent smuggling. By the 
 law of 1882, they are likewise prohibited from settling and 
 acquiring or taking on lease or mortgage any real estate 
 outside of towns and hamlets. In all other parts of the 
 Empire Jews are only permitted to remain temporarily 
 for purposes of business. A very large number, however, 
 are allowed freedom of residence, viz : i , those belonging 
 to the first guild of merchants for a term of not less 
 than five years, 2, those holding learned degrees, or such 
 
 47 
 
THE FINNS. 
 
 as have passed the curriculum of the higher educational 
 establishments and 3, students in such establishments, etc. 
 
 In general, Jews may not enter the service of the State, 
 with the exception of those, possessing learned degrees, and 
 medical men in places assigned for the residence of Jews. 
 Furthermore, they are not permitted to take part in the 
 election of communal and municipal representatives. 
 
 It must be noted that all the above mentioned re- 
 strictions refer only to the Rabbinical Jews; the Karaims, 
 who form a most useful and industrial element, have 
 enjoyed all rights, appertaining to native Russian subjects 
 from the time of Catherine II. 
 
 The number of Rabbinical Jews in Russia at the 
 present time amounts to 5.000,000. 
 
 3. The Finns. 
 
 Finnish citizenship is acquired: 
 
 1) by birth from an inhabitant of Finland, 
 
 2) in the case of women, by marriage with a Finn, 
 
 3) in the case of foreigners, by naturalization, and 
 
 4) in the case of native Russians, by reinscription. 
 Finland possesses a nobility of its own (in all 240 
 
 families), the rank and titles of which are conferred by 
 the Monarch. The remaining classes, the lutheran 
 clergy, townsmen and peasantry are not distinguished 
 by any special rights. 
 
 The population of Finland, in 1890, did not exceed 
 2.380,000 individuals. 
 
 - 48 - 
 
THE RIGHTS OF FOREIGNERS IN RUSSIA. 
 
 e) The rights of foreigners in Russia. 
 
 Foreigners are subject to the laws of the Empire 
 in as far as those laws may affect them, as, for instance, 
 they pay taxes on property equally with Russian subjects, 
 but are not liable to military conscription. On the 
 other hand, the law 7 confers on foreigners certain rights 
 enjoyed by Russian subjects. 
 
 Thus, foreigners, in the first place, may enter guilds 
 and industrial corporations and enjoy all the rights of 
 trading. 
 
 Further, they are permitted to acquire personal pro- 
 perty and real estate. 
 
 This latter right, however, is partly modified by 
 the Ukas of 14 th March, 1887, which, for political rea- 
 sons, prohibits foreigners from acquiring or taking on 
 lease any real estate outside of towns in 21 provinces, 
 adjacent to the western frontier. 
 
 The personal rights of foreigners are recognised 
 according to their own laws. Lastly, as regards political 
 rights, they are only allowed to enter the service of the 
 State, in positions of an educational, scientific and tech- 
 nical nature. 
 
 III. STATE ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 a) The higher institutions of State. 
 
 The sphere in which the direct functions of the 
 Sovereign are exercised, is called the region of supreme 
 administration; and the region of subordinate administra- 
 
 49 - * 
 
THE HIGHER INSTITUTIONS OF STATE. 
 
 tion is confided to subordinate institutions, each possess- 
 ing a certain degree of power defined by the law. 
 
 In the region of supreme administration the Sove- 
 reign receives the cooperation of a number of higher in- 
 stitutions of the State. 
 
 These are, firstly, the deliberative organs : the 
 Council of State, the Council of Ministers, the Committee 
 of the Siberian railway, the Council of War, the Coun- 
 cil of the Admiralties, the Board of Trustees, and the 
 Committee of Civil Service and Awards. The decisions 
 of these institutions are confirmed by the Sovereign 
 himself. 
 
 Two other institutions with determining power also 
 belong to the higher offices of State, viz: the Ruling 
 Senate and the Holy Synod. Through them the Sove- 
 reign power takes direct effect in all the regions of civil, 
 and ecclesiastical administration. 
 
 1- The Council of State. 
 
 The Council of State as organized by its founder, 
 the Emperor Alexander I, is a deliberative institution for 
 the purpose of assisting the Monarch in drawing up and 
 promulgating laws. It would scarcely be correct to re- 
 gard the former Councils, which surrounded our Sove- 
 reigns, and whose functions were of a very miscella- 
 neous nature, as the predecessors of the present institu- 
 tion. The former grand-ducal councils (dooma) pro- 
 nounced their opinions on all the subjects, presented for 
 the personal decision of the Grand Duke. The same 
 must be said of the Council of boyars of the Moscow 
 
 50 
 
THE COUNCIL OF STATE. 
 
 period, which \\as an institution, exercising legislative, 
 administrative, and judicial functions at one and the same 
 time. The extent of its power was undefined, some 
 matters being determined independently by it, others re- 
 quired the confirmation of the Sovereign. In the reign of 
 Peter the Great the Council of the boyars was abolished. 
 In 171 1 the Senate was organized, with the command to 
 submit to its orders, ukas, as to the personal orders, 
 uk-as, of the Sovereign. The Senate was an indepen- 
 dent institution with the power of deciding questions, 
 whereas the Council of State is a purely consultative 
 organization. 
 
 The idea of a consultative body for legislative pur- 
 poses was first started in the reign of Catherine II. It was 
 realized however, only in the reign of Alexander I. On 
 March 30, 1801, an Ukas was issued, proclaiming the esta- 
 blishment of an institution for the examination and con- 
 sideration of State affairs on the footing of a perpetual 
 council. In the oath of allegiance, taken by its members, 
 this council was then called the council of State. Though 
 the Ukas intimated, that it was established solely for le- 
 gislative purposes, yet, from the very first, judicial mat- 
 ters were likewise submitted to it for examination and 
 from 1804 they grew to constitute the sole subject of 
 its jurisdiction. Thus, ceasing gradually to exercise all 
 vital influence over State affairs, it became quite incom- 
 patible with the subsequent organization of the different 
 Ministries. This circumstance pointed to the necessity 
 of a radical reform of the institution, consequently, on 
 January 1 st 1810, a new organization ot the Council of 
 
THE COUNCIL OF STATE. 
 
 State was published. The legislator intended c it to esta- 
 blish gradually a process of government, firmly based 
 upon solid and unfailing principles of law, for the purpose 
 of introducing and spreading uniformity and order in the 
 state administration . 
 
 After 1810, certain alterations were made in the or- 
 ganization of this Council and in the extent of its juris- 
 diction, but in principle, the character of the Council of 
 State, as a consultative institution for legislative affairs, 
 has remained unaltered. 
 
 According to a law now in force, the Council of 
 State is called a corporation, in which legislative ques- 
 tions concerning all branches of state administration are 
 examined. These questions pass through the Council to 
 be placed before the Emperor. The examination of laws 
 is not the sole occupation of the Council: it is the Emperor's 
 Council for many other matters, although legislative ques- 
 tions play the chief part in its work. 
 
 The affairs of the Council can be classified under 
 eight heads: 
 
 1, Legislative affairs, to which belong the projects of 
 new laws and of various supplements and commentaries 
 to the acting laws. 
 
 The Council has only the right of examining into 
 projects of laws, and may not of its own accord start 
 questions as to the necessity of any alterations in legis- 
 lation. But while examining the projects brought before 
 it, the Council has the right to modify and complete 
 them, and these alterations are often very considerable. 
 
 2, All special enactments in favour of individuals or 
 
 52 
 
THE COUNCIL OF STATE. 
 
 institutions, which are exceptions to the general laws, 
 are brought before the Council of State for preliminary 
 examination. These include: a) the establishment of joint- 
 stock companies with special privileges, b) the expropria- 
 tion of private property for state and public requirements, 
 c) the confirmation of distinctions of honour, i. e. the 
 titles of prince, count or baron. 
 
 3, Laws, on being issued, have to be collected and 
 classified. This necessitates the publication of Collections, 
 Codes of law and statutes. For this purpose in 1810 a 
 Committee for the elaboration and arrangement of laws 
 was organized in the Council of State. In 1826 it passed 
 into the department of the Private Chancery of His 
 IMPERIAL MAJESTY under the name of II nd Section. In 
 1882 the II Section was again annexed to the Council 
 of State, under the name of the department of Codification 
 and on January i, 1894, this department was abolished 
 and replaced by a special department for the Codification 
 of laws in the Chancery of State under the direction of 
 the Secretary of State. 
 
 The first Code of laws of the Russian Empire was 
 published in 15 volumes in 1832. But since then a num- 
 ber of new laws have been issued, which considerably 
 affect parts of this Code; so that it became necessary to 
 publish separate supplements to the different volumes of 
 the Code and to undertake a new edition of the whole. 
 The last complete edition appeared in 1857, ^ ut tQe ^ ast 
 editions of separate volumes are of a much later date. 
 
 4, The opinions of the Council of State are received 
 by the Sovereign on certain higher questions of admini- 
 
THE COUNCIL OF STATE. 
 
 stration, such as: a) general instructions for the successful 
 enforcement of the laws, b) extraordinary measures in 
 exceptional cases and c) the more important measures 
 of foreign policy declaration ot war, signing of peace etc. 
 In reality, however, this last category of subjects is hardly 
 ever brought before the Council of State, as the questions 
 of taking extraordinary internal measures and of directions 
 for carrying out the laws are debated in the Committee 
 of Ministers. Important external measures are brought 
 before the Council of State only w r hen circumstances admit 
 of their preliminary discussion, which is naturally very 
 seldom the case. 
 
 5, The scope of state administration includes matters, 
 which in all states are under the control of the legisla- 
 tive institutions, namely, the higher questions of finance, 
 Our laws strictly maintain this principle; all financial 
 measures therefore, requiring supreme confirmation, are 
 first laid before the Council of State, which thus takes 
 cognizance of the State Budget, the various Ministerial 
 estimates and demands of different institutions In the 
 next place, the Council enquires into all demands of 
 credit for different institutions, above the estimates al- 
 ready made. Exception is made only for extraordinary 
 credits, required by war or policy, especially, when 
 prompt despatch or secrecy is necessary; also in cases 
 of extraordinary credits for the Imperial Court, and of 
 special sums to be paid to various persons by direct 
 command of the Sovereign. All these credits are solicited 
 directly by the Ministers without reference to the Coun- 
 cil of State. 
 
 -- 54 
 
THE COUNCIL OF STATE. 
 
 The financial matters, brought before the Council, 
 also comprise: the revision of the accounts of state re- 
 venue and expenditure; questions of cancelling various 
 crown charges; the transfer of state property or revenues 
 into private hands, and, in fact, all extraordinary financial 
 measures. Formerly, before the introduction of local 
 self-government Zemstvo, local financial questions were 
 likewise brought before the Council of State, which 
 inspected the estimates of income and expenditure of 
 provinces and districts. At present these estimates are 
 presented to the Council only by the authorities of pro- 
 vinces, which have no such local public institutions, while 
 in the others the Zemstvo deals with them independently. 
 
 6. Mention has been made above of the rights of 
 Sovereign power within the sphere of Justice. Some of 
 these rights are exercised through the medium of the 
 Council of State. In the time of the old form of pro- 
 cedure, although the Senate was considered to be the 
 final Court of appeal, yet certain cases were laid before 
 the Emperor through the Council of State. 
 
 Since the introduction (1864) f tne new Courts 
 of law and the establishment of Departments of Cassation, 
 in the Senate, the number of judicial matters before the 
 Council has been considerably reduced. There remain the 
 petitions of private persons against the final decisions of 
 other Departments (not of Cassation) of the Senate, which 
 are reviewed at special Sittings of the Council of State.* 
 At these Sittings, however, the Council only determines 
 
 * These sittings consist of members of the Senate under 
 the presidency of a member of the Council of State. 
 
 - 55 
 
THE COUNCIL OF STATE. 
 
 whether there exists sufficient cause for bringing such 
 matters hefore the Plenary Sitting of the Senate. 
 
 7. The jurisdiction of the Council of State extends 
 to cases of responsibility for violation of duty on the 
 part of members of the Council of State, Ministers, Ge- 
 neral-Governors and others of equal rank. 
 
 8. Besides the categories enumerated, which form the 
 normal sphere of duties of the Council, it may be em- 
 powered with extraordinary authority. In the event, for 
 instance, of a prolonged absence of the Sovereign, the 
 Council is empowered to act with special authority, en- 
 trusted to it by the Sovereign for that occassion. By special 
 Supreme order, matters can be brought before the Council, 
 which in no way come under its ordinary jurisdiction. 
 
 The Council consists of three departments and the 
 Plenary Assembly. 
 
 Each department consists of not less than three 
 members, who are appointed by the Emperor for the 
 term of half a year. The Law Department reviews all 
 projects of general laws; the Civil and Ecclesiastical De- 
 partment controls all judicial matters and those of reli- 
 gious and police administration, while the Department of 
 State Economy enquires into questions of industry, science, 
 trade and finance. 
 
 On certain questions the resolutions or decisions of 
 these departments are presented directly to the Sovereign, 
 though in the majority of cases they first pass before 
 the Plenary Assembly of the Council. 
 
 The Plenary Assembly consists of the members of 
 departments, all the Imperial Ministers, and other mem- 
 
 56 - 
 
THE COUNCIL OF STATE. 
 
 bers, who do not belong to the departments. In prin- 
 ciple the presidency belongs to the Sovereign himself; 
 but in reality the Sovereign has very seldom occupied 
 the chair, which is therefore taken by one of the mem- 
 bers, with the title of President of the Council of State. 
 His authority is renewed annually. 
 
 The business of the Council is transacted by the 
 State Chancery under the superintendence of the Se- 
 cretary of State. 
 
 The recommendations of the State Council receive 
 the Supreme assent and confirmation in various forms. 
 
 The personal confirmation of the Sovereign is re- 
 quired for: 
 
 J, all new laws, 
 
 2, the assessment and abolition of taxes, 
 
 3, lists of newly appointed officials, 
 
 4, the State budget, and 
 
 5, the expropriation of personal property for state or 
 public requirements. 
 
 Of these, all new laws are sanctioned by the sign- 
 manual of the Sovereign; the rest have the words so 
 let it be in the handwriting of the Emperor on the 
 resolutions of the Council. If His MAJESTY agree with 
 the opinion of the minority or issue his own decision, 
 he signs a special Ukas. In all other affairs the Impe- 
 rial sanction is thus expressed: His IMPERIAL MAJESTY 
 was pleased to confirm the opinion of the general assem- 
 bly or department of the Council of State on such and 
 such an affair, and has ordered it to be carried out. 
 
 57 
 
THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS. 
 
 This resolution is then signed by the President of the 
 Council. 
 
 This variety of confirmation is of great practical 
 importance, inasmuch as an Ukas, once signed by the 
 Sovereign, and duly promulgated, can only be counter- 
 manded, according to law, by another Ukas. 
 
 Therefore, if any Minister announced to his sub- 
 ordinate authorities a merely verbal decree of the Sove- 
 reign, which abrogated a law already confirmed by the 
 Emperor's signature, such subordinate authorities would 
 be bound, before carrying it out, to report thereon to 
 the Minister, and in the case of the Minister repeating 
 it, they would be obliged to bring the matter before the 
 Senate for final decision. 
 
 2- The Council of Ministers- 
 
 The Council of Ministers was established in 1857 
 for the purpose of uniting the functions of the different 
 Ministers. All the most important reforms, except the 
 abolition of slavery, at the beginning of the reign of the 
 Emperor Alexander II, were previously elaborated by this 
 Council under the personal supervision of the Sovereign. 
 According to the law of its organization, issued in 1861, 
 the Council of Ministers receive the original propositions 
 of the various Ministries for modifying or repealing any 
 of the existing laws. 
 
 These propositions are here discussed by all the 
 Ministers in a body and the resulting project is carried 
 before the Council of State. Among matters of admi- 
 nistration, discussed by the Ministerial Council, are projects 
 
 58 
 
THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS. 
 
 for introducing perfection into this or that branch; ques- 
 tions of removing important difficulties, and measures, 
 requiring the general cooperation of different departments. 
 The Council is informed of the most important steps 
 taken in all the departments, that each Minister may 
 be aware of the principal actions of all his colleagues. 
 The Council may likewise examine their accounts, reports 
 on the progress of organizing different parts of the ad- 
 ministration etc. 
 
 But all these matters can only be brought before 
 the Council with the sanction of the Sovereign, specially 
 granted in each case, the object of the Council being to 
 unite the administration of the State under the personal 
 direction of His MAJESTY. On the other hand, the Coun- 
 cil may, by Supreme order, investigate all other matters; 
 but, at the same time, it in no way limits the jurisdiction 
 of the Council of State or the Committee of Ministers. 
 The affairs, examined in the Council of Ministers, do not 
 escape being brought before the Council of State or the 
 Committee of Ministers, if by the law they belong 
 thereto. The Sovereign himself occupies the chair. The 
 Council consists of: the Ministers, their equals in rank, 
 the chiefs of separate branches of the administration, the 
 Secretary of State, who gives explanations on questions 
 of legis'ation, and other persons, deputed by Supreme 
 appointment. 
 
 The affairs are reported either by the Ministers or 
 by the Superintendent of the affairs of the Committee 
 of Ministers. 
 
 59 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS. 
 
 3- The Committee of Ministers. 
 
 Matters relating to the higher administration of State 
 are examined in the Committee of Ministers. 
 
 Its establishment was effected at the same time with 
 the establishment of the Ministries, in 1802. In the ma- 
 nifesto on the establishment of the Ministries it was 
 stated amongst other things, that the Ministers were 
 members of the Council of State, and that ordinary affairs 
 were to be discussed in a Committee, consisting exclu- 
 sively of the Ministers; for more important affairs the 
 other members of the Council were to be invited once 
 a week. 
 
 This shows, that the Committee was originally a 
 kind of more exclusive assembly of the Council, consist- 
 ing only of the nearest councillors of the Sovereign, 
 his Ministers. Count Speransky, the best authority on 
 state institutions of that period, says, that the reports of 
 the Ministers were presented separately or conjointly. 
 Special days and hours were appointed for the presen- 
 tation of the report of each Minister separately, whereas 
 the joint presentation of reports w r as made at a general 
 meeting of the Ministers in the presence of the Sove- 
 reign, which was called the Committee; so that this 
 Committee was not a special institution, but simply a 
 method of presenting ministerial reports. 
 
 The first regulations for determining the functions 
 of the Committee were issued on September 4, 1805, 
 in consequence of the departure of the Sovereign from 
 
 GO 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS. 
 
 St. Petersburg; and the same mode of procedure was 
 ordered to be maintained as that, observed during the 
 Supreme presence. 
 
 At the same time the Committee was empowered, 
 on the responsibility of all its members, to give the Mi- 
 nisters authority to take measures in urgent cases without 
 obtaining the Supreme permission. 
 
 In 1808 the jurisdiction of the Committee was still 
 further extended by being entrusted, besides its ordinary 
 duties, with those of a superior police authority in regard 
 to assuring the peace and tranquility of the citizen, and 
 in the matter of public alimentation. 
 
 Therefore, the Minister of the Interior, and all the 
 other departments of the administration, were obliged to 
 supply the Committee with information, referring to the 
 welfare and safety of the State. 
 
 At the same time, however, the personal attendance 
 of His MAJESTY at the Sittings of the Committee was 
 discontinued. Nevertheless, the Emperor Alexander I did 
 not cease to follow closely the work of the Committee, 
 often instigating and directing its actions. 
 
 The war with Napoleon I was the cause of the rights 
 of the Committee being secured to it together with a 
 still greater extension of power. On March 20, 1812, 
 the Emperor Alexander I, before leaving for the army, 
 sanctioned a new organization of the Committee, which 
 gave it a special power in all affairs, generally relating 
 to the State administration. A special president of the 
 Committee was also appointed, and, besides the Ministers, 
 the Commander in Chief of the city and the presidents 
 
 61 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS. 
 
 ot the Departments of the Council were commanded to 
 attend at the sittings. 
 
 Certain temporary rights, with which the Committee 
 was invested on account of the departure of the Sove- 
 reign, were naturally afterwards withdrawn. But the or- 
 dinary competency of the Committee was being constantly 
 extended, especially during the reign of the Emperor 
 Nicholas I, by the transference into its jurisdiction of 
 affairs of various categories. 
 
 At present tw r o classes of subjects come before the 
 Committee of Ministers: 
 
 1. Matters relating to the current affairs of all parts 
 of the administration of the Ministries and especially 
 those, which exceed the degree of power, entrusted to 
 each Minister in particular. They are brought before 
 the Committee in the event of it being beyond the 
 jurisdiction of the Senate to pronounce any decision upon 
 them. Moreover, matters are brought before the Com- 
 mittee by the Ministers, which seem doubtful to the 
 Ministers themselves, or the execution of which necessitates 
 the cooperation of several parts of the administration. 
 
 2. The second category consists of matters, the very 
 nature of which places them under the jurisdiction of 
 the Committee, and which are so various, that they can 
 hardly be classified. The Committee was entrusted with 
 them by degrees, as the necessity arose. They are ques- 
 tions, concerning public safety and tranquility, public ali- 
 mentation, and all other important circumstances; certain 
 administrative measures for the protection of orthodoxy; 
 affairs relating to ways of communications, industry and 
 
 62 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS. 
 
 finances, especially concessions for building railways and 
 the principal measures for working them, and also matrers, 
 concerning the establishment of joint stock companies, etc. 
 
 As a higher administrative institution, the Commit- 
 tee examines the reports of Governors and General- 
 Governors, determines the order and mode of their pre- 
 sentation, and supervises the fulfilment of remarks made 
 upon them by the Sovereign. 
 
 The Committee takes cognizance of the reports of 
 Ministers and decisions of the Senate regarding repri- 
 mands to be made to Governors and the provincial ad- 
 ministration. Within the region of local self-government 
 the Committee has the right to annul or modify the 
 decisions of the Rural, zemsky^ Assemblies and Town-Coun- 
 cils, if they do not tend to promote the welfare of the 
 State or if they clearly oppose the interests of the popula- 
 tion. Finally, in the Civil service the Committee decides 
 on matters, concerning the increase of pensions and, until 
 1891, had the granting of Imperial rewards, etc. 
 
 As the Committee is a deliberative institution, all its 
 decisions, with a few exceptions, as, for instance, the 
 suppression of injurious books, have no force without 
 the Supreme confirmation, neither has the Committee 
 any executive power. Its decisions are put into execu- 
 tion by the Ministries. 
 
 The Committee consists of the following persons, 
 who are members by right of their station: i, all the 
 Ministers and their equals, the Chiefs of separate parts 
 of the administration; 2, the presidents of the depart- 
 ments of the Council of State; and 3, the Secretary of 
 
 63 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF THE SIBERIAN RAILWAY. 
 
 State. The Sovereign may appoint other persons to be 
 members. 
 
 The Chancery or Office of the Committee of Mi- 
 nisters is under the management of the Superintendent 
 of the affairs of the Committee. 
 
 Subsidies, guarantees, and other privileges made to 
 railways by the Government are investigated by a Joint 
 Assembly of the Committee of Ministers and the De- 
 partment of Economy of the Council of State, presided 
 over by the President of the Committee; the Depart- 
 ment of Economy being the one which examines all 
 financial measures. The management of the affairs of 
 this Assembly is entrusted to the Superintendent of the 
 affairs of the Chancery of the Committee of Ministers. 
 
 4- The Committee of the Siberian Railway. 
 
 All general matters, relating to the construction and 
 working of railways, are investigated by the Committee 
 of Ministers; but in view of the special importance of 
 the Siberian railway and its influence on the colonization 
 and industrial development of Siberia, the late Emperor 
 was pleased to appoint a special Committee on the sub- 
 ject for the general management and unification of dif- 
 ferent departments, engaged in building this line and for 
 the purpose of deciding all questions connected with it. 
 These questions relate to the colonization of districts 
 bordering the railway; the opening up and development 
 of Siberian industry, especially, coal-mining, production 
 of iron, steel, cement, etc., also the promotion of steam 
 navigation on lake ByJcal and rivers, intersecting the 
 
 64 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF THE SIBERIAN RAILWAY. 
 
 railway and otherwise connected with it. At the same 
 time it was found necessary to make a careful investiga- 
 tion of certain districts, still insufficiently explored. All 
 these matters come before the Committee of the Siberian 
 Railway, of which the Heir-Apparent Cesarevitch, now 
 reigning Emperor Nicholas II, was appointed President. 
 
 In opening the first sitting of the Committee, on 
 February io th , 1893, the August President was pleased 
 to remark that, though beholding the magnitude of the 
 task before them with profound trepidation, the love he 
 bore his country and an ardent desire to further its pro- 
 sperity gave him the necessary strength to accept his 
 dearly beloved Father's mission. 
 
 On ascending the throne His MAJESTY retained the 
 presidency of the Committee, and at the first sitting in 
 his reign stated that the cheap, prompt and steadfast 
 accomplishment of this peaceful act of enlightenment, 
 begun by his never to be forgotten Father, represented 
 not only his sacred duty but also his most earnest desire. 
 
 The Committee of the Siberian Railway is com- 
 posed of the following members: the President of the 
 Committee of Ministers, the Ministers of Interior, of 
 Agriculture and State Domains, of Finances, of Ways 
 of Communication, and of War, also the Director of the 
 Ministry of Marine, and the Comptroller- General. The 
 Committee may invite other persons to assist them in 
 their deliberations. 
 
 For legislative affairs is convoked a Joint Assembly 
 of the Committee of the Siberian Railway and the de- 
 partments of the Council of State. 
 
 - 65 - & 
 
VARIOUS COMMITTEES. 
 
 The management and transaction of the business of 
 the Committee are entrusted to the Superintendent of the 
 affairs of the Committee of Ministers and its Chancery. 
 
 Besides the above enumerated institutions of higher 
 administrative functions, various other Committees have 
 existed at different times. Thus, in the beginning of the 
 reign of Alexander I, a prominent place was occupied 
 by the well-known ((Unofficial Committee)), consisting 
 of the following persons intimately known by Alexander I: 
 Count Kotchoobey, Novossiltseff, prince Tchartoryisky and 
 count Strogannoff. This Committee investigated not only 
 the most important current affairs of State, but even all 
 the projects of radical State reforms of that period. 
 
 Later, during the ((Patriotic War)) (with Napoleon) 
 a Committee of Finance was organized, which exists to 
 the present day. Then again, in 1821, a Siberian Com- 
 mittee was formed for investigating Count Speransky's 
 reports of his inspection of Siberia. It was here that his 
 project for organizing the administration of Siberia was 
 discussed and finally confirmed in 1822. The realization 
 of this project naturally rendered superfluous the existence 
 of the Committee and it was, therefore, transformed into 
 a Special Institution for investigating Siberian law-pro- 
 jects and reports. In 1838 this Institution was closed, 
 but was reestablished in 1852, when a new census of 
 the Siberian provinces and territories was undertaken, 
 and it continued to represent the higher debating insti- 
 tution on all matters relating to Siberia, until 1864, 
 when it was annexed to the Committee of Ministers. 
 
 66 
 
VARIOUS COMMITTEES. 
 
 A similar Committee existed for the Caucasus, 
 (1840-1882). 
 
 The revolts in Poland, of 1830 and 1863, caused two 
 Committees to be opened: a Western Committee in 
 1831, and a Committee on the higher executive affairs 
 of the kingdom of Poland. The first was convoked 
 for the purpose of finding means to submit the Polish 
 provinces annexed to Russia to the administrative order 
 existing in the other Russian provinces)). It was closed 
 in 1848 and reopened for 2 years at the end of 1862. The 
 second Committee was established in 1864 and in 1881 its 
 functions were transferred to the Committee of Ministers. 
 
 Finally, there are the Committees that are called in 
 extraordinary cases of emergency, as the one of 1891, 
 during the general bad harvest, presided over by the 
 Heir-Apparent-Cesarevitch, the present reigning Emperor 
 Nicholas II. Of the functions of this Committee we 
 shall have occasion to speak in the chapter on public 
 alimentation. 
 
 In the general review of the organs of supreme 
 administration mention has been made of other existing de- 
 liberative institutions for the Monarch's use, as, for instance, 
 the Board of Trustees, the Council of War, the Council 
 of the Admirality, and the Committee of Civil Service and 
 Awards; but in view of the connection between these 
 institutions and certain special branches of administration, 
 it will be more appropriate to speak of them, when re- 
 viewing the Ministries and other executive organs, which 
 are placed at the head of these branches of administration. 
 
 - 67 s* 
 
THE RULING SENATE. 
 
 5. The Ruling- Senate. 
 
 The Ruling Senate is a supreme institution, to which 
 all departments and official functions of the Empire are 
 subordinate, with exception of the higher State institutions, 
 such as the Council of State, the Committee of Ministers, 
 etc. It has no special President, as the person of His 
 IMPERIAL MAJESTY is supposed to preside over it. Hence 
 the power of the Senate is limited solely by the power 
 of the Sovereign. The Senate's orders, Ukasy, are obeyed 
 by all subordinate persons and offices of administration in 
 the same way as the personal orders, Ukasy, of the 
 Sovereign. The explanation of this importance of the 
 Senate is to be found in its history. 
 
 The Senate was established, on February 22 nd , 1711, 
 by the Emperor Peter the Great, who, on leaving for the 
 Turkish war, deemed it necessary to create a superior 
 state institution with extraordinary and extensive power. 
 
 All branches of the administration, supreme super- 
 vision over the execution of justice, and superior power 
 and legislative initiative were concentrated in the Senate. 
 
 Subsequently, under Peter the Great's successors the 
 powers of the Senate were restricted by two institutions. 
 following closely upon each other, namely, the Privy 
 Council in the reigns of Catherine I and Peter II, and 
 the Cabinet in the time of Anna loannovna. But on 
 the accession of the great Reformer's daughter, the Em- 
 press Elisaveta Petrovna, the Senate recovered its former 
 significance, which, with the single exclusion of legisla- 
 tive matters, it retained during the ensuing reigns. When 
 
 68 
 
THE RULING SENATE. 
 
 the Ministries were formed in 1802, the Senate neces- 
 sarily lost a considerable share of influence over the 
 various branches of State administration. Its participation 
 in the executive functions of the Government was also 
 greatly curtailed on the establishment of the Committee 
 of Ministers by the Emperor Alexander the Blessed in 
 the same year (1802). Nevertheless, the Senate has 
 retained its essential rights and duties in State admini- 
 stration down to the present day, and continues to con- 
 stitute the high Court of Justice for the Empire. Peter 
 the Great established the post of Attorney General in 
 the Senate, with the intention, that it should form the 
 connecting link between the Senate and the Sovereign. 
 It was named by Peter I The Tsar's eye in the affairs 
 of State. The Attorney Genera) was invested in the 
 reign of Catherine II with great power, Prince Viazemsky, 
 who held the post, concentrating in his hands many 
 of the functions of the central administration. On 
 the establishment of the various Ministries, the office 
 of Attorney General was transferred to the Minister of 
 Justice, who became responsible for the legality of the 
 decisions, rendered by the Senate, and the accuracy of 
 its proceedings. 
 
 At present the Ruling Senate is composed of eight 
 Departments, two of which are Courts of Cassation, (one 
 -criminal and the other civil), and one the Department of 
 Heraldry. These Departments, irrespective of their separate 
 functions, also act together in Plenary Meetings and 
 Sessions. According to law, as was mentioned above, the 
 person of His IMPERIAL MAJESTY may alone preside over 
 
 69 
 
THE RULING SENATE. 
 
 the Senate. There is therefore no president in the I st De- 
 partment, which has to deal with the more important 
 class of questions, while in all the others the chair is 
 taken by a Senator, specially appointed by Supreme 
 command. The Ministers or their assistants may be 
 invited to attend at the sittings of the Senate in cases 
 of certain importance. In each Department the proper 
 transaction of business is superintended by a legal officer 
 or Ober-Procuror, who in the Department of Heraldry 
 bears the title of Master of Heraldry. The Ober-Procuror 
 has charge of the chancery of his Department and is 
 directly responsible to the Minister of Justice. 
 
 The competence of the Ruling Senate is of an ex- 
 tremely varied character. The jurisdiction of the I st De- 
 partment, which affords the most striking instance in 
 this respect, extends to the promulgation and elucidation 
 of laws; the supervision over all offices of the central and 
 local administration, and the determination of all disputes 
 and conflicts between them; the indictment of higher 
 officials; and to matters of so-called administrative justice, 
 relating to complaints of the illegality of orders, emana- 
 ting from different administrative departments and persons 
 in authority not excepting even the Ministers themselves. 
 The 2 nd Department elucidates the meaning of regula- 
 tions concerning the peasants, and investigates complaints, 
 made against peasant institutions in the provinces. The 
 Department of Heraldry manages all matters, relating to 
 the rights of the nobles and honorary citizens. It is 
 also charged with the duty of composing coats of arms 
 and of compiling the Armorial Register of the nobility. 
 
 - 70 - 
 
THE RULING SENATE. 
 
 The 3 rd , 4 th and 5 th Departments of the Senate un- 
 dertake the management of judicial, civil and criminal 
 affairs in places, where the new judicial institutions have 
 not yet been introduced, as for example, Siberia and Toor- 
 kistan. These Departments have, furthermore, the con- 
 duct of special matters, relating to land surveying, and 
 commercial lawsuits, brought before the Senate from the 
 commercial Courts. 
 
 Judicial cases coming before the Senate from places, 
 enjoying the operation of the new judicial institutions, 
 formed by the law of November 2o th , 1864, are sub- 
 ject to the jurisdiction of the two Departments of Cas- 
 sation, civil and criminal respectively, each Department 
 being subdivided into several independent sections. 
 
 In regard to the General Assemblies of the Ruling 
 Senate, it must be mentioned, that the I st and 2 nd Assem- 
 blies examine exclusively matters, laid before them either 
 by Supreme command, or by the Departments, in con- 
 sequence of a divisions of opinion amongst the sena- 
 tors, or by means of protest on the part of the Ober- 
 Procurors. 
 
 The General Assemblies, whether of the Depart- 
 ments of Cassation only, or of the I st Department and 
 Departments of Cassation, are convoked for the de- 
 cision of questions of a judicial -administrative charac- 
 ter, specially subject to their jurisdiction. In addition 
 to these, the more important matters, connected with 
 the control over courts of law and judicial administra- 
 tion, are distributed between the united sessions of the 
 I st Department with the two Departments of Cassation, 
 
THE HOLY RULING SYNOD. 
 
 and the so-called High Court of Discipline. Finally, 
 a special Court is formed in the Senate consisting of 
 six senators and four class representatives for the trial of 
 crimes against the State. 
 
 6. The Holy Ruling Synod. 
 
 The general significance of the Synod, which was 
 established by Peter the Great in 1721, is set forth in 
 the fundamental laws, which state that in church admi- 
 nistration the autocratic power acts through the medium 
 of the Holy Synod. 
 
 Thus the rights of supreme power within the sphere 
 of church administration are determined by the com- 
 petency of the Synod. In order to form a correct idea 
 of the jurisdiction of the Synod it must be borne in 
 mind, that the Russian Church is a local one and only 
 a part of the Ecumenical Orthodox Church; and is, there- 
 fore subject to the dogmas and regulations of the Ecu-' 
 menical councils. The Synod has taken the place of 
 the former Patriarch of Russia as the chief administra- 
 tion of the Russian Church, and, consequently, only mat- 
 ters of church administration come under its jurisdiction. 
 The Synod is, therefore, in the first place, the guardian of 
 the purity of faith; it sees, that all the members of 
 the clergy perform their duties in the spirit of Orthodoxy; 
 it concerns itself with the extermination of dissent and 
 superstition, and superintends the publication of religious 
 books. In the second place, the Synod takes charge of 
 public religious education and the propagation of Ortho- 
 
 72 
 
THE HOLY RULING SYNOD. 
 
 doxy; it also has control over religious educational estab- 
 lishments, and, since 1885, over church parish schools 
 for laymen. Thirdly, the Synod is the highest court for 
 all ecclesiastical affairs whether administrative or judicial; 
 and it decides all matters, relating to marriage. 
 
 The Synod is composed of permanent members with 
 the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg as their president, 
 and temporary members, who are bishops, appointed to 
 attend the Synod periodically. The Procurer General, 
 or Attorney General, of the Synod has the power of a 
 Minister in matters of church administration, and serves 
 as the medium between the Synod and all other state 
 institutions. 
 
 The Procurer General has an assistant and a chan- 
 cery, or office. He is also at the head of a number of 
 other establishments, namely: I. the Committee of Spi- 
 ritual Education, which governs the institutions of religious 
 instruction; 2. the Council for Parish Schools, belonging to 
 the Church; 3. the Censorship of religious subjects; and 
 4. the Economical Department and Control of special 
 funds of the Synod. 
 
 Besides St. Petersburg, the Synod has two other 
 offices, one for Moscow, and the other for Georgia 
 Imeritia. 
 
 73 
 
HISTORY OF THE MINISTRIES. 
 
 b) THE MINISTRIES. 
 a) Their history. 
 
 The history of the Ministries begins only in the 
 XIX century. As central institutions, entrusted gene- 
 rally with the management of all parts of the admini- 
 stration, their place was previously filled in Russian hi- 
 story by the Prikazy, or Offices of the Moskow period, 
 and the Boards, Kollegii, of Peter the Great. 
 
 1. The Offices, or Prikazy, were first established in 
 Moscow when the Grand Dukes, who were engaged 
 in gradually uniting the territories of Russia under one 
 ruler, found it impossible, even in the chief town, to al- 
 tend personally to all the duties of State, so complica- 
 ted had those duties become. It was, therefore, found 
 necessary to exclude certain matters from their personal 
 superintendence, and, according to the literal meaning of 
 the word prilcaz, to order them to be undertaken by 
 servitors of the Crown. Hence the name of prikaz, 
 order or command*, applied to the various Offices 
 or duties, thus laid upon different members of the Tsar's 
 Court. The number of these Offices increased with the 
 growth of the Tsar's power and splendour; but at that 
 time they had no definite limits of jurisdiction, as there 
 was no exact notion of the objects of power. This is 
 evident from their very organization. They were found- 
 ed on considerations, not of state utility, but of tem- 
 porary expediency. In the first place, these Offices ad- 
 ministered general state affairs as well as the private af- 
 fairs of the Tsar. For instance, the Office of Secret 
 
 74 
 
HISTORY OF THC MINISTRIES. 
 
 Affairs which was established for superintending the 
 operation of the entire administration, also took charge 
 of the Tsar's Hunt. Out of the total of 36 Offices un- 
 der Alexey Mikhailovitch, 13 of them, more than one third,, 
 superinterded the Tsar's Court. The next largest num- 
 ber of Offices were occupied with matters of War and 
 Finance, namely 9 and 5 respectively, as the principal 
 aims of the State at that time were defence against its 
 foes, and the accumulation of material resources. There 
 were no Offices for the care of public education, or the 
 economical welfare of the population. 
 
 2. Boards, or Kollegii. Peter the Great turned to the we- 
 stern nations for models of better administration, and found 
 a superior kind of organization in the system of Boards. 
 Originally 10 Boards were established, embracing all 
 parts of the administration; and these were finally in- 
 creased to 12. At the head of all of them was placed 
 the Senate, which, however, could not in reality serve 
 as an organ of general supervision, being in itself a part 
 of the administration, although of the higher rank. 
 
 At first this circumstance led to no inconveniences, 
 as Peter the Gteat himself, with his unflagging energy r 
 performed the duties of President of the Senate, and 
 personally directed all its functions. Subsequently, po- 
 litical complications, wars, etc. absorbed the Emperor's 
 attention, and diverted it from the business of the Se- 
 nate, which thus deprived the latter of the necessary 
 guidance, and soon exposed the unfavourable side of its 
 organization. It was owing to this, that Peter I entrust- 
 ed the most important affairs of State not to the Se- 
 
 75 
 
HISTORY OF THE MINISTRIES. 
 
 nate, but to statesmen, enjoying his special confidence. 
 I1 est tres remarquable, wrote Minich, que ce grand 
 Prince, dont la penetration et les maximes d'Etat etaient 
 des plus remarquables, avait toujours en vue le grand 
 vide, qu'il y a entre la souverainete du Monarque de la 
 Russie et I'autorite de Senat, et c'est par cette raison 
 qu'il choisissait toujours une personne, capable de diriger 
 le Senat et de gouverner, surtout dans son absence, 
 tout 1'Empire.)) 
 
 These words contain the principal reason for the 
 appointment in 1722 of a Procurer-General, or Attorney 
 general, to the Senate, with subordinate Attorneys. In 
 all more important affairs Peter the Great relied solely 
 upon the Procwror-General and communicated with the 
 Senate or the Boards only through him. 
 
 The defects of the Board system lay partly in the 
 practical absence at that time of all organized local ad- 
 ministration, although Peter the Great had undertaken 
 its reformation. The Boards, i. e. the central institu- 
 tions, had, therefore, to take upon themselves all the de- 
 tails of local administration, which was naturally a task 
 far exceeding their powers. Furthermore, the Boards 
 in theory guaranteed the regular operation of the admi- 
 nistration; but as all their best energies were employed 
 by the army, the personal staff of the civil administra- 
 tion was very deficient. Minich, in a letter to the Em- 
 press Catherine II, stated openly that the vast Empire 
 of Russia has long been governed by the secretaries 
 and head secretaries and not by either the president of 
 the Boards or the councillors. 
 
 76 
 
HISTORY OF THE MINISTRIES. 
 
 During the reigns of Peter the Great's successors,, 
 down to the time of Alexander I, no consecutive reor- 
 ganization was undertaken ; but in all the alterations in- 
 troduced subsequently, there is the tendency to replace 
 the Boards by institutions, in which the power should 
 be centered in one person. Catherine II, in particular, 
 enlarged and strengthened the power of the Procuror- 
 General, by concentrating in his hands all branches of 
 internal administration, while the Senate, divided into 
 Department, was entirely excluded from any active par- 
 ticipation. 
 
 Moreover, Catherine II, from the very beginning 
 of her reign, had the intention of reorganizing local 
 administration. The whole said she cannot be good,, 
 if the parts are in disorder. Consequently, in 1775 
 appeared the new provincial organization, which trans- 
 ferred all the Boards (with the exception of the Boards 
 of war, foreign affairs and the admiralty) to the pro- 
 vinces under the name of palaty, etc.; and, by the end 
 of her reign, the central Boards practically ceased to 
 exist. The entire adminisration was entrusted to sepa- 
 rate persons. 
 
 The Emperor Paul I, Catherine II's successor, re- 
 turned to the system of Board administration. Certain 
 of the former Boards were in fact reestablished, but at 
 the head of each was placed a chief Director with autho- 
 rity over the president and councillors. This functionary 
 alone reported to the Sovereign and announced the Su- 
 preme orders to the Board. On che other hand, the 
 power of the Procwror-General grew still greater, al- 
 
HISTORY OF THE MINISTRIES. 
 
 though the financial business was taken from him and 
 submitted to the State Treasurer Count Vassilief, who 
 may thus be considered to have been the first Minister 
 of Finance. 
 
 Shortly afterwards, a special institution for commu- 
 nication by water was established under Count Sivers. 
 At length, in 1797, the first Ministry, that of the Appa- 
 nages, was founded, followed in 1800 by the Ministry 
 of Commerce. 
 
 3. The Ministries. The organization of the Ministries 
 was completed in rhe reign of the Emperor Alexander I; 
 but in 1802 the first institutions of this kind still bore 
 the characteristics of a compromise between the old and 
 the new systems of administration. In fact their were no 
 Ministries, but only Ministers, amongst whom the duties 
 of all the Boards were distributed. The Ministers had the 
 right of reporting personally to the Sovereign on all most 
 important matters, but not without the consent of the 
 other Ministers. Superior control over the Ministries was 
 entrusted to the Senate, which examined the accounts 
 of the Ministers and reported on them to the Sovereign. 
 
 The principal object of the establishment of the 
 Ministries is clearly stated in the Manifesto of February 
 10, 1802, which says: We have found it necessary to 
 separate the affairs of State into different sections, ac- 
 cording to their natural connexion.)) Another object to 
 be attained was expressed by Alexander I in a letter to 
 Labarp, viz: The measure we have discussed so often 
 is in full operation, the Ministry is organized, and has 
 been going on well for more than a month. Affairs 
 
 78 
 
THE PRESENT ORGANIZATION OF MINISTRIES. 
 
 have thereby acquired greater lucidity and method, and, 
 whenever anything goes wrong, I know immediately 
 whom to blame. 
 
 Thus, on the one hand an effort was made to ob- 
 tain an effective distribution of business and on the other, 
 to invest the organs of administration with responsibility. 
 
 In 1803, Prince Kotchoobey, the Minister of Inte- 
 rior, presented a report to the Sovereign, pointing out 
 the inconvenience of retaining the Boards on account 
 of their slowness of procedure, insufficient distribution of 
 labour, redundance of formality, and lack of responsibility. 
 This report led to the abolition of all the Boards, ex- 
 cept those of War, Marine, and Foreign Affairs, and the 
 substitution in their place of departments, or institutions 
 of a bureaucratic nature. 
 
 In i Si i a reorganization of the Ministries was ef- 
 fected on the plan of Count Speransky, which obtains 
 down to the present day. 
 
 b) The present organization of Ministries. 
 
 Ministries are institutions, by means of which the 
 Supreme power operates in executive order. Consequently 
 the Ministries in their action are directly subordinate to 
 the Monarch, who conducts through them the whole 
 .administration. 
 
 In this sense the Ministries constitute the organs 
 of Supreme government. But, at the same time, they 
 enjoy very extensive independent authority and stand 
 together with the Senate at the head of the whole sub- 
 ordinate administration. 
 
 79 
 
THE PRESENT ORGANIZATION OF MINISTRIES. 
 
 They enforce the execution of laws and orders by 
 subordinate institutions, supervise the action of such in- 
 stitutions, and decide, by virtue of the law, all difficulties 
 and doubts, arising in the administration. 
 
 In special cases, in which the existing laws are found 
 to be inadequate, the Ministers report to the Emperor 
 and solicit his decision. But in cases, not admitting of 
 delay, they may even exceed the limits of their legal 
 authority, and are only bound subsequently to prove the 
 urgency of the measures adopted. 
 
 The legislation of late years has more and more 
 frequently left it to Ministers to issue orders not only 
 for the fulfilment of existing laws, but also for their 
 amplification, as the law determines only general prin- 
 ciples, and necessitates the elaboration of details by means 
 of Ministerial Circulars. 
 
 Each Minister, on taking posession of his post, is 
 required to revise his Ministry, and submit to the Em- 
 peror a plan of improvements in the department con- 
 fided to his care, and, subsequently, he must report from 
 time to time on the extent to which the plan indicated 
 has been carried out. In addition to this, an annual 
 report must be drawn up in each Ministry, and examined 
 first by a special commission, and then by the Council of 
 Ministers. Pecuniary Accounts are audited and verified 
 by a special institution, called the State Comptrol. 
 
 The examination of reports may lead to a Minister 
 being held responsible for any illegal action on his part 
 thereby disclosed. 
 
 Moreover, the question of responsibility may arise 
 
 80 
 
THE PRESENT ORGANIZATION OF MINISTRIES. 
 
 on the complaint of private persons, or in consequence 
 of charges brought forward by the local authorities, etc. 
 But all declarations in respect of the illegal or irregular 
 action of Ministers cannot be proceeded with further 
 without the approval of the Emperor. Ministers are 
 responsible r stly for exceeding their authority, and 2 nily 
 for inaction. 
 
 Transgression of authority, however, is not punish- 
 able, if the Minister can prove the urgency of the extra- 
 ordinary measures adopted by him. 
 
 Even a law that is harmful, although it may have 
 been submitted by a Minister, does not entail the res- 
 ponsibility of the Minister after it has been accepted and 
 confirmed in due course of legislation, as this confirma- 
 tion, of itself, removes such responsibility. Lastly, a 
 Minister is not responsible for any executive measure 
 proposed by him, if it be accepted by the Senate, or 
 approved by the Emperor, unless he shall have wilfully 
 misled the Senate or the Sovereign power. 
 
 The rights accorded to Ministers, bring them into 
 contact with all the institutions of the State legislative, 
 judicial and executive. 
 
 In the first place, Ministers may not of themselves issue 
 any new law; they can only give notice of the necessity 
 of a new law, or the repeal of any existing law. In the 
 next place, as members of the State Council, Ministers 
 participate in the discussion of legislative projects; and 
 lastly, they enjoy the right, equally with other high 
 dignitaries, of announcing verbal decrees of the Sovereign. 
 Such are their relations to the legislative authorities. 
 
 81 6 
 
THE PRESENT ORGANIZATION OF MINISTRIES. 
 
 In principle Ministers may not try any person, or 
 impose punishment. But in detail this general rule is 
 subject to certain material exceptions. Thus, numerous 
 violations of the customs, revenues and other regulations 
 are punished by administrative authority. Each institu- 
 tion possesses also important disciplinary powers in re- 
 spect to its employes. The most extensive powers of 
 the Ministers are of course those appertaining to them 
 as executive organs, in view of the fact, that the organi- 
 zation of the higher State adminisiration, according to 
 the plan of Count Speransky, was based on the principle 
 of a division of authority legislative, judicial and exe- 
 cutive, and the latter confided to the Ministries. 
 
 At the same time, in the sphere of administation, 
 in the strict sense of the word, certain rights appertain 
 to the Committee of Ministers and the Senate. These 
 institutions take cognizance of such cases, the decision 
 of which exceeds the authority of individual Ministers. 
 Certain of these cases may be decided by virtue of the 
 law, as, for instance, when a uniform order is required 
 from all the Ministries simultaneously. Such a measure 
 manifestly exceeds the authority of one Minister, and 
 must be issued through the Senate. But cases occur in 
 which the laws are inadequate, and an Imperial decree 
 is then necessary. Such cases come before the Com- 
 mittee of Ministers, and are thence submitted to the 
 Emperor. 
 
 There are several Ministries, and amongst them the 
 whole task of administration is divided. At the sarne 
 time all the Ministries constitute one administration, al- 
 
 82 
 
THE PRESENT ORGANIZATION OF MINISTRIES. 
 
 though no Minister may encroach upon the jurisdiction 
 of another. Unity among the Ministries is maintained 
 by the Sovereign power, and the means for this purpose, 
 it will be remembered, is the institution of the Council 
 of Ministers. Each Minister is entrusted with a certain 
 branch of administration, and he can demand from his 
 subordinates precise and unquestioned obedience in car- 
 rying out his orders. But such compliance should not 
 be merely passive, but within the limits of the law. 
 Every official, on receiving instructions from a Minister, 
 revoking any law whatsoever, is bound to notify the 
 Minister to that effect and if the latter repeat the order, 
 the matter must be submitted to the Senate. This course 
 is followed even in cases, in which a Minister announces 
 a verbal Imperial decree in disagreement with existing 
 laws. Furthermore, persons, subordinate to a Minister, 
 are not obliged to execute his instructions, if in substance 
 they belong to the jurisdiction of another Ministry. Such 
 cases have to be submitted for the decision of the latter. 
 
 Ministers are provided with Assistant Ministers, who 
 of themselves, with certain exceptions, do not possess any 
 executive authority, although a Minister may entrust to 
 his Assistant the decision of certain series of questions 
 or the management of any section of the Ministry. 
 During the absence or illness of a Minister, his duties 
 are generally fulfilled by the Assistant. 
 
 A Minister is invested with the power of decision. 
 But before arriving at a decision, each case must be ca- 
 refully discussed and reported. The reporting of cases 
 devolves on the Departments and Chanceries, of which 
 
 83 6* 
 
THE PRESENT ORGANIZATION OF MINISTRIES. 
 
 there are generally several in each Ministry, according to 
 the nature of its business, and the Departments in their 
 turn are subdivided into sections. 
 
 In criticising the organization of the Ministries in i8o2 r 
 Count Speransky observed, inter alia, that with the abo- 
 lition of Boards and their substitution by Departments,, 
 the Ministries lacked a consultative body, which would 
 secure mature deliberation. This want was supplied by 
 Ministerial Councils. 
 
 The Ministerial Council consist of all the Direc- 
 tors of Departments and Chanceries and of persons, spe- 
 cially appointed by Imperial decree. Extraneous indivi- 
 duals, specialists and experts in various matters etc. may 
 also be invited. The Minister presides at the Council 
 and, in his absence, the Assistant Minister. The Coun- 
 cil examines all the most important affairs of the Mini- 
 stry, projects of new laws, yearly budgets, the principal 
 economic regulations, complaints, lodged against officials, 
 the prosecution of offenders etc., and generally all such 
 matters, as the Minister himself may consider it neces- 
 sary to refer to the Council. 
 
 The resolution of the Ministerial Council is not obli- 
 gatory on the Ministers, who may adopt a decision con- 
 trary to the opinion of the Council, but in such a case, in 
 submitting the affairs to the State Council, to the Commit- 
 tee of Ministers etc., a brief statement of the Ministerial 
 Council is annexed. 
 
SEPARATE MINISTRIES. 
 
 c) Separate Ministries. 
 
 In 1802 Ministries were formed, as we have seen, 
 by distributing among them the various Boards, giving 
 over to each Ministry the Board that most resembled 
 it in respect of the objects, for which it was created. 
 In this manner 8 Ministries came into existence, name- 
 ly: of War, of Marine, of Foreign Affairs, of Justice, 
 of Internal Affairs, of Finance, of Commerce and of Pub- 
 lic Education. Later, in 1810, a rearrangement of Mi- 
 nistries was adopted on the plan of Count Speransky, 
 who maintained, that the general grouping of the work 
 of administration should correspond with the division of 
 the laws into Civil and State laws, and the latter into 
 public, external and internal. From the first arise external 
 relations and state defence, from the second public eco- 
 nomy and internal safety. In accordance with this plan 5 
 principal sections of administration were obtained: i, exter- 
 nal relations, 2, external security, 3, internal security, 
 4, Courts of laws and 5, public economy. There were 
 also ecclesiastical matters, which cannot be relegated to 
 any one of these categories. For external relations the 
 Ministry of Foreign Affairs was established, for external 
 security the Ministries of War and of Marine, for in- 
 ternal security the Ministry of Police and for the Courts 
 of law the Ministry of Justice. The most extensive group 
 was that of public economy, to which belonged the Mi- 
 nistries of Public Education and of Finance, the Revision 
 of state accounts, the State Treasury, the supervision over 
 the Ways of Communication, the Posts and the Mini- 
 
 85 
 
SEPARATE MINISTRIES. 
 
 stry of the Interior, under which agriculture, factories 
 and trade were placed. Subsequently, a chief Department 
 for the ecclesiastical affairs of foreign creeds was also 
 added to this Ministry. 
 
 The rearrangement of 1811, however, was not of 
 long duration, and in 1826 the whole internal admini- 
 stration was again divided into 3 groups: i, administra- 
 tion of Justice, 2, receipt and expenditure of state reve- 
 nues and 3, public security and welfare. Each of these 
 groups was entrusted to several Ministries. This division 
 with certain important modifications, however, has sur- 
 vived down to the present time. 
 
 There are 14 Ministries and similar institutions in 
 Russia at present: 
 
 1, The Ministry of the Imperial Court and Appanages. 
 
 2, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 
 
 3, The Ministry of War. 
 
 4, The Ministry of Marine. 
 
 5, The Ministry of Interior. 
 
 6, The Ministry of Justice. 
 
 7, The Ministry of Public Education. 
 
 8, The Ministry of Finance. 
 
 9, The Ministry of Agriculture and State Domains, 
 
 10, The Ministry of Ways of Communication. 
 The following institutions, though not bearing the 
 
 name of Ministries, are yet of a similar nature to them. 
 
 n, The Office of the Orthodox faith (its Chief 
 is the Ober- Procurer of the Holy Synod). 
 
 12, The Special Chancery of His IMPERIAL MAJESTY 
 for the institutions of the Empress Mary. 
 
 86 
 
SEPARATE MINISTRIES. 
 
 5- 1 3, The State Comptrol. 
 
 14, The Head-Office of the State Studs. 
 
 In the course of the present century, besides the 
 above enumerated institutions, there existed in Russia, 
 as mentioned above, a Ministry of Commerce and a 
 State Treasury, subsequently incorporated with the Mi- 
 nistry of Finance; a special Ministry of Police, and a 
 Head-Office for the Church affairs of foreign religions, 
 both now forming a part of the Ministry of Interior. 
 In 1826 the department of the higher police, however, 
 was separated from it and entrusted to the III Section 
 of the Special Chancery of His IMPERIAL MAJESTY, but 
 in 1880, the III Section being abolished, the affairs of 
 the higher police were again transferred back to the 
 Ministry of Interior. From the very beginning of their 
 existence in Russia post institutions formed a separate 
 administration; in 1865 a separate Ministry of Posts and 
 Telegraphs was created, (the telegraphs before that be- 
 longed to the Ministry of Ways of Communication). But 
 in 1868 this Ministry w r as incorporated with the Ministry 
 of Interior; in 1880 it was once more separated from 
 it, forming the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs and 
 Church affairs of foreign religions. This institution 
 existed only till 1881, when it was again incorporated 
 with the Ministry of Interior. The Chief Office of the 
 Appanages was also a separate institution till 1826, when 
 it was joined to the Ministry of the Imperial Court. 
 
 The Ministry of the Court, must be considered apart 
 from the rest, as being under the direct and immediate 
 cognizance of FIis MAJESTY the Emperor. Besides the 
 
 87 
 
THE MINISTRY OF THE IMPERIAL COURT. 
 
 Ministry of the Court, there are 2 Imperial Chanceries, 
 i. e. the Special Chancery of His IMPERIAL MAJESTY, and 
 the Chancery of Petitions presented in the Imperial 
 name. 
 
 We will, therefore, begin with these in describing 
 the organization and province of separate Ministries. 
 
 1. The Ministry of the Imperial Court 
 
 The Ministry of the Court was established in the 
 year 1826, and embraced in one institution all the for- 
 mer separate branches of the Court administration. 
 
 The Ministry of the Court is under the personal 
 cognizance of His MAJESTY the Emperor and, therefore,, 
 renders account of all its affairs to His MAJESTY alone. 
 Consequently, the State Comptrol has no concern with this 
 Ministry, and complaints against it must be brought not 
 before the Senate, but directly before His MAJESTY, through 
 the Chancery of Petitions. 
 
 The Ministry of the Court consists of: I, the Mi- 
 nister himself, 2, an assistant Minister, 3, a Ministerial 
 Council, 4, general sections, 5, special sections, 6, a chap- 
 ter of Imperial orders, and those of the Tsars, and 7, the 
 Chief Department of Appanages. 
 
 The, so-called, general sections of the Ministry com- 
 prise 6 institutions, beginning with the Cabinet of His 
 IMPERIAL MAJESTY, which has under its direction the per- 
 sonal staff and the econominal part of the Ministry, the 
 management of the Altay and Nerchinsk metallurgical 
 Works, the Imperial China and Glass factories, the Eka- 
 terinburg granite Works, and the Principality of Lovitch 
 
 88 
 
THE MINISTRY OF THE IMPERIAL COURT. 
 
 in the Kingdom of Poland; it, furthermore, has custody 
 of the Imperial regalia, the crown jewels, the Generalo- 
 gical Book of the Imperial House, and, in certain cases r 
 the Wills of the Members of the Imperial family. 
 
 The Altay and Nerchinsk Works, under the manage- 
 ment of the Cabinet, are so important in the metallur- 
 gical industry of Russia, that it will not be out of place to 
 say a few words here respecting their origin and production. 
 
 The district of the Altay metallurgical Works com- 
 prises 4 out of the 6 districts of the Province of Tomsk: 
 Kainsk, Barnaul, Kooznetsk and Biesk and also the southern 
 part of the Tomsk district with a population of about 
 560,000 persons. The numerous remains of the mines 
 of the ancient Tchood race long ago indicated the me- 
 tallic wealth of the Altay region, and in fact the name 
 itself signifies golden mountains. The first attempts of 
 the Russians to avail themselves of this wealth date back 
 to the end of the 17 century, but it was only at the 
 beginning of the 18 century that mining in the Al- 
 tay was properly started by Akinfy Demidoff, son of 
 Nikita Demidoff, a Took blacksmith. By Imperial Ukas 
 of I st May, 1747, all the works and mines established 
 by Demidoff in the Altay were placed under the mana- 
 gement of the Cabinet of His MAJESTY, and from that 
 time the work of mining developed very rapidly. Down 
 to the end of the 18 century a large number of new 
 mines were opened and 9 new works were constructed^ 
 At the beginning of the present century 2 more works 
 were started. Nearly all the works of the Altay are 
 engaged in silver smelting, the only exceptions being the 
 
 89 
 
THE MINISTRY OF THE IMPERIAL COURT. 
 
 Tomsk and Goorief Iron foundries and the Suzim Works, 
 which produces copper, as well as silver. 
 
 The chief wealth of the Altay district is silver, of 
 which about 600 poods were smelted there in 1891, or 
 more than 70 per cent of the whole quantity smelted in 
 Russia. In the fifties and sixties-, however, the quan- 
 tity of silver smelted was considerably greater reaching up 
 to one thousand poods per annum. But on the eman- 
 cipation of the local population from compulsory labour 
 at the works, and the exhaustion of the local supply, 
 the production diminished to such an extent, that on 
 May 2O th , 1893, an order was given to close several of 
 the silver smelting works. The output of lead decreas- 
 ed together with that of silver. Formerly the Altay 
 produced up to 100,000 poods of lead, whereas in 1891 
 the output was only 11,000 poods, which still represen- 
 ted about Va of the whole production in Russia. 
 
 The other metals and minerals, obtained in the Al- 
 tay, namely, gold, copper, iron and steel are of less im- 
 portance. 
 
 According to all appearance, the coal industry in 
 this district has also a very brilliant future, if we may 
 judge from the enormous deposits which have been pro- 
 spected in the, so-called, Kooznetsky depression, covering 
 .an area of about 44,000 square versts. The proximity 
 of the iron ore mines to the coalfield justifies the prospect 
 of an extensive development of the iron industry. 
 
 In respect of valuable stones, the Altay region has 
 become famous for its porphyry and jasper of various 
 colours, which, after being polished and cut at the Ko- 
 
 90 
 
THE MINISTRY OF THE IMPERIAL COURT. 
 
 livain polishing Mill, are sent to the Imperial Court at 
 St. Petersburg. 
 
 At the present time in the Altay there are 8 quar- 
 ries at work, producing porphyry, azure and green jas- 
 per, granite, white and different coloured marble, breccia, 
 topaz (rauchtopaz) quartz red. rosecolonred and blue, 
 agate and calcedon. 
 
 As regards the works at Nerchinsk in the Zabykal 
 region, their chief production is also silver and lead. 
 Rumours reaching Moscow of the existence of silver 
 mines along the banks of the rivers Shilka and Arguin, 
 estuaries of the Amoor, Peter the Great sent Greek 
 miners to Siberia; in 1698 they discovered there layers of 
 silver-lead, which they commenced to work, and in 1704 
 the Nerchinsk Silversmelting Works were constructed. 
 In view of the fact, that the country round Zabykal was 
 wild, and inhabited only by nomads, it was necessary to 
 send Russian labourers there and at first the metallurgical 
 industry developed very slowly. But with the opening 
 of new mines the smelting of silver during the period of 
 1763 86 attained 629*72 poods annually, after which 
 time it gradually diminished under the influence of simi- 
 lar conditions to those in the Altay district. At present 
 only 10 mines are being worked and the one smelting 
 works of Krutomorsk turns out about 50 poods of sil- 
 ver per annum. On the other hand, the extraction of 
 gold in the Nerchinsk district is far more considerable, 
 extending to 120 poods annually. The remaining me- 
 tals are the same as in the Altay district, but the pro- 
 duction is less. 
 
 91 
 
THE MINISTRY OF THE IMPERIAL COURT. 
 
 Besides the Cabinet, the general sections of the 
 Ministry of the Court comprise: the Chancery of the 
 Minister, the Control, the Cash department, the Medical 
 Inspection section and General Archives. 
 
 Its special sections or institutions are very numerous. 
 These are: 
 
 T, Section of the Marshal of the Court, for the 
 provisioning of the Imperial Court and the arrangement 
 of receptions. 
 
 2, Expedition of Ceremonies. 
 
 3, Chancery of HER IMPERIAL MAJESTY the Empress. 
 
 4, The clergy of the Court under the direction of 
 the Protopresbyter of the Cathedral of the Imperial Winter 
 Palace and the Cathedral of Annunciation in Moscow. 
 
 5, The Court choristers. 
 
 6, The private library of His IMPERIAL MAJESTY. 
 
 7, The Imperial Hermitage and its Museum of Arts. 
 
 8, The Imperial Academy of Arts, founded in 1757, 
 consisting of 2 sections, one for painting and sculpture, 
 the other for architecture. Besides preparing artists, the 
 Academy holds periodical exhibitions of pictures and pos- 
 sesses a permanent art museum. 
 
 9, The Imperial Archaeological Commission, which 
 supervises all archaeological research in Russia. 
 
 10, Direction of the Imperial Theatres in St. Pe 
 tersburg and Moscow. 
 
 11, The Imperial band of Musicians. 
 
 12, The Imperial Stables. 
 
 13, The Imperial Hunt. 
 
 92 
 
THE MINISTRY OF THE IMPERIAL COURT. 
 
 14, The electrotechnical section, superintending the 
 lighting of the palaces etc. and 
 
 15, The Corps of Court Grenadiers, instituted for 
 distinguishing and rewarding meritorious soldiers. These 
 grenadiers perform sentinel duty at certain monuments 
 and in the palaces etc. 
 
 Among the special institutions of the Court Ministry 
 must also be reckoned the Chancery of the ((General on 
 duty near the person of His MAJESTY)), and the palace 
 police under his direction, also the whole administration 
 of the Imperial palaces and all the palaces of Their Im- 
 perial Highnesses the Grand Dukes and Grand Duchesses. 
 
 The chapter of orders is under the direction of the 
 Chancellor of Orders the Minister of the Imperial Court ? 
 and includes the Grand Master of Ceremonies and the 
 Chancery. Temporary assemblies of knights of Orders, 
 under the designation of knights' Dooma, are also inclu- 
 ded in the chapter of orders. These assemblies are com- 
 posed of several knights of an order, under the presi- 
 dency of the senior member, who meet to discuss ques- 
 tions, respecting the bestowal of certain orders for special 
 merits, as prescribed by the statutes. The resolution of 
 the assembly of knights is submitted for Imperial confir- 
 mation by the Chancellor of Orders. 
 
 In Russia there are 8 orders, viz: 
 
 1, The Order of St. Andrew the Apostle establish- 
 ed by Peter the Great in 1698 in honour of St. An- 
 drew the Apostle, <who took the first steps towards en- 
 lightening our domains by baptism. 
 
 2, The Order of St. Catherine, or of liberation (for 
 
 93 - 
 
THE MINISTRY OF THE IMPERIAL COURT. 
 
 females). This order was founded in memory of the 
 delivery in 1711 of the Russian army from danger du- 
 ring the Proot campaign, when, surrounded by the ene- 
 my 10 times more powerful, the Empress Catherine I, 
 by her presence sustained and encouraged both the ar- 
 my and the Tsar. The order was established on No- 
 vember 24, 1714, and consists of 2 grades, each com- 
 posed of: 12 Ladies of the Larger Cross (besides mem- 
 bers of the Imperial House and of the other reigning 
 families) and 94 Ladies of the Smaller Cross. The Chief 
 of this Order is HER MAJESTY the Empress, remaining 
 so during the course of her whole life, even in the event 
 of widowhood. The title of namiestnitsa, or Deaconess 
 of this Order, is hdd by the Wife of the Heir-Apparent 
 or by the Empress herself, if the Dowager Empress is 
 the chief of the Order. 
 
 3, The Order of St. Alexander Nefsky. In 1724, 
 when the relics of St. Alexander Nefsky were transport- 
 ed from the town of Vladimir to St Petersburg, Peter 
 the Great intended to establish an order of the name of 
 that conqueror of the Swedes, but died before car- 
 rying out his intention. The Order was established in 
 1725 by his wife, Catherine I, in memory of her hus- 
 band, and was first granted on May 21, 1725 to Charles 
 Frederick Duke of Schleswig-Holstein on his marriage 
 with the Cesarevna Anna Petrovna. 
 
 4, The Order of the White Eagle. This is one of 
 the oldest Polish Orders, its foundation reaching back 
 to 1325 in the reign of King Vladislaf the Short. The 
 Emperor Alexander I, on the annexation of the kingdom 
 
 94 
 
THE MINISTRY OF THE IMPERIAL COURT. 
 
 of Poland ro Russia, used to grant this Order to natives 
 of Poland, but on November 17, 1831, the Emperor 
 Nicholas I ordered it to be added to the list of Russian 
 Orders. 
 
 5, The Military Order of St. George the Martyr and 
 Victor, founded exclusively for the recognition of mili- 
 tary services on November 26, 1769, by the Empress 
 Catherine II. It has 4 grades, besides special badges of 
 distinction for privates, of which there are also 4 grades. 
 
 In addition, generals, staff-officers, and subaltern are 
 presented with gold sabres and swords with the inscrip- 
 tion for bravery; these weapons, when conferred on 
 generals, are ornamented with diamonds. 
 
 6, The Order of St. Vladimir, co-equal with the 
 Apostles, awarded in recognition of special services ren- 
 dered to the State. It was founded in commemoration 
 of 20 years' reign of the Empress Catherine II in ho- 
 nour of the Grand Duke Vladimir, Saint and co-equal 
 with the Apostles, who had undertaken so much labour 
 for the enlightenment of Russia by means of the Holy 
 baptism.)) Has 4 grades. 
 
 7, The Order of St. Anne was established by the 
 reigning Duke Charles Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein 
 in 1735, in memory of his deceased wife Anna Petrovna. 
 Since the arrival in 1742 of Peter III, Duke of Schleswig- 
 Holstein (grand-son to Peter the Great) in Russia, the 
 Order of St. Anne used to be granted by the Russian 
 Sovereigns, and in 1797 the Emperor Paul I had it 
 added to the list of Russian Orders. It has 3 grades 
 and one besides that is worn on the sword with the 
 
 95 
 
THE MINISTRY OF THE IMPERIAL COURT. 
 
 inscription for bravery on the hilt," and a sword knot 
 of the ribbon of the Order of St. Anne; this Order has, 
 moreover, a special badge of distinction for soldiers. 
 
 8, The Order of Stanislaf was founded on May 7, 
 1765, by the King of Poland Stanislaf- August (Ponia- 
 tovsky) in honour of his patron saint. On the annexa- 
 tion of the Kingdom of Poland to Russia, the Emperor 
 Alexander I used to bestow this order upon natives of 
 Poland and subsequently, on November 17, 1831, it was 
 added by the Emperor Nicholas I to the list of Russian 
 Orders. Has 3 grades. 
 
 There are also badges of distinction for irreproachable 
 service, military medals for saving life, etc. 
 
 There exists, besides, the Badge of the Red Cross, 
 established on February 19, 1878. It is bestowed upon 
 females, who have devoted themselves to the care of 
 wounded and sick soldiers, and is also granted for ren- 
 dering special services to the wounded and sick to persons 
 who are known to be of high moral qualities. There 
 are 2 grades, both granted by the Empress herself, with 
 the sanction of the Emperor. 
 
 The Chief Direction of Appanages (formerly Depart- 
 ment) was established as far back as 1797, simultaneous- 
 ly with the promulgation of the institutions concerning 
 the Imperial family. 
 
 The Department of Appanages was originally placed 
 under the direction of a special Minister, but in 1826 
 it became subordinate to the Minister of the Court, who, 
 therefore, bears the title of Minister of Appanages. At 
 the present time the Department has been transformed 
 
THE SPECIAL CHANCERY OF HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR. 
 
 into the Chief Direction of Appanages, which has under 
 its management all the appanage estates and also the 
 estates of the Emperor, several of the palaces and the 
 Imperial stone-polishing factory. 
 
 Eleven local appanage districts have been established 
 under the management of directors. But several estates 
 (Livadia, Murgab, Massandra etc.) are placed under spe- 
 cial managers, directly subordinate to the Chief Direction. 
 
 2- The Special Chancery of His Majesty the Emperor. 
 
 This Chancery, established as far back as the reign 
 of Peter the Great, was during the reign of Nicholas I 
 a most complex organization, consisting of 6 Sections, 
 each of which enjoyed the signification of a special Mi- 
 nistry. But since then the staff of the Chancery has 
 gradually diminished: the II Section has been converted 
 into the Codification section of the Council of State; the 
 III Section, which supervised the higher police, has been 
 incorporated with the Ministry of the Interior; the IV 
 Section was formed into a special Chancery for the in- 
 stitutions of the Empress Mary; the V Section was trans- 
 formed into the Ministry of State Domains, and the VI 
 Section, relating to the Caucasus, has been entirely abol- 
 ished. There 'only remains, therefore, the I Section, 
 placed under a 'Director with an assistant. 
 
 The Chancery includes an Inspection Section, esta- 
 blished in 1894, which took the place of the Inspection 
 Department of the Civil service, abolished in 1858. The 
 Inspection Section, under the direct management of the 
 assistant Director of the Chancery, watches over the 
 
 97 7 
 
THE SPECIAL CHANCERY OF HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR. 
 
 precise and uniform observance of the Statutes of the 
 Civil Service. Cases of promotion, awards and nomina- 
 tions are submitted to a special Committee of the Civil 
 service, under the presidency of the Chancellor of Rus- 
 sian Orders, the Minister of the Imperial Court; it con- 
 sists of the Manager of the special Chancery of His IM- 
 PERIAL MAJESTY and of 4 other officials, appointed by 
 the Tsar. The Committee is also attended by assistant 
 Ministers on matters, connected with their service. 
 
 In addition to the Inspection Department the special 
 Chancery of His IMPERIAL MAJESTY includes a Committee 
 of Benevolence for deserving Civil officials quitting the 
 service on account of grave and incurable disease. The 
 Committee grants pensions, in addition to the pension 
 from the State, provides pecuniary aid, places orphans in 
 schools and supports a special asylum for widows and 
 orphans of meritorious civil servants. 
 
 The resolutions of the Committee are confirmed 
 by the Emperor. 
 
 It will be appropriate in this place to say a few 
 words respecting the grades or ranks, obtaining in Russia 
 for officials in the service of the Government, seeing 
 that so much depends upon them in regard to the en- 
 joyment of various rights and privileges; a servant of 
 the State without a grade, or occupying a post above 
 his grade, is an exception; and he can enjoy the rights 
 appertaining to such post, only as long as he occupies 
 it; whereas the rights belonging to a grade are perma- 
 nent, and are retained by officials after their retirement 
 
 98 
 
THE SPECIAL CHANCERY OF HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR. 
 
 Persons possessing a grade are eligible for employment 
 in the service of the State. The grades also regulate 
 the class of rewards and orders, and the amount of 
 pension to be received. They determine the civil status 
 of officials and their families; the acquirement of the 
 rank of nobility, of honorary citizenship, and various 
 other honorary titles; the questions of precedence at 
 ceremonials, and of reception at Court, etc. 
 
 The grades, at present existing, were created by the 
 Table of Ranks of Peter the Great, which was promul- 
 gated on the 24 th of January 1722. The total number 
 of civil grades is 14, of which the XIII and XI have 
 since been abolished, thus leaving only 12. In the sub- 
 joined list they are set forth in the order, corresponding 
 with the degrees of rank in the Army, Navy and Im- 
 perial Court: 
 
 99 
 
CIVIL RANKS. 
 
 MILITARY RANKS. 
 
 Chancellor or 
 Actual Privy Councillor of i General Field Marshal, 
 I st class. 
 
 Actual Privy Councillor. 
 
 Privy Councillor. 
 
 Actual Councillor of State. 
 
 Councillor of State. 
 
 Collegiate Councillor. 
 
 Aulic Councillor. 
 Collegiate Assessor. 
 
 Titular Councillor. 
 
 Collegiate Secretary. 
 
 Abolished. 
 
 Provincial Secretary. 
 
 Abolished. 
 
 Collegiate Registrar. 
 100 
 
 General of Infantry. 
 General of Cavalry. 
 General of Artillery. 
 Engineer General. 
 
 Lieutenant General. 
 
 Major General. 
 
 Staff officers. 
 
 Colonel. 
 
 Lieutenant Colonel. 
 
 Subaltern officers. 
 
 Captain. 
 
 Captain of Cavalry. 
 
 Second Captain. 
 Second Captain of CavaL 
 
 Lieutenant. 
 
 Sub-Lieutenant. 
 Cornet. 
 
NAVAL RANKS. 
 
 rd High Admiral. 
 
 miral. 
 
 COURT RANKS. 
 
 Titles 
 
 appertaining to 
 the ranks. 
 
 Lord Grand Chamberlain. 
 Lord High Marshal. 
 Grand Master of the Hounds. 
 Grand Cup-bearer. 
 Grand Equerry. [hold. 
 
 Lord Steward oftheHouse- 
 
 ce-Admiral. 
 
 ar- Admiral. 
 
 Marshal of the Court. 
 
 Equerry. 
 
 Master of the Hounds. 
 
 Grand Master of Ceremonies 
 
 Grand Carver. 
 
 Chamberlain. 
 
 Master of Ceremonies. 
 
 High 
 Excellency. 
 
 Excellency. 
 
 High-born. 
 
 .ptam. 
 
 ister & Commander. J 
 
 Gentleman in waitini 
 
 High 
 
 well-born. 
 
 sutenant. 
 
 Well-born. 
 
 dshipman. 
 
 101 
 
THE CHANCERY OF PETITIONS PRESENTED IN THE IMPERIAL NAME. 
 
 Persons possessing the hereditary titles of Serenis- 
 sime (Counts and Princes) do not enjoy the titles of 
 their official rank. 
 
 3. The Chancery of Petitions presented in the Imperial Name. 
 
 The Chancery of Petitions replaced in 1884 the 
 previously existing Commission of Petitions; and is since 
 1895 P ut un der the direction a special Manager in chief, 
 who receives all petitions and complaints lodged in the 
 Imperial name, to wit: 
 
 1, Complaints respecting final decisions of Depart- 
 ments of the Ruling Senate, with the exception of those 
 of Cassation. They are first laid before a special section 
 in the State Council (vide above page 55); 
 
 2, Complaints against the higher state institutions, 
 Ministers, Governors General, and others. These com- 
 plaints are submitted by the Commander of the Tsar's 
 Military Staff to the Emperor for His MAJESTY'S decision, 
 whether to refer them to the State Council, the Committee 
 of Ministers or the Senate. 
 
 3, Petitions for grace and clemency are referred, 
 with the sanction of the Emperor, to the competent Mi- 
 nisters, and lastly, 
 
 4, Petitions for pardon or mitigation on behalf of 
 persons condemned to punishment or fulfilling their sen- 
 tence, are referred to the Minister of Justice, War or 
 Marine, (according to the nature of the case as far as it 
 relates to the Military or Naval Courts) and these Mi- 
 nisters report thereon to the Emperor. 
 
 102 
 
THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 
 
 The Chancery has moreover a special section for 
 affairs relating to family disagreements. 
 
 I. INTEKNATIONAL RELATIONS. 
 
 (The Ministry of Foreign Affairs.) 
 
 To write the history of Russia's international relations 
 would necessitate the writing of the greater part of the 
 general history of Russia, and that, of course, could not 
 be done in this book. We shall, therefore, restrict our- 
 selves to a few remarks only on the most prominent 
 features of the subject. Thus it is well known, that 
 even prior to the Tartar invasion (XIII century) Russia 
 of the Kief period was apparently in the most active 
 relations with both the East and the West. Kief was a 
 town with a flourishing trade and foreigners flocked to 
 it from all parts. The treaties of the Grand dukes 
 Oleg and Igor with the Greeks (X century) have 
 descended to us as undoubtable proofs of the fact. Vla- 
 dimir, subsequently canonized, was visited by envoys 
 from Germany, Byzantium and the Caliphate with the 
 purpose of inducing him to embrace their faith, and 
 Anna, the daughter of Yaroslaf the Wise, married the 
 French King Henry I (io48). Russia's martial fame 
 had spread far and wide, and Oleg, gaining a famous 
 victory over the Greeks, even nailed his shield to the 
 gates of Constantinople (907). 
 
 Such was the state of things in the south, in Kief; 
 Novgorod, the northern centre of trade and commerce, 
 
 103 
 
THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 
 
 was in equally active relations with north European 
 countries and with the towns of the Hansa union. 
 
 The feuds among the grand dukes and especially 
 the Tartar invasion caused a long interruption in the 
 development of Russia. Her merit, internationally, how- 
 ever was very great: though subjugated by the barba- 
 rians, Russia stopped their further advance westward, 
 whilst the Tartars, after 2 l /2 centuries spent amongst the 
 Russians, lost to a considerable extent their barbarity 
 and were influenced by Russian culture; and this culture 
 at last enabled the Russians to shake off the Tartar yoke. 
 A new state centre was then established in Moscow, which 
 shortly afterwards succeeded in uniting all the scattered 
 territories under its pow 7 er. The new State soon felt 
 the want of friendly connections with its neighbours and 
 in the XV century the interrupted relations were again 
 resumed. 
 
 In 1489 the German Emperor Frederick III sent 
 an envoy to Moscow to solicit for his nephew Albrecht, 
 Margrave of Baden, the hand of one of the daughters 
 of the Grand duke Ivan Vassilievitch. In the same year 
 the Grand Duke of Moscow despatched to Austria a 
 Greek, named Trachaniot, with his comrades to establish 
 free intercourse between the two countries and to in- 
 stitute mutual embassies. 
 
 During the XVI and XVII centuries Russia en- 
 tered into still closer relations with Austria, treaties of 
 alliance being concluded between them to oppose their 
 common foes Poland and Turkey. 
 
 In the north the same motive defence against the 
 
 101 
 
THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 
 
 enemy led to the alliance of Moscow with the Duchy 
 of Prussia and the Markgravate of Brandenburg. 
 
 Unfortunately, at about the same time with the fall 
 of Great Novgorod the former active commercial rela- 
 tions of Novgorod with the Hansa towns came to an end. 
 
 But Moscow concluded treaties not only with her 
 nearest neighbours, and their motive was not always 
 defence. 
 
 In the reign of the Grand duke Vassily Ivanovitch, 
 in the XVI century, certain Dutch merchants received a 
 document, securing to them free trade and passage in 
 the State of Moscow. In 1553 a similar right was 
 granted to Chensler, an English merchant, who estab- 
 lished in England a ((Russian Company)) for trading 
 with the State of Moscow. Dating from this year an 
 animated interchange of embassies between England and 
 Russia sprang up, and in the beginning of the XVII century 
 mention is already made of an English consul in Mos- 
 cow. The English even succeeded in obtaining the 
 right of a trade monopoly in Russia. 
 
 At length, under Peter the Great, Russia becomes 
 an indispensable member of the European international 
 society, and during the XVIII and XIX centuries no 
 international question of any importance is decided with- 
 out her. We shall not speak here of such well known 
 facts, as Russia's participation in the 7 years' war, her 
 victories over the Turks, the great importance she gain- 
 ed on the Balkan peninsula under Catherine II; neither 
 shall we do more than mention the fact of all Europe 
 having been freed from the rule of Napoleon with the 
 
 105 
 
THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 
 
 assistance of Russian forces. \Ye intend but to pause 
 before those principles of international rights, to the de- 
 velopment and solidification of which Russia rendered 
 the most powerful aid. 
 
 One of the most important of these principles is 
 the idea of neutrality. We rind its origin only in the 
 XVI century, though glimpses of it appeared already in 
 the middle ages. 
 
 The rights of neutral states during war were recog- 
 nized only on dry land. At sea neutral trade was 
 subjected to all manner of violence. 
 
 According to a prevailing rule the neutral flag could 
 not protect the enemy's goods, i. e. the latter being sub- 
 ject to confiscation, though on a neutral ship. This 
 circumstance gave the combating nations the possibily 
 of stopping and searching neutral vessels on the open sea. 
 These very constraining measures called forth a reaction, 
 the initiative of which belonged entirely to Russia. On 
 the proposal of the Empress Catherine II in 1780 and 
 subsequently in 1800 were formed the first and second 
 Unions of armed neutrality, which proclaimed, that the 
 enemy's goods on neutral vessels should be considered 
 free, except in cases of military smuggling. Two camps 
 were formed upon this in the views taken of the rights of 
 neutrality, as England and partly the United States continued 
 to keep to the former principles. But on Xapoleon I ap- 
 plying to everything, that bore an English name, the 
 continental system, which was in fact but a consequentive 
 continuation of the former rules, England altered her 
 intention and in 1856 signed in Paris the international 
 
 106 
 
THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 
 
 declaration, by which the Russian international Code 
 of 1780 was raised to the level of an obligatory law. 
 
 Russia has, moreover, the honour of taking the first 
 steps towards the task of the Codification of laws and 
 customs of war. 
 
 Laws, determining the rights and obligations of ar- 
 mies in the enemy's country, were first promulgated in 
 different European States only in the XVI century. 
 They were however, mostly unpractised, having to be- 
 come universally known and based upon common agree- 
 ment before they could be generally recognized. Such 
 an agreement Russia succeeded in attaining in 1868, 
 when, at her instigation, all the civilized States pledged 
 themselves not to use in time of war explosive bullets, 
 weighing less, than was stipulated by the convention 
 (400 gr). 
 
 Later, in 1874, at the Emperor Alexander IPs ini- 
 tiative, a conference was called in Brussels for the codi- 
 fication of all the rules and customs generally of war. 
 The declaration arrived at by the Conference was not 
 confirmed, owing to political complications, yet it should 
 be regarded as the best expression of these rights and 
 customs. 
 
 At the same time the Russian Government made 
 an attempt to lay certain limits even to reprisals, i. e. 
 violence practised in response to the enemy's violence, 
 but often considerably exceeding the boundary of mere 
 retaliation. 
 
 Russia not only advocated humane principles, but 
 practised them. In 1877, when entering upon Turkish ter- 
 
 107 
 
THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
 
 ritory, the Grand Duke Nicholay Nicholaevitch, Comman- 
 der in Chief of the Russian army, declared the peaceful 
 inhabitants and their property inviolable, and threatened 
 with severe retribution all violation of the Geneva con- 
 vention of 1864 respecting the protection of wounded 
 and sick enemies. All through the war the military autho- 
 rities demanded from the inhabitants provisions for the 
 army not otherwise than in return for payment, and not 
 a single case occured of town or place being laid under 
 contribution. Moreover, in spite of all the brutality of 
 the Turks (Bashy-Boozooks and Tcherkesses), the com- 
 manders of the Russian forces could recur to reprisals 
 only with the consent of the Commander in Chief and 
 after informing the Commander of the enemy's army. 
 
 Great principles of philantropy aud civilization go- 
 verned Russian politics in the east. In the well known 
 treaty of Kootchook-Kynardjy, concluded by Catherine II 
 with Turkey in 1774, a whole number of paragraphs refer 
 to the inviolability of the Christian faith, according to 
 which the Russian Ambassador at the Porte has the 
 right of intercession for her own (Turkish) Christian sub- 
 jects. Wishing to put an end to the influence Russia 
 had in the east, the European powers directed their at- 
 tention to this circumstance in Russia's relations with 
 Turkey, and, according to the Paris treaty of 1856, the 
 Turkish subjects were proclaimed enjoying freedom of 
 faith, and the right of other countries to interfer was abro- 
 gated. But shortly afterwards (in 1860 and 1867, owing 
 to insurrections in Syria and Candia) the European po- 
 wers themselves came to the defence of the Christians, 
 
 108 
 
THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 
 
 and thus, through force of circumstances, were obliged 
 to follow in the footsteps of Russia. 
 
 In 1877 78 Russia once more came forward to 
 defend the Christians in the east, as the freedom of 
 faith proclaimed by the Paris treaty in 1856, had not, 
 apparently, taken root in Turkey. The war concluded 
 by the liberation of Bulgaria. 
 
 The European powers at the Berlin Congress of 
 1878, to mar these successes, confirmed, openly already 
 this time, the principle of collective protection in fovour 
 of the Christian Turkish subjects, thereby in fact taking 
 but a step forward in the direction, in which Russia had 
 led the way. 
 
 In the far east -in Central Asia the civilizing in- 
 fluence of Russia is but the continuation of the histori- 
 cal process, which, having begun in European Russia in 
 the XIII century during the Tartar invasion, had as its na- 
 tural issue, when the Tartar Tsardoms of Astrakhan 
 and Kazan and then Siberia were taken the constant 
 assimilation of the heterogeneous tribes, inorodsy, with 
 the Russian population. 
 
 The construction of the Siberian railway, which will 
 remain for ever connected with the name of the late 
 Emperor Alexander III, undoubtedly represents an histo- 
 rical moment of this great process of civilization. 
 
 If England took the first steps towards suppressing 
 the slave trade in the west, in the east that merit is 
 due entirely to Russia. 
 
 In Central Asia the Russian Government is strug- 
 gling down to the present day with unfailing energy 
 
 109 
 
THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 
 
 against the capturing of people and their sale into cap- 
 tivity, by including into the treaties of peace paragraphs, 
 obliging liberation of slaves and abolishing slavery for 
 the future. 
 
 Defence of peace and peaceful trade was the cause 
 that led to the subjection in 1873 of the khanate of 
 Khiva, the inhabitants of which had, during many cen- 
 turies, robbed the Russian caravans and sold the captured 
 traders into slavery. The khanate is put under Russia's 
 protectorate; the Khan calling himself the humble servant 
 of the Emperor of all the Russias. and renouncing all 
 direct relations with the neighbouring states. A greater 
 independence is enjoyed by Bokhara, which, however, 
 is likewise under the protection of Russia, and the 
 Emir of Bokhara, when visiting St. Petersburg in 1893 
 received from the Emperor Alexander III the title of 
 serenissime. 
 
 The peaceful policy of Russia, which was formerly 
 regarded perhaps with suspicion by some of the Euro- 
 pean powers, was in the past reign admitted by all. A 
 month after his accession, Alexander III declared to the 
 foreign powers his intention to guard the general peace, 
 and to apply himself above everything else to the busi- 
 ness of internal state development. Only the duty of 
 defending her honour, said the despatch, can divert Russia 
 from this work. 
 
 The reign of Alexander III, said the Marquis of 
 Salisbury, about a month after the death of that monarch, 
 in addressing a meeting of the National Union of Con- 
 servative and Constitutional Associations, has not been 
 
 ._ no _ 
 
THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 
 
 a long one, and during I think I may say the greater 
 part of it I was in a position to appreciate the working 
 of his character and the motive of his acts. Beginning, 
 as I confess I did, with some doubt of the attitude he 
 would assume, the force of facts and of constant expe- 
 rience strongly convinced me, long before my official 
 connection with the Foreign Office had terminated, that 
 Europe owed to him a debt, which it was difficult to 
 express, for the peace which his restraint and his Chri- 
 stian character had secured to us. He has left behind 
 him a record for which all nations are bound to be gra- 
 t&ful, and which our future rulers in all lands, whether 
 monarchical or popular will do well to study and to 
 follow.)) 
 
 It is hardly necessary to mention that Russia takes 
 part in mostly all the conventions/ bearing an interna- 
 tional character. These are, firstly, the Geneva convention 
 of 1864 for the protection of wounded and sick soldiers 
 and the thence resulting institution in Russia, as in other 
 States, of the Society of the Red Cross. On May 25, 
 1893, Russia signed an international sanitary convention 
 drawn up in Dresden by the representatives of the Eu- 
 ropean powers for the purpose of guarding the health of 
 the people during the cholera epidemic. Russia likewise 
 joined in all the postal coventions, beginning with the 
 one at Bern in 1874, when the General Postal Union 
 was established. In 1875 in St. Petersburg the conven- 
 tion, introducing the General ((Telegraph Union was 
 signed, and in 1890 Russia together with Germany, 
 Austria, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, etc., con- 
 
 Ill 
 
THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 
 
 eluded in Bern a convention for the international railway 
 transmission of goods of direct connection. 
 
 We shall not touch upon commercial treaties, as 
 they belong to the province of the commercial policy 
 of the State. Suffice its to say that Russia has concluded 
 these treaties with almost all the European states. These 
 treaties from an international point of view are very 
 important in defining the rights of trading foreigners, 
 securing to them equally with the subjects of the coun- 
 try the defence of the laws. 
 
 In the sphere of civil )aw Russia has concluded a 
 whole row of conventions for the delivery of property 
 remaining after deceased seamen and Russian civil laws 
 determine the execution in Russia of contracts drawn up 
 abroad and the resolution of foreign courts of law. 
 
 The external relations of the Empire are transacted 
 through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was pre- 
 ceded in the Moscow period of Russia's history by the 
 so called Possolsky Prikaz or Embassy Office, and later, 
 from Peter the Great till 1832, by the Board of Foreign 
 Affairs. 
 
 The general duties of the Ministry of Foreign Af- 
 fairs consist of: 
 
 1, Political relations with foreign governments. 
 
 2, Protection in foreign countries of .Russian trade 
 and Russian interests. 
 
 3, Protection of Russian subjects in their affairs 
 abroad, and 
 
 112 
 
THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 
 
 4, Assistance rendered to foreigners on their legal 
 claims in business transactions in Russia. 
 
 The Minister of Foreign Affairs, who sometimes bears 
 likewise the calling of Vice -Chancellor or Chancellor, is 
 at the same time the Keeper of the large State Seal, 
 which is affixed only to the most important State acts. 
 
 The Minister has, besides his Assistant, certain coun- 
 cillors, who together with the Directors of Chancery and 
 Departments form the Council of the Ministry. 
 
 The Chancery has the correspondence on political 
 matters. Of the 3 Departments, one is for all relations 
 of Russia with European States, another the Asiatic 
 Department for relations with the East, and the third 
 for the staff and the business, connected with the ap- 
 pointment and dismissal of the employes, for managing 
 the financial affairs of the Ministry, etc. 
 
 The foreign institutions of the Ministry of Foreign 
 Affairs consist of embassies and missions, and consula- 
 tes. The first two are for political relations, the last 
 chiefly for commercial and economical matters. Perma- 
 nent representatives of Russia in foreign States date on- 
 ly from Peter the Great. At present there are embas- 
 sies in Austria, Great Britain, the German Empire, Fran- 
 ce, Italy and Turkey: their chiefs are called ambassa- 
 dors (extraordinary and plenipotentiary) and they alone 
 are considered as the representatives of the Person of 
 His IMPERIAL MAJESTY. 
 
 In other countries Russia has missions, under the 
 management of extraordinary and plenipotentiary ministers, 
 resident ministers, political agents and charges d'affaires. 
 
 - 113 - 8 
 
THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 
 
 The consular institutions consist of general consu- 
 lates in the principal towns, consulates, vice - consulates 
 and agencies. 
 
 The chief duty of the consuls consist in furthering 
 the advantages of Russian trade and navigation. They 
 have therefore to render Russian war-ships and trading 
 vessels all possible assistance and aid. The consul by 
 his calling already is the mediator in lawsuits and dis- 
 putes amongst Russian merchant/ skippers and their crew, 
 and in fact amongst Russian subjects in general., if the 
 parties at variance appeal to him. 
 
 The consuls in the eastern States are empowered 
 with special judicial rights. 
 
 Besides taking care of the private interests of Rus- 
 sian subjects, consuls are obliged to further by all the 
 measures in their power the development and facility of 
 Russian relations with the State wherein they reside. 
 They therefore present to the Ministries of Foreign 
 Affairs and of Finance their opinions and remarks on 
 trade and navigation, send the prices of goods and of 
 bills of exchange, give general surveys of the progress 
 of trade and navigation, provide information on customs 
 tarijjs and on the other measures taken in the Country, where 
 they reside. In agricultural countries the consul has to 
 report annually on the harvest, on the advance of the 
 corn trade, on the prices of agricultural products, etc. 
 
 Finally it is their duty to telegraph immediately of 
 all symptoms of infectious diseases that may appear in 
 their district, and to inform all passing Russian vessels 
 of the fact. 
 
 114 
 
MILITARY SERVICE. 
 
 II. STATE DEFENCE. 
 
 (The Ministries of War and Marine). 
 1. Military service. 
 
 The foundation of a permanent army and navy in 
 Russia was laid by the Emperor Peter the Great. Prior 
 to that time most of our military forces consisted of 
 temporary levies of militia, opoltchenie, some of which 
 were composed of nobles and the sons of boyars, who 
 were distributed according to localities, and compelled to 
 appear for service mounted, fully accoutred, and provi- 
 sioned, at their own expense. 
 
 Another portion of the militia was composed of, 
 so-called, given people , sdatochny, taken from among 
 the peasantry, and sent home at the end of a war. Per- 
 manent service in time of peace was performed by the 
 streltsy, town cossacks and bombardiers, principally in 
 towns and fortresses. From the time of the Tsar Mi- 
 khail Feodorovitch (1616 1645), it became the custom 
 to hire foreigners; and these at first, and afterwards the 
 nobility and sons of boyars ,* were employed to form 
 special regiments of cavalry and dragoons. During the 
 reign of the Tsar Alexey Mihailovitch regiments of in- 
 fantry, composed of volunteers, were organized, but there 
 was still no regular, permanent service. Those who 
 served were engaged during most of the year in agri- 
 culture or industry, and were called together for only 
 very short periods of drill. 
 
 * A class next in rank to the class of boyars. 
 115 
 
MILITARY SERVICE. 
 
 Peter the Great in forming a regular army introdu- 
 ced general obligatory service from the very beginning 
 and entirely on his own idea, while the ranks of all the 
 other European armies were being filled by conscription, 
 and the system of general obligatory service was adopted 
 only a hundred years later. 
 
 By uJcas of Peter the Great, in 1699, the first ope- 
 ration of recruiting was carried out; and with the 32,000 
 recruits then collected were formed 27 infantry, and 2 
 dragoon, regiments, divided into three divisions. 
 
 The recruiting was not personal, but communal, 
 that is to say, each rural or urban commune had to 
 furnish a certain number of recruits, and the selection 
 of them was left to the communes themselves. Only 
 the nobles, without exception, were compelled to serve 
 for life until prevented by complete exhaustion or old 
 age. Thus, the system adopted by Russia at the begin- 
 ning [of the i8 A century, was very different from the 
 methods employed by the military authorities of West 
 European countries, in which volunteer recruits were en- 
 listed, and sometimes pressed into the service, or enti- 
 ced into it by various forms of deception. 
 
 The obligation of military service in Russia exten- 
 ded to all classes of society. But in the course of time 
 exemptions began to be made, as service for life was a 
 grievously heavy burden; and these exemptions were gra- 
 dually granted to all the higher classes of society, name- 
 ly, the nobility, honorary citizens, merchants, and clergy. 
 Exceptions were even made among the artisans and pea- 
 santry. The inhabitants of whole localities were some- 
 
 116 
 
MILITARY SERVICE. 
 
 times relieved of the obligation of serving, which thus 
 fell upon only fbur^ fifths of the total population. 
 
 The wars at the end of the XVIII and beginning 
 of the XIX century, however, compelled all the princi- 
 pal European States, except England, to replace voluntary 
 recruiting by compulsory for military service. Armies began 
 to be formed, not of volunteers, but of citizens, called 
 upon by the law to fulfil a sacred duty to their country. 
 
 The obligation of military service was made perso- 
 nal, not admitting of exemption by payment or substitu- 
 tion, and it became compulsory for the whole male po- 
 pulation of a certain age capable of bearing arms; but, 
 at the same time, the service was limited for everyone in 
 time of peace to the smallest term necessary for milita- 
 ry instruction, and the formation of trustworthy cadres, 
 wherewith to complete the army in time of war. 
 
 In Russia general compulsory service replaced the 
 recruiting system in 1874, an< ^ the chief principles on 
 which it was established are as follows : 
 
 All the male population capable of service, from 
 the ages of 21 to 43, enter into the composition of the 
 armed forces of the State. Some, however, belong to 
 the regular, permanent troops, while others are counted 
 as militia, opoltchenie, and are called out only in time of 
 war, and then principally for service in the rear of the 
 regular army. 
 
 The general term of service in the regular army is 
 1 8 years, 4 of which are passed \vith the colours, and 
 14 in the reserves, which correspond with the Prussian 
 Landwehr. 
 
 117 
 
MILITARY SERVICE. 
 
 It must be noted, however, that the term of active 
 service is considerably diminished in proportion to the 
 degree of education, the shortest being only one year. 
 
 Although military service is considered obligatory 
 on everybody, nevertheless, in Russia, as in other States, 
 a great many exemptions are made; as the full number 
 of conscripts afforded by the whole population is not 
 necessary to complete the cadres in time of peace. For 
 instance, the cadres of the Russian army on a peace 
 footing represent about 900,000 men, called out for 4 
 years; consequently l /t of that number, or 225,000 con- 
 scripts, are required annually; but in view of completely 
 filling up the ranks of the army in case of war, the 
 yearly contingent is fixed at 265,000 men. At the same 
 time the population furnishes yearly 880,000 men of 21 
 years of age, which is three times the required number. 
 Therefore the remaining 2 /3 have to be relieved in some 
 way or other from the duties of active service. 
 
 The principal ground for exemption is physical in- 
 capacity; and for this reason about 290,000 conscripts are 
 made free of military service every year. In the next 
 place, the privilege is granted for domestic reasons; as, 
 for instance, in the case of an only son of a family, or 
 an eldest on assisting his father when his brothers are 
 unfit for work, etc. 
 
 By right of their vocation the clergy of Christian 
 religions are entirely exempt. Medical men, dispensing 
 chemists, teachers etc. are at once included in the reserves 
 for 1 8 years. Finally, a great many other persons are 
 permitted to postpone their military service for physi- 
 
 118 
 
MILITARY SERVICE. 
 
 cal and domestic reasons, and for the purpose of com- 
 pleting their education. 
 
 The remainder of superfluous conscripts are exemp- 
 ted by drawing lots. 
 
 Out of the yearly contingent of 265,000 men, about 
 -6,000 are placed in the Navy; the remaining 259,000 
 being included in the regular land forces. 
 
 A special regulation regarding military service is ap- 
 plied to certain heterogeneous races at the Caucasus, 
 who may pay a tax of money instead of furnishing con- 
 scripts. A special arrangement is also established for the 
 Grand Duchy of Finland, according to which the term 
 of service is only 3 years of active duty and 2 years in 
 the reserve, while these troops are compelled to serve 
 exclusively in the local army. 
 
 As to the peculiarities of military service among the 
 Cossacks, we shall have occasion to refer to them in 
 .subsequent remarks. 
 
 The burden of military service is lighter for the 
 population in Russia, than in other States, both in the 
 proportion of the annual number of recruits and in res- 
 pect to the vast immunities that in Russia are granted 
 on family grounds. Thus of the male population of 21 
 years of age are yearly exempt from serving 
 
 enter the 
 service yearly, 
 about: 
 
 through 
 incapacity, 
 about: 
 
 on family 
 grounds, 
 about: 
 
 France . . . 
 
 . 76% 
 
 23% 
 
 0% 
 
 Germany . 
 
 . 45% 
 
 42% 
 
 2% 
 
 Austria . . 
 
 . 34 o/o 
 
 570/0 
 
 4/o 
 
 Russia . . , 
 
 3*% 
 
 12% 
 
 510/0 
 
 119 
 
THE LAND FORCES. 
 
 2- The land forces. 
 
 All the land forces, according to the nature of service, 
 are divided into regular troops, and Cossacks; and this 
 permanent army is supplemented in case of war by the 
 soldiers of the militia reserves, who are called out and 
 organized into the formation units of the opoltchenie. 
 
 Every unit of formation (regiment, battalion, battery, 
 etc.) has two establishments, one for peace, and one for 
 war. In time of peace only the cadres of the army are 
 maintained, and from those the full strength of its or- 
 ganization is developed in wartime. As no state is in 
 a position to maintain its army permanently on a w r ar 
 footing, all armies in time of peace do not represent 
 more than ! / 4 J or even ^s, of the entire armed strength 
 of the country. At the same time, the greater the im- 
 portance of certain parts of the army in time of war, 
 the nearer their cadres approach to the war establishment 
 in time of peace. 
 
 For this reason all units of formation are kept up 
 in the field army or active troops, from the company and 
 squadron to the army corps, and full staff of commanding 
 officers and administration. 
 
 It, therefore, only becomes necessary in time of war 
 to add about one half the rank and file and a small 
 number of junior officers. In the reserve and fortress 
 troops a much smaller proportion of the war establish- 
 ment is maintained; and the reserve troops are only or- 
 ganized in time of war. The same differences in the 
 cadres exist in other separate branches of the army. 
 The peace establishment of the army is placed on a war 
 
 120 
 
THE LAND FORCES. 
 
 footing by means of mobilization. All officers and pri- 
 vates of the reserve are then called into the service. 
 The requisite complement of horses is furnished by the 
 population under compulsory regulations, and paid for 
 out of the Exchequer. Finally, the additional material 
 required for the full expansion of the army is supplied 
 from the reserve stores, which are kept intact, and con- 
 sist of material property representing the extra require- 
 ments of the war service as compared with the peace 
 establishment. 
 
 The greater the strength of the cadres in time of 
 peace, the quicker and more easily can the units of for- 
 mation be mobilized, in other words, the fewer men 
 and horses have to be added. 
 
 In Russia the cadres of the peace establishment 
 amount in round figures to 860,000 900,000 men, 
 which is more than in all other Continental States of 
 Europe. In Germany, for instance, there are 599,000, in 
 France 572,000, in Austria 335,000 and in Italy 222,000. 
 But when the cadres in Russia are compared with the 
 great distance and extension of her frontiers, one is in- 
 clined to call them comparatively restricted. 
 
 The field forces of various arms are united in the 
 highest strategical unit, the army corps. As a rule 
 each corps consists of 2 infantry divisions and one 
 cavalry division with the corresponding artillery. Rifle 
 and sapper brigades are not included in the army corps. 
 There are 22 army corps in all, 19 of which are com- 
 posed of troops of the line; the remaining 3 being the 
 corps of the Caucasus, the Grenadiers, and the Guards. 
 
 121 
 
THE LAND FORCES. 
 
 The Finnish troops, consisting of 9 rifle battalions 
 and one dragoon regiment, receive their full complement 
 of men on a special basis from among the local inha- 
 bitants, and are stationed in Finland. They are under 
 the orders of a separate Commander of Finnish troops. 
 The Guard Corps is specially remarkable for the com- 
 plexity of its composition. 
 
 The Russian Guard was first formed in the time of 
 Peter the Great from the Preobrajensky and SemenofFsky 
 regiments, and gradually grew to the present number of 
 12 infantry and 12 cavalry regiments, 4 rifle battalions, 
 a company, sotnia, of Ural Cossacks, 21 field, and 6 
 horse, artillery batteries, the detachment of guard marines, 
 and a squadron of gendarmes of the Guard. All these 
 troops enter into the composition of the Guard Corps, 
 in addition to w r hich the following are also included. 
 His IMPERIAL MAJESTY'S Body Guard of 2 squadrons of 
 Cossacks from the Kuban and 2 squadrons from the 
 Terek under the orders of the Commander of the Im- 
 perial Military Household; a company of Grenadiers of 
 the palace under control of the Minister of the Imperial 
 Court; a life-guard sapper battalion, and reserve detach- 
 ments. 
 
 Such is the composition of the regular forces, to 
 which, as we see, are attached certain regiments and 
 batteries of Cossacks, who, by virtue of the character of 
 their service, belong to the irregular troops. 
 
 As regards the latter their origin must be referred 
 to a very remote time. 
 
 It is well known that a numerous military popula- 
 
 122 
 
THE LAND FORCES. 
 
 tion gradually appeared on the south and south-eastern 
 confines of Russia under the name of Cossacks. 
 
 The word Cossack is Turkish, and means a free 
 man,)) a free lance. The first Cossacks were settlers 
 of various races on the river Dnieper. When Russia, 
 after the invasion of the Tartars under Battuiy in the 
 XIII century, became divided into Moscorfy and Russian 
 Lithuania, a great many inhabitants of the present Little- 
 Russian provinces, having lost their country, retired to 
 the islands of the Dnieper, guarded by rocks, impassable 
 reeds and swamps. Here they welcomed every one who 
 was oppressed, and in general all refugees from all coun- 
 tries and peoples. Out of this free population in the 
 region of the Dnieper gradually arose a martial Christian 
 society or knighthood, calling themselves ((Cherkess*, 
 and subsequently Cossacks. They soon became divided 
 into two castes, married men, and bachelors. The 
 married Cossacks settled throughout Little Russia and 
 the Ukraine, where they took to agriculture, and became 
 a kind of Polish nobility. This helped the Polish go- 
 vernment in its efforts to bring the Cossacks under 
 subjection. Accordingly, at the end of the XVI cen- 
 tury, under Stephan Bathory, a decree was issued, 
 which created a body of free Cossacks of 6000 families 
 from among the population of the Ukraine, with the 
 right of electing their own Colonels, but with depen- 
 dence upon the Hetman of the Crown. Thus the Cos- 
 sacks were to be transformed into a small force of 
 militia; and those, who did not enter its ranks, \vere 
 reduced to serfdom. But this reform did not completely 
 
 123 
 
THE LAND FORCES. 
 
 succeed. Besides the Cossacks recognized by the govern- 
 ment, there appeared other free and independent Cos- 
 sacks, who retired to inaccessible islands beyond the 
 rapids of the Dnieper, where they constructed a fortress 
 called the Syetch. 
 
 To the military society formed in this way they 
 gave the name of Kosha, which means a camp. Entry 
 into the association was entirely free, the only necessary 
 condition being a profession of the Orthodox faith. The 
 life of the association was based on the complete equa- 
 lity of its members and self government. The members 
 were divided into groups called Jcoorien, a kind of fellow- 
 ship of persons, coming from the same country or dis- 
 trict. Each Jcoorien chose an ataman, and the chief of 
 the entire association w r as the elected Ataman of the 
 Jcosha, aided by assistants, military judges, clerks and 
 captains. The life of these Zaporogian Cossacks was 
 distinguished by remarkable simplicity. Its most promi- 
 nent feature was celibacy. The introduction of women 
 into the Syetcli was forbidden under penalty of death. 
 Owing to the proximity of the Tartars, it was impos- 
 sible for these Cossacks to engage in agriculture; and 
 therefore their only occupations, besides war, was hun- 
 ting and fishing. At the outset they all lived together 
 in the Syetcli, each Jcoorien having its own tent of tree 
 branches covered with horse skins. The members of 
 each Jcoorien kept house in common, with a common 
 table. Order was preserved within the Syetcli by severe 
 discipline. Theft, committed within the bounds of the 
 association, was punishable by death. Disputes and quar- 
 
 124 
 
THE LAND FORCES. 
 
 rels among its members were prohibited. These features, 
 of course, obtained only during the first period of its 
 existence, and were subsequently very much changed. 
 
 At first the principal force of the Syetch was directed 
 in the South against the Crimean Tartars and the Turks. 
 But Poland fearing war with Turkey tried to put a 
 stop to the raids of the Zaparogians, whereupon the 
 latter turned against Poland itself. This movement was 
 strengthened by the reinforcement of serfdom in the 
 Ukraine, and the introduction of the Uniate Church, 
 which caused the population of the lower Dnieper to 
 escape and join the ranks of the Zaparogians, who finally 
 became the champions of the national religion against 
 the Uniates and Catholics, when their Hetman Konashe- 
 vitch Sagaidatchny succeeded, at the beginning of the 17 
 century, in establishing an Orthodox Hierarchy. Here 
 were henceforth organized all the revolts against Poland, 
 which ended in the liberation of Little Russia, at the 
 time of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, and its transfer to the 
 power of Moscow. At the same time the Syetch recog- 
 nized the Tsar of Moscow, but would not submit to 
 the Hetman of Little Russia, although he called himself 
 Hetman of the Zaparogian troops. Nevertheless, in the 
 following years these troops took part in all the sedi- 
 tious movements of Little Russia down to the reign of 
 Peter the Great. In spite of the warning of that Em- 
 peror, the Zaparogian Cossacks lent their assistance, in 
 1709, to Charles XII. For this defection the Syetch was 
 stormed and captured by the Russians and the Zaparo- 
 gians were forbidden to enter Russia. They then took 
 
 125 
 
THE LAND FORCES. 
 
 service of the Khan of the Crimea, although, at the 
 same time, they made efforts towards a reconciliation 
 with Russia. These efforts led to no result until the 
 reign of the Empress Anna loanovna, when the Zapa- 
 rogians were permitted to form a new Syetch, not far 
 from the former one; but there was no stability in this 
 new establishment on account of continual disorders, 
 and the anxiety which it gave to the Government. The 
 Zaparogian Cossacks were still indispensable to Russia, 
 as long as she was threatened by danger from the side 
 of the Khan of the Crimea. The latter was much weak- 
 ened by the wars of 1769 1774, and finally conquered 
 by Russia. In 1775 Russian troops occupied the Syetch, 
 and the Zaparogian Cossacks were suppressed. Some of 
 them fled to Turkey, and organized a Syetch in the 
 Dobroodja, which existed till 1828. Those who remained 
 in Russia, were in 1783 formed into the troops of the 
 Black Sea. 
 
 As regards those of the Little Russian Cossacks who 
 did not belong to the Syetch, they were very numerous 
 as early as the time of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, and formed 
 no less than 34 regiments. At the beginning of the 
 r8 A century there were only ten regiments left, and 
 these were reformed in 1783 into Carabiniers. Such in 
 Russian history was the remarkable appearance of the 
 Western Cossacks, who have now ceased to exist. 
 
 The most numerous and also the oldest body of 
 existing Cossack troops are those of the Don. They 
 grew into a military society at the end of the i6 )V cen- 
 tury from among refugees from all parts of Russia, 
 
 126 
 
THE LAND FORCES. 
 
 principally Cossacks of Riazan; and in 1570 these troops 
 received a charter from John the Terrible. At first the 
 Don Cossacks, like the Zaparogians, led a free life, and 
 submitted to no authority. Even after they had submitted 
 to Russia, their freedom was by no means put an end to, 
 especially during the seditious period of 1612, when they 
 made a raid to plunder Moscow. From the time of Peter 
 the Great, however, the Cossack troops of the Don have 
 frequently shown examples of their loyalty and affec- 
 tion, particularly in 1812 1814, under the leadership of 
 Count Platoff. 
 
 In the XVI and partly in the XVII century fresh emi- 
 grants from the Ukraine and the Don formed the Volga, Yaik, 
 Astrakhan, and Greben Cossacks troops; and the survivors 
 of the Cossack bands of Yermak, who conquered Siberia in 
 1581, became the progenitors of the Siberian Cossacks. 
 
 The significance of the eastern Cossacks consisted 
 in the strong barrier which they constituted against the 
 invasion of Russia by the peoples and hordes of Asia. 
 Continuous fighting developed in them a martial spi- 
 rit, inured them to hardship, gave them a special apti- 
 tude for outpost duty, and in general made of the Cos- 
 sacks the most suitable troops for so A called minor, or 
 partisan, warfare. 
 
 In course of time the greater part of the Cossack 
 troops lost their original importance; but the Government 
 has always endeavoured to preserve their military orga- 
 nization and martial spirit for the purpose of reinforcing 
 the regular army with cavalry and thus curtailing the 
 regular contingent of this expensive branch of the ser- 
 
 127 
 
THE LAND FORCES. 
 
 vice. At the present time the Cossacks population of 
 the Empire occupy several extensive territories, and com- 
 prise 1 1 different bodies of Cossack troops. These are, 
 reckoning from west to east, the Don, Kooban, Terek, 
 Astrakhan, Ural, Orenburg, Semiretchie, Siberian, Trans- 
 baikal, Amoor and Oossoory-Cossacks. The most nu- 
 merous are those of the Don, Kooban and Orenburg. 
 
 The fundamental idea of the present regulations of 
 military service, which is obligatory service for the en- 
 tire male population, has been the chief rule for the 
 Cossacks from the earliest times. They all possess de- 
 finite and considerable allotments of land, and enjoy va- 
 rious privileges, in return for which one and all are 
 bound to serve as soldiers. 
 
 Each body of Cossacks has its o\vn service consti- 
 tuent and militia reserve. The service constituent is di- 
 vided into 3 kinds, namely, the preparatory, active and 
 reserve, troops. Cossacks from 18 to 21 years of age 
 are reckoned in the preparatory contingent, and from 21 
 till 33 in the active troops. Active service, however, 
 lasts only 4 years, during which the Cossacks thus ser- 
 ving are reckoned in the I st category. They must pro- 
 vide their own uniforms, equipment, and horses. 
 
 At 33 years old the Cossacks pass into the reserve, 
 and after 38 into the militia reserve, opolchenie. 
 
 The Commander in Chief of all the Cossack troops, 
 with the title of Ataman, is the Heir Apparent Cesare- 
 vitch. Each separate Cossack body is under the immediate 
 command of a Deputy Ataman, who also governs the 
 local civil administration. Wherever there is a Governor 
 
 128 
 
ORGANIZATION OF MILITARY ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 General, the above title belongs to him, and special 
 deputy atamans act under his orders. 
 
 In time of war the various Cossack populations 
 furnish: His MAJESTY'S Body Guard, 146 cavalry regi- 
 ments, 39 separate squadrons, 2072 infantry, or, so-called, 
 plastoon battalions, and 38 horse artillery batteries, re- 
 presenting the regulation total of 176,000 rank and file. 
 In peace only one third of these regiments, battalions 
 and batteries are in service, the rest being allowed the 
 privilege of exemption. 
 
 The irregular cavalry also include besides Cossack, 
 other variously named bodies of troops formed among 
 the native races of the Caucasus, and the Transcaspian 
 region. Some of these perform principally local service 
 and have no permanent or uniform organization. Of this 
 character are the Dagestan cavalry regiment, the militia 
 regiments ot the Kooban, Terek, Dagestan, Kars. and 
 Batoom; and the division of irregular cavalry of Turkoman. 
 
 3. Organization of Military Administration. 
 
 Supreme command over all the military forces of 
 the Empire is concentrated in the person of His MAJESTY 
 the Emperor. 
 
 The indications of the Supreme power in relation 
 to the land forces are carried out by the Minister of 
 War, to whom is subordinate the administration of Mi- 
 litary circuits in their respective localities, having the 
 management both of the troops, and all establishments, 
 necessary for the army and defence of the State. 
 
 Next in order below the administration of circuits 
 
 129 9 
 
ORGANIZATION OF MILITARY ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 come the command of the troops in formation and the 
 management of military establishments, that is to say, 
 separate branches of military adminisration. 
 
 The command of the troops in formation is so 
 simple, that it scarcely needs any description. It naturally 
 follows from the very character of military service that 
 the command is here invested always in one person, 
 who is responsible for the particular formation of troops 
 under his control; such persons being commanders of 
 companies, squadrons, battalions, regiments, brigades, di- 
 visions, and army corps. 
 
 In regard to the military circuits, of which there 
 are altogether 13,* these, as already stated, are territo- 
 rial units, in which command over all the troops is also 
 concentrated in the hands of one person, commanding 
 the troops of the circuit. 
 
 But as the duties of this officer are very compli- 
 cated, and concern not only the management of the 
 troops, but every branch of military administration, it 
 becomes necessary to have a great many institutions and 
 establishments, each having its own circle of authority, 
 under the general guidance of the commander of the 
 troops. Therefore, in every circuit there is first of all 
 a circuit Staff, and then circuit departements of the com- 
 missariat, of artillery, engineers, and medicine, and n 
 circuit court martial. There is also a Military Council 
 of the circuit, which is the highest institution for matters 
 
 * Namely: St. Petersburg, Finland, Vilna, Warsaw, Kief, 
 Odessa, Moscow, Kazan, Caucasus, Toorkistan, Omsk, Irkootsk and 
 Pri-Amoorsk. On this basis is administered the Transcaspian re- 
 gion and on a special basis the Territory of the Don Cossacks. 
 
 130 
 
ORGANIZATION OF MILITARY ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 of military economy within the circuit, and is composed 
 of all the chiefs of separate departments and one repre- 
 sentative of the Minister of War, under the presidency 
 of the Commander of the troops or his assistant. 
 
 The relation of the circuit administration to the 
 circuit is the same as that of the Ministry of War to 
 the whole Empire; directing, as the latter does, the action 
 of all local organs and superintending all branches of 
 military administration. 
 
 At the head of the Ministry is the Minister of 
 War. He reports to the Emperor on all matters of 
 military administration, signs Imperial orders, and an- 
 nounces the commands of the Tsar to the military 
 authorities. 
 
 The Ministry itself is composed of several parts, 
 differing in rights and organization. It contains two 
 superior institutions, called the Military Council, and the 
 Chief Military Court of Justice. The Military Council 
 discusses all legislative matters and the more important 
 affairs relating to economical administration. In matters 
 of legislation concerning only military jurisdiction, the 
 resolutions of the Council are submitted directly to the 
 inspection of the Emperor. Other resolutions are placed 
 before the Council of State. Economical questions are 
 decided, for the most part, by the Military Council on 
 its own authority. The Council is directly subordinate 
 to the Supreme power, and assembles under the presi- 
 dency of the Minister of War. 
 
 Attached to the Military Council are two superior 
 Committees, one of Military Codification, for the inves- 
 
 - 131 - 9 * 
 
ORGANIZATION OF MILITARY ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 tigation of legislative questions,* and the other of Mili- 
 tary Sanitation. 
 
 Another superior institution of the Ministry is the 
 Chief Military Court of' Justice, which acts as a Court 
 of Appeal, and also examines the projects of laws rela- 
 ting to courts martial in general. 
 
 The remaining central institutions of the Ministry 
 of War are of a bureaucratic character. First of all in 
 this category comes the Grand Staff, in which are con- 
 centrated matters relating to the personal composition 
 and completion of the ranks of the army, its organiza- 
 tion, instruction, distribution, and economy. Then comes 
 the Chancery, or Office, for matters which are decided 
 directly by the Minister, and for the w r ork of the Mili- 
 tary Council. For separate parts of military administra- 
 tion there are several superior departements, similar to 
 those of the military circuits, namely: i, Commissariat, 
 2, Artillery, 3, Engineer, and 4, Military Medical De- 
 partments, 5, Military Educational Department, control- 
 ling all military educational establishments, besides the 
 Academies, Officers' schools, special and Younker schools 
 which are subordinate to the Grand Staff, or corres- 
 ponding superior departments of artillery, etc., 6, Superior 
 Department of administration of Cossack troops, and 
 7, Superior Department of military Justice, under the 
 authority of the Military Procurer, which is some- 
 thing like a Ministry of Military Justice and which super- 
 intends all procurers and courts. 
 
 * The military laws and regulations are published in a 
 special code of 6 parts and 24 volumes. 
 
 132 
 
ORGANIZATION OF MILITARY ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 As the command of the army is concentrated in 
 the person of the Emperor, an institution is attached to 
 His MAJESTY for the purpose of taking his personal 
 orders, and of carrying out special instructions. This 
 institution is the Imperial Military Household, or Staff, 
 which is composed of its Commander, all Adjutants 
 General and Generals of His MAJESTY'S suite, aides-de- 
 camp, and several other officers constituting the war 
 staff of the Emperor. The Imperial Staff also includes 
 an Office, and His IMPERIAL MAJESTY'S Convoy, or Body 
 Guard. The duties of the Commander include all ar- 
 rangements for journeys of the Emperor, for distribution 
 of the members of the Imperial Staff, and for their 
 supply of provisions. When the Minister of War is 
 not in attendance on the Emperor while travelling, the 
 Commander of the Imperial Staff receives the orders of 
 His MAJESTY on military matters, and reports them to 
 the Minister of War. 
 
 The military administration has to do with such 
 a great number of people and their multifarious 
 requirements, that a complete system has to be or- 
 ganized for the satisfaction of their peculiar wants 
 and necessities. It is enough to mention that about a 
 fourth of the Budget (288.000,000 roubles) is absorbed 
 by military expenditure. 
 
 First and foremost, of course, are the arrangements 
 for victualling the hundreds of thousands of persons 
 composing the army; and for this purpose a sufficient 
 quantity of provisions and fodder must be prepared. 
 This is no easy matter. Prices are often so high 
 
 133 
 
ORGANIZATION OF MILITARY ADiMINISTRATION. 
 
 in consequence of bad harvests, that the Commissariat 
 authorities are put to considerable troubl^ and have to- 
 make purchases through their own special commissio- 
 ners, instead of from the usual contractors. At the same 
 time, the slightest difference in price makes an essential 
 difference in the total of about 40.000,000 roubles 
 worth of provisions, and 16.000,000 roubles worth of 
 fodder. The fluctuation in price is often very consi- 
 derable. In 1 88 1, for instance, provisions were twice 
 as dear as in 1888. 
 
 Provisions prepared by the Intendant, or Commis- 
 sariat, authorities are kept in special warehouses. A very 
 large quantity has to be stored in reserve in the frontier 
 districts in case of mobilization; and there is great diffi- 
 culty in keeping it always fresh. As flour in particular 
 soon spoils by keeping, a portion of the bread stuff is 
 stored in the grain, and converted into flour and bread 
 as required in military steam flour mills and baking, 
 ovens on the spot. 
 
 The preparation of clothing, boots, etc. is not less 
 difficult, when it is considered that the expenditure for 
 this purpose exceeds 20,000,000 roubles annually. But 
 besides this, there are the paramount requirements of 
 the troops in weapons, cannon, ammunition, etc. 
 
 After the war with Turkey in 1877 1878, all the 
 materials and the armament of the troop was found to 
 be either useless, or very imperfect. The late Emperor 
 Alexander III, who was convinced of this, devoted 
 the whole of his reign to the reorganization and 
 rearmament of the fortresses, the rearmament of the 
 
 134 
 
ORGANIZATION OF MILITARY ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 troops, the improvement of their instruction in forma- 
 tion drill, etc.* 
 
 It will suffice to note that the ordinary assignment 
 for improvements in artillery amounts in Russia to 
 1 1,000,000 roubles. For the rearmament of the troops with 
 the latest pattern of rifle from 23 to 34 million roubles 
 have been allotted during the latter years. 
 
 It is imposible to order rifles and shells from pri- 
 vate factories, as such factories either do not exist or, 
 at any rate, are very few. There are some articles of which 
 the manufacture, in the interests of the State, cannot be 
 entrusted to private persons, such as the new rifle of 
 the latest pattern, smokeless powder, etc. Therefore the 
 military authorities must maintain factories and arsenals 
 of their own, and independently conduct the complicated 
 administration of such establishments. There are three such 
 rifle factories, the most celebrated of which is at Toola; 
 also the St. Petersburg Artillery Factory, 3 powder and 
 pyroxaline factories, cartridge and rocket factories, and 
 3 arsenals at St. Petersburg, Briansk and Kief respectively. 
 
 The engineer authorities have equally complicated 
 work to perform, such as, the construction of fortresses, 
 barracks and, SO A called, strategical roads. The Ministry 
 of War has also constructed entire lines of railway, like 
 that of the Transcaspian, which is still under the direc- 
 tion of the military authorities. Even the civil admini- 
 stration of certain regions is under the control of the 
 
 * The intoduction of this reform was superintended during 
 the whole reign of the late Monarch, by General Vannofsky, 
 Minister of War. 
 
 135 
 
ORGANIZATION OF MILITARY ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 Ministry of War, especially in territories close to the 
 Central Asian frontiers, such as the Transcaspian, Toor- 
 kistan and Trans-Bykal provinces, and also where the 
 population consists principally of Cossacks, as on the 
 Don, the Terek and the Kooban. Consequently, very 
 extensive and varied knowledge is required of those 
 serving in the military administration, and this ne- 
 cessitates the existence of an entire system of mili- 
 tary education. 
 
 In the first place the moral, as well as fighting, 
 qualities of the army depend to a very great extent 
 upon good officers and non-commissioned officers; but 
 this is not enough. The recruits can hardly become 
 good soldiers without at least some rudimentary instruc- 
 tion; and in this respect the military service becomes a 
 powerful aid to national education, especially in States 
 where this is very little developed. In Russia about 75 
 per cent of the conscripts are totally unable to read or 
 write. In other words, out of 265,000 men drafted 
 into the army every year, 200,000 are in this state of 
 utter ignorance. On entering the army they are taught 
 to read and write in their respective companies and 
 squadrons. They are instructed in elementary informa- 
 tion necessary to every private, which consists in a 
 knowledge of certain prayers, of the meaning of the 
 soldier's calling, the oath, the flag, the titles of the 
 members of the Imperial Family, etc.; so that compul- 
 sory military service converts 200,000 of the population 
 every year into men able to read and write. 
 
 Some of the more capable soldiers are sent into 
 
 136 
 
ORGANIZATION OF MILITARY ' ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 the company schools, where they learn arithmetic, as 
 well as reading and writing. 
 
 For the purpose of preparing privates to become 
 non-commissioned officers, each regiment has an ((edu- 
 cational command)), or detachment. 
 
 Finally, in addition to the position of non-commis- 
 sioned officer, there are other auxiliary duties devolving 
 upon members of the rank and file, which also require 
 a certain amount of preparation and instruction, such 
 as those of the regimental scribe, or feldsher, assistant 
 surgeon, etc.; for which there are a large number of 
 special schools. In the Cossack provinces the Ministry 
 of War has introduced military trade schools. 
 
 The establishments in which young men are pre- 
 pared to be officers are divided into 3 categories. In 
 some of them elementary education is given to the 
 degree necessary only for service in separate branches 
 of the army. These are the Younker schools of the in- 
 fantry, cavalry, and Cossacks. In other establishments, 
 or, so-called, military schools, the instruction in military 
 science is on a more extensive scale. Of these there 
 are two for infantry, two for artillery, and one each for 
 the cavalry and engineer troops and military topographers. 
 
 Preparatory instruction for admission into the military 
 schools is given in 23 corps of cadets, with a course of 
 study lasting 7 years, and partaking of the character of 
 the education in modern gymnasiums.* 
 
 Among this number of Cadet Corps there are two, 
 
 * Modern gymnasiums, as distinguished from classic gym- 
 nasiums, are those where no classics are taught. 
 
 137 
 
ORGANIZATION OF MILITARY ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 namely, the Imperial Corps of Pages, and the Finnish 
 Corps, which possess the addition of special classes 
 taking the place of the military schools. The Corps of 
 Pages educates children of persons, who have served the 
 State, and they generally leave that establishment to take 
 service in the guards. 
 
 The third category of military educational establish- 
 ment comprises the military academies for furnishing 
 officers with the highest class of education necessary in 
 special branches of the service. The first of these is 
 the Nicholas Academy of the Grand Staff, with its geo- 
 desical section; after which rank the Michael Artillery-, 
 and the Nicholas Engineer,-Academies, and the Academy 
 of Military Jurisprudence. Superior officers, who have 
 served several years, are admitted into the Academies 
 on examination. The course of study lasts 2 or 3 years, 
 with a supplementary course. For the preparation of 
 officers for service on the Eastern confines of the Em- 
 pire there is an officers' course of study in oriental lan- 
 guages of 3 years duration, in connection with the Mi- 
 nistry for Foreign Affairs. 
 
 Besides the educational institutions above enumerated, 
 3 schools have lately been established for giving officers 
 a perfect knowledge of the various arms of the service, 
 and for preparing them to occupy independent posts 
 among the troops of formation. These are the Rifle and 
 Cavalry Schools, and the Artillery School for practice 
 in firing, with a fortress section. The Cavalry School 
 also trains expert non-commissioned officers as riders 
 and smiths. Among the engineer troops the officers' 
 
 138 
 
ORGANIZATION OF MILITARY ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 electrotechnical class plays, to some extent, the part of 
 
 a school for officers. 
 
 The following are the regulation numbers in the 
 
 above-mentioned institutions. 
 
 In 23 corps of cadets* 8,135 men - 
 
 In 14 Younker schools . ... 3,590 
 
 In 7 military schools 2,045 
 
 In 4 schools for officers 270 
 
 In 4 Academies together with the 
 
 class for oriental languages . 509 
 
 14,549 men. 
 
 In 1893 2,372 young men left these institutions with 
 the rank of officers; and as the diminution in the num- 
 ber of officers during that year was not more than 
 1,651, the military educational institutions, in this res- 
 pect, are fully capable of satisfying the demand. 
 
 The total expenditure of the Ministry of War on 
 military education amounts to 9,000,000 roubles. 
 
 The enormous numbers of the army give rise to 
 two more military questions, namely, the preservation 
 of the health of the troops, and the care of invalids. 
 
 The average number of sick in the army during the 
 last few years has been about 25,000 men daily. For 
 their care and treatment there are 25 permanent hospi- 
 tals, and 165 lazarettos with altogether 28,000 beds. In 
 places where no lazarettos exist, they are organized 
 among the troops themselves. In the event of war, this 
 
 * Besides these, there is a school (in Volsk) for inefficient 
 cadets, and (in Irkootsk and Khabarovsk) 2 preparatory schools 
 for qualifying the sons of local officers for the Omsk Cadet Corps- 
 
 139 
 
ORGANIZATION OF MILITARY ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 .accommodation for the sick is considerably increased by 
 the addition of field and fortress hospitals, the ambu- 
 lances of the Red Cross Society, etc. 
 
 The one deficiency which makes itself felt is the 
 inadequate number of doctors, chemists, veterinaries, and 
 feldshers, or assistant surgeons, although the military 
 authorities have their own Academy of Military Medi- 
 cine for 750 students, and schools for assistant surgeons, 
 or feldshers. 
 
 On the other hand, the general sanitary condition 
 -of the troops is much better than in former years. In 
 the forties of the present century the rate of mortality 
 in the army was every year as much as 37 per 1000. 
 It has ever since continued to decline, and in 1892, in 
 spite of cholera, there were not more than 9 deaths to 
 the 1000. Bu N it still stands higher than in other Eu- 
 ropean States, as, for instance, in Germany, where in 
 1880 and the following years the death rate was not 
 much more than 3 per 1000. 
 
 A few words must here he added in reference to 
 the benevolent institutions of the military authorities. 
 
 The chief establishment of this character is the 
 Alexander Committee for the wounded, founded in 1814 
 with the object of protecting officers and privates wound- 
 ed in battle or otherwise in the exercise of their duties. 
 This Committee is under the presidency of the Grand 
 Duke Mihail Nicolaivitch, and its protection consists, 
 for the most part, in granting pensions out of the capi- 
 tal for invalids; besides which it places the wounded in 
 military asylums, procures them various occupations, and 
 
 140 
 
THE NAVAL FORCES. 
 
 also pecuniary assistance for hiring apartments, for ser- 
 vants, and for the cure of their wounds, etc. 
 
 The asylums of the Alexander Committee are very 
 numerous. The most important is the Chesma Asylum 
 in St. Petersburg for 476 inmates, and that of Ismail 
 at Moscow for 458. As regards size these rank next to- 
 the celebrated Hotel des Invalides at Paris for 5000 in- 
 mates, and are larger than the homes for invalids in 
 Berlin and Vienna. Next comes the Lopookhin Asylum 
 for invalids in the district of Porkhoff, Government of Pskoff r 
 for 50 men, and a number of separate houses in com- 
 memoration of various persons or events, as well as 
 several small houses of charity not under the control of 
 the Alexander Committee. 
 
 But the concern of the Government for its invalid 
 soldiers is not confined to placing them in hospitals and 
 asylums. Many privates receive help from the exchequer 
 at the rate of 3 roubles per month, and some are placed 
 under the care of trustworthy persons who are paid a 
 certain remuneration. 
 
 4. The Naval forces. 
 
 The creation of the Russian navy was initiated by 
 Peter the Great. In 1688, while inspecting the flax 
 barn of his great grandfather Nikita Ivanovitch Romanoff 
 in the village of Ismailofsky near Moscow, he noticed 
 among a quantity of old things a boat, which that boyar 
 had received as a present from certain Englishmen, and 
 which had been used for pleasure trips on the water by 
 the Tsar Alexey Mihailovitch. The old boat was re- 
 
 141 
 
THE NAVAL FORCES. 
 
 paired by a Dutchman, named Karston Brandt, and launch- 
 ed on the Yaoosa. Peter watched the power of the 
 sail and the action of the rudder with enthusiasm. He 
 then ordered the construction of several vessels on the 
 lake of Pereyaslaf, where he himself worked with an 
 ax, and soon fitted out quite a flotilla. Subsequently, 
 in 1693 1694, Peter saw some English ships for the 
 first time at Archangel, and became possessed of the 
 idea of creating a fleet for the purpose of more conve- 
 nient communication with Europe. The first sea-going 
 vessels were built on the Northern Dvina, whence the 
 Tsar sailed on the yacht St. Peter into the White Sea, 
 and visited the island of Solovetsk. On the return voy- 
 age the vessel was nearly lost in a terrific storm; but 
 Peter was not alarmed. At the same time he began the 
 construction of a fleet at the other end of his Empire. 
 He visited Voroneje and ascertained that there was an 
 abundant supply of timber for shipbuilding in the neigh- 
 bourhood, and that the river Voroneje was navigable. 
 Thereupon, stocks were laid down, and vessels were 
 built with great success in the presence of the Emperor 
 himself. By the spring of 1696 the newly created fleet 
 comprising one large vessel, 2 fire ships, 23 galleys, and 
 a few dozens of Cossack boats, was able to blockade the 
 mouth of the Don against the Turks, and cooperate in 
 the capture of AzofF. Having thus proved the utility of 
 a fleet, the idea of increasing it never left Peter's mind. 
 During his visit to Holland (1697 1698), he learned 
 ship building in practice while working as a carpenter. 
 In England he acquired theoretical information, and 
 
 142 
 
THE NAVAL FORCES 
 
 widened his views on the maritime power of the State. 
 But, meanwhile, the Tsar did not forget Voroneje, and 
 often sent instructions there. Unfortunately the vessels 
 built at Voroneje and other southern wharfs did not 
 last long on account of the bad quality of the timber 
 used in their construction; and the final blow was given 
 to this fleet by the campaign on the Proot, in 171 1 ? 
 when Russia lost Azoff by the treaty of peace. The 
 flotilla of the Caspian remained, and took part in all 
 our wars with Persia. On the other hand, our fleet in 
 the north continued to develop. In 1702 the Emperor 
 issued an ukas for a vessel to be built on the Syas for 
 defence, and for repulse of the enemy's, Swedish, troops. 
 Later, in 1703, the first sailing frigate of the Baltic fleet, 
 the Standard , was built in Olonets on the river Svir, 
 and subsequently, several other vessels were constructed 
 here. In the same year two Swedish ships with 18 guns 
 were boarded and captured at the mouth of the Neva 
 by the bombardier Captain Peter. This was the first 
 action of the young Baltic fleet; and Captain Peter and 
 Lieutenant Menstchikoff were rewarded with the order 
 of Saint Andrew. Soon after this victory the city of St. 
 Petersburg was founded; and here the work of ship- 
 building on the new stocks was greatly increased. At 
 first the Baltic fleet acted exclusively on the defensive; 
 but in 1708 it made a descent with a landing party on 
 Borgo, and subsequently rendered valuable support to the 
 land forces at the capture of the fortress of Yiborg. At 
 the same time, the building, arming, and equipment of 
 ships went on rapidly under the direct supeyision of 
 
 143 
 
THE NAVAL FORCES. 
 
 the Tsar at Olonets, New Ladoga, St. Petersburg, and 
 Archangel; and several vessels were purchased in Eng- 
 land and Holland. 
 
 We will not expatiate further on the success of the 
 Baltic fleet during the Northern War, which came to a 
 close with the peace of Nystad in 1721; although that 
 success was very remarkable in view of the fact that the 
 Baltic fleet, from its very cradle, so to speak, entered 
 into a contest with the fleet of an enemy representing 
 then a first class naval power, and sustained it with 
 honour for more than 19 years. When Peter died in 
 1725, Russia had 3 ports in the Baltic sea, St. Peters- 
 burg, Cronstadt and Reval; and employed her own ship- 
 wrights and workmen in shipbuilding. Irrespective of the 
 vessels from Voroneje, which had become useless, there 
 were as many as 100 vessels on the Caspian, and 40 
 ships of the line, 10 frigates, and about 100 smaller craft 
 and galleys in the Baltic. 
 
 The first captains were foreigners, principally Dutch- 
 men; but in order to educate Russians to be captains 
 and officers, Peter sent young noblemen for several years 
 of practical instruction to England, Holland, France, Italy,, 
 and Venice. With the same object he established a school 
 of mathematics and navigation in the Sookhareff Tower 
 at Moscow, and a Naval Academy at St. Petersburg for 
 300 men. 
 
 The power and importance of our navy declined 
 under Peter's more immediate successors, and it was 
 not before Catherine II that Russia became a first class 
 naval power. As soon as she ascended the throne the 
 
 144 
 
THE NAVAL FORCES. 
 
 Empress appointed the Heir Apparent Cesarevitch 
 General Admiral, and then laid down fixed regulations 
 for the peace and war establishments of the navy, the 
 guiding principle of which was, that the Russian fleet 
 ((should not only be equal to each of the fleets of Den- 
 mark and Sweden, but more powerful in the number 
 of ships of the line. We will not enumerate the vic- 
 tories of the Russian fleet under Catherine the Great: those 
 of Chesma, Otchakoff, Hochland and Rotchensalm have 
 covered it with unfading glory. In relation to the develop- 
 ment of our maritime power, the establishment of a 
 fleet in the Black Sea played a specially important role. 
 After the subjugation of the Crimea, in 1783, Catherine 
 considered the organization of that fleet as her first 
 duty. The chief port of the Black Sea was established 
 at Sebastopol, and in 1787 the Empress was greeted 
 there with the thunder of the guns of the new fleet, 
 which soon afterwards gained several brilliant victories 
 over the Turks. The successor of Catherine II, the 
 Emperor Paul, as General-Admiral devoted much labour 
 and thought to the development and organization of the 
 navy. In 1797 new statutes were issued, which required 
 the fleet to consist of 12 ships of 100 guns, 36 of 74 
 guns, 12 of 66 guns, and of 45 frigates, besides other 
 smaller vessels. 
 
 Under Alexander I this regulation number was some- 
 what curtailed, because, in reality, there were far fewer 
 vessels, than appeared on paper; but, at the same time, 
 improvements were made in naval construction, in the 
 training of pilots, and in naval artillery; and subsequently, 
 
 145 10 
 
THE NAVAL FORCES. 
 
 a special flotilla was established in the sea of Okhotsk, 
 (now the Siberian flotilla). It must also be mentioned 
 that steamboats began to be built in 1817. Then for 
 the first time Russian ships began to circumnavigate the 
 world. Krusenstern made the first voyage of the kind 
 in the schooner ((Hope)), in 1803 1806; voyages for 
 scientific purposes also increased (Kotzebue, 1815 1818; 
 Kotzebue and Lenz, 1823 1826; Bellingshausen, 1819 
 1821). On the accession of Nicholas I, naval construc- 
 tion was further developed. After the glorious battle of 
 Navar/j/^ (1827) that Emperor desired to place the 
 ((maritime power of the Empire on a sound basis, and 
 more in keeping with the condition of one of the lead- 
 wing fleets of Europe; and in fact towards the end of 
 the forties our war navy comprised 120 battle ships 
 of different classes, distributed in all seas, but principally 
 in the Baltic and Black Sea. 
 
 But unfortunately for Russia in 1853 began the 
 Crimean War: though it proved the heroism of our sailors 
 at Sinope and in the defence of Sevastopol, the treaty 
 of Paris (1856) deprived Russia of the right of main- 
 taining a fleet on the Black Sea, with the exception 
 of the smallest vessels for purposes of defence. The 
 Baltic fleet remained, and was the object of special 
 attention. In 1863 the construction of ironclad ships 
 began in Russia under the direction of the General-Ad- 
 miral, the Grand Duke Constantine Nicolaievitch, whose 
 object was to render the building of iron and ironclad 
 vessels from the very beginning independent of foreign- 
 ers. The entire Admiralty was completely rebuilt; new 
 
 146 
 
THE NAVAL FORCES. 
 
 slips and workshops were constructed, and entirely new 
 works sprang into existence. From 1861 a complete 
 revolution was also effected in naval artillery. The old 
 breach-loading cannon gradually gave place to the mo- 
 dern breach-loading rifled guns. At first, the Naval autho- 
 rities were obliged to resort in this matter to the assi- 
 stance of Krupp; but subsequently, on the establishment 
 of the Obookhoff Works, this necessity was obviated. 
 
 As regards the Black Sea fleet, in 1871 Russia threw 
 off the restriction imposed upon her by the Paris treaty. 
 Unfortunately, when soon afterwards the war with Tur- 
 key broke out (1877 1878), the Black Sea fleet consisted 
 of only two vessels for coast defence (the Popofkas) an 
 Imperial yacht, 9 schooners, 20 different steamboats and 
 4 floating batteries. Nevertheless, the exploits of Bara- 
 noff, Doobassoff, Shestakoff, Skridloff and others, had the 
 effect of restraining the powerful fleet of Turkey from 
 all action throughout the war. 
 
 During the reign of the late Emperor Alexander III 
 the development of our fleet in the Baltic, and the re- 
 suscitation of the fleet in the Black Sea made rapid 
 progress under the direction of the new Great Admiral the 
 Grand Duke Alexey Alexandrovitch with the help of the 
 Marine Ministers the Admirals Shestakoff and Tchikhatchoff, 
 Beginning with 1881 a large number of ironclads and 
 cruisers were built, and also torpedo boats, which were 
 first introduced in Russia in 1878. In 1885 the statutes 
 of the navy, and the superior regulations of the admini- 
 stration of the naval authorities were revised. At the 
 present time our war fleet consists of 6 Imperial yachts, 
 
 - 147 - 10 * 
 
THE NAVAL FORCES. 
 
 15 squadron ironclads, 23 ironclads for coast defence, 23 
 cruisers, 66 torpedo cruisers and other torpedo vessels, 
 25 gunboats, 4 training ships, and 97 torpedo boats, 
 without counting transports and harbour vessels of various 
 kinds.* In point of numbers, Russia now occupies the 
 third place among European nations after Great Britain 
 and France, as Italy and Germany are only superior to 
 Russia in the matter of torpedo vessels, their ironclads 
 and cruisers being less in number. 
 
 A perfectly peculiar position is occupied by our 
 Volunteer Fleet, which in time of peace is engaged in 
 purely commercial work. This fleet sprang into existence 
 in 1878, when the threats of war gave rise to the col- 
 lection of subscriptions for the acquisition of fast-going 
 steamers, capable of being employed as cruisers. Money, 
 beginning with kopeks and ending with hundreds of 
 thousands of roubles, began to ;ftow in rapidly; and by 
 September 1878, the subscriptions already exceeded 3 
 million roubles. This sum was at once employed in 
 purchasing 3 ocean steamers, which were then included 
 in the war fleet. When the danger had passed those 3 steam- 
 ers were returned to the Committee of the Volunteer 
 Fleet and engaged in transporting our troops from 
 Turkey. In 1880 1881 the steamers of the Volunteer 
 Fleet again formed part of the War fleet, joining the 
 Pacific squadron in view of political difficulties with 
 China. With exception of these two occasions, the 
 
 * Vessels at present in the course of construction: 3 squadron 
 ironclads, i ironclad for coast defence, 4 cruisers, 21 torpedo cruisers 
 and other torpedo vessels, 2 gunboats and i training ship. 
 
 148 
 
ADMINISTRATION OF THE NAVY. 
 
 activity of the Volunteer Fleet has been entirely of a 
 commercial character. At present it consists of 9 steam- 
 ers, and 4 in construction, several of which represent 
 the very latest improvements and inventions in naval 
 science, and will bear comparison with the best cruisers 
 of other nations. These steamers carry on a regular mail, 
 commercial, and passenger, service between St. Peters- 
 burg, Odessa and the ports of the Pacific, and also with 
 Kamtchatka and the Sea of Okhotsk, for which the 
 Government grants a subsidy. 
 
 Administration of the navy. 
 
 The administration of the navy, in its system of 
 general organization, closely resembles that of the army. 
 In the navy, as well as the army, a distinction must be 
 drawn between the management of vessels and the effect- 
 ive force of the fleet, and the administration of naval 
 institutions, connected with definite localities. The unit 
 of formation is each ship separately, with its commander, 
 one seperior, and several junior, officers. 
 
 The ships, together with their officers and men, are 
 brought together in equipages, or crews of 900 to iioo 
 men, each under the orders of the commander of the 
 most important vessel of the group. 
 
 The equipages of the Baltic Fleet are 18 in number, 
 excluding the Guard Equipage under the chief of the 
 Naval Staff. The Black Sea Fleet form 7 equipages', 
 besides which, there are equipages for the local flotillas 
 of the Caspian Sea and Siberia. 
 
 These equipages of the fleet are united in divisions 
 under the command of flag officers. There are 2 such 
 
 149 
 
ADMINISTRATION OF THE NAVY. 
 
 divisions in the Baltic, and I on the Black Sea. In ad- 
 dition, the vessels sent to the Pacific compose the 
 Pacific squadron under a special flag officer. 
 
 The Military ports, of which there are 9, are local 
 institutions of the fleet. The principal are: Cronstadt, 
 St. Petersburg, and Nicholaief, and 6 ports of the second 
 class Reval, Sveaborg, Sebastopol, Batoom, Baku and 
 Vladivostock. On the Caspian there is the naval station 
 of Astrabad, and at Libau a military avant-port. 
 
 As a military harbour Cronstadt occupies the chief 
 position in the Empire. It protects the entrance to the 
 mouth of the Neva, by numerous batteries, and guards 
 the safety of the capital. 
 
 Of great importance among the other ports is that 
 of Sveaborg, with its unapproachable rocks, and narrow 
 entrances from the Finnish Gulf .into the harbour of 
 Helsingfors; and also Sebastopol, with its glorious repu- 
 tation of heroic defence against the allies in the Crimean 
 War. Sebastopol, which possesses one of the finest road- 
 steads in the world, was made an exclusively military 
 harbour in 1892 for the war ships of the Black Sea. 
 Vladivostock also has excellent roadsteads sheltered 
 from the winds. 
 
 In the matter of administration, Cronstadt and Xi- 
 cholaief are on a special footing. 
 
 The flag officers of the Baltic are subordinate to the 
 Commander in Chief of the port of Cronstadt, and the 
 Black Sea Fleet, and all the ports of the Black Sea, to 
 the Commander in Chief of Nicholaief. These officers 
 may, therefore, be compared with the commanders of the 
 
 150 
 
ADMINISTRATION OF THE NAVY. 
 
 military circuits of the land forces. For economical pur- 
 poses the military ports are the centres of equipment 
 and victualling of the fleet, although, in the strictest sense, 
 this position belongs only to the principal ports, and to 
 Sebastopol and Vladivostock, among those of the second 
 class. In all these ports there are provision and clothing 
 stores, and reserve material for artillery and marine 
 mining operations, etc. There are port offices for ma- 
 naging economical matters; and for ship- building, the 
 fitting of machinery, all kinds of submarine mining, con- 
 structive and hydraulic work, there are building stocks, 
 docks, workshops, and a large number of occupations 
 carried on by ship-wrights and others. At Cronstadt 
 there is a special steamship works, and at St. Petersburg 
 a factory for manufacturing pyroxaline. Finally, the ports 
 superintend the general sanitary conditions of the fleet 
 by means of medical inspectors and hospitals, the latter 
 being of various dimensions, according to the size and 
 importance of the port. There are 5 hospitals, with 
 altogether 2,370 beds, besides which, many of the ports 
 have lazarettos and medical wards for the reception of 
 patients. The officials at the ports also control the shore 
 lighthouses and floating signals, life-saving stations, and 
 warning, or, so-called, directing signals. 
 
 Besides all kinds of workshops and factories at the 
 ports, the Naval authorities also possess separate factories, 
 namely, the Admiralty, the Ijora, and the Baltic Ship- 
 building and Mechanical Works, and the Obookhoff 
 Steel Works. 
 
 The superior administration of the Navy is sub- 
 
 151 
 
ADMINISTRATION OF THE NAVY. 
 
 ordinate to the Ministry of Marine, which has taken the 
 place of the former Admiralty Board. Its organization 
 is somewhat different from that of the other Ministries, 
 inasmuch as, although the head of it is a Director with 
 the rights of a Minister, the supreme control belongs 
 not to him, but to the General-Admiral, at present the 
 Grand Duke Alexey Alexandrovitch, who is the chief 
 authority over the Navy and the Admiralty. In this ca- 
 pacity His Imperial Highness presides over the Admiralty 
 Council, of which the Director of the Ministry is only 
 vice-president. 
 
 The Council of the Admiralty considers projects of 
 new laws and regulations for the Navy, besides those 
 concerning the Naval Court, and projects of new regu- 
 lations, regarding technical and naval construction, eco- 
 nomical matters, etc. 
 
 The projects touching matters of naval construction 
 and technical questions, are submitted directly from the 
 Council to the Emperor for Imperial confirmation, while 
 projects of regulations, regarding the numerical establish- 
 ment and pecuniary estimates of the Navy, are first sub- 
 mitted to the Council of State. Other questions are 
 decided independently by the Admiralty Council.* 
 
 Another institution is the chief Naval Court, which 
 has a sphere of jurisdiction similar to that of the Chief 
 Military Court of the Army. At Cronstadt, Nicholaief, 
 and Vladivostock there are Courts of first instance. 
 
 Then follow: 
 
 * The laws concerning the Navy are published in a special 
 Code of Naval Orders. 
 
 152 
 
ADMINISTRATION OF THE NAVY. 
 
 1, The Chief Naval Staff, at the head of which is 
 the Assistant to the Director of the Ministry of Marine, 
 in all that concerns the discipline and fighting readiness 
 of the Fleet; 
 
 2, The Chief Hydrographical Department, control- 
 ling all measures for securing the safety of navigation; 
 
 3, The Chief Department of Naval Construction 
 and Equipment; 
 
 4, The Naval Technical Committee; 
 
 5, The Chancery, or Office; 
 
 6, The Department of the Chief Medical Inspector 
 of the Fleet; 
 
 7, The Administration of the Chief Naval Court, 
 under the management of the Chief Naval Procurer; 
 
 8, The Section of the Emeritus Savings Bank 
 of the Navy; and 
 
 9, the Archives. 
 
 For the maintenance of the Fleet and the Ministry 
 of Marine the sum of about 58,000,000 roubles is 
 allotted annually. 
 
 As in the Army, the Navy also has its educational 
 and benevolent institutions. 
 
 Elementary instruction of sailor-conscripts is carried 
 out in the Navy on the same basis as in the Army. A 
 certain number are then placed every year in the edu- 
 cational detachments of the artillery, the marine mining 
 engineers, and others. Such detachments, schools and 
 classes are very numerous, as the special duties of the 
 sailors are of the most varied description. 
 
 The educational institutions for preparing officers ot 
 
 153 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 the fleet are of two categories. Those of the lowest 
 class are the Naval Cadet Corps for about 400 pupils, and 
 the Technical School at Cronstadt for about 80. 
 
 The higher category includes institutions, correspon- 
 ding with the Military Academies of the Army, namely, 
 the Nicholas Naval Academy, consisting of 3 sections, 
 for hydrography, mechanics, and naval construction res- 
 pectively, (20 persons), and 2 classes of 20 officers each, 
 for marine mining and artillery. Officers of the Navy also 
 enter the Military Academies, and the Mining Institute. 
 
 As regards benevolent institutions, there are the 
 Home for Invalids of the Emperor Paul at St. Petersburg 
 for 90 men, and a large number of small houses for 
 invalids of the Black Sea Fleet. These latter were first 
 established in 1862, and now number altogether 28. 
 Near Nicholaief there are 21, with one family in each, 
 and near Sebastopol 7, each holding 2 families. 
 
 III. THE MATERIAL RESOURCES OF 
 THE STATE. 
 
 (The Ministries of Finance, Agriculture and 
 
 State Domains, Ways of Communication, the 
 
 State Comptrol, and the Chief Administration 
 
 of Imperial Studs). 
 
 1. The Finances. 
 
 The Finances embrace the entire economy of the 
 State in the widest sense of the term. They, therefore, 
 include the revenue and expenditure, not only of the 
 State Exchequer, but also of all those organs of self- 
 government which are charged with the performance of 
 
 154 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 various administrative functions, and, consequently, have 
 their own budgets and separate money offices. Such 
 are the institutions of the aemstvo, or territorial assem- 
 blies, of the towns, the volost, or rural district, and the 
 institutions of the peasants. 
 
 The general source of State economy is represented 
 by the national gain or revenue, a portion of which is 
 devoted to the needs of the State. The expenditure of the 
 State may be burdensom^for the following reasons: In 
 the first place, the population may be called upon to 
 sacrifice a larger portion of their income than they can 
 afford; secondly, the State expenditure may not be 
 replaced by a corresponding development in the product- 
 ive /strength of the nation, and thirdly, the taxes may 
 be so unequally imposed, as to take less from some 
 than from others, to the detriment of the welfare of 
 the latter. 
 
 In regard to the first question, it should be observed 
 that our budget, which 40 years ago was not more 
 than 360,000,000 roubles in the currency of that time 
 (exclusive of Poland and the Transcaucasia), has gra- 
 dually grown till it now reaches the imposing sum of 
 1,362,000,000 roubles, thus having increased almost 4 
 times. The same increase is to be seen in other States. 
 
 We cannot, however, judge of the burden of State 
 expenditure by these gross figures. The growth of na- 
 tional prosperity must be taken into account, representing 
 an increase in national revenue. In France, for istance, 
 in 1830, when the budget did not exceed one milliard 
 francs, the national income was reckoned at 8,808,000,000 
 
 155 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 francs. Therefore, the budget represented about l /v 
 of that sum. The latest total of the national income of 
 France is about 26 V2 milliards, and consequently the 
 budget, (3,300,000 francs) represents Vs of that 
 amount. In this way we observe an almost parallel 
 increase of the budget with the wealth of the nation. 
 
 As regards Russia, such a calculation is impossible. 
 There are no figures to give even the least approximate 
 estimate of the national income of former times. 
 
 In recent years it has been estimated by some sta- 
 tisticians at ]o milliards of roubles, which would make 
 our State budget of 1,362 millions represent, as in France, 
 a little more than l /s of the national income. 
 
 But further consideration of this subject requires the 
 explanation of one point. Every expense of the State 
 administration is intended to satisfy some necessity or 
 requirement of the State. In this sense all State expen- 
 diture must be recognized as absolutely productive in 
 respect to the object of its allotment. Some expenses, 
 however, have a direct, and others only an indirect, in- 
 fluence on the increase of national prosperity. For example, 
 the more the State spends on ways of communication, 
 the better can they be kept up, and the greater the pos- 
 sible number of roads, etc. The more money allotted 
 for education, the greater the posible number of schools, 
 and persons able to read and write. On the o/ther hand, 
 the protection of internal order and security requires 
 more expenditure in proportion to the failure of good 
 manners or morality to guarantee that order and secu- 
 rity. Prisons are more necessary where crime is most 
 
 156 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 4 
 
 prevalent. Finally, the chief expense of this nature, name- 
 ly, for defence of the country, continues to increase 
 in exact ratio to the growth of mutual distrust among 
 the nations. It clearly follows, therefore, that the budget 
 is comparatively light for the population of that State, in 
 which the first kind of expenditure predominates, as the 
 material and moral forces of the people grow simul- 
 taneously with the expenditure, and augment the sources 
 available for the means of the State. 
 
 If we turn to figures for the elucidation of this 
 question, and compare the latest budget of Russia with 
 the budgets of other countries, we shall find that from 
 this point of view our State expenditure is in no way 
 exceptional. In point of fact, we spend about 8% of 
 our budget on the Church and clergy, national education, 
 agriculture, and the other branches of industry and ways 
 of communication (the railways excluded), i. e. less than 
 France, and less than Great-Britain (n/o), but as much 
 as Prussia disburses for the same purposes (8%) and 
 more than Italy (7.3%). 
 
 This matter, however, can only be thoroughly consider- 
 ed by reference to the local budgets, which are as follows: 
 
 
 State budgets: 
 
 Local budgets, 
 about: 
 
 Percen- 
 tage: 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 In Russia . . . 
 
 Rbl. 1,362,000,000 
 
 Rbl. 195,000,000 
 
 14%) 
 
 Prussia . . . 
 
 Mr. 2,311,000,000 
 
 Mt 523,000,000 
 
 23/o 
 
 France . . . 
 
 Fr. 3,300,000,000 
 
 Fr. 1,255,000,000 
 
 38% 
 
 Italy .... 
 
 Lir. 1,634,000,000 
 
 Lir. 644,000,000 
 
 39% 
 
 Austria Proper 
 
 Fl. 566,000,000 
 
 Fl, 227,000,000 
 
 40% 
 
 Great-Britain 
 
 90,000,000 
 
 70,000,000 
 
 78% 
 
 157 - 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 % 
 
 Thus, while, as stated above, the needs of the State 
 in Russia absorb almost the same proportion of the na- 
 tional income as in France, the local budgets in France 
 are much heavier than those of Russia. It must be borne 
 in mind, however, that the expenses of local institutions 
 are devoted mainly to productive purposes, or, in other 
 words, to the satisfaction of local requirements, such as 
 the construction of roads, schools, hospitals, and the care 
 of the poor; and, therefore, the increase of local budgets 
 cannot be considered always as unfavourable for the 
 population. According to accounts of the expenditure 
 of zemstvos, towns, volosts, and peasant communes in 
 the 46 provinces of European Russia, out of 153 million 
 roubles of general expenditure, 70 millions, or 46% 
 is devoted to the repair and maintenance of roads, to 
 public health, public charity and education. 
 
 A third element in the burdensomeness or lightness 
 of the budget is the character or the sources from which 
 the State, or its local organs, draw their resources. 
 
 In this respect financial authorities have expressed 
 different opinions. This is certainly not the place to 
 discuss them, and we shall only refer to the chief prin- 
 ciples underlying our present financial economy, and to 
 certain historical facts by way of explanation. 
 
 The economical conditions of Russia were considerab- 
 ly changed in the early years of the reign of the Emperor 
 Alexander II. Prior to that time our financial admini- 
 stration had to deal with an enormous population of serfs 
 without rights. The emancipation of these placed the Go- 
 vernment in relations with a vast number of new tax payers. 
 
 158 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 The first requirement therefore of the new epoch 
 was the reform of taxation. But in order to appreciate 
 its significance we must first refer to what existed pre- 
 viously. Before the advent of Peter the Great we meet 
 with a system of taxation which was fairly organized 
 for the time. The taxes were levied on the plough, 
 (the German hufe and English hide of ancient times); 
 in other words the tax was levied upon a certain extent 
 of arable land. The plough tax was not uniform, but 
 differed according to the quality of the soil and the in- 
 dustrial income of the owners, while in towns and settle- 
 ments a certain number of families were reckoned as 
 a unit of liability for the payment of this tax. Therefore 
 this tax per plough was at one and the same time an 
 impost on land, houses and industries. But this system 
 was very much disorganized by the political disorders 
 of the interregnum (1598 1613), and subsequent wars. 
 
 For this reason Peter the Great considered the poll 
 tax, as it existed in the XVII and XVIII centuries in 
 many States of Western Europe, a much simpler form 
 of collecting revenue. Consequently, the poll tax, with 
 the creation of, so called, taxable classes, namely, peasants, 
 burghers, and merchants, was introduced into Russia in 
 1724. After that no essential alteration was made in the 
 organization of our direct taxation, with the exception 
 perhaps of the exemption of the merchant class from 
 payment of the poll tax during the reign of Catherine II, 
 in exchange for a tax on commercial capital. On the 
 accession of the Emperor Alexander II this system in- 
 cluded : 
 
 - 159 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 1, The poll tax proper; 
 
 2, The Zemsky taxes, principally also per head, or 
 poll; and 
 
 3, The land taxes from the State serfs, which were 
 in reality a payment for the use of Government land, 
 and represented an addition to the poll tax. 
 
 The inequality of the imposition of this tax per 
 soul, or per head, became apparent as soon as souls 
 ceased to have any particular value. It is true, that within 
 the bounds of the village the distribution of the poll tax 
 was left to the commune itself, and levied according to 
 the land and income of the individual peasants. But the 
 amount levied on each village was fixed according to 
 the number of souls registered by the revision of 1857, 
 which disagreed altogether with the actual numbers; and 
 therefore in some villages the revised souls were five 
 times more numerous than the actual male inhabitants. 
 
 At the same time, the principle of ((collective liabi- 
 lity)) for the payment of taxes was established, and 
 extended itself to all payments of the peasantry in gene- 
 ral. This ((collective liability)), consists in the responsi- 
 bility for due and proper payment of Government taxes 
 being laid upon the entire rural commune collectively 
 instead of its individual members; and arrears of payment 
 are, therefore, exacted, not from the actual defaulter, but 
 from all the inhabitants of his village indiscriminately. 
 Such a system of taxation required, on the one hand, 
 the binding of the peasants to the soil by means of 
 passports, so that they could not evade payment, while, 
 on the other, it led to a tendency to arbirary absen- 
 
 160 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 teeism in search of more profitable occupation. In the 
 end the arrears of taxes grew to such an extent, that 
 in some provinces they exceeded the total amount of 
 taxes to be levied. 
 
 Firstly, in 1863, during the financial administration 
 of Reutern, the burghers, one of the least prosperous 
 classes of town inhabitants, were exempted from the 
 poll tax, and in exchange a duty was placed on landed 
 property in towns, settlements and hamlets. As regards 
 the peasantry the poll tax continued to exist until the 
 eighties* of the present century, although they were 
 also partly freed from one or the other of the various 
 imposts, levied in the manner of the poll tax. Thus, 
 as far back as 1859, the land tax on the State pea- 
 sants was transferred from the soul to the land. 
 Subsequently, beginning from 1864, the Zemsky poll 
 taxes w r ere almost everywhere replaced by taxes on 
 land and landed property, and a portion of them, 
 included in the State estimates for 1875, were called 
 State land taxes, i. e. taxes on land, independent of the 
 class or condition of its proprietors. Finally, in 1879 
 an Imperial decree was issued ordering the consideration 
 of a repeal of the Government poll tax. The realisation 
 of that important State measure belongs to the reign of 
 Alexander III during the financial administration of M. 
 Boongue. The preliminary step was taken in 1883 by the 
 exemption of various categories of persons, for whom 
 the tax was particularly onerous; and from the I st of 
 January 1887 the poll tax was repealed for all classes 
 in European Russia. The poll and peasant land taxes 
 
 - 161 " 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 are still in force in Siberia, where there is no exact 
 data of landed property; but there also a beginning has 
 been made in transferring the Zemsky poll taxes from 
 the souls, or male persons, to the land. The incon- 
 venient passport restrictions, which were closely connected 
 with the system of the poll tax, have been considerably 
 lessened by the new passport regulations of 1894; and at 
 the same time, in accord with the indications of the late 
 Emperor, the financial administration has begun to pre- 
 pare for the reform of the means and methods of ga- 
 thering the taxes from the peasantry. 
 
 At the present time, therefore, the principal taxes of 
 our fiscal system are the State taxes on land and landed 
 property in towns, settlements and hamlets, which have 
 nothing in common with the class taxation of former 
 times. 
 
 The essential feature of the collection of these taxes 
 is that each province is called upon to furnish a certain 
 sum, which the organs of local self-government levy 
 by distribution of payment among districts, towns and 
 individuals on the basis, established for the distribution 
 of local taxation in favour of Zemstvos and towns. 
 
 From the foregoing explanation it will be seen, that 
 we have no general cadastral survey for the whole Em- 
 pire; no exact description of the profitableness of landed 
 estates, with definition of the character of holdings, cul- 
 tivation and so forth. But this is not surprising, consi- 
 dering that in France, with her comparatively small ter- 
 ritory a cadastral survey took 43 years to make. Besides 
 this at the present time in Western European States 
 
 - 162 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 cadastral surveys are much facilitated by the fact that 
 the precise definition of the quantity and quality of land- 
 ed estates is of great value not only for the financial 
 authorities, but also in the interests of the proprietors 
 themselves, as a basis for the mortgage system, which 
 is so important for assuring the rights of proprietorship 
 and the organization of agricultural credit. 
 
 Wherever the system of registering landed property 
 for the purposes of loans, mortgages, etc., exists, the 
 ground is already prepared for making a cadastral survey, 
 and the cost is consequently much less. But in Russia, 
 with the exception of Poland and the Baltic provinces, 
 this system does not exist. 
 
 In general, however, despite the difficulty of intro- 
 ducing such a complicated matter as the distribution of 
 direct taxation, which is not quite satisfactorily estab- 
 lished even in the rich and enlightened countries of West- 
 ern Europe, our Zemstvo institutions have attained results 
 in this respect surpassing expectation. Existing defects 
 depend chiefly upon the meagre character of the regu- 
 lations laid down on the subject by the law. Conse- 
 quently, in 1893 regulations were issued for the valuation 
 of fixed or landed property, with the appointment of 
 provincial and district commissions of valuation, com- 
 posed of representatives of the authorities of finance, 
 the zemstvos, and towns. This law of 1893 differs from 
 previous regulations in requiring the valution of landed 
 property to be made according to the average net revenue 
 which it is capable of yielding, and not its actual value; 
 and rules in detail are laid down for the procedure to 
 
 163 n * 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 be observed in such valuation of various kinds of immove- 
 able property. 
 
 In respect of its proportion our State taxation of 
 land and landed property cannot be considered heavy or 
 burdensome: on the average it does not exceed 4/o of 
 the productive profit of such property, whereas, for 
 example, in Austria the land taxes amount to nearly 
 23% of the net profit of the land.' But it must not be 
 forgotten that to the 25,000,000 roubles of Government 
 taxes are to be added the zemsky and municipal taxes, 
 the private class obligations of the communities of no- 
 bility, the taxes of the peasant communes for meeting 
 the requirements of rural and volost communities, and 
 finally, the land redemption payments; with these addi- 
 tions, the total sum of pecuniary taxes from land and 
 landed property exceeds 200,000,000 roubles*, or 30% 
 of the revenue; while at the same time only 73,000,000 
 roubles are derived indiscriminately from all kinds of 
 immoveable property, 2 millions represent the special 
 payments of the nobility, and the remaining 128 millions 
 are drawn from the land of the peasantry. Another not 
 unimportant addition is the contribution in kind, which 
 is also borne principally by the peasants; especially the 
 obligation to repair roads, furnish carts for the journies 
 of the police and other authorities, etc. The Zemstvos 
 
 * Including (in 52 provinces and territories of European Russia) 
 
 Government taxes .... 25 million roubles. 
 
 Town .... 8 
 
 Zemsky .... 40 
 
 Nobility . . . 2 
 
 Peasant .... 40 
 
 Redemption payments . . 88 
 
 ~ 164 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 have the right to replace these contributions in kind by 
 money payments, and have largely availed themselves of 
 the right wherever possible, but the alteration has by 
 no means taken place everywhere. It must be observed 
 that the above mentioned sum of 128,000,000 roubles 
 contributed by the peasants includes 88 millions on ac- 
 count of redemption payments, of which we have already 
 had occasion to speak in the chapter on classes. These 
 payments represent the amortisation of advances made 
 to t former proprietory peasants by the Government to 
 enable them to pay their former masters for their land. 
 Since 1887 the State peasants also pay them to the 
 Exchequer for the purchase of their land, in lieu of che 
 former land tax. The operation of redemption will be 
 completed by the year 1931. 
 
 As far as regards the direct taxation of trade and 
 industry, Russia has had in operation since 1824 the 
 patent or license system, borrowed from France, which 
 consists in the levy of a uniform tax for each guild for 
 the right of trading, irrespective of the amount of ca- 
 pital. Besides this, there is a ticket* or license tax. 
 " levied according to the number of shops belonging to 
 each trader, that it should conform with the extent of 
 circulating capital invested in the commercial or indu- 
 strial enterprise. 
 
 The main deficiency of this system is its extreme 
 inequality. Although the taxes for certificates and licenses 
 differ in amount, according to the kind of trade or in- 
 dustry, and to the locality, it not infrequently happens, 
 that commercial and industrial establishments with a 
 
 165 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 circulating capital of millions do not pay more than 
 enterprizes that only deal in thousands. 
 
 In order to correct this inequality, and at the same 
 time to increase the Government's revenue from trade 
 and industry, a supplementary duty was established in 
 1885,- during the financial administration of M. Boongue, 
 which is of two kinds. In the first place a separate tax 
 of 5/o is levied on the net profits of various share 
 companies and joint-stock associations. All other com- 
 mercial and industrial undertakings contribute towards a 
 total sum, that is fixed for each province every 3 years, 
 and divided annually among the districts and taxpayers 
 according to their expected profits, by special taxing 
 bodies assisted by members selected from among the tax- 
 payers themselves. 
 
 Statistics show a considerable increase in our taxa- 
 tion of trade and industry during the last 30 years. In 
 1863 it did not exceed 6.2 million roubles, while in 
 1893 it reached 40.5 millions, thus showing an increase 
 of nearly 7 times the first sum, although the supplemen- 
 tary taxes furnished only about 13 million roubles. 
 i 
 
 Nevertheless this taxation cannot be considered excessive 
 when it is remembered that trade and industry bear 
 very little of the local taxes for the benefit of Zemstvos 
 and towns, altogether not more 'than 20 million roubles. 
 On the other hand, if we take into account that, ex- 
 clusive of the new taxes (the 5% and distributive 
 taxes), the growth of State revenue from taxation of 
 trade and industry continues to diminish, that in 
 186383 it amounted on the average to n/o a year, 
 
 166 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 and in 188393 only to 3.6%, it becomes clear that 
 this taxation has reached a limit beyond which, under 
 the present organisation of the taxes for certificates and 
 licences, it cannot go. This circumstance has led to the 
 question of a general radical reform of commercial and 
 industrial taxation. The question was raised as long 
 ago as the eighties , and became the subject of a 
 special Commission, appointed in 1892, in the Ministry 
 of Finance. 
 
 Besides the revenue received from land, landed 
 property, and trade and industry, there is also revenue 
 derived from pecuniary capital lent out to others. In 
 every State there are large numbers of persons, who 
 live upon the percentage received from various kinds 
 of bonds, obligations, Government funds, shares of joint - 
 stock associations, and so forth, and taxes were imposed 
 upon this kind of income in Western Europe long ago. 
 In Russia this tax was established in 1885, and is now 
 levied at the rate of 5/o. 
 
 The enumerated taxes exhaust the chief categories 
 of duties placed upon separate sources of income. In 
 Western Europe, however, at the beginning of the cur- 
 rent century the form of a general income tax was in- 
 troduced, consisting in the taxation of every kind of 
 income from land, houses, capital, industry, and labour in 
 proper proportion after deducting the amount necessary 
 to the existence of the taxpayer and his family (existene- 
 minimum). The extreme difficulty of estimating or cal- 
 culating the total income of each taxpayer is at present 
 an essential obstacle to its introduction in Russia. Never- 
 
 167 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 theless, the fundamental idea of an income tax has to 
 some extent been applied by the introduction of a tax 
 on the rental of apartments in towns and town settle- 
 ments, which was established in 1894 by the Minister of 
 Finance M. Witte, and which was based upon the prin- 
 ciple that the rent of living apartments generally corres- 
 ponds with the means possessed by the tenant. This 
 tax is of course very far from being a general income tax, 
 seeing that it excludes all persons not residing in towns 
 or town settlements, and this is a point of no small 
 importance in view of the insignificant development of 
 urban life in Russia as compared with Western Europe, 
 
 After reviewing all that has been done during the 
 last two reigns for the organization of a just and regular 
 system of direct taxation, it is impossible to lose sight 
 of the difficulties with which our financial authorities 
 often had to deal after the Crimean War and the Eastern 
 campaign against Turkey. In spite of such difficulties, 
 however, the poll tax has been abolished, and together 
 with it the class character of our system of taxation; 
 correct principles have been introduced into the distri- 
 bution of the taxes on landed property and on the pro- 
 fits from trade and industry; a considerable amount of 
 income has been brought within the sphere of taxation, 
 which was entirely exempt before, and, finally, the first 
 step has been made towards the establishment of a ge- 
 rjeral income tax. 
 
 As regards the last reign in particular, an idea of 
 its financial history will be obtained by a cursory glance 
 at the following figures, which speak for themselves. 
 
 168 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 According to the 
 
 I. Contributions from the taxable Estimates for: 
 
 classes.* 1881 - 1895 - 
 
 In millions of roubles. 
 
 Poll tax 59 i 58 
 
 Land tax 35 2 33 
 
 Redemption payments .... 72 88 4-i6 
 
 Total . 1 66 91 75 
 
 II. Taxes levied on all classes.* 
 
 Taxes on land, landed property, etc. 16 32 -[-16 
 
 Taxes on trade and industry ... 19 41 -\-22 
 
 Tax on money capital 13 -[- 1 3 
 
 Succession duty 6 -j-6 
 
 Lodging tax 3 -{-3 
 
 Total . 35 95 -[~> 
 
 At the same time the reigns of Alexander II and 
 Alexander III have been prolific in reforms of indirect 
 taxation. 
 
 Indirect taxes in Russia are taxes levied on articles 
 of consumption. Some are levied within the Empire, 
 such as the excise duties on wine, tobacco, sugar, pro- 
 ducts of naptha, and matches, and formerly on salt; others 
 are collected on the frontiers from imported goods, and 
 constitute the customs duties. While falling upon expen- 
 diture, these taxes in an indirect manner are drawn 
 from income. 
 
 From a practical point of view, indirect is more 
 convenient than direct, taxation, as the first does not 
 
 * Irrespective of taxes in Poland which have not undergone 
 any change. 
 
 169 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 require any compulsory measures, but is contributed in 
 small amounts in proportion to the consumption of 
 taxable products. For this reason indirect taxation plays 
 a predominant role in all European budgets. 
 
 On the other hand, indirect taxation has its un- 
 satisfactory side. The more these taxable products repre- 
 sent articles of prime necessity, the less the expenditure 
 in the form of their consumption corresponds with the 
 income of the consumers. In this sense taxes on bread, 
 salt, and meat, are most unjust, because they fall alike 
 on rich and poor, and may compel the latter to diminish 
 the consumption of these necessaries. Formerly there 
 were a great number of such indirect taxes, and even 
 to-day they exist in some countries. In Russia the former 
 duty on salt belonged to this category, inasmuch as it 
 weighed heavily on the population, and was detrimental 
 to cattle breeding and other branches of industry. 
 
 The Emperor Alexander II, therefore, desiring to 
 give the people a fresh proof of concern for their 
 welfare in the unfortunate year of famine , repealed 
 the salt excise duty from the I st of January, 1881, 
 and ordered a corresponding decrease in the customs 
 duty on imported salt. The results of that excellent 
 measure soon became evident: the yearly production 
 of salt increased on the average from 53 to 78 million 
 poods, and in consequence the price sank much lower 
 even than the amount of the previous excise duty. The 
 financial administration of Russia now shows to advan- 
 tage, as compared with many countries of Western Eu- 
 rope, in the complete absence of duties on articles of 
 
 170 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 vital necessity. Thus has been realised the advice of 
 the Tsar Alexey Mikhailovitch to his posterity not to tax 
 articles of food. 
 
 The most important in amount of all the indirect 
 taxes is the duty on liquor. This duty alone gives 260 
 million roubles, or about 80% of all indirect taxation, 
 without counting the customs. It represents the largest 
 figure in the State revenue, not, however, in Russia 
 alone, but also, for example, in France. 
 
 We have no exact knowledge of when the sale of 
 spirituous liquors in Russia first became a source of Go- 
 vernment revenue; but it is certain that in the i6 /( 
 century Government liquor stores existed in towns, and 
 that in the 17^ century the sale of spirits, . beer, and 
 mead was an exclusive privilege of the State. The sale 
 of these liquors took place in shops which were either 
 under Government direction, or let out to others. Both 
 systems in their turn lasted pretty long. In the pro- 
 vinces of Great Russia the farming-out system prevailed 
 exclusively from 1827. The subsequent practice, previous 
 to the repeal of this system, was for the Government 
 to receive the liquor from private producers on contract, 
 and to give it out for sale to those, who purchased the 
 right and who were regarded as commissioners of the 
 Exchequer. These persons received a certain reduction 
 in their favour. Such a system had the advantage of 
 placing the Exchequer in immediate relations with a 
 small number of monopolist commissioners; but in reality 
 it was a very unprofitable method of gathering liquor 
 revenue, and ruinous for the economical welfare of the 
 
 171 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 people. The absence of competition placed the popula- 
 tion in the power of a few monopolists, who were free 
 to sell bad liquor at high prices, while their agents, en- 
 gaged in the extermination of secret production or sale 
 of spirituous liquor, oppressed the people. These were 
 the reasons for the abolition of the Government system 
 of farming-out, which took place in 1863 during the 
 financial administration of Minister Reutern. From that 
 time the liquor revenue has been gathered in two forms: 
 i) An excise duty on each degree of distilled, anhydrous 
 spirit, and 2) a license tax on distilleries and establish- 
 ments for the sale of drink. Besides this, we have another 
 excise duty on beer and mead, while vodka and other pro- 
 ducts of spirit are taxed with an additional banderole duty. 
 
 The excise system produced good results. The liquor 
 revenue considerably increased, especially lately, in con- 
 sequence chiefly of the increase of duty from 3 4 to 
 10 kopeks per degree. 
 
 In the next place the process of distilling improved. 
 Primitive distilleries gave place to establishments of the 
 newest and most improved construction; more sprit 
 was extracted per pood of material; and instead of 
 corn, a considerable quantity of potatoes, and even 
 beet-root sugar refuse began to be used in distilling. 
 The production, however, was concentrated for the most 
 part in large distilling factories. The smaller ones, which 
 are very important for agriculture as a source of cattle- 
 feeding and landmanuring, unable to compete with the 
 large establishments were mostly obliged to cease opera- 
 tions. This result induced the Government in 1890 to 
 
 172 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 issue a law, rendering all possible facilities to agricul- 
 tural distilleries. 
 
 The sale of strong drinks was proclaimed a free 
 trade on the introduction of the excise in 1863. Subse- 
 quently, in view of decreasing drunkenness among the 
 people, the opening of liquor-houses was made depen- 
 dent upon the permission of town and village commu- 
 nities; but these bodies began to take money for such 
 permission, and, instead of creating a free trade, they 
 developed a private monopoly in the hands of the drink- 
 shop proprietors. The complaints of drunkenness, there- 
 fore, did not cease. Consequently, in 1885 the commu- 
 nities were deprived of the right of licensing; and in 
 order to encourage the people to consume their liquor 
 at home, the drink-shops were converted into shops for 
 the sale of liquor not to be drunk on the premises. But 
 the rural communities, being thus deprived of their for- 
 mer profits, regarded this new measure with disfavour, 
 and began to encourage secret traffic in liquor, without 
 license. 
 
 The present Minister of Finance M. Witte, has 
 sought to remedy this state of things by the introduc- 
 tion of a Government liquor monopoly. 
 
 With the establishment of this State monopoly for 
 the sale of intoxicating liquors by the Government, it is 
 hoped that the encouragement given to drunkenness by 
 the drink-shop keepers, the sale of liquor on credit or 
 in exchange for various articles bartered or deposited 
 as security, etc., will no longer be practiced. The class 
 of drink-shop keepers, who now exercise a large influence 
 
 173 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 in rural districts, will also disappear. Furthermore, the 
 quality and refinement of spirituous liquors will be im- 
 proved; for at present the drink-shop keepers not only 
 sell badly refined spirit, but also adulterate it with dif- 
 ferent injurious ingredients. Special supervision, which is 
 to be exercised over the sobriety of the people in each 
 province, will likewise further the task of inculcating the 
 consumption of liquor in moderation. In the opinion 
 of the Ministry of Finance this moderation, as is always 
 the case, will increase the total quantity of the product 
 consumed, and at the same time increase the revenue 
 of the State. By this measure it is also proposed to 
 assist agriculture, as a very considerable quantity of spirit 
 to be furnished to the Government will be taken from 
 agricultural distilleries. 
 
 This general principle has already received the Im- 
 perial approval, and from the I st January, 1895, the sale 
 of spirituous liquors by the Government was introduced 
 by way of experiment in the provinces of Perm, Ufa, 
 Orenburg and Samara. During the next 3 years it will 
 be extended to the provinces having a Jewish popu- 
 lation, that is to say, to the Southern, Western, and Po- 
 lish, provinces. 
 
 The Ministry of Finance does not conceal from it- 
 self the great difficulty connected with this introduction 
 of a State liquor monopoly, as shown by the experiments 
 in this respect made in Russia from 1819 to 1827, when 
 it was difficult to find trustworthy employes for the pur- 
 pose. There is no doubt, however, that during the past 
 70 years there has been a great change in the views of 
 
 174 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 society regarding the duties of the service, and the Go- 
 vernment can now have more confidence in undertaking 
 administrative and economical tasks of this kind, which 
 were formerly regarded as difficult to carry out, for 
 example, the exploitation of railways. 
 
 Without dwelling on a description of the other 
 excise duties on sugar, tobacco, naptha and matches, it 
 will suffice to note that altogether they produce about 
 85 million roubles. 
 
 In ancient Russia, external indirect taxes, or customs 
 duties, as at present understood, hardly existed. There 
 were trade taxes, taken not only from foreigners on the 
 frontiers, but also from local merchants in each town 
 or settlement, and at each river ferry where there was 
 an internal barrier. This barrier system, which was a 
 great hindrance to trade, existed, as we know, all through 
 Europe in the middle ages, and partty in later times. In 
 Russia it was abolished only in 1753. As regards ex- 
 ternal customs of the modern kind, as payment for the 
 passage of merchandise across the frontiers of the State, 
 if they existed at all towards the close of the Moscow 
 period, it was only in the form of a certain item of 
 State revenue obtained equally from imports and exports. 
 Peter the Great, on the contrary, who wished in 
 every way to improve and extend trade , gave a pro- 
 tective character to the tariff by placing higher duties 
 on those kinds of foreign goods which could be pro- 
 duced in Russia. A certain correlation was in fact estab- 
 lished between the higher tariff and the degree of develop- 
 ment, which had been reached in the production ot 
 
 175 - 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 any given article. From that time our customs policy 
 was always in a state of fluctuation. At the close of 
 the fifties , under the influence of an unsatisfactory 
 state of trade in connexion with the severe tariff of the 
 XIX century, the ideas of free trade prevailed, and led 
 to the lower tariff of 1857. In the end, however, the 
 influx of foreign goods increased to such an extent, that 
 the balance of trade turned against us. Therefore the 
 protective system began to take deeper and deeper root, 
 beginning from the tariff of 1868, which was compiled 
 with the assistance of the Heir- Apparent Cesarevich, 
 afterwards Emperor Alexander III. This was especially 
 shown in 1877 by the decree, establishing the receipt of 
 all duties in gold, which increased them by 30%. Such 
 a wholesale increase, and subsequent repetitions of it, 
 naturally only made existing inequalities all the more 
 conspicuous, and a revision of each article of the tariff 
 was felt to be necessary in order to conform it to the 
 actual needs of Russian industry. On this ground a 
 gradual modification of the tariff rates was begun in 
 1882 under the Minister of Finance, M. Boongue, with 
 the result that, while duties were raised on coal, iron, 
 and other manufactures, the duties on raw, and half 
 wrought foreign materials, necessary for our industries, 
 were in certain cases altogether abolished. Subsequently, 
 in 1891, a new ultra-protective tariff was issued, which 
 closely affected the commercial interests of Germany, 
 and called forth a number of hostile measures against 
 us on the part of that country. Our relations became 
 so bad, that in 1892 Germany concluded commercial 
 
 176 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 conventions with several States, by which she gave them 
 low rates of duty on articles which constituted our ex- 
 port, and these advantages were given principally to our 
 competitors in the wheat export trade. A war of cus- 
 toms tariffs ensued, during which the duties were raised 
 on both sides. Meanwhile, in 1893, Russia gave up her 
 one tariff for all States alike, and adopted the double 
 tariff system of Western Europe. This consisted in a 
 minimum tariff for those nations, which in return gave 
 us the benefit of their lower tariff, and a maximum 
 tariff for others, including Germany. Finally, a special con- 
 ference met at Berlin to clear up the misunderstanding - 
 
 The result of its deliberations was the commercial 
 treaty of 1894, by which Russia and Germany agreed 
 to allow each other the rights of the most favoured 
 nation for a long period, till 1903. This firm establish- 
 ment of commercial relations constitutes a very important 
 achievement. The treaty in question secures equality of 
 advantages for our agricultural produce on international 
 markets in competition w 7 ith the same produce of other 
 countries, and enables the agricultural classes to live 
 through the present difficult period of low prices for 
 wheat with less inconvenience and embarrassment. This 
 result was of course only obtained by means of several 
 not unimportant concessions in the form of reduced 
 duties on German products. 
 
 In concluding this sketch of the sources of State 
 revenue, we must enumerate other different kinds of 
 taxes, namely, stamp, deed, and judicial taxes; also taxes 
 on documents in official departments, on passports, on 
 
 177 12 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 railway passengers, and railway freights by express speed, 
 and on insured property. Altogether they furnish about 
 50 million roubles. Of revenue from mining, mint- 
 ing, posts, telegraphs and various kinds of State property, 
 we shall have occasion to speak in other parts of this 
 work. 
 
 We have thus sketched out the fundamental prin- 
 ciples of our financial administration in the sphere of 
 taxation; and we must now say a few words on the 
 budgets and credit of the State. The utilization of the 
 credit of the State, in more or less permanent form, 
 began in Russia not earlier than the reign of the Em- 
 press Catherine II. That credit, down to the sixties of 
 the present century, took the following shape: i) foreign 
 loans, mostly on very unfavourable conditions; 2) borrow- 
 ing from deposits in government banks; and 3) the 
 issue of paper money. There were also internal per- 
 centage loans, but comparatively seldom, as in general 
 all operations of credit at that time were confined to 
 the deposits in official banks, which in their turn were 
 placed to the credit of the government on loan or on 
 the security of landed estate. In regard to paper money, 
 the issue of excessive quantities of it, and continual 
 wars at last reduced the value of the rouble of 100 
 kopeks to only 25 kopeks, and enormous labour was 
 required to put our finances in order.. This was accom- 
 plished chiefly owing to the fact that from 1817 there 
 were no new issues of paper and at the same time, 
 together with the paper money (assignatsii) the circula- 
 tion of coin was permitted according to the rate of 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 exchange, both in private transactions and in payments 
 to the Exchequer. Consequently, as the coin did not 
 all go abroad, it regulated the exchange rate of assignatsii 
 on internal markets. This rate certainly rose very little, 
 but it became pretty firm, and rendered it possible, in 
 1843, to effect without* disturbance the exchange of the 
 old assignatsii for new ones, at the rate of 3 ] /2 roubles 
 of old assignatsii for one rouble new paper money, 
 exchangeable for silver coin. 
 
 Only 10 years later, however, our monetary system 
 received a new and heavy blow. This was the Crimean 
 War, which in the four years, 1853 1856, created the 
 enormous deficit of nearly 800 million roubles. It 
 was, of course, quite impossible to cover such a deficit 
 by means of taxation, seeing that arrears were continual- 
 ly on the increase. Foreign loans were also not easy 
 to obtain at a time, when we were at \var with nearly 
 the whole of. Europe. We therefore had to content 
 ourselves with borrowing from the Government banks 
 to the extent of 220 million roubles, and by falling 
 back on the last resource, fresh issues of paper 
 money. These issues increased the amount of paper 
 from 311, to 735 million roubles, while, at the same 
 time, the free exchange of paper for silver had to be 
 stopped, and all transactions and payments in metallic 
 roubles forbidden. It seems that these measures were in- 
 tended to support the value of the paper roable; as a 
 matter of fact, however, with the efflux of coin abroad, 
 the exchange began to depend principally upon the bal- 
 ance of payment, which, in view of considerable in- 
 
 179 12 * 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 debtedness and small development of the export trade, 
 could not be in our favour. 
 
 In this way the rate of exchange in 1866 fell to 
 76 kopeks metal for one paper rouble. All efforts to 
 withdraw a portion of the paper from circulation led to 
 unsatisfactory results; and an attempt made in 1862 to 
 reestablish free exchange, only led to exhaustion of the 
 metallic fund of the State Bank and to fresh loans to sup- 
 port it, as the coin did not remain in the country, but 
 was immediately sent abroad. If, therefore, the rate of 
 our exchange began to improve after 1866, and in 1874 
 rose to 87 kopeks, it was chiefly due to the general 
 financial measures of the reign of the Emperor Alexan- 
 der II, and our peaceful relations with other powers 
 during that period. 
 
 The attention of the Government, from the time 
 of the Minister of Finance Kniajevitch, and especially 
 during the tenure of office by M. Reutern, was mainly 
 centered, in addition to taxation reform, upon the anti- 
 quated system of credit, which gave no support to the 
 productive forces of the nation. Here, as everywhere 
 else at that time, the principal means of reform was 
 looked for in the development of individual initiative, 
 and the widest field was allowed to all kinds of private 
 institutions of credit. The former official banks were 
 abolished, and in their place the present State Bank was 
 founded for the purpose of giving an impulse to trade 
 and industry*. Since that time fresh tasks have been 
 imposed upon the system of State credit by the general 
 development of industry, trade and social activity. For- 
 
 180 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 mer loans were contracted principally for the purpose of 
 covering chronic deficits, or extraordinary military ex- 
 penditure. In later years a large number of enterprises, 
 conceived on a wide scale of operation, have come to 
 the fore, and changed the entire economical situation. 
 It was necessary to assist the peasants in buying out 
 their allotments of land, and to cooperate with a lavish 
 hand in the construction of railways, the scarcity of 
 which was felt so keenly during the Crimean War. The 
 vast sums required for these purposes, naturally increased 
 the total debt of the State. The land proprietors were 
 paid by the Government for the allotments, made to the 
 peasantry not in actual money, but in Government 
 bonds, on which the Exchequer paid interest and amor- 
 tization in return for the redemption payments due from 
 the peasants. For the purpose of aiding railway enter- 
 prize by payment of the interest, guaranteed by the Go- 
 vernment on the shares of the railway companies and 
 the purchase of their obligations, it was necessary to 
 resort to fresh loans. Nevertheless, without taking into 
 consideration that the redemption operations constituted 
 a clear pecuniary gain for the Exchequer, it must not 
 be forgotten that, when the Emperor Alexander II as- 
 cended the throne, there were only 979 versts of rail- 
 way, and at the time of his decease 21,228 versts. 
 
 The Government then began to recognize that, with 
 the deficiencies of control and the secrecy surrounding 
 everything connected with the finances, it was impos- 
 sible to secure perfect confidence in such matters. 
 
 Consequently, in 1862, it was decided to publish 
 
 181 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 the State Estimates for general information, and a de- 
 tailed mode of procedure was established for their exa- 
 mination by the Council of State. At the same time 
 unity of the cash office, or depositary, of the Exchequer 
 was introduced on the model of Western European States, 
 so that all sums were concentrated in the coffers of the 
 Ministry of Finance, whereas only V* of all official pay- 
 ments were previously lodged there (75 millions out oi 
 275 million roubles); the remaining 3 / being depo- 
 sited in the cash offices of various departments, almost 
 entirely without control. This unity established the ge- 
 neral principle of proper control, and since 1866 the 
 report of the State Comptroller on the execution of the 
 estimates is also published for the information of the 
 world at large. 
 
 Altogether the conditions above enumerated produced 
 favourable consequences. The deficits, which were referred 
 almost every year, and which in 1866 had reached to 
 6 1 million roubles, were almost first to disappear 
 from our budgets; and in 1871, 1874 and 1875, at the 
 end of the administration of Minister Reutern, there were 
 even surpluses, amounting, for example, in 1875 to 33 
 million roubles. 
 
 But at that moment began the movement of fresh 
 political interference in the Balkan peninsula, leading to 
 the war with Turkey in 1877 1878. The entire ex- 
 penditure necessitated by that war, from 1876 to 1880 
 inclusive, amounted to about 1.075.000,000 roubles, 
 and produced an extraordinary increase of national debt. 
 It is worthy of remark, however, that this time the mi- 
 
 182 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 litary and other expenses led to the issue principally of 
 internal loans. Between 1876 and 1881 there were two 
 issues of Bank Bonds and three Eastern Loans, which 
 produced 901.6 million roubles. Of course the dif- 
 ficulties of the situation were not surmounted without 
 the issue of fresh paper rouble notes for 543 millions. 
 Still a portion of these notes were soon withdrawn 
 from circulation, and in 1881 only 400 million roubles 
 remained of that temporary issue. The rate of exchange, 
 notwithslanding fell to 63 kopeks per paper rouble, and 
 in 1880 chronic deficits again began to appear. 
 
 The Emperor Alexander III, therefore, turned all his 
 thoughts towards the attainment of a stable equilibrium 
 in the budget by means of reasonable economy, and his 
 reign effected the realisation of those principles of a 
 correct system of accounts, which were elaborated in the 
 sixties)). 
 
 A special obstacle to the execution of the estimates 
 consisted in extra credits demanded by various depart- 
 ments without the least consideration of available means. 
 Consequently, all Departments or Ministries, not exclu- 
 ding even the Ministry of War, were informed of the 
 Imperial will, that they should regulate their expenditure 
 in conformity with the credits allotted to them in the 
 estimates, and not present measures for Imperial sanction, 
 which required further outlay, without first requesting 
 the necessary credit. In effect, this supernumerary ex- 
 penditure was considerably lessened, and is now almost 
 discontinued. 
 
 Strict economy and financial reforms, by increasing 
 
 183 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 the State revenue by one half of what it was before, 
 have produced beneficial results. The execution of the 
 budget of 1880, as we have seen, resulted in a deficit, 
 and such deficits continued to appear down to 1888. 
 But from that year, when the Minister of Finance Vish- 
 negradsky was in office, ordinary revenue began to exceed 
 ordinary expenditure, until in 1894 this excess reached 
 158.6 million roubles. 
 
 The State Exchequer thus began to have free capital 
 at its disposal, and was enabled in 1891 and 1892 to 
 spend upwards of 154 million roubles in aid of the 
 sufferers from the failure of harvests. And notwith- 
 standing the temporary exhaustion of this free capital, 
 it still amounts at present to 271 million roubles, of 
 which 120 millions will go to cover the purposed ex- 
 traordinary expenditure in 1896, and 151 millions will 
 remain over. 
 
 The increasing confidence in Russian finances has 
 created incomparably better conditions for State loans, 
 besides rendering Russia more and more independent of 
 foreign markets. For example, in 1880 we borrowed 
 money abroad at 5 l /3/o, in 1883 at as much as 6.1%, 
 while recently we \vere able to obtain it at only 4.1% 
 and even 3.7%. 
 
 The sum total of State debt amounted on I st Janu- 
 ary 1 88 1 to 3.840.000,000 roubles. The increased transfer 
 of railways to the State, the construction of new lines, 
 and other productive expenditure, raised this amount in 
 1895 to 5.589.000,000 roubles. Meanwhile the payments 
 
 184 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 on State loans have only increased from 238 to 257.000,000 
 roubles; which is to say, that the amount of debt has 
 been augmented 45%, and the payments thereon only 
 8%, or 5 times less. This result has been obtained 
 chiefly by means of the conversion of State loans, or in 
 other words, by lessening the percentage paid on the 
 loans. These conversions were bega'n by the Minister 
 of Finance Vishnegradsky, and continued by his successor 
 M. Witte. Our loans, which were made at 5V2/o, 5% and 
 4 ] /2% when interest on borrowed money was higher, 
 no longer corresponded to the new conditions of the 
 money market, and the growing confidence in Russian 
 finances. Consequently the Government proposed to its 
 creditors to agree to accept 4%, or to take back their 
 capital. The majority naturally consented to receive the 
 smaller rate of interest, as the investment of money at 
 any higher rate would be difficult and not without risk. 
 The most brilliant conversions were undoubtedly 
 those of the 5% Bank Bonds and the Eastern Loans for 
 1.014.700.000 roubles into 4% rente, which, without 
 almost any increase of the capital amount of the debt, 
 will effect a saving annually of over 23 million roubles. 
 At the same time these internal loans in the form of 
 rentes have finally secured a position within the sphere 
 of our State credit, and as we know, offer the advantage 
 of being redeemable at the discretion of the Government, 
 either by return of the capital or by purchase on the 
 market at the current rate of exchange, if that be more 
 profitable, instead of fixed conditions as to term and 
 proportion of payment. This kind of loan is certainly 
 
 185 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 only possible where there is great confidence in the 
 finances of the country, and therefore at the present 
 time it is the form of loan, that most prevails in western 
 European States. 
 
 Without entering here into the organisation of State 
 credit on land, in connexion with the institutions of the 
 Nobility and Peasant Banks, the reform of the State 
 Bank, and the wide development of Savings Banks, 
 as these questions are economical and not financial, let 
 us note the beneficial influence, which the good order 
 introduced into the finances has exercised on our cur- 
 rency. The most important effect is undoubtedly to be 
 seen in the comparative stability of the rate of exchange, 
 which during the past three years has kept pretty firm at 
 67 kopeks per rouble. The total reserve of gold con- 
 centrated in the hands of the Russian Government has 
 grown from 291 millions on the I st January, 1881, to 
 685 million roubles at the present time, covering 6i/o 
 of the nominal value of the paper notes now in circulation. 
 
 Finally, the Government during the past year has 
 taken important measures in the direction of clearing 
 the way for a metallic currency. Thus, to facilitate the 
 ingress from abroad of metal into the country, it has 
 permitted transactions to be concluded in gold value. 
 Moreover, it has been decided to accept payment in 
 gold of excise duties in the cash offices; this is shortly 
 to be extended to all payments, and lastly, a sale and 
 purchase of gold is opened in the institutions of the 
 State Bank, and deposits of gold are accepted there 
 under deposit receipts, exchangeable at sight. 
 
 186 
 
THE FINANCES. 
 
 Economy, serious financial reforms, the improvement 
 of credit, and attainment of stability in the currency, 
 these are the results of the peaceful policy of the Em- 
 peror Alexander III, thus again proving the truth of 
 the words of Baron Louis, Minister of Finance to the 
 Kings of France Louis XVIII and Louis Philip: Faites 
 moi de la bonne politique et je vous ferai de bonnes 
 finances . 
 
 The following table contains the State Budget 
 for the year 1896. 
 
 - 187 
 
STATE REVENUE 
 
 Ordinary revenue: 
 
 1. Direct taxes on: 
 
 1) Land, landed property, and other 
 
 taxes 48,024 
 
 2) Trade and industry . ... 43,353 
 
 3) Income from capital. . . . 13,159 
 
 4) Succession 15,411 
 
 119,947 
 
 2. Redemption payments 89,000 
 
 3. Indirect taxes: 
 
 1) Internal 385,586 
 
 2) External (customs) 153,876 
 
 539,462 
 
 4. Duties 49,864 
 
 5. Regalia (revenues of posts, telegraphs, 
 
 mines, minting and Government 
 
 sale of liquors) 76,021 
 
 6. State property and capital: 
 
 1) Railways.. 232,328 
 
 2) Other property 62,580 
 
 294,908 
 
 7. Compulsory payments of private 
 
 railways 14,822 
 
 8. War indemnities 3,138 
 
 9. Various 52,310 
 
 Total of ordinary revenue 
 
 Thousands 
 
 of 
 roubles. 
 
 1.239,472 
 
 - 188 
 
STATE EXPENDITURE. 
 
 Ordinary expenditure: 
 
 Thousands 
 of 
 roubles. 
 
 Percentage 
 of the 
 whole sum. 
 
 System of State credit ..... 
 Hi a her State institutions 
 
 269,228 
 2 434 
 
 19.8 
 
 9 
 
 Holy Synod . . 
 
 17 488 
 
 1 q 
 
 Ministry of Imperial Court .... 
 
 12,965 
 
 0.9 
 
 Foreign Affairs .... 
 
 4,693 
 
 0.3 
 
 War 
 
 288,522 
 
 21.2 
 
 Marine .... 
 Finances 
 
 57,966 
 186 811 
 
 4.3 
 
 1^7 
 
 Agriculture and State 
 Domains 
 
 32,180 
 
 2.4 
 
 Interior 
 
 90,025 
 
 6.6 
 
 Public Instruction . , . 
 
 24,863 
 
 1.8 
 
 Ways of Communication 
 Justice 
 
 196,412 
 28 010 
 
 14.4 
 
 2 i 
 
 State Comptrol 
 
 5 956 
 
 4 
 
 Chief Administration of Imperial 
 Studs 
 
 1 536 
 
 O.i 
 
 Unforeseen expenses 
 
 12 000 
 
 0.9 
 
 
 
 
 Total of ordinary expenditure . . 
 
 1.231,089 
 
 90.4 
 
 189 
 
Extraordinary resources: 
 
 Thousands 
 of 
 roubles. 
 
 Percenta 
 of the 
 whole si 
 
 
 Permanent deposits in State Bank . . 
 
 2,200 
 
 0.2 
 
 Free cash of the State Treasury . 
 
 
 
 119,876 
 
 8.8 
 
 Total .... 
 
 1.361,548 
 
 100 
 
 190 
 

 Thousands 
 of 
 roubles. 
 
 Percentage 
 of the 
 whole sum. 
 
 Extraordinary expenditure: 
 
 
 
 nstruction of Siberian railway . . . 
 
 82,248 
 
 6.1 
 
 xiliary enterprises connected with 
 
 
 
 the construction of the Siberian 
 railway 
 
 2 485 
 
 02 
 
 nstruction of other railways of ge- 
 neral significance 
 
 35 726 
 
 2 6 
 
 nstruction of local railways and 
 branch lines . . 
 
 10 000 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 tal of extraordinary expenditure . . 
 
 130,459 
 
 9.6 
 
 
 1.361,548 
 
 100 
 
 Besides the general Budget of the Empire there is a special 
 ?et for the grand Duchy of Finland, the total of which for 
 > amounted to 71.264,930 Finnish marks. 
 
 191 - 
 
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL ECONOMY IN GENERAL. 
 
 2, Agriculture and rural economy in general. 
 
 In making a survey of the rural economy of Russia 
 we must begin by recognizing the widely spread notion, 
 that Russia is preeminently an agricultural country. The 
 truth of this opinion hardly admits of doubt if we con- 
 sider the present tendency of the productive forces of 
 the Russian people. More than 87% of the population 
 live in villages, and less than 13% in towns. This 
 relation is quite different from that of other European 
 countries. In great Britain, for instance, the urban popu- 
 lation comprises 65%, and in Germany and the United 
 States of America respectively 44% and 29%. This is 
 more strikingly shown by a comparison of the value 
 of agricultural products with that of the produce of 
 industry. In the United States, for example, the value 
 of manufactures in 1880 amounted to more than a mil- 
 liard pounds sterling, while agricultural produce came 
 to less than half a milliard, ( 443,000,000). 
 
 In Russia, on the contrary, the yearly value of our 
 manufactures, including metallurgical production, is not 
 more than 1600 mil. roubles, whereas the total of our 
 cereals alone reaches the sum of 1800 or 2000 millions 
 a year, according to the quality of the harvest. 
 
 To complete the comparison, Russia exports through 
 the European frontier manufactures and metals for an 
 average annual sum of 90 million roubles, and agricultural 
 produce for 550 million roubles, or six times more. 
 
 This preeminently agricultural character of the 
 
 - 192 
 
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL ECONOMY IN GENERAL. 
 
 country differentiates Russia externally in a salient man- 
 ner from Western Europe, and gives her an approximate 
 resemblance, as far as regards agricultural productiveness, 
 to the United States of North America. But a nearer 
 examination of facts and figures leads to a somewhat 
 different conclusion. As a matter of fact, the area of 
 land under cultivation of cereals in European Russia and 
 in the United States is almost the same, and in Russia 
 even a little more; but the medium crop per desiatine 
 is twice less, not only than that of most European States, 
 but of that of the United States. Consequently, even with 
 the comparative paucity of population, Russia has per head 
 about as much grain as France, which uses all it has at 
 home, and at the utmost but half as much as the United 
 States. This circumstance clearly depends, in a great 
 measure, upon the inadequate intensity of Russian culti- 
 vation. There is, therefore, a wide field for improvement, 
 which is necessary in order to prevent the export of 
 Russian wheat from depriving the country of what is 
 needed for home consumption. 
 
 Not the whole of Russia by a long way can be 
 called the granary of Europe. Without mentioning Si- 
 beria, where the conditions of climate and soil will not 
 permit the cultivation of hardly 16% of the total area, 
 the surplus of grain over and above the quantity needed 
 for consumption in European Russia is produced by 
 scarcely one third of the total area of the, so called, black- 
 soil of the south eastern zone, the northern boundary 
 of which runs eastward from the south, approximatively 
 from Bessarabia to Ufa. Here there are about 100 mil- 
 
 193 13 
 
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL ECONOMY IN GENERAL. 
 
 lion desiatines of black-soil, comprising altogether some- 
 what more than l /s of European Russia. In other nor- 
 thern and north-western parts of the Empire the soil is 
 clayey and argillaceous, interspersed in places by sand 
 (in Polessia with marshes) and in the north with stone,, 
 which leads up to the Siberian toondras. In these re- 
 gions the idea of agriculture as the principal resource of 
 the population has long been abandoned, and the districts 
 of Moscow, of the river Vistula, and of Poland have 
 already achieved considerable importance by their indust- 
 rial development. 
 
 It must not be thought, however, that Russia is 
 thus divided into two sharply defined parts, namely, the 
 agricultural zone of the south-east, and the industrial 
 region of the north-west. The first of these, by reason 
 of its natural riches, is far more suited for industrial 
 activity than the second. It will suffice to recall the 
 fact that the southern provinces bordering the Black Sea 
 and the Sea of Azoff possess the extensive coal fields of 
 the Donets basin, (spread over an area of about 40,000 
 square versts), and in the immediate neighbourhood of 
 this enormous reserve of mineral fuel are some of the 
 richest deposits of iron ore. 
 
 Its proximity to the sea, and the splendid means 
 of communication with the centre of the country by the 
 Dnieper, Don, and Volga give to this agricultural region 
 the prospect of a great industrial future. 
 
 The eastern provinces, with their surplus production 
 of grain, have also long been known as the nursery of-- 
 Russian metallurgical industry, (the mines of the Ural) T 
 
 194 - 
 
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL ECONOMY IN GENERAL. 
 
 and their vast forests of wood yield the necessary 
 supply of fuel. 
 
 Even in the central black-soil zone the economical 
 activity of the population has long since extended beyond 
 the exclusive pursuit of agriculture, especially owing to 
 the impoverishment of the soil by intensive methods 
 of cultivation. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to refer to the industrial 
 future of the Caucasus. 
 
 In regard to Siberia, whose industry is yet in its 
 infancy, there is the Kooznets coal basin in the province 
 of Tomsk, 44,000 square versts in extent, second in size 
 only to the basins of North America and Eastern China. 
 In its vicinity are to be found abundant iron deposits, 
 which, however, owing to the comparative scarcity of po- 
 pulation, have as yet been very little worked. These na- 
 tural riches point to the opportunities for industrial acti- 
 vity which await the Russian people in this part of the 
 Empire on the construction of the Great Siberian Railway. 
 
 If, therefore, Russia may be compared with the 
 United States of North America from the point of view 
 of agriculture, the comparison also holds good in relation 
 to natural facilities for industry and trade. The difference 
 is, of course, that the Americans have already profited 
 by such facilities to exert their industrial activity to a 
 very high degree of development, so that scarcely any- 
 one will now call the United States an agricultural 
 country, whereas in Russia such development is the work 
 of future enterprize and energy, in which respect a begin- 
 ning has already been made. As Professor Mendeleyef 
 
 195 13 * 
 
DISTRIBUTION OF LANDED PROPERTY. 
 
 very justly remarks, Russia, on the emancipation of her 
 peasantry, and their endowment with land, entered upon 
 a new era of activity, embracing a mixture of agriculture 
 and industry. We may add that it is precisely this 
 mixture which constitutes the chief superiority of Russia 
 over Western European countries, while it is also the 
 main point of analogy between Russia and the United 
 States. Like the latter country, Russia with her natural 
 wealth is able and bound to produce for herself a great 
 deal of what she now imports from abroad, without at 
 the same time requiring bread stuffs from anybody else 
 for her own consumption. 
 
 This, after all, is only a picture of the probable 
 future. At the present time Russia must certainly be 
 designated in the main an agricultural country. 
 
 I. Distribution of landed property. In describing the 
 conditions of agricultural industry, and in particular the 
 activity of the Government in this matter, we must first 
 of all dwell upon the question of the distribution of lan- 
 ded property, as on that distribution depends to a great 
 extent the character of rural economy, and the welfare 
 of the rural population. 
 
 The total area of landed property in 49 provinces 
 of European Russia* represents 391 million desiatines. 
 Of this quantity 150 million desiatines, or 3S.5/o, 
 belong to the Crown; 131 million desiatines, or 33.5%, 
 to the peasant communes in the form of allotments; 
 93 million desiatines, about 24%, to private owners, 
 societies, and companies, and the remaining 17 million 
 
 * Exclusive of the territory of the Don Cossacks. 
 
 196 
 
PEASANTS' PROPRIETORSHIP. 
 
 desiatines, or 4/, to the Appanage Department, the 
 Church, monasteries, towns, and other institutions. 
 
 Therefore the Crown in Russia is" proprietor of the 
 largest quantity of land, which, however, is very un- 
 equally distributed. If we exclude the provinces of the 
 north (Archangel, Vologda and Olonets), and of the 
 north-east, (Perm and Viatka), where Crown lands 
 constitute from 48 to 97/o of the total area, the re- 
 maining 44 provinces do not contain more than 16 
 million desiatines of Government territory, or only 7%. 
 As the same time the amount of available Crown land, 
 not covered with forest, in these 49 provinces is about 
 4 million desiatines, of which V 3 is concentrated in the 
 province of Samara. Consequently, the peasant holdings 
 come first as the most important in relation to agricultural 
 economy, and as providing for the subsistence of the most 
 numerous class in the State. It is, therefore, necessary 
 to enquire somewhat more closely into their condition. 
 
 1. Peasants 7 proprietorship, a) Its character and dimen- 
 sions. The peasant reforms consolidated the old form of 
 peasant ownership of land, descended from earlier times, 
 and the peasant communes retained in the form of 
 allotments, for the most part, all the land of which they 
 had enjoyed the use before. 
 
 In the next place, within the limits of the village 
 communes, in localities populated by Great Russians, 
 the new laws preserved the ancient common usufruct 
 of land, which probably originated in the tribal com- 
 munities of early times, when all the members of the 
 tribe or family had equal rights in the common land. 
 
 197 
 
PEASANTS PROPRIETORSHIP. 
 
 In Little Russia, and in the localities comprised within the 
 bounds of the former kingdom of Poland, as well as in 
 the Baltic provinces, the peasant commune was never 
 strong enough for development, owing to the complete 
 domination of the Polish and German nobility; and 
 therefore, in those parts at the present time the predo- 
 minating form of proprietorship is that of the home- 
 stead. The communal use of the land means, in sub- 
 stance, that by resolution of the village assembly, the 
 arable lands may be periodically redivided among the 
 peasants. Therefore, each plot of field or arable land, 
 (land occupied by farm buildings and gardens not being 
 subject to repartition) remains in the use of one peasant, 
 or his heirs, only temporarily, and by the process of 
 redistribution may be transferred to the use of another. 
 
 As a matter of fact, radical repartitions of land take 
 place periodically only in comparatively few communes, 
 in consequence of alteration in the number of souls, 
 and in others they occur very rarely indeed. In some 
 communes no repartition has ever been made since the 
 emancipation of the serfs, more than 30 years ago. 
 
 On the other hand, these repartitions take place for 
 the most part in those villages, whose land is held in 
 use by separate families. The fact is that with excep- 
 tion of the Baltic, and some of the north-western pro- 
 vinces, the peasant settlements in the majority of cases 
 reach very considerable dimensions, and the extent of 
 the holdings, allotted to such large peasant communities 
 is often as much as 2000 and 3000 desiatines, or more. 
 In regard to the rotation of crops and division of the 
 
 198 
 
PEASANTS PROPRIETORSHIP. 
 
 land into meadows, fields, woods, and pasture, the land 
 owned in this way constitutes a single unit, so that 
 each proprietor must have a plot in each field, and con- 
 sequently has to conform to the common system of 
 sowing as regards rotation of crops (German Flurtwang). 
 Whereas, it also often happens that the village assembly 
 is compelled by economical considerations to remeasure 
 the plots among separate proprietors. Therefore, in re- 
 gard to repartition the difference between land of the 
 commune and family holdings, especially in the south 
 and south-west, where the villages are larger, is by no 
 means so great, as may appear at first sight. 
 
 All that has been said in the foregoing explanation 
 applies specially to field or arable land. Besides this, 
 each village possesses pasture land for the common use 
 of the horses and cattle of all the inhabitants in general. 
 In addition some village communities do not distribute 
 their wood and grass lands, but simply divide the hay 
 and cut wood when gathered in. 
 
 In 1890 there were more than io l /2 million peasant 
 families in the 50 provinces of European Russia. The 
 land plots of the peasantry in the majority of cases, 
 constitute from 35% to 6o/o of the area of each pro- 
 vince, although in the black-soil zone they are much 
 more extensive than anywhere else. Of the total quantity 
 of peasant land, (with exception of land belonging to the 
 Cossacks and to several other races in the eastern pro- 
 vinces), 80 million desiatines were under the communal 
 system of holding, and only 22 millions under that of 
 the family. The largest plots received by the former 
 
 199 
 
PEASANTS PROPRIETORSHIP. 
 
 proprietary peasants on their emancipation varied between 
 2 l /2 and 15 dessiatines per soul, according to the revised 
 list of souls or male peasants at that time, although, of 
 course, the majority of allotments only approached the 
 maximum. The peasants of the Imperial Domains and 
 the Appanage almost everywhere received allotments 
 1 1 /2 times, or even twice, larger than those bestowed 
 upon the peasants of other proprietors. On the average 
 the Russian peasantry received a little more than 5 
 desiatines per soul; but since that time the population 
 has increased to such an extent, that in 1878 it was 
 calculated that each soul could only have about 4.1 de- 
 siatines more or less, and each family of land endowed 
 peasants 12.3 desiatines of good land. Subsequently, by 
 January i st , 1892, .it was considered that there were only 
 3.8 desiatines per soul, or 11 and a fraction desiatines 
 per family of allotment land fit for cultivation. Of course 
 land was bestowed upon the peasantry in very differ- 
 ent proportions in the different parts of European Rus- 
 sia. If the country be divided into four parts by the 
 parallel and meridian of Moscow, it will be found that 
 in south-western Russia, which had the smallest allot- 
 ments, there were about 8 desiatines per family; in the 
 north-west and north-east, about equally, 14 desiatines; 
 and in the south-east the largest plots of 18 desiatines. 
 But these absolute figures tell us nothing as to the suf- 
 ficiency of the allotments. In France, for example, each 
 landed property (counting small, medium, and large 
 estates together) averages less than 5.2 hectares, or only 
 4.7 desiatines; so that the medium size of small peasant 
 
 200 
 
PEASENTS PROPRIETORSHIP. 
 
 holdings is much less. Among our neighbours, the Ger- 
 mans, the medium size is about 8 hectares, or approxi- 
 matively 7 desiatines per farm, and in the small pro- 
 perties (up to 20 hectares, or 18 desiatines) only 3.6 
 hectares, or about 3 desiatines. Even in Russian Poland 
 for every peasant property there is an average of 7 
 desiatines. Therefore, the size of peasant holdings in 
 European Russia in altogether very favourable. The suf- 
 ficiency of the allotments, however, does not depend 
 upon their dimensions alone, but also upon the quality 
 of the land, the method of cultivation, knowledge and 
 experience, the composition of the peasant family, and 
 so forth. In comparing Russia with France and Germany 
 it must not be forgotten that in those countries the 
 gross production per desiatine is twice as large as in 
 Russia; so that in such a comparison the medium 
 standard of 1 1 desiatines per family, or homestead, ought 
 to be reduced by one half. On the other hand, al- 
 though the allotment land represents the principal basis 
 of existence for the peasantry of the greater part of 
 Russia, it is not the only one. Various auxiliary indust- 
 ries and work in factories, undertaken by some of the 
 members of the peasant family, always constitutes a 
 considerable source of income; and therefore, the com- 
 paratively small allotments in the industrial districts are 
 undoubtedly more profitable to their owners than the 
 larger plots of south-eastern Russia. However this may 
 be, the fact of there being too little land in many 
 cases can hardly be disputed. It is proved by the hiring 
 of land by the peasants from neighbouring Govern- 
 
 201 
 
PEASANTS' AGRARIAN CREDIT. 
 
 merit and private estates; the purchase of private estates by 
 the more thrifty peasants, and a tendency to migrate to the 
 spacious territories of Siberia. With the further increase 
 of the population the want of land will certainly be more 
 strongly felt, and, therefore, it is necessary to call atten- 
 tion to the means of effectually meeting this difficulty. 
 Such means are indicated for the most part by the or- 
 dinary course of existence. First of all the peasants hire 
 land from neighbouring private or Government property. 
 In 1 88 1 it was calculated that n l />2 million desiatines 
 had thus been rented by the peasants, and these figures 
 are apparently much below the actual facts. It is interest- 
 ing to note that this land is held by the more prosperous 
 peasants; while the poverty of the poorer class compel 
 them to abandon even their small allotments. 
 
 b) Peasants' agrarian credit. Another means is the 
 acquisition of freehold outside the land of peasant allot- 
 ments. After the reforms the peasantry soon turned 
 to this means, and the investigation of 1877 78 dis- 
 closed that they had acquired by purchase, without the 
 aid of the Government, about 6 million desiatines. Not 
 more than 60% of this was purchased in small lots, 
 while the remainder was bought by rich peasants in 
 large estates often containing 10,000 desiatines, and 
 more. At the beginning of 1880, on the appointment 
 of M. Boongue to the post of Minister of Finance, the 
 Government gave special attention to this want of 
 land among the peasants, and in 1882 the Peasants' 
 Agrarian Bank was established for the purpose of 
 enabling the peasantry of all denominations to supple- 
 
 202 
 
PEASANTS AGRARIAN CREDIT. 
 
 ment their allotments by the purchase of more land. 
 In the course of 12 years, down till January I st , 1895, 
 the Bank had assisted the peasants to purchase 2,228,712 
 desiatines of land for 98 million roubles, of which sum 
 the Bank advanced 76 millions, the remaining 22 millions 
 having been paid by the peasants with their own money. 
 The operations of the Bank extend throughout European 
 Russia with exception of the Baltic provinces. Advances 
 for the purchase of land are made; -- i, to rural com- 
 munes; 2, to associations of peasants, and 3, to indivi- 
 dual peasants. The largest quantity of land that each 
 householder is permitted to purchase with the aid of the 
 Bank must not exceed the working power of the purch- 
 aser and his family, and is determined for each district 
 by a special administrative order. Formerly loans were 
 made, according to desire, either for 24.72 or 347-2 years. 
 At first the interest payable on loans for these periods 
 were respectively 8 l /2/o and j l /2 Q /o per annum with 
 amortization; but by the gracious Manifesto of the 14 th 
 November 1894, issued in honour of the marriage of 
 His MAJESTY the present reigning Emperor Nicholas II, 
 this interest, in view of the unfavourable condition of 
 agriculture, was reduced to J } /I Q /Q and 6 l /2 Q /o. At the 
 same time, in order to enable the Bank to help the 
 greatest number of peasants to acquire land, it was com- 
 manded that a certain portion of the redemption pay- 
 ments should be added every year to the means of the 
 Bank, beginning from 1895, until its capital reaches the 
 sum of 50 million roubles. After this ensued the 
 publishing of new statutes for the Peasants' Bank, 
 
 203 
 
MIGRATION TO FREE TERRITORIES. 
 
 according to which its activity is to be still further ex- 
 tended, as it is afforded the possibility of purchasing 
 land on its own account with the object of selling it to 
 the peasants. The deductions from the redemption pay- 
 ments granted to the Bank are intended principally to 
 meet this end. As yet this operation is still on trial, 
 and will continue so till January I st , 1898. The new 
 statutes afford another great facility to the peasants pur- 
 chasing land by raising the extent of the loans to 90% 
 of the value, and increasing the terms of amortization. 
 These extend from 13 to 51 years 9 months (in the 
 last case the peasant pays only 6% with amortization). 
 It must not be thought, however, that purchase 
 through the Peasants' Bank exhausts the process of 
 acquisition of land in addition to peasant allotments. On 
 the contrary, it is to be presumed that the purchase of 
 land without the assistance of the Bank goes on to a 
 much greater extent, although there are no exact sta- 
 tistics on this point for the whole of Russia. According 
 to information, for instance, of peasant landed property 
 in addition to allotments, in 7 provinces only, namely, 
 Tver, Moscow, Smolensk, Kharkoff, Kherson, Orenburg and 
 Courland, between 1877 and 1887, the quantity of land 
 purchased by the aid of the Bank was 229,000 desiatines, 
 and without its aid 907,000 desiatines, or 4 times more. 
 
 c) Migration to free territories. Finally, a remedy 
 for insufficiency of land is migration to free territories. 
 As the historian Solovief justly remarks, the history 
 of Russia is the history of the colonisation of the 
 country)). In ancient Russia freedom of movement 
 
 204 
 
MIGRATION TO FREE TERRITORIES. 
 
 gave to the peregrinations of the people a natural cha- 
 racter; but from the beginning of the i6 th century 
 the forcible attachment of the peasantry to the soil 
 placed considerable obstacles in the way of migration, 
 and, owing to the burden of taxation and other obliga- 
 tions, it gradually assumed the character of running 
 away. Nevertheless the Government itself, on acquiring 
 new territories, took measures to attract colonists thither, 
 principally by bestowing estates on servitors of the State, 
 who were followed by the peasants. On the other hand, 
 runaway and vagabond colonists endeavoured to settle 
 on the confines of the Empire in free communities, and 
 thus formed various Cossack settlements, which rendered 
 Russia great services even prior to the time of Peter the 
 Great, not only in the matter of colonisation, but also 
 in the struggles for religion and nationality. 
 
 From the beginning of the 1 8 th century the increase 
 of State authority and serfdom checked the voluntary 
 colonisation of the frontiers. But the need of such a 
 movement still existed, and was felt by the Government, 
 who endeavoured to open a way to colonisation by per- 
 mission of authority. Peter the Great thus took steps 
 to populate the newly acquired territory of Ingerman- 
 land; and in the middle of the i8 th century the Go- 
 vernment gave permission for the colonisation of Siberia. 
 In the reign of the Empress Catherine II there was an 
 especially large movement of migration from the centre 
 of Russia to the southern provinces and the newly an- 
 nexed country of the Crimea. In characterizing all these 
 measures, it must in general be stated that they were 
 
 205 
 
MIGRATION TO FREE TERRITORIES. 
 
 principally intended, not to serve the interests of the 
 colonists, but to meet the necessities of defending and 
 populating the districts of the frontier. It was only on 
 the establishment of a Ministry' of State Domains under 
 the Emperor Nicholas I, that views on this subject 
 underwent a considerable change. That Ministry was 
 founded, among other things, for the direction of affairs 
 relating to tutelage over the peasants of the State. At the 
 head of it was placed Count Kisselief, well known for 
 his activity in the administration of the principalities of 
 Moldavia and Walachia. The inspectors whom he sent 
 into the provinces in 1837 discovered an extreme dearth 
 of land in many places. Many peasants abandoned their 
 villages and went in search of free land into other pro- 
 vinces. The Ministry, therefore, first of all undertook a 
 survey of the land of the State peasants, granting allot- 
 ments to those in need, and subsequently, April 8 th , 1843, 
 regulations were issued for migration and colonisation. 
 These regulations permitted migration from those loca- 
 lities deficient in land, where there were less than 5 
 desiatines per soul. The land to be colonised was first 
 measured out into plots of 4000 to 5000 desiatines for 
 the settlement of entire village communities. In each 
 plot l /b was set apart as a reserve for increase of popu- 
 lation. The district departments of the State Domains 
 were obliged to render every possible assistance to the 
 peasants while on the way to their new homes by fur- 
 nishing them with provisions, looking after those who 
 were ill, and so forth. The necessary corn, hay, agri- 
 cultural implements and working cattle were prepared 
 
 206 
 
MIGRATION TO FREE TERRITORIES. 
 
 for them on the spot to begin with, and they also re- 
 ceived pecuniary assistance. But the regulations of 1843 
 applied only to the State peasants, who in reality were 
 the richest in land. They could not extent to the pea- 
 sant serfs, as the migration of these latter was at that 
 time the business of the landed proprietors, their masters. 
 Therefore, when the emancipation of the proprietary 
 serfs took place the question of their migration should 
 also have been considered. Unfortunately, this question 
 was left entirely to the peasant communes. The peasant 
 was allowed to change his place of residence only by 
 permission of the commune to which he belonged, and 
 to enter another one only by a similar permission from the 
 same, while the conditions of obtaining these permissions 
 were rendered very troublesome. Subsequently, in 1866, 
 a new set of regulations was applied to the State pea- 
 sants in the place of those of 1843. 
 
 The migration to Siberia was not so much restricted. 
 It was only necessary in this case for the would-be 
 colonist to obtain permission from the commune he was 
 leaving, and from the provincial authorities. But Siberia 
 was far off, and many peasants on their way there stayed 
 on the abundant lands of the eastern provinces, of Ufa 
 and Orenburg; so that nothing was left to the Govern- 
 ment to do but to legalize these unauthorized settlements. 
 It was only in 1889 that a general law was proclaimed 
 for the colonisation of rural inhabitants and burgesses on 
 Crown land. By this law intending colonists must now 
 procure the permission of the two Ministers of the In- 
 erior, and of State Domains, and when this is obtained,. 
 
 207 
 
MIGRATION TO FREE TERRITORIES. 
 
 they no longer need a certificate of departure from their 
 village communes. Colonists are offered land in European 
 Russia in the provinces of Tobolsk and Tomsk, and in 
 the territory of the Governor Generalship of the Steppe. 
 In European Russia, land is at first leased to the colo- 
 nists on temporary tenure only, which may subsequently 
 become unlimited. In Asiatic Russia the allotments are 
 at once granted for permanent use: they are not trans- 
 fer/able, and may not be burdened with debt. In order 
 to supply colonists with information regarding land and 
 the most convenient routes, a Government Colonisation 
 Office was established in 1881 at Batrak, district of 
 Sizran, near the ferry across the Volga; and later colo- 
 nisation, committees were formed in Orenburg, Tiumen 
 and Tomsk. In 1890 a society for assisting colonists 
 was started in St. Petersburg. 
 
 Finally, during the harvestless years of 1891 1892, 
 the Special Committee for aiding the indigent peasants, pre- 
 sided over by the Heir- Apparent Cesarevitch, at present 
 the reigning gracious Emperor Nicholas II, was occupied 
 not only with questions of alimentation, but also with 
 the general economical crisis in the stricken regions, 
 and the most important causes of emigration. It paid the 
 most careful attention to the wants of the emigrants, 
 assigning as much as 89,000 roubles to be disposed of in 
 their cause by an official, specially appointed to Tomsk 
 for the purpose. Part of the money was expended in 
 taking measures against the infectious diseases that had 
 spread amongst the emigrants. 
 
 The above mentioned measures exhausted the action 
 
 208 
 
MIGRATION TO FREE TERRITORIES. 
 
 of the Government and society in regard to regulating 
 peasant colonisation down to the period when the Com- 
 mittee of the Siberian Railway was established, when 
 the question entered a new phase. 
 
 We have already had occasion to remark that the 
 quantity of Government land suitable for agricultural 
 colonisation in European Russia is now comparatively 
 small. This, however, is not the case in Asiatic Russia. 
 In Siberia nearly all the land, as w^e know, belongs to 
 the Government or to the Cabinet of His IMPERIAL 
 MAJESTY. Of this land a very considerable portion in 
 point of extent is under the direct control of the 
 Government and the Cabinet. This is almost entirely 
 forest land and tracts unsuited for agriculture. Another 
 portion, vast in extent, is composed of almost uninha- 
 bited taigas, toondras, and in general stretches of country 
 in a perfectly wild state. All the best lands, most sui- 
 table for agriculture and cattle breeding, are held in 
 use by the peasants and the more civilized natives. 
 Many of them occupy land simply on the strength of 
 traditional and immemorial tenure, without any other 
 formal right. The use of land within each separate unit 
 of more or less extent (village and volost) is organized 
 in a variety of ways. In localities colonised recently, and 
 thinly inhabited, in Eastern Siberia, and on the Amoor, 
 the commune has not succeeded in establishing itself, 
 Land is so abundant, that every one may plough, mow, 
 grow vegetables, and pasture his cattle wherever he wishes, 
 without interfering with anybody else. Land thus seized 
 is called a Zaimka, otherwise Khootor, or farm. Some- 
 
 209 u 
 
MIGRATION TO FREE TERRITORIES. 
 
 times these Zaimky, comprise from 500 to 1000 desiatines 
 and more. When in this way every available piece of 
 land has been added to this or that farm, and fresh ad- 
 ditions of population require land for themselves, the 
 Zaimkaj or farm, gradually gives way to the free form 
 of land tenure, (principally in Tomsk and Tobolsk). This 
 form consists in each having the right to the land which 
 he cultivates, and as long as he cultivates it. At last, as 
 the population grows thicker, the free form of tenure 
 becomes inconvenient, and gradually gives place to the 
 communal system, with its distribution of allotments. 
 
 The foregoing sketch will suffice to characterize the 
 territorial wealth of Siberia, and the possibility of a 
 considerable increase of its agricultural population. It 
 shows further, that the colonisation movement in Siberia 
 is destined to continue for a long time to come. At 
 present, during the course of 9 years (1887 1895). 
 94,000 families comprising "467,000 souls, have settled 
 in Siberia and the region of the Governor Generalship 
 of the Steppe. As many as 3 /4 of the general number 
 of emigrants settle on the lands of His MAJESTY'S Ca- 
 binet in Altay, government of Tomsk. The construction 
 of the Siberian Railway will very naturally place Siberia 
 still nearer within the reach of the whole of the Russian 
 peasantry. This is why, when the late Emperor Alex- 
 ander III, reposing in the Lord, appointed his Heir 
 Apparent, the present auspiciously reigning Gracious 
 Emperor, to the head of the Committee of the Siberian 
 Railway, the Rescript of the 14 th January, 1893, connected 
 the laying of a continuous railroad through Siberia with 
 
 210 
 
MIGRATION TO FREE TERRITORIES. 
 
 the realisation of proposals for facilitating the colonisa- 
 tion of Siberia. In the first place, it was decided to sur- 
 vey and mark out tracts of free land along the route 
 of the Siberian Railway suitable for colonisation. For 
 this purpose several parties of land surveyors were or- 
 ganized, and instructed, that while demarcating land for 
 fresh colonists, they were to make all possible efforts 
 not to interfere with the native inhabitants. 
 
 By means of these surveying parties in 1893 1895 
 an area of over 3 million desiatines was parcelled out into 
 817 parts. The next two essential matters were the ne- 
 cessity of helping the colonists on the road, and their 
 proper settlement on the land. In regulating the migra- 
 tion the Committee received the means of organizing 
 medical aid and the distribution of provisions along the 
 line of march. The credit for advancing money to the 
 colonists was then considerably increased, and rules were 
 drawn up for regulating the grant of such loans to the 
 peasants for continuing their journey, and for arranging 
 their, affairs on arriving at their destination. They also 
 received timber from the Crown forests for building 
 their houses. At the same time measures were taken to 
 satisfy the more pressing spiritual needs of the colonists. 
 For this purpose churches and schools are being estab- 
 lished at various places, principally near the railway 
 stations, for which good \vork subscriptions and gifts 
 of church articles are coming in from all parts of Russia. 
 
 Colonisation is the extreme means of dealing with 
 the deficiency of land. Considering the peasant's love for 
 his land, this is a remedy under specially painful condi- 
 
 - 211 - I** 
 
ORGANIZATION OF PETTY RURAL CREDIT. 
 
 tions, and, therefore, comparatively few avail themselves 
 of it. As \ve have seen above, during 9 years only 
 467,000 souls have gone to Siberia, or an average of 
 52,000 a year. Even if these figures are not quite exact, 
 it must be remembered that the natural annual increase 
 of population in European Russia amounts to 1,500,000 
 souls. In any case, it is not in the compulsory retention 
 of the population in their actual dwelling places, that the 
 means of averting migration on too large a scale is to 
 be found. It is necessary to create conditions that will 
 in themselves keep the peasants at home. They must 
 be persuaded that they can find everything requisite for 
 themselves and families where they are at present; and 
 this can only be done by widely spreading education, 
 and in particular agricultural and technical knowledge. 
 Furthermore, the pursuit of agriculture, as we know, 
 leaves plenty of free time, especially in winter, which 
 can be employed in so called home industries. Our agri- 
 cultural population has long appreciated the importance of 
 these small industries, which do not take the peasant away 
 from his land, and have, therefore, been very considerably 
 developed. But here also the peasant requires more know- 
 ledge, and is as much in want of the school for the success- 
 ful pursuit of this occupation as he is in that of agriculture, 
 d) Organization of petty rural credit. Another want 
 of the peasant is necessary money for improvements r 
 for the commonest forms of industry, and for every- 
 day needs when out of work. This should be 
 supplied by a properly organized system of petty 
 rural credit, without which the peasant is liable to fall 
 
 212 
 
ORGANIZATION OF PETTY RURAL CREDIT. 
 
 under the power of the usurer and other exploiters, 
 and be forced, as a last resource, to sell his property 
 and migrate to some other part of the country. 
 
 The first attempts to organize such a system of 
 petty credit in Russia dates back to the beginning of the 
 present century; but for a long time they were entirely 
 of a spasmodic nature. Some importance was attained 
 by agricultural banks for the peasantry of the Domain 
 estates, and relief and savings banks for the former State 
 peasants. There were a great many of the latter in 1866 
 (more than 47-2 thousand), with a working capital of 
 9 million roubles, but their number has since diminished, 
 and their business become completely disorganized. 
 
 At the beginning of the sixties , after the emanci- 
 pation of the serfs, the idea was started of organizing 
 cheap credit among the peasantry in general, and also 
 for the benefit of small tradesmen and manufacturers for 
 the purpose of supporting and developing their business 
 and industries. 
 
 At that time, in Germany, the ideas of selthelp and 
 credit on the principle of mutual aid, as advocated 
 by Schultze-Delitch, were very popular. These ideas 
 penetrating to Russia met with a great deal of sym- 
 pathy and practical realisation. One of the initiators in 
 this matter was a land-owner in the government of Ko- 
 stroma, C. F. Looginin, who founded the first Mutual 
 Loan and Savings Bank Association in Russia, on his estate 
 in the volost of Rojdestvensk, district of Vetlooga. The 
 statutes of this association served as a model for other 
 .associations of the same kind subsequently established. 
 
 213 
 
ORGANIZATION OF PETTY RURAL CREDIT. 
 
 Since then altogether 1510 of these Associations have 
 sprung into existence at different times; but some of 
 them never came to anything and others were dissolved; 
 so that at present there are only 764 in the 63 govern- 
 ments of European and Asiatic Russia. The working, 
 capital of each association is gradually formed by the sub- 
 scriptions of the members for the creation of shares 
 not exceeding 50 roubles. The Association accepts de- 
 posits and makes loans to its members in proportion to 
 their shares, whilst responsibility for engagements is 
 guaranteed by all the members. 
 
 On the I st of January, 1893, the following informa- 
 tion was forthcoming as to the working capital of our 
 Loan and Savings Bank Associations and their prototypes 
 in Germany on the Schultze-Delitch principle: 
 
 In Russia. In Germany. 
 
 Number of associations 662* 1,075 
 
 Members 211,400 512,509 
 
 Marks 147,462,000, or 
 Own capital .. Roubles 9,118,000 Roubles 67,833,000 
 
 Borrowed capital 
 
 Marks 434,248,000 or 
 
 and deposits. Roubles 12,343,000 Roubles 199,754,000 
 
 Marks 1,539,034,000 or 
 Loans advanced Roubles 18,271,000 Roubles 707,956,000 
 
 In regard to these figures it must be explained that 
 the above 1,075 Associations in Germany are those only 
 which have rendered accounts; whereas there are alto- 
 gether 4,791 Savings Bank Associations, with at! least 2 
 million members, besides a large number of other kinds,. 
 
 * These figures refer to only 662 associations out of the 764. 
 214 
 
ORGANIZATION OF PETTY RURAL CREDIT. 
 
 such as industrial, supply, building, and other associations, 
 in all 4,130. 
 
 At the same time, besides the Savings Bank Associa- 
 tions, we also have other etablishments for the purpose 
 of furnishing small credit. In 1883 the Minister of 
 Finance was empowered to authorize the establishment 
 of Rural Banks, or loan and savings banks, in villages 
 where there were no associations of this character. The 
 characteristic feature of these banks is that the founda- 
 tion capital is not created by means of shares, but with 
 money from the commune or by private donation. In 
 this respect these Rural Banks resemble another type of 
 German establishment, called Reifeizens banks. These 
 Rural Banks advance loans only to their peasant founders 
 at the rate of 200 roubles maximum for the limit of 
 one year. In the case of non repayment of the loan at 
 the appointed time, the debtor is prosecuted in the 
 same way as for taxes. Such banks, however are not 
 yet numerous: there are altogether only 153 in 13 
 governments, with a total capital of 400,000 roubles, and 
 deposits for 235,000 roubles. The loans which they 
 have made, amount to only 657,000 roubles. 
 
 In Germany there are about 2,500 Reifeizens banks, 
 which have made loans to the total amount of over 100 
 million roubles. 
 
 Besides these general kinds of institutions for rural 
 credit, there exist in different places a good many inde- 
 pendent types of such institutions, as, for instance, 1295 
 gmina loan and savings banks in Poland, advancing loans 
 for nearly 12 million roubles to peasants, agriculturists 
 
 215 
 
ORGANIZATION OF PETTY RURAL CREDIT. 
 
 of the burgess class, landless rural labourers, and small 
 land- owners of the Polish nobility; also loan and assis- 
 tance banks in the province of Mogileff, etc. 
 
 The above data shows that we have made a begin- 
 ning with the establishment of minor credit, but its 
 development is yet a very long way behind the progress 
 made in this respect in Germany. 
 
 In places, it is true, there are land proprietors, who 
 maintain close relations with the peasantry, and assist 
 them on favourable conditions for the latter, but such 
 assistance is accidental, and cannot be of any great ex- 
 tent. Consequently, when the State Bank was reorganized 
 in 1894, ^ was authorized to grant credit to owners 
 of land, those engaged in domestic industries, and 
 small traders to the extent of 300 roubles, on the 
 security of solo bills of exchange, i. e. bills with a single 
 signature. At the same time loans may be advanced by 
 the State Bank through the medium of the Zemstvo 
 institutions, private credit establishments, artels, and 
 even by private individuals in close relationship with 
 the peasant borrowers. 
 
 Undoubtedly, however, it is impossible to establish 
 popular credit solely by means of pecuniary cooperation 
 on the part of the Government. Therefore, the Minister 
 of Finance, M. Witte, recommends the cooperation of 
 the State Bank, the Zemstvo, and other public institu- 
 tions, as well as private persons, in creating associations 
 of credit by means of advances for the purpose of 
 forming the foundation capital only, (under the obligation 
 of the loans being repaid out of the profits). Such asso- 
 
 216 
 
PRIVATE LAND. 
 
 ciations, when once founded on Government loans, will 
 soon attract confidence and private capital on profit- 
 able terms. It also obviates the necessity of share 
 subscriptions, which in the case of existing loan and 
 savings bank associations are often not paid at all. This 
 project received the Imperial sanction on June I st , 1895. 
 Furthermore, very considerable alterations have been 
 made in the organization of all former institutions of 
 minor credit, which have thus been better adapted to 
 the objects of their foundation and made more accessible 
 to the population. In conclusion, institutions of minor 
 credit have been enabled by permission of the Minister 
 of Finance, to transact commission business by purchas- 
 ing necessary articles for their members, and selling the 
 produce of their labour. The benefit of including this 
 kind of transaction in the operations of loan and savings 
 bank associations is proved by the example of the Rei- 
 feizens banks, which owe their success to it. 
 
 This, in brief, is the basis of the new laws on 
 minor credit, which inspire the hope that more success 
 will in future attend its development than heretofore 
 has been the case. 
 
 2. Private land, a) Its character and dimensions. 
 
 The second category in importance of landed property 
 is that of private estates. In 1878 all private estates 
 in the 49 governments of European Russia numbered 
 481,000, with a total of 92 million desiatines of land. 
 
 In this total number of private land-owners the 
 peasants come first. In 1878 they constituted more than 
 half the number; but as regards quantity of land, the 
 
 217 
 
PRIVATE LAND. 
 
 nobility possess 80%, merchants 11%, and peasants 
 only 5V2/o- 
 
 The characteristic form, therefore, of private landed 
 property in Russia is that of the estates of the nobility. 
 The history of the rise of landed property belonging to 
 the nobility is in its main features as follows : In ancient 
 Russia there were two kinds of landed property, namely, 
 the votchina, or private property in the full sense of the 
 word, and estates, or feudal property, which the Russian 
 Princes granted in return for service, and which they 
 could take away at will. From the ij 111 century the 
 votchina gradually became merged in the other kind of 
 property, and both kinds were tenanted as land granted 
 in return for service to the Prince, and on which lived 
 the serfs. Such land could of course be held only by 
 servitors, otherwise the nobility. At the end of the 
 1 8 th century State service ceased to be obligatory on 
 the nobility, and, consequently, all landed estates again 
 became votchina. But as the serfs continued to live on 
 the land, and they could be owned only by the nobility, 
 the privilege of owning inhabited estates remained with 
 the nobility, and was abolished per se only on the 
 emancipation of the peasants. 
 
 These historial facts sufficiently explain the contempo- 
 rary predominance of the landed property of the nobility. 
 However that may be the land of the nobility is gradually 
 diminishing under the effects of the extension of the right 
 of possessing land to all classes of the population. In 1861, 
 at the time of the peasant reforms, almost all private 
 property in land belonged to the nobility; but in 1878, 
 
 218 
 
PRIVATE LAND. 
 
 seventeen years later, about 19 million desiatines, or 20% 
 had passed into the possession of other classes, and at the 
 present time this proportion must be much greater. 
 
 The average, or medium extent of private estates 
 in Russia does not exceed [190 desiatines, owing to the 
 large number of small parcels of land owned by peasants 
 in addition to their allotments. On the other hand the 
 medium extent of estates belonging to the nobility is 
 638 desiatines; but it would be unfair to draw conclu- 
 sions exclusively from the property of the nobility, now 
 that almost l /$ of the land has passed into the hands of 
 other classes. 
 
 Therefore, in making comparisons with other States 
 it would be more correct to exclude altogether the small 
 private estates of all classes in general, as, in the first 
 place, the latter are not important in extent, and secondly,, 
 a comparison with the small estates of foreign countries, 
 which correspond with the allotments of our peasantry, 
 has already been made above. 
 
 In this w r ay, if w y e compare private estates of more 
 than 100 desiatines, 100 hectares, or 300 acres, we find 
 that the medium size is: 
 
 In Russia 1116 desiatines, 
 
 England 629 
 
 France 460 
 
 Germany . . . . 374 
 
 But the extent alone gives no idea of the cultiva- 
 tion of an estate. In Western Europe the gross return 
 per desiatine is much greater than with us. In England 
 it is three times, and in Germany and France twice, as 
 
 219 
 
HIRE OF VILLAGE LABOURERS. 
 
 much. Therefore the number of desiatines must be mul- 
 tiplied by the coefficient of productiveness, as follows: 
 Russia ....... 1,116X1 = 1,116 
 
 England ..... 629X3=1,887 
 
 France ...... 460X2^=920 
 
 Germany ..... 374X2=748 
 
 so that it is not Russia, but England which ranks first. 
 If we divide Russian landed property into 3 cate- 
 gories, namely, small estates up to 100 desiatines, me- 
 dium from 100 to 1000, and large estates above 1000 
 desiatines, it will be found that the first occupies only 
 7% of the whole, the second 23%, and the third 70%. 
 Large private properties are especially numerous in the 
 north western and eastern border districts; medium estates 
 in the central provinces, and small ones in the north. 
 But here again, of course, absolute figures must be com- 
 pared with local conditions of rural economy, as there 
 can be no doubt that a thousand desiatines of land in 
 the Baltic provinces is not the same as a thousand de- 
 siatines in the provinces of Perm or Ufa. 
 
 b) Hire of village labourers. In passing on to consider 
 the methods of employing the land, we must make a dis- 
 tinction in this respect between the system of cultivation 
 of proprietors* and that of peasants. The land of the pea- 
 sants is cultivated with few exceptions by the owners 
 themselves, without the help of hired labour. Whereas, the 
 proprietors, who formerly had their serfs to do the work, 
 are now obliged to engage the village labourer, The condi- 
 
 * Under the name of proprietors in this case is understood 
 nlso such leaseholders of private estates that are not peasants. 
 
 220 
 
HIRE OF VILLAGE LABOURERS. 
 
 tions of hired labour, therefore, constitute one of the 
 most important considerations in the cultivation of the 
 land. They depend, above all, upon the number of the local 
 labouring population, corresponding to the area of land 
 to be cultivated. In some regions, especially in the 
 thickly populated blacksoil provinces, and also in the 
 industrial districts, and for the most part outside the 
 limits of the black- soil, the quantity of land is small in 
 comparison with the labour capacity of the local agri- 
 cultural population. In these parts there is thus a very 
 considerable surplus of labourers, who leave temporarily 
 the blacksoil country to seek work principally on land 
 in the south and south-east of Russia. From the 
 country outside the blacksoil region they go for the 
 most part into the towns and industrial centres. In a 
 very fe\v localities, (on the confines of the thickly set- 
 tled blacksoil region and in some provinces beyond T 
 w r ere industries are not much developed), the population 
 almost suffices for the area of cultivation. In the 
 vast region embracing all southern and south-eastern 
 Russia, an enormous extent of land is cultivated and 
 sown exclusively by the help of these temporary labour- 
 ers from other districts. 
 
 In those parts where the number of agricultural 
 labourers is sufficient for the cultivation of all the land r 
 most of the estates are worked by the local peasants, 
 who employ their own implements and cattle. This ar- 
 rangement, which existed nearly everywhere prior to the 
 liberation of the serfs, has now assumed three forms: i, 
 the engagement of peasants for separate work in the 
 
 221 
 
HIRE OF VILLAGE LABOURERS. 
 
 fields: ploughing, sowing, harvesting, etc.; or for tilling 
 and reaping entire desiatines, for which payment is made 
 either in money or in land, that is to say, for example, 
 in return tor tilling and reaping 2 desiatines the pro- 
 prietor allows the peasant to sow the third desiatine 
 with his own seed for his own benefit; 2, giving the 
 land over to the peasants in return for one half, or a 
 certain proportion, of the harvest, and 3, the lease of entire 
 estates or large plots of land for long periods, commonly 
 to village communes or associations, and by the desiatine 
 for one crop to individual peasants. 
 
 A fourth method of labour supply is the hiring of 
 men permanently, by the year, the day, or for other 
 limited terms. 
 
 The engagement of labourers by the month, or for 
 the summer prevails in the South, where the local pea- 
 santry are too few, and where most of the work on 
 private estates must necessarily be performed by men 
 from a distance. Yearly labourers are kept principally in 
 the Baltic, the Vistula and the Western, provinces. 
 
 The essential importance of the conditions of labour 
 hire to the land- owners in the cultivation 'of their land, 
 explains why the Government has always given special 
 attention to the question of providing a sufficient num- 
 ber of labourers. It was the deepest concern of the Go- 
 vernment in ancient Russia. In those days, as we know, 
 the rich land-proprietors and monasteries, with their 
 financial privileges, attracted the peasants from the smaller 
 estates, and the owners of these latter were thus rendered 
 unable to perform their duties to the State on account 
 
 222 
 
HIRE OF VILLAGE LABOURERS. 
 
 of the lack of labourers to till their land. The complaints 
 and discontent of the land-owning class on this head 
 were the reasons which caused the Government to fix 
 the peasantry to the soil; and down to 1861 serfdom 
 was the only means of securing to the land-owners a 
 sufficient supply of labour. Since that period the position 
 of affairs has been radically changed. The system of 
 free contract became the basis of mutual relations, and 
 the Government was called upon to regulate the situa- 
 tion, so as to equalize the interests of both sides. It 
 was necessary to protect the land-owner against any 
 sudden violation of contract in times of difficulty and 
 stress, and to secure the economical and personal liberty 
 of the labourer as well as just and proper remuneration 
 for his work. The latter conditions are not less impor- 
 tant for the proprietor. The small productiveness of the 
 land when worked by the forced labour of the serfs has 
 been fully demonstrated. Consequently, soon after the 
 emancipation, namely, in 1863, the Government issued 
 ((Temporary regulations for the hire of rural labourers 
 and servants)), and these were altered again in 1886. By 
 these regulations the party hiring has the right of de- 
 manding the return of any labourer who may have left 
 before the expiration of his term and taken work with 
 another employer, and the latter can be prosecuted for 
 damages. The employer, or hirer, may also demand that 
 any labourer not appearing, or voluntarily disappearing, be 
 brought back to him. The employer may deduct a fine 
 from the wages of a labourer for drunkenness and neglect 
 of his work, also for carelessness, insolence, disobedience 
 
 223 
 
HIRE OF VILLAGE LABOURERS. 
 
 and injury done to the property of the estate; but the 
 fine must not exceed two days' pay. For drunken deser- 
 tion of duty the fine may be doubled for all the time 
 thus wasted. For complete non-appearance the master 
 may prosecute the labourer for damages, not exceeding, 
 however, his 3 months' wages. In order to secure the 
 economical and personal independence of the labourer it 
 has been laid down, that a contract cannot be made for 
 a longer period than 5 years; and in particular, in the 
 case of working off any debt to the proprietor, a labour- 
 er is forbidden to bind himself for longer than one year. 
 Besides this, an employer may not compel the men to 
 accept wages in kind, in the form of corn, goods or 
 other articles instead of money, and a fine may be im- 
 posed on an employer for delaying payment. 
 
 Such are the legal regulations regarding the condi- 
 tions of hiring labour from the juridical point of view. 
 Not less important is the economical side of the matter. 
 In point of fact, the extent of necessary \vorking capital 
 depends upon local conditions of securing labour. 
 
 In the thickly populated districts .of the blacksoil 
 provinces, where the local peasantry go to work with 
 their own cattle and agricultural implements, the land owner 
 in most cases keeps very few cattle and implements; 
 also, where the land is worked on the condition of a 
 part of the produce going to the peasant labourers, or 
 where the land is let out to the peasants for long periods, 
 the owners may altogether dispense with any inventory 
 of their own. On the other hand, in those parts where 
 the labourers come from a distance the inventary of the 
 
 224 
 
HIRE OF VILLAGE LABOURERS. 
 
 land owner must necessarily be very extensive, as also 
 in districts where labourers are engaged by the year. 
 
 The labour question is not less important in its 
 effect upon the profitableness of private land. The gross 
 profits of agriculture depend upon the harvest and the 
 selling prices of wheat, but the expenditure depends 
 upon the price of labour. The price of wheat in times 
 of bad harvest generally rises, while the price of labour 
 in such a case is diminished, and vice versa. The fluc- 
 tuations in this respect ought to balance the one with 
 the other; but in reality it often turns out quite the 
 contrary. In the south, for instance, in years of good 
 harvest, the price of wheat falls so low, and that of 
 labour rises so high, that the losses of agricultural pro- 
 prietors are greater than in years of the very worst 
 crops. For this reason the most profitable years are those 
 of middling harvests, or a little above the average. This 
 changes for the better the further one goes to the north, 
 as in that region the productiveness of land and the 
 price of labour are less subject to fluctuation, and the 
 area of land in the possession of private owners is com- 
 paratively insignificant. 
 
 But in the south the impossibility of foreseeing 
 exactly the extent of expenditure necessary for gathering 
 in the crops forces the proprietors either to resort to 
 loans, or to sell the yet ungarnered crops, burdened 
 with considerable advances. 
 
 These circumstances lead to the necessity of pro- 
 perly explaining and solving the question of agricultural 
 credit both tor long and short terms. 
 
 225 15 
 
LONG AND SHORT CREDIT FOR LANDOWNERS. 
 
 c) Long and short credit for landowners. As regards 
 the first, the mortgage of land as security was known 
 in Russia in the XIV century, and in the XVI century 
 it assumed a sufficiently definite form. But with the 
 prohibition of acquiring land, the plebian class were not 
 permitted to give loans on the security of land, which 
 was a considerable hindrance to such transactions, and 
 increased the rate of interest on the loans. 
 
 It was first in the reign of the Empress Elizaveta 
 Petrovna, in 1754, that two Government banks for the 
 nobility were established at St. Petersburg and Moscow, 
 for the purpose of saving the nobility from usurers. 
 Under Catherine II the St. Petersburg bank was turned 
 into a State Loan Bank. In the course of time advances 
 came to be given not only by the Loan Bank, but also 
 by the Deposit Bank, attached to the Foundling Hospitals 
 at St. Petersburg and Moscow, and the Offices of Public 
 Benevolence. Down to 1859 all these institutions had 
 advanced about 425 million roubles on security of more 
 than 2 / 3 of the total number of serfs. We had occasion 
 to refer above to the abnormal character of this system 
 of State agrarian credit, and the peasant reforms, which 
 were then approaching, rendered a radical rearrangement 
 necessary, inasmuch as the gratuitous labour of the serfs 
 soon ceased to be the chief source of means for the 
 landowners. And in effect all these Government institu- 
 tions of agrarian credit were abolished in July. 1859. 
 On the emancipation of the serfs in 1861, the advances 
 made to proprietors in return for the land allotted to 
 the peasants were employed to liquidate their debts to 
 
 226 
 
LONG AND SHORT CREDIT FOR LANDOWNERS. 
 
 the former institutions of credit; and subsequently, down 
 to 1864, there was, properly speaking, no organization 
 whatever of agrarian credit, although the question was 
 very diligently discussed, and preference was shown for 
 banks of mutual credit, that is to say, associations of 
 land proprietors mutually guaranteeing each other. The 
 first bank of this kind was established in the province 
 of Kherson in 1864, and in 1866 a more important 
 institution came into existence, the Society of Mutual 
 Agrarian Credit. Subsequently, beginning in 1871, agra- 
 rian share banks were started in KharkofF, Poltava, 
 Toola, etc. As far back as 1865 the indebtedness of 
 private landed property was calculated at 92 million roub- 
 les, and by 1886 this sum had increased to 700,000,000 
 roubles. The great fall in the price of cereals in the 
 eighties)) placed the proprietors of mortgaged estates in 
 an almost inextricable position. Their incomes were con- 
 siderably diminished, and yet the payments due to the 
 credit banks and expenses in general remained the same 
 as before. This circumstance, coupled with the rapid 
 transfer of land from the original landed nobility into 
 the hands of other classes, gave great concern to the 
 Government. Therefore in 1885 the Government estab- 
 lished the State Land Bank of the Nobility, which makes 
 advances exclusively to noblemen. The extent of such 
 loans must not exceed 60% of the estimated value of 
 the land, on the mortgage of which the money is ad- 
 vanced. Advances are made for terms from u do 67 
 years, and, according to the Manifesto of November 14, 
 1894, the percentage charged on them besides redemp- 
 
 227 15 * 
 
LONG AND SHORT CREDIT FOR LANDOWNERS. 
 
 tion is lowered to 4% per annum. Such favourable con- 
 ditions could certainly not be offered to borrowers by 
 any private land bank; and consequently the indebtedness 
 of private landed property has increased principally at 
 the expense of the Land Bank of the Nobility. From 
 1886 to 1894 it was increased by 475 million roubles, 
 out of which 335 millions were advanced by the Bank 
 of the Nobility. It must be explained here, that the 
 operations of the Bank of the Nobility do not extent to 
 Poland, the Baltic provinces, Finland, Transcaucasus, 
 or to landowners of Polish extraction in the Western 
 provinces. 
 
 The total sum of debt upon private estates on the 
 I st January, 1894, was 1,175,000,000 roubles, without 
 taking into account the debts on private mortgages, 
 which, however, is much less. As security for the above 
 amount of debt there were 108,000 estates mortgaged 
 comprising 47,5 million desiatmes, which constitutes 41,3% 
 of the entire area of private estates in European Russia, 
 the kingdom of Poland and the Caucasus. The greatest 
 number of estates mortgaged are in the Baltic provinces, 
 where mutual loan banks for the nobility were founded 
 at the beginning of the XIX century. More than half, 
 reaching up to 70%, of the land of all private estates 
 is mortgaged in the southern, southwestern and central 
 blacksoil provinces, where a ready working and reserve 
 capital is required in view of the great fluctuations in 
 the quality of the harvests and the price of labour. At 
 the same time in Russia as in Western Europe a very 
 inconsiderable part of the money borrowed has been 
 
 228 
 
LONG AND SHORT CREDIT FOR LANDOWNERS. 
 
 spent on the needs of the land. For the most part it 
 has been employed either in facilitating the purchase of 
 estates, or for covering payments due to third parties on 
 account of family divisions of inheritance, and so forth. 
 In the management of estates more importance is 
 attached to credit on short terms. During the period 
 immediately following the abolition of serfdom the pro- 
 prietors obtained working capital partly by selling the 
 interest bearing paper, given to them as remuneration 
 for the loss of the land allotments presented to the 
 emancipated peasants, and partly by means of loans on 
 the security of their land. But when those resources 
 were exhausted, and the land was already burdened with 
 heavy debt, attention had to be directed to the organi- 
 zation of agricultural credits for short terms. The land 
 banks, by their statutes, were able to provide such credit 
 only out of a comparatively small part of their means, 
 and land proprietors seldom solicited aid of the State 
 Bank, because the latter could only discount bills of a 
 commercial nature. Private credit also was excessively 
 dear, especially when the harvest failed, or there was 
 stagnation in the grain trade. All these circumstances 
 gave rise in 1884 to the law of solo bills of exchange 
 from landowners, according to which the State Bank 
 and its branch offices were authorized to give credit to 
 landowners in return for solo bills (that is, bills with the 
 single signature of the drawer, whereas commercial bills 
 of exchange require the signature of a second party), 
 on condition of a lien upon the estate for the amount 
 of credit so given, (at present inventories, guarantees, etc. 
 
 229 
 
DISTRIBUTION OF THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF LAND. 
 
 are likewise accepted as security for solo bills). Down 
 to 1893 credit had been opened for a total of ijVa- 
 million roubles, and advances made for only 9 millions. 
 Since then, especially in 1894, when new statutes were 
 issued for the State Bank, all possible measures have 
 been taken to facilitate the formalities, involved in the 
 acquisition of credit on solo bills of exchange. Down to 
 1895 1 8 million roubles have been paid on solo bills. 
 
 A second form of short agrarian credit consists in 
 advancing money on the security of agricultural produce. 
 This system is of essential importance for the land- 
 owner, as it helps him to become more independent of 
 arbitrary prices fixed by buyers. It came into use in 
 the forties)), long before the introduction of solo bills of 
 exchange, and when the State Commercial Bank of that 
 time established branch offices at Kieff and Kharkoff, 
 and advanced loans on security of agricultural produce 
 kept on the spot by the land proprietors. At first this 
 operation developed rapidly; but through the want of 
 satisfactory buildings on the estates in which to store 
 the mortgaged produce, and the difficulty of maintaining 
 the necessary supervision thereof, it gradually fell out of 
 use and was at last done away with altogether. This 
 occurred in the sixties ; but the system was revived in 
 1894 on tne reorganisation of the State Bank. On the 
 other hand, with the development of railways, this ope- 
 ration was undertaken by the railway authorities. 
 
 II. Distribution of the different kinds of land. We must 
 now turn from the consideration of peasant and private 
 land in particular to that of agriculture in general. The 
 
 230 
 
FOREST LAND. 
 
 first question in this connexion is the distribution of the 
 different kinds of land. According to statistics of 1881 
 the 50 provinces of European Russia contain 39% of 
 forest land, 26% of arable land, 16% of meadow and 
 pasture land and 19% of land unfit for use. 
 
 a) Forest land. It therefore appears that forest land 
 predominates, but it would be a mistake to call European 
 Russia a wooded country. Only two regions can be pro- 
 perly described as chiefly composed of forest land, namely, 
 the extreme north (57/X an d the Ural region (45%). 
 The provinces of the middle Volga and the lake districts 
 are wooded to the same extent as Austria (29 30%); 
 and the following regions are more wooded than France, 
 but less than Germany: the Moscow industrial districts, 
 the provinces of White Russia, with Lithuania, the king- 
 dom of Poland, the wooded parts of the Ukraine (the 
 provinces of Kieff and Volhinia), and the Transcaucasus 
 (20 24%). The Baltic provinces resemble France 
 (17%), and in the remaining provinces the proportion 
 of forest land is still less, although France is considered 
 a thinly wooded country. Finally on the steppe land of 
 the south eastern regions there is not more than i/o 
 of forest. 
 
 In relation to the number of inhabitants more 
 favorable results are obtained. There are 1,3 desiatines 
 of forest to every inhabitant, whereas in Europe in ge- 
 neral there are only 0,8, and in particular in Austria l /z 
 desiatine, in Germany Vs and in France l /5 desiatine. 
 But if we reckon by zones and districts more than l /2 
 of the population have less forest land than in Ger- 
 
 231 
 
FOREST LAND. 
 
 many, and l /& less than in France. The gross consump- 
 tion of wood for domestic and industrial purposes is 
 estimated by professors Roudsky and Shafranoff at 45 
 million cubic sajens yearly. Reckoning 25 cubic sajens 
 to a desiatine, we find that about 2 million desiatines 
 of timber are cut down annually out of the 142 million 
 desiatines composing the entire forest area, or l /i\. This 
 destruction of timber could not be considered excessive 
 if the entire area of forest land were equally distributed; 
 but unfortunately this is not the case; and thinly wooded 
 districts are being denuded of timber with frightful rapi- 
 dity. Such deforestation of our grain -growing provinces 
 could not fail to attract special attention. Trees, as we 
 know, moderate the sharp fluctuations of temperature 
 by softening the hoar frosts of the early morning, which 
 are so injurious to young crops, and by influencing the 
 quantity of moisture, thus regulating the climate and 
 irrigation. In the wooded parts of European Russia the 
 amount of atmospheric precipation is much greater than 
 in the woodless regions. 
 
 This deforestation has brought about destructive 
 inundations in the basins of the Dniester, Dniepre, Boog, 
 Don, and Western Dvina, which were formerly unknown. 
 Woods and forests also purify the atmosphere, arrest the 
 drifting of sand, and formation of dunes, form a protec- 
 tion against the detrimental effects of hail and storms, 
 strengthen the banks of rivers and streams, and prevent 
 the latter from becoming silted up and shallow. This 
 explains the great importance of woods and forests in 
 Russia, which has hitherto been chiefly an agricultural 
 
 232 
 
FOREST LAND. 
 
 country, and in which the well being of a majority of the 
 inhabitants depends upon equality and moderation of 
 climatic conditions. Therefore the history of the rela- 
 tions of the community and the State towards this 
 question of woods and forests is of no small interest. 
 In ancient times the woods and forests of Russia were 
 too abundant to have any value or importance among 
 the thinly scattered population, and were not even re- 
 garded as private property. It was not till the end of 
 the XV century that a beginning was made in this res- 
 pect by the issue of ((preservative charters)) to a few 
 landowners against the cutting of wood by unauthorized 
 persons. In the law code of the Tsar Alexey Mikhailo- 
 vich there is a general system of punishments laid down 
 .against the voluntary use of other persons' wood. But it 
 was only in the reign of Peter the Great that the Govern- 
 ment began to take decisive measures in regard to the 
 forests of the country. In 1703 all woods and forests 
 within 50 versts of the larger rivers, and 20 versts of 
 the smaller ones were declared to be Zapoviedny, i. e. 
 their destruction was interdicted. Punishment of death 
 was decreed against the voluntary cutting down of oak, 
 and 10 roubles fine for the destruction of every other 
 kind of tree. 
 
 For the purposes of supervision and control a body 
 of foresters was created, with a Chief Forester at their 
 head. (Ober-Waldmeister's instructions, 1723). After 
 Peter the Great many of these regulations were mollified; 
 but Anna lohannovna revived the system of Peter, and 
 even made it more severe. Under Catherine II, with the 
 
 233 
 
FOREST LAND. 
 
 new ideas of the time as to the freedom of private 
 property, the system of forest regalia was entirely abo- 
 lished, and the Government concentrated its attention 
 only on forest land belonging to the Crown. With the 
 establishment of a Ministry of State Domains in 1838- 
 the authorities began to attach importance to the existence 
 of woods and forests as an element in the cultivation 
 of the country. A body of forest guards was formed for 
 preserving the forests of the Crown, and a corps of 
 foresters for their proper management and cultivation. 
 The results of these measures, which continue to operate 
 at the present day, were very important, not only in the 
 sense of increasing the income of the State on this head 
 from i to nearly 28 million roubles, but in the general 
 interests of the State, as the extent of forest land owned 
 by the State is immense. In European Russia alone the 
 State owns 2 /3 of all the woods and forests. Here again, 
 however, the distribution is very unfavourable. Most of 
 the State forests are in the thickly wooded localities of 
 the north, while a predominence of insecure private pro- 
 perty in woods and forests obtains in the more thinly 
 wooded zones. In these spheres the necessity of preser- 
 ving woods and forests has been very slowly recognized. 
 Consequently, on the establishment of the Zemstvos 
 in the sixties)) many of the assemblies of those institu- 
 tions raised the question of forest preservation, in which 
 they received the strong support of the Minister of State 
 Domains, Count Valooieff. The first project of laws for 
 the preservation of forests was then drawn up, but was 
 confirmed by the Emperor only in 1888. By those laws 
 
 234 
 
FOREST LAND. 
 
 the following forests and coppices may be recognized as 
 protected throughout European Russia and the Caucasus : 
 i, forests or coppices arresting movable sands; 2, protect- 
 ing the banks of rivers or other waters; 3, growing in 
 any quantity on mountains, hills, precipices, and slopes, 
 if such trees or shrubs prevent the falling of earth or 
 rock, and 4, protecting the upper reaches and sources 
 of rivers and their tributaries. These kinds of wood or 
 forest may not be turned into any other sort of rural 
 property, and the plan of management is confirmed by 
 the Government. Besides this, in case of the owner not 
 agreeing to carry out this or the other improvement, 
 the Ministry may buy out his forest or wood at a va- 
 luation price. Private woods and forests not recognized 
 as protected may be turned into other kinds of land 
 only in certain cases. Destructive felling of trees and 
 the pasture of cattle in young woods or in clearings are 
 forbidden. Land irregularly cleared of timber must be 
 replanted with trees by the owner, and so forth. For 
 the purpose of carrying out these laws a forest preser- 
 vation committee exists in each province, presided over 
 by the governor, and composed of representatives of the 
 nobility, of the administration, of the law courts, of the 
 zemstvo, and the owners of woods and forests. Down 
 to the I st January, 1895, there were 36,000,000 desia- 
 tines of forest under the supervision of these commit- 
 tees, including 7,000,000 desiatines of peasant land, and 
 19,000,000 desiatines belonging to private owners: in 
 this total there were 890,000 desiatines of forest recog- 
 nized as protected, and the plans of management of 
 
 235 
 
FOREST LAND. 
 
 4,166,000 desiatines of unprotected forest had been 
 sanctioned by the Government. 
 
 Such are the preservative measures for the protec- 
 tion of existing woods and forests. But as we have al- 
 ready observed, there are large tracts of country almost 
 destitute of forests. In such places positive measures are 
 required for directly increasing the extent of the wood- 
 lands. The attention of the Ministry of State Domains 
 was turned to this matter as soon as that department 
 came into existence. Scientific authorities declared that 
 it was impossible to afforest the steppes; but Count Kis- 
 seleff was not dissuaded from making the attempt; and 
 accordingly, a young Russian forester, named Victor Graff, 
 was sent to the province of Ekaterinoslaff to try the 
 experiment. With enormous energy this man overcame 
 all difficulties, and created a forest on the steppe in the, 
 so called, Great Anadolsky forestry. What was formerly 
 a desert is now covered with 3000 desiatines of fine 
 forest. Subsequently the work was extended to other 
 parts of New Russia, where several other young forests 
 have been created. The forest department add about 750 
 desiatines every year, and the example has been followed 
 by other Government Departments and private indivi- 
 duals. It is also worthy of remark that trees have been 
 planted to withstand the shifting sand on the dunes near 
 Libau and Windau, and near the mouth of the Dnieper, 
 dose to the town of Aleshky; and, in general, measures 
 for arresting the movement of sands in different locali- 
 ties are to be adopted on the widest possible scale. 
 
 At present the forest authorities, while encouraging 
 
 -- 236 
 
FOREST LAND. 
 
 the private cultivation of woods and forests, also give 
 out young trees for planting from the existing 3 1 Go- 
 vernment nurseries, and offer prizes for forest culti- 
 vation, etc. 
 
 A few words remain to be said in conclusion as to 
 the forests of Siberia, which all belong to the Govern- 
 ment. In Western Siberia alone these forests are esti- 
 mated at no million desiatines. In Eastern Siberia the 
 forest area is much greater, but the extent of it is not 
 yet known. As in European Russia, the enormous sylvan 
 wealth of Siberia is very unequally distributed, and in 
 the south there is hardly any wood at all. For a long 
 time the Siberian forests have been free of all supervi- 
 sion and control, and down to the present day the law 
 recognizes the right of the denizens of Siberia to the 
 free use of forest timber for all requirements, including 
 the construction of boats. Owing to this attitude, the 
 accumulation of windfallen trees and branches, frequent 
 fires, indiscriminate felling of timber, and the pasturing 
 of cattle, etc., have reduced most of these forest pro- 
 perties to a chaotic condition, and in the more populated 
 localities of Siberia there has even come to he a want 
 of wood. It was only in the sixties)) that regulations 
 were introduced in Western Siberia for the payment of 
 stump and sajene fees. But, owing to the absence of 
 control, these regulations did not produce much benefit 
 until a forest department and keepers had been instituted 
 in that region. A great deal of effort is of course still 
 necessary to put order into the forest management of 
 Asiatic Russia, and this will undoubtedly be facilitated 
 
 237 
 
SYSTEMS OF CULTIVATION AND AUXILIARY PURSUITS. 
 
 gradually by the growth of population, the increasing 
 demand for timber, and its advance in price. 
 
 b) Systems of cultivation and auxiliary pursuits. The 
 
 remaining kinds of rural land, consisting of arable, 
 meadow, and pasture, constitute together 26+16=42% 
 of the total area of European Russia. The proportionate 
 quantities of each in any particular locality characterize 
 to some extent the predominant form of rural economy. 
 Most land is tilled in the populated blacksoil provinces. 
 To the north and south of that zone there is compara- 
 tively less ploughed land, the smallest percentage being 
 naturally found in the northernmost provinces of Vo- 
 logda, Olonets and Archangel. In these regions forest 
 land predominates, together with the so called field and 
 forest system of rotation which suits best the local con- 
 ditions. This system consists in sowing wheat at inter- 
 vals and meanwhile allowing wood to grow for long 
 periods at a time. This field and forest system is follo- 
 wed also in remote districts of the provinces of Nov- 
 gorod, Kostroma, Viatka and Perm, besides the 3 north- 
 ern provinces mentioned, and then gradually merges into 
 the three-field system, which predominates throughout 
 Russia. The most usual and most widely spread form 
 of this system consists in the following alternation: 
 i) fallow, 2) winter rye, 3) oats, barley or buck-wheat. 
 There must necessarily, however, be great variety in 
 the cultivation of these regions on the three-field system, 
 as indicated by the one single circumstance that in the 
 northern half of these provinces the cultivation of clayey, 
 sandy and manured soil constitutes 20 30, and occa- 
 
 238 
 
SYSTEMS OF CULTIVATION AND AUXILIARY PURSUITS. 
 
 sionally 40% of the total area, whereas on the black- 
 soil it amounts to 5060%. For instance, from the 
 west towards the region of the field and forest system, 
 there is the flax region, comprising the provinces of 
 Pskoff, Vitebsk, Novgorod, and parts of the provinces 
 of Yaroslaff, Kostroma, Vologda, Tver, and also Smo- 
 lensk and Courland. In these regions corn crops are 
 first followed by flax, which is sown partly on forest 
 clearings and partly on arable soil, which, besides, is 
 for the most part richly manured and improved by the 
 cultivation of clover. The entire area not composed of 
 blacksoil produces up to 13 million poods of flax fibre, 
 which is as much as can be produced by all 'the other 
 countries of Europe taken together. The blacksoil zone, 
 Siberia and the kingdom of Poland produce up to 18 
 million poods, and in addition 23 million poods of lin- 
 seed. The local consumption of these products is not 
 large: it does not exceed ] /3 of flax fibre and 20% of 
 linseed; the value of our export of flax products may 
 be estimated at about 80 million roubles. Russia there- 
 fore takes the lead in supplying the international market 
 with prepared flax, and comes second after the East- 
 Indies in exportation of linseed. 
 
 The flax region, not composed of blacksoil, gives 
 place on its confines to the region in which cattle 
 breeding predominates. This comprises the province of 
 St. Petersburg, the three provinces of the Baltic, Lithua- 
 nia, a portion of White Russia and the industrial districts. 
 In these parts the percentage of tilled land varies con- 
 siderably. The largest proportion is in Lithuania (up to 
 
 239 
 
SYSTEMS OF CULTIVATION AND AUXILIARY PURSUITS. 
 
 40%) and the smallest in the Baltic region (about 20%), 
 The whole of the above mentioned region is characte- 
 rized by the production on land included in the seed 
 overturn for feeding purposes, of clover, potatoes, Ti- 
 mothy grass etc., and also by an abundance of natural 
 meadow land and pastures along the banks of rivers 
 and lakes, lowlands, marshes, waste land, and young 
 woods. The possession of an abundance of cattle of the, 
 so called, Great Russian breed, and the production of 
 large quantities of manure constitute the essential con- 
 ditions of rural economy; and in consequence there is a 
 very high development of dairy farming. 
 
 In the latter half of the sixties)) a landowner of 
 Tver, named Verestchagin, visited Switzerland for the 
 purpose of becoming acquainted w T ith the association 
 form adopted there in that particular pursuit, which he 
 decided to introduce into Russia under the form of 
 the Russian artel system of organisation. In 1871 with 
 the help of the Zemstvo of Tver and the Government, 
 Verestchagin opened the first school of dairy farming 
 in the village of Edimonoff, Government of Tver. 
 
 From that time the improvement of dairy farming 
 made rapid strides, and in the middle of the seventies)) a 
 number of cheese and butter factories sprang up, pro- 
 ducing Swiss, Dutch, Limburg and French cheese. Prior 
 to that cheese in Russia was made out of curds. Cream 
 butter and Holstein and Paris butter also began to be 
 manufactured. At the present time there are several 
 thousand butter and cheese factories. In 1886 a kind of 
 travelling butter factory was established for the purpose 
 
 240 
 
SYSTEMS OF CULTIVATION AND AUXILIARY PURSUITS. 
 
 of introducing improved methods of manufacture among 
 landowners and peasants, and also a dairy farming la- 
 boratory, and a number of dairy schools on the model 
 of those in Finland. 
 
 The result was that the import of foreign butter 
 and cheese began to diminish, and the Russian export 
 of these products, which had never before existed, went 
 on continually increasing, until in 1891 it reached 63,000 
 poods of cheese and 433,000 poods of butter made from 
 the milk of cows and sheep. 
 
 Nevertheless, the production of cereals is very con- 
 siderable even in the region in which cattle breeding 
 prevails so largely. The area of corn sowing in this 
 region, as everywhere under the three-field system, consti- 
 tutes 2 /s of the arable land (as 1 /a remains fallow); but 
 in the Baltic provinces, under the many field system, 
 more than 70% of all the arable land is sown. The 
 prevailing cereal is of course rye. Considerably less oats 
 and still less barley is sown, as' everywhere in the 
 regions not composed of blacksoil. 
 
 In characterizing the rural economy of the regions 
 not composed of blacksoil in general, it way be said 
 that without reckoning the employment of agriculture 
 and domestic industries, the population is obliged, owing 
 to the comparative poverty of the soil, to seek additional 
 means of livelihood in other rural occupations, such as 
 the preparation of flax, cattle breeding, etc. For the same 
 reason the three field system is gradually giving way to 
 more perfect methods, and the cultivation of valuable 
 spring plants, chiefly root crops, and likewise grass for 
 
 241 16 
 
SYSTEMS OF CULTIVATION AND AUXILIARY PURSUITS. 
 
 feeding, with a corresponding development of cattle 
 breeding. The land is continually manured, and in the 
 west, instead of dung, the manure used is generally 
 superphosphate and bone dust, the import of which is 
 twice as great as it was in 1886. 
 
 The blacksoil zone exhibits quite other characteristics, 
 In this region grain cultivation predominates, and sup- 
 ports the welfare of the population. It may be subdivided 
 in its turn into two parts. The first part, embracing all 
 the central blacksoil provinces, and parts of the Little 
 Russian and south western provinces, is called the region 
 in which the three field system predominates. 
 
 Owing to the fine quality of the soil there is a 
 great deal of land under cultivation, more than Va, and 
 even up to 3 /*; but the want of food for cattle is so 
 much felt that cattle breeding is very little developed, 
 and consequently the use of manure, although very ge- 
 neral, is very limited in quantity, and began to be used 
 not more than 30 years ago. 
 
 The cereals principally cultivated are: winter rye in 
 the northern part, and wheat in the southern; also spring- 
 oats, backwheat, occasionally barley, peas and millet. 
 Potatoes are cultivated for the manufacture of spirit and 
 starch, and among the peasantry for food. It must not r 
 however, be thought that the whole of this region re- 
 presents one kind of cultivation. Here also grass grow- 
 ing, is gradually being added to the three course system, 
 clover and Timothy grass principally. 
 
 The second half of this grain growing territory, 
 including the provinces of Saratoff, Samara, Voroneje, 
 
 242 
 
SYSTEMS OF CULTIVATION AND AUXILIARY PURSUITS. 
 
 Kharkoff, Poltava, Ekaterinoslaff and Kherson, is called 
 the region of the improved fallow, or manifold course 
 and pasture system. Here one perceives a transition 
 towards the system of the steppes, in which cultivation 
 of the fields alternates with more or less prolonged 
 periods of rest in order to renew the productive powers 
 of the soil. The difference is that land which has rested 
 for some years is again rendered productive: grasses are 
 sown on it, principally Timothy, esparcet, lucerne etc., 
 which are thus included in the rotation of crops. The 
 cereals cultivated are mostly wheat, millet, oats occasio- 
 nally barley and peas, and in places flax for seed. Cattle 
 breeding is pretty general, but as the land is hardly ever 
 manured, it has hitherto been confined to the breeding 
 of fine- wool sheep. With the increase of the rental value 
 of land, sheep farming has of late years become unpro- 
 fitable, and is now rapidly on the decline. 
 
 A middle place between the 3 course and the ma- 
 nifold course and fallow systems is occupied by the beet 
 growing region. Although the cultivation of beet root 
 for sugar is found in the central blacksoil provinces, the 
 real beet growing region comprises only some parts of 
 the provinces of Kursk, Kharkoff, Chernigoff, Kieff, Po- 
 dolia and Volhynia. As regards the technical part of 
 rural economy, the cultivation of beet root here is of 
 equal importance with other root crops. 
 
 Finally, in the south and south east of European 
 Russia, in the provinces of Oufa, Orenburg, Samara and 
 Astrakhan; the territories of the Kuban, the Terek and 
 the Cossack troops of the Don, and in some parts of 
 
 - 243 - 16 * 
 
SYSTEMS OF CULTIVATION AND AUXILIARY PURSUITS. 
 
 the Taurid, Kherson and Ekaterinoslav provinces, the 
 fallow system, pure and simple, prevails. There is com- 
 paratively less arable land here than in the foregoing 
 regions, and less than 50% of it is sown; even less 
 than 30%, for instance, in the province of Oufa. 
 Manure has been used on the land only during the past 
 10 years, and then only as a rare exception to the rule, 
 while in the south and south eastern provinces it is never 
 used at all. It must, of course, be borne in mind that 
 at the end of the last, and beginning of the present, 
 centuries, agriculture on the steppes scarcely existed, 
 and therefore, the blacksoil of this region is still very 
 fertile. Sheep farming has also begun to develop here 
 during the last few years. 
 
 The most lucrative occupation of the inhabitants of 
 the south and south east of Russia is cattle breeding, 
 which therefore requires a few words of description. 
 
 In the whole of European and Asiatic Russia there 
 are about 167 million head of cattle, including 28 million 
 horses, 40 million oxen, 87 million sheep and goats, 
 and 12 million hogs. Horse breeding is carried on in a 
 fairly equal degree all over Russia, although the greatest 
 number of horses per man of the population is found 
 in the east and south east. Of the total number of 
 horses, 82% belong to the peasants, 15% to the land 
 proprietors, and only 3% to the inhabitants of towns. 
 Nevertheless the peasants who have no horses (V*) are 
 specially numerous in the south west, where oxen are 
 used as draught animals. Horses of the peasant and 
 steppe breeds are most abundant, and those of breeding 
 
 244 
 
SYSTEMS OF CULTIVATION AND AUXILIARY PURSUITS. 
 
 studs comparatively small in number, although for the 
 purposes of improving Russian horses in general, the 
 trotting studs, and those of pure-bred and half-bred 
 English horses are of essential importance. The studs of 
 trotting horses are now so numerous that Russia in this 
 respect is fully provided for. On the other hand, the 
 studs of pure-bred race horses, which are the only ones 
 suitable for improving the horses of the steppes, are as 
 yet very few. The Chief State Department of Horse 
 Breeding is therefore continually increasing the Govern- 
 ment studs, and also the prizes and rewards for encou- 
 raging trotting matches and races, and the number of 
 horse shows. 
 
 As regards horses of the type used for agricultural 
 purposes, the most remarkable are the Tdepper and Swe- 
 dish ponies in Finland and the Baltic provinces, and the 
 bityoogy of Voroneje and TambofT, bred from Dutch 
 stallions imported by Peter the Great. Among those of 
 the steppe breed, suitable for riding, the most important 
 are the well known Kirghiz horses, which are bred over 
 a very wide area of south eastern European Russia and 
 the Asiatic steppes; also the horses of the Kalmucks, 
 Bashkirs and Don Cossacks. The latter kind from the 
 Don, when crossed with English and Arabian blood, 
 furnish the chief supply of horses for the Russian 
 cavalry. In general, the south east of European Russia 
 and the Asiatic steppes offer such a wide field for the 
 breeding of horses that there need be no fear for the 
 future of this pursuit, although unfortunately many 
 owners of Russian studs have not yet been able to 
 
 245 
 
SYSTEMS OF CULTIVATION AND AUXILIARY PURSUITS. 
 
 acquire the necessary knowledge and experience, nor the 
 means for producing good cavalry and cart horses. 
 
 The cattle, as well as the horses of Russia, are 
 pretty equally distributed. We have already described the 
 cattle and dairy farming of Great Russia and the nor- 
 thern provinces. The steppe cattle, that is, the cattle of 
 the southern steppes, the south western, Little Russian, 
 and south eastern provinces, are very large, and good 
 for work and meat. The trade of the interior in live 
 cattle is concentrated at the fairs and bazaars, especially 
 in the Don, Kuban and other territories, where many 
 thousands of oxen are generally collected. Hence they 
 are despatched to the towns alive, or as meat in refri- 
 gerating railway cars. 
 
 But the first place in importance in the south and 
 south eastern regions belongs to sheep farming. All sheep 
 in Russia may be divided into 2 groups: the fine wool, 
 or merino, and the common, or coarse wool sheep. The 
 sheep of the first kind are estimated at Vs, although 
 latterly, with the fall in price of marine wool, and the 
 development of agriculture proper, their number has 
 begun to decline. On large farms sheep are kept in flocks 
 of many thousands. It was Peter the Great who first 
 pointed out the profitableness of sheep farming; and in 
 1720, with the assistance of foreigners, a State farm for 
 sheep breeding was established and sheep were given 
 away gratis. In the reign of Catherine II the breeding of 
 merino sheep was further extended, and under Alexander 
 I land was given gratis to many foreign sheep farmers 
 in the provinces of the southern steppes. Of all the kinds 
 
 246 
 
SYSTEMS OF CULTIVATION AND AUXILIARY PURSUITS. 
 
 of merino sheep the most distributed are the elektoralny 
 and negretti. Of the coarse wool sheep, the most re- 
 markable are the tsagaislty in the south west, and the 
 volojsky in the south east of Russia. The wool of these 
 two kinds is exported in large quantities, especially to 
 the United States. In the north also, in the province 
 of Yaroslav, there is another kind of sheep called the 
 romanofsky, which furnishes good skins for coats. 
 
 European Russia produces altogether yearly from 7 
 to yVa million poods of dirty and washed wool, inclu- 
 ding 2 ] /2 to 3 million poods of merino. Most of it is 
 sold dirty on the spot at the farms, or at fairs, especi- 
 ally at the fair of Kharkoff. 
 
 Without dwelling in detail on hog breeding, which 
 is particularly developed in north western, and south 
 western Russia, we may observe, in conclusion, that 
 cattle and the products of cattle breeding (meat, tallow 
 wool, leather, bristles etc.) are exported to the total value 
 of about 49 million roubles, while the import does not 
 exceed 32 million roubles. The most important item, 
 as regards both import and export, is that of wool, 
 amounting to 14 and 22 million roubles. 
 
 In order to complete this sketch of farming systems 
 a few words must be said about the Caucasus, Siberia 
 and Turkistan. 
 
 In the Caucasus, with its variety of climate, soil, 
 and economical conditions, there exists a very great dif- 
 ference of system and method. There is even a diffe- 
 rence in one and the same locality according to the 
 height of different parts above the level of the sea. On 
 
 247 
 
SYSTEMS OF CULTIVATION AND AUXILIARY PURSUITS. 
 
 the steppes, and at the foot of the mountains the fallow 
 system prevails; in other wooded parts at the foot of 
 the mountains the forest and field system. The least 
 followed is the three field, or three course system, and 
 still more rarely other more improved methods. In low 
 lying localities of the Western Caucasus, which are 
 flooded by the rising waters of rivers, the same fields 
 are sown over and over again with the same seed, ge- 
 nerally Indian corn. Manure is seldom used, and the ex- 
 hausted soil is left fallow for considerable periods at a time. 
 In the remaining parts of the Western Caucasus we 
 meet with a transition from the rotation of field and 
 forest, to the systems of one field, or course, three 
 courses and even manifold courses. Finally, in the lower 
 parts of the Eastern Caucasus, cultivation is carried on 
 only by the help of artificial irrigation. If. therefore, 
 there is plenty of irrigating water during the whole pe- 
 riod of growth, fruit and vegetable gardens are kept up,, 
 and rice and also valuable commercial commodities are 
 grown; but if the water can only be made use of in 
 spring and autumn, cultivation is restricted to cereals. 
 When there is no water at all the land remains unculti- 
 vated. Even the fertility of the soil is renewed for the 
 most part only by means of irrigation. 
 
 The following is the total quantity of cereals pro- 
 duced in the Caucasus: 
 
 Wheat 197 million poods. 
 
 Barley 52 
 
 Indian Corn. ... 23 
 
 Other Grain. 60 
 
 Altogether . 332 million poods. 
 248 
 
SYSTEMS OF CULTIVATION AND AUXILIARY PURSUITS. 
 
 After deducting for seed and food, and exclusive of 
 potatoes, the surplus of wheat available for export reaches 
 1 80 million poods. Such a superabundance is not pro- 
 duced by any of the grain growing regions of Russia 
 proper, wherefore the Caucasus may be justly called the 
 granary of Europe. 
 
 The agrarian economy of Siberia, like that of the 
 Caucasus, is extremely varied, owing to the extraordinary 
 variety of climatic and territorial conditions, even in that 
 part called the cultivated, agricultural zone. In those of 
 the Siberian provinces containing the greater mass of 
 agricultural inhabitants and suitable land a peculiar system 
 of rest and fallow, unknown to European Russia, com- 
 pletely predominates. Land cleared of w r ood or ploughed 
 up on the steppe is sown with wheat two or three years 
 running, then left fallow, and this rotation is continued 
 until the fertility of the soil declines and weeds begin 
 to grow. When this takes place the land is left altoge- 
 ther to rest, and other fields are taken in hand. Poor 
 land, before being left to rest, is ploughed 3 to 4 years, 
 and the best blacksoil 25 to 30 years. There is even 
 land (in the southern part of the province of Tobolsk) 
 which has been tilled for more than 100 years without 
 any interval of rest. The gradual impoverishment of the 
 soil, however, has little by little compelled farmers to 
 use manure, and on the northern confines of the agri- 
 cultural zone of the province of Tobolsk the usual three 
 course system of European Russia is now being intro- 
 duced. Nevertheless, as Brehm justly remarks the real 
 gold of Siberia is its blacksoib, and notwithstanding the 
 
 249 
 
SYSTEMS OF CULTIVATION AND AUXILIARY PURSUITS. 
 
 intensivity of the methods of farming, its territory pro- 
 duces about 1 60 million poods of various cereals, inclu- 
 ding 60% of spring wheat and oats, about 20% of 
 autumn rye and 20% of other kinds of grain. 
 
 In conclusion, Turkistan, in relation to the principal 
 occupations of its inhabitants, may be divided into two 
 parts: the first comprising irrigated land along the rivers 
 and at the foot of the mountains, inhabited by a seden- 
 tary, agricultural population; the second the steppes, rich 
 in cattle and nomads. 
 
 The area of irrigated land in Turkistan is not great, 
 not more than 2 } /2 Q /o of the total extent, or i l fa million 
 desiatines. This insufficiency is made up for by the cul- 
 tivation of wheat on bogarny fields, that is, fields not 
 irrigated, in anticipation of a reserve of winter moisture 
 in the soil, and the fall of spring rain. In years favor- 
 able for moisture these fields generally yield good har- 
 vests, but in times of drought their extent is rapidly 
 diminished. In spite of the risks of this kind of farming, 
 these bogarny fields occupy ! /3, and in places '/a the total 
 extent of cultivated land, (as much as 700,000 desiatines). 
 But with new methods of irrigation, and improvement of 
 the old ones, a considerable increase of irrigated land 
 may be expected, and in consequence a decrease in 'bo- 
 garny cultivation. 
 
 Without dwelling on the cultivation of cereals, we 
 must observe that Turkistan is the chief home of the 
 cotton plant. Its cultivation in Central Asia has existed 
 from time immemorial. After the conquests of the Rus- 
 sians the favorable conditions of the country gave rise 
 
 250 
 
SYSTEMS OF CULTIVATION AND AUXILIARY PURSUITS. 
 
 to the idea of introducing American cotton seed into 
 Turkistan as being of much finer quality. The first 
 attempts, however, extending over more than 10 years, 
 proved quite unsuccessful until in the eighties)) the Up- 
 land sort was brought under notice, and energetically 
 recommended and distributed. Experimental plantations 
 were established, and seed was given away gratis, etc. 
 Thanks to these measures private plantations began to 
 -appear in Turkistan and also in the Trans-Caucasus; and 
 in 1892 the plantations of Cotton in Turkistan occupied 
 not less than 100.000 desiatines, 3 / of which were sown 
 with Upland, producing cotton fibre to the extent of 2 
 million poods, and together with the cotton produce of 
 Khiva and Bokhara, up to 4. million poods. There is, 
 moreover, every probability, that the production in Tur- 
 kistan may be brought up to 6 or 7 million poods. 
 There are not very many extensive plantations of more 
 than 100 desiatines. Most of them consist of small plots 
 of l /-2 to 5 desiatines, the owners of which send their 
 cotton to the towns and villages, where it is bought by 
 agents of large firms, with money, or else for advances 
 on future crops, or on cotton in store for sale. 
 
 Among auxiliary, or subsidiary branches of rural 
 economy in the south of Russia, in Bessarabia, the 
 Crimea and the Caucasus, precedence must undoub- 
 tedly be given to viniculture and the making of wine. 
 In the Caucasus it is estimated that there are more than 
 120,000 desiatines of vineyards, producing more than 13 
 million vedros of wine; in Bessarabia up to 70,000 de- 
 siatines, furnishing yearly more than 12 million vedros 
 
 251 
 
SYSTEMS OF CULTIVATION AND AUXILIARY PURSUITS. 
 
 at the lowest prices of 20 kopeks to I rouble the vedro; 
 and in the Crimea only 8000 desiatines, with a produc- 
 tion of i Va million vedros, which, however is the best 
 south coast wine. Wine is also made in Turkistan, in 
 the Don territory, (the well known Tsimlyansky wine)., 
 and in several southern provinces. Altogether the total 
 extent of all Russian vineyards is calculated at 225,000 
 desiatines, with an average production of 28 million 
 vedros of wine. Consequently, Russia produces 10 times 
 less wine than Italy, 9 times less than France, 7 times 
 less than Spain, nnd less even than Portugal and Algeria. 
 At the same time, the area of viniculture in the Cau- 
 casus, Crimea and Bessarabia might be 10 times as large; 
 but progress is very slow, owing to the phyloxera, which 
 was first discovered in the Crimea in 1880, and after- 
 wards in other localities. The Government has given 
 very serions attention to the means of combatting this 
 disease of the vine, and for that purpose a special Com- 
 mission was formed under the direction of Adjutant Ge- 
 neral Baron Korff, who was subsequently appointed to 
 the General Governorship of the Amoor territory. That 
 officer succeeded in destroying the infected vineyards; 
 but unfortunately the phyloxera spread to other locali- 
 ties. During the last few years attempts have been made 
 to cure the vines; but on the whole, this operation, on 
 which some 135,000 roubles a year have been spent, 
 cannot be considered as complete. 
 
 The cultivation of the tobacco plant is carried on 
 in 50 provinces of European Russia, in the Caucasus and 
 Siberia. It is more extensive in Little Russia, where the 
 
 252 
 
SYSTEMS OF CULTIVATION AND AUXILIARY PURSUITS. 
 
 inferior sorts are almost exclusively grown, such as mak- 
 horJca, bakun and others (3.3 million poods). Next comes 
 the Caucasus, Taurid and Bessarabia, where the superior 
 sort called Turkish is grown to the extent of about 1,3 
 million poods. All tobacco plantations in 1893 numbered 
 664,000 but they are very small, and their total area is 
 not more than 54,000 desiatines. These figures, however, 
 are subject to variation. Tobacco culture was adopted 
 as an auxiliary occupation by agriculturists, and under 
 unfavourable conditions is often abandoned; so that in 
 1889, for instance, there were only 38,000 desiatines, 
 and in 1886 59,000 desiatines. 
 
 In any case, Russia in this respect is not behind 
 any of the countries of Western Europe, although the 
 export of Russian tobacco has hitherto been altogether 
 insignificant. 
 
 The chief centres of Russian sericulture are the 
 Caucasus and Turkistan. The total number of deems 
 engaged in this industry reach i million, and about 1.3 
 million raw cocoons are produced. For the most part 
 this is a small subsidiary occupation of the agricultural 
 population. In order to improve and develop the culti- 
 vation of the silk worm the Government has established 
 experimental stations in Turkistan and Tiflis, besides 
 which, the elementary schools of Southern Russia and 
 the Caucasus, the South Russian Zemstvos, and agricul- 
 tural associations have also taken an active part in spread- 
 ing a knowledge of sericulture among the people. 
 
 Finally, the Russian fisheries probably constitute the 
 most important branch of agrarian industry after that of 
 
 253 
 
SYSTEMS OF CULTIVATION AND AUXILIARY PURSUITS. 
 
 cattle breeding. Their importance may be appreciated 
 by the fact that they give occupation to half a million 
 of professional fisherman and several millions of peasants, 
 for whom the catching of fish is a subsidiary means of 
 living. Formerly, when the population was scanty, the 
 abundance of fish was so great, that it was hardly of 
 any value; but little by little, with the clearing of forests,, 
 the establishment of mills and factories, and especially 
 with the increase of population, the quantity of fish 
 decreased, and fishing was gradually abandoned in the 
 upper reaches of rivers, and began to be carried on at 
 their mouths, and even out at sea. The largest quantity 
 of fish is naturally caught in the south eastern parts of 
 European Russia, in the lower Volga, the Don, and the 
 Caspian and Azoff Seas. As much as 37 million poods of 
 fish are caught in these parts. Then follows the region 
 of the north west, with the Baltic Sea, and a large 
 number of lakes, rivers and streams, also the upper and 
 lower reaches of our large rivers, producing altogether 
 27 million poods. The lower course of the Dnieper, 
 Dniester and the Black Sea give 3 million poods, and 
 under I million poods is obtained in the region of the 
 Arctic- White Sea fisheries: altogether for European Russia 
 a total of about 68 million poods. Nearly all the fish 
 caught in Russia is consumed in the country. Only the 
 better kinds, and also caviar, oil, glue and fat, are ex- 
 ported, to the extent of about 6 millions. As the more 
 important fisheries are comparatively distant from the 
 places of consumption, and as the fish can only be 
 caught at certain times of the year, it has to be salted 
 
 254 
 
SYSTEMS OF CULTIVATION AND AUXILIARY PURSUITS. 
 
 in summer, and frozen in winter. During the last few 
 years there has also been some progress in the trade of 
 preparing fish conserves. But all these branches of the 
 fishing industry are very unsettled and insecure, and must 
 remain so until bounds can be set to the predatory 
 destruction of fish. The existing fishery regulations have 
 been found impracticable, -and at present new ones are 
 being made. In addition to Government institutions, the 
 Piscatorial Society, which publishes a journal, is also 
 engaged in studying, and in cooperating towards, the 
 improvement of Russian fisheries. 
 
 Among the industries of the rural population, which 
 have no very fixed and definite character, must be reck- 
 oned the shooting and capture of game and wild animals, 
 This is carried on chiefly in Siberia and the Kirghiz 
 territory. In European Russia this industry is yearly on 
 the decline, because the destruction of forests, drives 
 the fur bearing animals further to the north, and the 
 north east. On the other hand, in the far East the fur 
 industry and destruction of wild animals constitute an 
 important source of State revenue, and the sole occupa- 
 tion of many of the natives. The annual value of fur 
 animals killed throughout Russia is estimated at 10 mil- 
 lion roubles; but in reality, it is probably much more, 
 as the fairs of Nijni-Novgorod and Irbit alone receive 
 furs to the amount of 10 12 million roubles every 
 year. The export of furs to foreign countries is 
 estimated at i 1 /* million roubles; but the import of 
 the same kind of goods amounts to much more, namely 
 about 4 l /a million roubles. 
 
 255 
 
EXTENT OF PRODUCTION OF CEREALS. 
 
 c) Extent of production of cereals. Having digressed 
 somewhat for the purpose of describing the subsidiary 
 branches of agrarian economy, we must now complete 
 the account of its characteristics by some further data 
 as to the crops and harvests of cereals. What do these 
 data show? For the 50 provinces of European Russia 
 the following average results are obtained: from some- 
 thing more than 60 million desiatines of cultivated land 
 are gathered about 2,400 million poods of grain, or 40 
 poods per desiatine, whereas the following foreign coun- 
 tries produce per desiatine in poods: 
 
 England 120 
 
 United States .... 86 
 
 Germany 79 
 
 Austria-Hungary 75 
 
 France 74 
 
 Italy 57 
 
 Such unfavorable results must be explained either 
 by conditions of soil and climate, or by the absence of 
 intensive cultivation, methods of manuring, tilling and 
 sowing, or by some, or all of these causes taken toge- 
 ther. We can hardly be wrong in asserting that this 
 low measure of production is due to ignorance of im- 
 proved methods of agriculture. In this respect, when we 
 compare the different regions of European Russia, we 
 find that from the north west to the south east the 
 production of positively every sort of bread stuff dimi- 
 nishes as we proceed, and the harvest is worst where 
 the soil is best. The poorest harvests are obtained in 
 the south and south east, where the system of resting 
 
 256 
 
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 
 
 the land prevails, and the crops are very thin. On the 
 other hand, the best harvests of every sort of bread stuff 
 are produced by the Baltic provinces, where improved 
 methods of farming are practiced under the manifold 
 course system of rotation, and an intensive cultivation. 
 Such, however, are the average figures for several years. 
 For the whole of Russia any considerable deviation from 
 the average is seldom met with; but, if we take separate 
 regions, other results are obtained. In the greater part 
 of the blacksoil zone, and especially on the steppes of 
 that region, average or nearly average harvests occur 
 comparatively seldom. Here the crop is either very 
 abundant or very scanty. The further we go to the 
 north west the less the fluctuation, while in the north 
 and in the Baltic provinces such fluctuations are quite 
 insignificant. In other words, Russian agriculture risks 
 the greatest loss in the most fertile grain growing re- 
 gions, and this affects the food supply of the country 
 and the export of grain. It is therefore very necessary 
 to make some advance in the technics of agriculture, 
 and herein lies much work for the Government and the 
 community. In the first place agricultural knowledge and 
 information must be more widely spread. A great deal 
 has certainly been done in this respect; but a great deal 
 more remains to be accomplished. 
 
 III. Agricultural education. The history of our agri- 
 cultural education as a speciality is by no means of early 
 date. Its beginning goes back no further than the reign 
 of the Empress Catherine II. In 1765 was founded the 
 Imperial Voluntary Society of Economy in St. Petersburg, 
 
 257 
 
 17 
 
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 
 
 which still exists for the purpose of ((disseminating use- 
 ful and necessary ((knowledge of farming and house- 
 keeping among the people . Its example was soon 
 imitated, especially in the Baltic provinces, where a 
 number of agricultural societies were formed. A great 
 deal of w r ork in all branches of farming has been done 
 by the Moscow Agricultural Society, which was estab- 
 lished in 1819. Subsequently, and particularly during the 
 last 30 years, following the emancipation of the serfs, 
 the number of these societies has notably increased. 
 They now number 1 14 with 66 branches and constitute 
 the foundation of special agricultural instruction in Rus- 
 sia. In 1822 the Moscow Agricultural Society opened an 
 Agricultural School in that city, together with a model 
 farm, for the instruction of young persons in the various 
 duties of managing and farming landed estates. The 
 Voluntary Economical Society also undertook the super- 
 vision of 2 such schools, and the Department of Impe- 
 rial Appanages established a similar institution near St. 
 Petersburg for the education of the sons of peasants. 
 
 Subsequently, in 1833, tne Voluntary Economical 
 Society adopted the idea of its president, the well known 
 Admiral Mordvinoff, and instituted a Committee for the 
 improvement of Russian agriculture. This Committee 
 succeeded in obtaining considerable assistance for the 
 schools of agricultural societies, without counting several 
 schools for horticulture and wine making in the south. 
 This, in substance, is all that was done, until the crea- 
 tion of the Ministry of State Domains. From that time 
 the Government itself began to take a direct interest in 
 
 258 
 
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 
 
 the matter. In 1840, in the town of Gorky, province oi 
 Mogileff, an Agricultural school was opened, with a very 
 comprehensive course of special studies. This establish- 
 ment was subsequently transformed into two educational 
 institutions: the Higher Agricultural Institute of Gorky, 
 which has since been transferred to St. Petersburg, and 
 reorganized into the School of Forestry, and the Middle 
 Agricultural School for educating rural managers and 
 assistants. A third Agricultural School was opened near 
 Kharkoff. The model farms were intended for the pre- 
 paration of young peasants as experienced farmers, and 
 for trying various agricultural improvements. 
 
 Unfortunately, prior to the emancipation of the serfs, 
 the institutions of agricultural education, especially the 
 lower ones, produced comparatively little benefit, and 
 their pupils on returning to their homes, generally fell 
 back into the old routine of work. The failure of these 
 schools must be chiefly attributed to the want of gene- 
 ral education as a preparation, and to the circumstance 
 that the peasants did not attend them of their own free 
 will, but were compelled to it by order of the authori- 
 ties or the land proprietors. A new era of agricultural 
 education was therefore inaugurated by the liberation of 
 the peasantry. In general, these educational institutions 
 have remained, as before, of 3 grades. In the higher 
 grade the Institute of Forestry in St. Petersburg comes 
 first, with 352 students. The Institute commands consi- 
 derable means; but the teaching is principally theoretical, 
 as practical instruction is only possible on the Govern- 
 ment Farm, 80 versts away. Another agricultural establish- 
 
 259 17 * 
 
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 
 
 ment of this class is the Agricultural Institute of Moscow., 
 formerly the Petrofsky Academy, opened in 1865. 
 
 Besides the Petrofsky Academy, the New Alexander 
 Institute was established in Poland at the end of the 
 sixties)), and a special agronomical section is included in. 
 the Polytechicum of Riga. 
 
 As regards the middle schools, several of them were 
 established at different times, and the total number is now 
 9. Recognizing the want of general knowledge, the Govern- 
 ment established for them a course consisting not only of 
 special agricultural studies but likewise of general instruc- 
 tion. Thanks to this measure, the middle schools now turn 
 out not only managers but also teachers for the lower agri- 
 cultural schools. The latter began to be established only 
 when the middle grade institutions had been sufficiently de- 
 veloped. Besides the schools for dairy farming and horti- 
 culture 5 lowgrade schools were started at different places, 
 mostly for purely agricultural instruction. One of them r 
 however, at Gorets, was intended to prepare mechanics 
 for the manufacture and repair of agricultural machinery. 
 
 But the maintenance of these schools, in spite of 
 private donations, is very expensive, and the number of 
 pupils turned out is very inadequate to the demand. As 
 long ago as <cthe seventies)) the Ministry of State Domains 
 came to the conclusion that the lower grade agricultural 
 schools could be established much better and cheaper 
 on well organized private estates, and that education of- 
 fered in this way would produce better results than that 
 given on Government property. For this reason the new 
 normal regulations of 1883 regarding lower agricultural 
 
 260 
 
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 
 
 schools authorizes zemstvos, societies, and private indi- 
 viduals to open such schools at their own expense, or 
 with the help of Government assistance given in the 
 form of parcels of Government land to the extent of 
 500 desiatines, and in money. The object of these schools 
 is to spread a fundamental knowledge of farming among 
 the people, and to teach them the industries necessarily 
 connected therewith, in a practical form. In relation to 
 the course of studies, these schools may pursue a general 
 or special plan of instruction, the latter being specially 
 devoted to some particular branch of agriculture. 
 
 There are also lower schools of forestry (173 pupils) 
 for the purpose of preparing technical foresters of the 
 second grade by means of instruction imparted principally 
 during work in the woods. Moreover, during the last 
 years an experiment has been made of introducing the 
 teaching of the rudiments of agriculture in certain semi- 
 naries for teachers, higher church parish schools, and 
 low schools for general instruction. 
 
 In regard to horticulture and wine making, there 
 formerly existed independent institutions for spreading 
 information on these subjects. At first, in 1812 the Ni- 
 kitsky Garden was started near Yalta by the former Go- 
 vernor General of New-Russia, Duke de Richelieu, for the 
 purpose of growing and acclimatizing the plants of sou- 
 thern countries in the Crimea. Somewhat later, the Im- 
 perial Botanical Gardens was established in St. Petersburg 
 on the spot formerly occupied by the Apothecary's Gar- 
 den of Peter I. The aim of this establishment was some- 
 what different, namely, the cultivation of exotic plants, 
 
 261 
 
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 
 
 and the formation of a herbarium and other collections. 
 Through the attention bestowed upon the Botanical 
 Gardens by the Ministry of Imperial Domains, the total 
 number of specimens of plants which it now contains 
 reaches 75,000, with 25,000 separate varieties. Its her- 
 barium is considered one of the richest in the world; 
 so that foreign botanists seldom undertake any great 
 work without first applying for information at the Bota- 
 nical Gardens of St. Petersburg. The museum of the 
 Garden, with its dendrological, paleontological and other 
 collections, contains 40,000 specimens, and the library 
 about 12,000 works of 25,000 volumes. Our Botanical 
 Garden therefore must justly be considered the principal 
 scientific institution in the matter of Russian horticulture. 
 
 As far as concerns the educational establishments 
 of the higher class for horticulture and the manufacture 
 of wine none exist; but there is a number of schools 
 for educating practical gardeners and wine growers. In 
 one of these, at the Nikitsky Garden in Yalta, there is 
 a course of higher studies for persons, who have already 
 passed the middle schools; and quite recently, a middle 
 school of viticulture has been opened at Kishineff. 
 
 Altogether, by the end of 1894, we had the follo- 
 wing number of schools of agriculture (besides schools 
 of ^estry): Students. 
 
 4 High schools 412 
 
 9 Middle schools 1543 
 
 73 Lower schools 2794 
 
 21 Schools of general instruction with 
 
 courses of agriculture 1247 
 
 107 5996 
 
 262 
 
IMPROVEMENTS OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY. 
 
 For their maintenance the Government allows 974,000 
 roubles; the Zemstvos 160,000 roubles; and 291,000 
 roubles are contributed by various persons and institutions. 
 
 It must be admitted that this number is far from 
 satisfying the requirements of the Russian people in the 
 matter of agricultural education. In 1883, in Belgium 
 alone 1343 public conferences, or lectures to the people, 
 on agriculture were held in 296 buildings by teachers 
 and students of the higher agronomical educational estab- 
 lishments before a total audience of 85,000 persons. 
 
 Recently, however, since 1890, special courses of 
 study have been started by the Government and Zemstvos 
 in many agricultural institutions for the necessary prepa- 
 ration of public-school masters for teaching agriculture in 
 their schools. In 1893 and 1894 there were 30 such courses, 
 or classes, attended since their opening by 4044 persons. 
 
 IV. Improvements of agricultural economy. Such are the 
 measures adopted for spreading agronomical knowledge 
 among the population. The second category of measures 
 are those concerning improvements in different branches 
 of agricultural economy. In this respect the Government 
 and public institutions can act in tw r o ways: assistance 
 may be given to agriculturists undertaking such impro- 
 vements; or the work of amelioration may be directly 
 taken in hand, in cases in which the extent of such 
 work, and the public interest connected with it, place 
 it beyond the means of private individuals or when the 
 latter cannot sufficiently guarantee its success. Measures 
 of the first kind were begun as long ago as the time 
 of Peter the Great. 
 
 263 
 
IMPROVEMENTS OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY. 
 
 With the establishment in 1838 of the Ministry of 
 State Domains the conviction took root in Government 
 spheres and society, that agriculture could only be im- 
 proved by encouragement and cooperation, and not by 
 means of compulsion. From that time forward this has 
 been the guiding principle in the activity of all institu- 
 tions in Russia concerned in matters of agriculture. We 
 have already seen the unfavourable influence exercised on 
 harvests and agricultural economy in general by the 
 droughts in the zone of the south eastern steppes. The 
 Government long ago took steps to remedy this evil. 
 But more systematic work in the matter of irrigation 
 was not begun until the beginning of 1870, and then 
 the disconnected nature of the experiments at once 
 pointed to the necessity of a common plan. Such a plan 
 was drawn up in 1880, when irrigation was undertaken 
 in view of the failure of the crops as work for public 
 relief. This work was led with great energy by the 
 Minister of State Domains Mr. Ostroffsky, and in the 
 Transcaspian region on the lands of the Appanages by 
 the Minister of Court Count Vorontsoff-Dashkoff. The 
 results attained were most satisfactory: several basins, 
 besides irrigation, served as reservoirs; new villages ap- 
 peared on the steppes; agricultural labour was greatly 
 facilitated; and the rental of the land rose in value after 
 the water had been let out. A second time, irrigation 
 was undertaken on a larger scale, as public relief work 
 in 1892, and still continues to be carried on according 
 to a definite plan, which by the will of the Emperor 
 is to be extended to Western Siberia. 
 
 264 - 
 
IMPROVEMENTS OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY. 
 
 In the northern and north-western provinces on 
 the other hand, agriculture suffers from too much moi- 
 sture, and is impeded by a large number of marshes. 
 
 The desiccation or draining of marshes was carried 
 on very long ago. During the reign of the Emperor 
 Nicholas I, the Committee for superintending this work 
 in the province of St. Petersburg was presided over by 
 the Heir Apparent-Cesarevitch, afterwards the Emperor 
 Alexander II. During his reign the work of marsh drain- 
 ing received wider application under the care of the 
 former Minister of State Domains, Count Valooyeff, and 
 also thanks to the intelligent instructions of the Minister 
 of State Domains Mr. Ostroffsky and of Lieutenant-Ge- 
 neral Jilinsky, who stood at the head of the work, and 
 carried it on throughout the reign of Alexander III. In 
 1873 two expeditions were organized, one for the north, 
 and the other for the west. The western expedition was 
 sent into Polessia, with its 6 million desiatines of marsh 
 land, where only grass grew unfit for fodder, and even 
 that was gradually being choked by the growth of moss. 
 In such conditions agrarian economy in Polessia naturally 
 laboured under great difficulties. Cattle keeping, which was 
 its mainstay, continually declined, and corn growing could 
 only be maintained in a few of the more elevated parts 
 of the country. At the present time, however, when 4 
 thousand versts of canals have been made by the expe- 
 dition over an area of 2,670,000 desiatines, there are 
 335,000 desiatines of meadow land, which was formerly 
 unavailable marsh and swamp; 110,000 desiatines of land 
 fit for tillage and other purposes; 490,000 desiatines of 
 
 265 
 
THE GRAIN TRADE. 
 
 decomposing vegetation and forest have assumed a normal 
 and healthy growth ; about 600,000 desiatines of valuable 
 Government timber, which formerly had no market, is 
 now to be found near the canals, and 1.135,000 desia- 
 tines are placed in better conditions of exploitation. Fi- 
 nally, the revenue of the drained land has increased in 
 places by more than 20 times its former figure. 
 
 V. The grain trade. There is another factor which 
 directly affects the profit derivable from rural economy 
 and consequently the possibility of realising any amelio- 
 ration. This is the price of corn. 
 
 The position of Russia in regard to prices of corn 
 has greatly changed during recent years. This will be 
 seen from a comparison of Russia's export trade of for- 
 mer years with that of the present time. During the 
 first decade of the nineteenth century the average an- 
 nual export of cereals from Russia did not exceed 15 
 million poods. During the period between 1844 an< ^ J ^53 
 it was trebled, amounting, to 46 million poods. Within 
 20 years, 1866 to 1870, it reached 128 million poods, 
 and between 1887 and 1891, that is, in 20 years, it 
 amounted to 438 million poods, or 3*/a times more. 
 In spite of this increase of our grain export, the relative 
 participation of Russia in the grain supply of European 
 markets has changed for the worse. At the end of the 
 eighties)) Russia was certainly the chief purveyor of wheat 
 to England and other Western European countries. In 
 the sixties)), for example, 120 million poods were taken 
 from Russia, and only 75 million poods from the United 
 States, and about 39 million poods from Austria- Hun- 
 
 266 
 
THE GRAIN TRADE. 
 
 gary. These two countries were almost our only com- 
 petitors. But in the seventies)) the United States, owing 
 to the rapid development of railways, and the increase 
 of population through emigration, were able to increase 
 their production of wheat to such an extent, that in 
 1881 1887 they exported an average of 313,000,000 
 poods, whereas Russia during the same time was able 
 to export only 300 million poods. Russia was, therefore, 
 obliged to give precedence to the United States. Never- 
 theless, our export trade in times of greater demand did 
 not encounter any special difficulties until new compe- 
 titors appeared in the field such as the East Indies, 
 Australia, later Roumania, Canada, and the Argentine 
 Republic. Thus, for example, the probable export of 
 wheat in 1894 5 is estimated from Russia at 95 mil- 
 lion bushels, and from the countries competing with it 
 at 330 million bushels, i. e., 3 ! /2 more. The mass of 
 wheat then imported into Europe began to exceed the 
 demand, and prices were in consequence reduced. 
 
 All these conditions have made Russian rural eco- 
 nomy directly dependent upon the state of the interna- 
 tional grain trade. If in the sixties)) the extent and quality 
 of our harvests fixed the price of wheat in Europe, at 
 present our home prices of wheat are determined by 
 those ruling on the foreign markets. In the export ports 
 these prices follow the rise and fall of prices abroad, 
 which influence in their turn the prices in the interior, 
 and on the smaller markets of the country. 
 
 There is, of course, no rule without exceptions; 
 and on certain internal markets prices are comparatively 
 
 267 
 
THE GRAIN TRADE 
 
 less affected by those abroad. Such places are found 
 remote from railways and rivers and supply large centres 
 of demand for consumption in Russia itself. 
 
 However the case may be, the fall in the price of 
 wheat down to 1891, and expecially during the last 2 
 years, has produced a most depressing effect upon our 
 rural economy, besides which there is another factor, 
 in addition to supply and demand, that renders prices 
 still more impossible. This is the fluctuation in the value 
 of the paper rouble, as the following table will show: 
 
 Years. 
 
 187175 
 
 187680 
 
 188185 
 
 188691 
 
 These figures show that actual prices have fallen 
 uninterruptedly since the beginning of 1870, and that 
 the rise in 1876 85 was fictitious, produced by a still 
 greater fall in the value of the paper rouble. We have 
 already explained the results obtained in strengthening 
 the exchange value of the paper rouble in the section 
 on Finance. We will now add a few words on Russia's 
 grain trade, and measures for its improvement. 
 
 The total dimensions of our grain export, as we 
 have seen, increase pretty regularly, although there are 
 years of considerable fluctuation. If we exclude 1892, 
 when the export of wheat was prohibited for a time on 
 account of the famine, we find that it was sometimes 
 Vs above the normal, and at other times did not reach 
 
 - 268 
 
 Price of i pood 
 of wheat 
 Cr. k. Met. k. 
 
 Fluctuation Exchange va- 
 of value in /o lue Cred. kop. 
 Cred. Met. per gold roub. 
 
 88 
 
 74 
 
 100% 
 
 100% 
 
 119 
 
 102 
 
 68 
 
 116% 
 
 92% 
 
 149 
 
 102 - 
 
 65 
 
 116% 
 
 88% 
 
 158 
 
 81 
 
 51 
 
 92% 
 
 70% 
 
 160 
 
THE GRAIN TRADE. 
 
 70%. Nevertheless, if we compare these figures with 
 those of the harvests and home consumption, we shall 
 find that the fluctuations in the export trade were much 
 weaker than might be expected. In some years there 
 was nothing to export, and the quantity of wheat in 
 Russia could not have sufficed for feeding the population, 
 and yet as much corn was exported as in previous years. 
 This is explained by the reserves of grain left over from 
 one year to another, which help to keep up the export. 
 Besides this, home consumption, in years of such a 
 complete failure of crops as that 1880 and 1891, is con- 
 siderably diminished. The chief article of Russia's grain 
 export, taking the average for 5 years, 1889 1893, * s 
 wheat (42%), followed by barley (i8/o), rye (15%)? 
 oats (13%), and Indian corn (6%). 
 
 By a comparison of the export with the production 
 of each of these cereals, it appears that a third of the 
 total harvest of wheat and barley is exported, about 
 l /7 of that of oats, and only } /i2 of that of rye. This is 
 accounted for by the fact that rye is the chief article of 
 food among the local population, and the surplus is ex- 
 ported principally to neighbouring countries, like Ger- 
 many, which takes 60% of the total export, while Hol- 
 land takes 28%. Russian wheat, on the contrary, is 
 grown specially for export, chiefly to England (35%)r 
 which also takes about 60% of the total export of oats r 
 and 40% of that of barley. Therefore, the most impor- 
 tant market for all Russian cereals, except rye, is in 
 England. At the same time the importance of Russia in 
 the supply of cereals to all the principal States of Wes- 
 
 269 
 
THE GRAIN TRADE. 
 
 tern Europe is shown by the following figures, represent- 
 ing the percentage of Russian grain in the total import: 
 
 Wheat. Rye. Oats. Barley. 
 
 Great Britain 32% 70/o 50% 
 
 France 28% 29% 16% 
 
 Germany 56% 86% 93% 50% 
 
 Holland 41% 78% 81% 54/o 
 
 The cereals of Russia are exported chiefly as grain. 
 The United States exports more than half its wheat in 
 the form of flour, and Russia less than 2%. This is not in 
 consequence of a want of flour mills in Russia as we 
 have more than sufficient for our own requirements, 
 and many of them are constructed after the most im- 
 proved patterns. The fact is however, that in England, 
 Belgium, and Holland, where the absence of any duty 
 on wheat and flour favours a large import, the finer 
 kinds of flour are required in very small quantities, 
 while bread is made of the second quality. For the 
 United States the export of this kind of flour is not 
 difficult, as the American population is fond of good 
 flour, and its purchase pays in part for the production 
 of the inferior sort. In Russia, on the contrary, it is 
 this inferior sort that is required for home consumption, 
 and there is no advantage in selling it abroad. For Rus- 
 sia this is one of the most unfavourable conditions of 
 competition with the United States- 
 
 The main artery of Russias's grain trade is the river 
 Volga and its tributaries. When there was not yet a 
 single railway in Russia the grain trade enlivened that 
 
 270 
 
THE GRAIN TRADE. 
 
 river, thanks to the fertility of the lowlands and the 
 cheapness of water transport. But during the last few 
 years the accumulation of grain at the ports on the 
 Volga has been gradually diminished to a certain extent 
 by many failures of the harvest in the provinces of 
 Samara, Saratoff, Orenburg, Kazan, and Oufa, and partly 
 owing to the development of railway transport. The 
 quantity has fallen from 95 million poods in 1888, to 
 76 millions in 1893. The collection and preparation of 
 corn on the banks of these rivers is carried on princi- 
 pally in the winter, when the roads are good, and the 
 peasants have most leisure. The corn purchased in the 
 winter lies stored in warehouses until the opening of 
 navigation, and as soon as the ice goes from the Volga, 
 it is sent up the river before the water begins to get 
 low 7 . The despatch of corn purchased in the summer is 
 much more expensive, and corn freshly ground can rarely 
 be got as far as St. Petersburg before the close of the 
 navigation. It lies during the winter months at Ribinsk, 
 which is the chief centre of the grain trade on the 
 upper Volga. In general the process of this trade is dis- 
 tinguished by great slowness, and the sale price of 
 wheat at the ports has to cover the interest on capital 
 locked up for nearly the whole year; besides a great 
 many items of expense for storage, loading, etc. 
 
 The region comprising the south western, southern 
 and Little Russian provinces, and the territories of the 
 Don and the Northern Caucasus, is still more important. 
 Nearly all the trade of that region is carried on for 
 foreign export, and consists in transporting as much as 
 
 271 
 
THE GRAIN TRADE, 
 
 300 million poods of grain to the ports of the Black 
 Sea and Sea of Azoff along the Dniester, Boog, Dnieper 
 and Don, also over a number of railways running south- 
 wards, and in carts by the ordinary roads. The grain trade 
 in these parts suffers unfortunately from too many mid- 
 dlemen, commissioners and brokers. 
 
 The remaining regions as regards the grain trade, 
 are of less importance. In that of the Northern Dvina y 
 which gravitates towards Archangel, the grain, to the extent 
 of 5 million poods, is transported by road in winter to 
 the landing stages of the Northern Dvina and floated 
 down to Archangel: l /z goes in local consumption, and 
 ] /2 are exported abroad. The trade of this region suffers 
 greatly from bad roads, and will, no doubt, be much be- 
 nefited by the railway now under construction between 
 Perm and Kotlas. In the central regions, comprising 6 
 blacksoil provinces, and 6 industrial provinces, the grain 
 is transported over the railways, and on the rivers Oka, 
 Oopa and Msta, from south to north, principally towards 
 Moscow and thence also to the ports of the Baltic. Fi- 
 nally, in the western region, consisting of the Baltic, 
 White Russian, Lithuanian and Polish provinces, the 
 trade also gravitates towards the Baltic ports. The principal 
 routes here are the Dnieper, Vistula, Nieman and Western 
 Dvina rivers, and the railways Riga-Orloff, Libau-Romny, 
 Kieff- Brest, and others. 
 
 Such are the internal routes of the grain trade. The 
 export of grain abroad may be divided geographically 
 into 4 groups, namely, that of the White Sea, the Baltic, 
 overland export, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azoff. 
 
 272 
 
THE GRAIN TRADE. 
 
 In the White Sea group the chief port is Archangel. 
 The Baltic group includes St. Petersburg, Reval, Riga 
 and Libau. In the overland group, on the frontiers of 
 Germany, Austria-Hungary and Roumania, the most im- 
 portant places are Verjbolovo, Graevo and Mlava; while 
 Odessa, Nicholaieff, Sebastopol, Novorossisk, RostofF, Ta- 
 ganrog, Mariopol and Berdiansk, are the chief ports for 
 this trade on the Black Sea and Sea of Azoff. 
 
 The relative importance of these outlets for export 
 is very different. In any case during the last 20 years 
 Odessa has held the first place, followed formerly by St 
 Petersburg, but in the last years St. Petersburg's place 
 has been taken by Robtoff, after which comes Nicholaiefl, 
 followed by Libau and Novorossisk, and St. Petersburg 
 occupies only the sixth place. In general, the corn ex- 
 port along the Baltic coast has considerably diminished 
 of late in favour of the southern seas. Oats constitute 
 the chief export of the Baltic ports, and wheat on the 
 Russo-Prussian frontiers, and at the southern ports. The 
 export of rye was at one time pretty equally divided 
 between the southern and the Baltic frontiers, but at 
 present it has gradually gone over to the south. The 
 same must he said of barley, the export of which is 
 yearly increasing. 
 
 Changes in the relative quantities of grain exported 
 by these groups of towns and ports are produced prin- 
 cipally by the extension of railways, and their tarirls. 
 For example, the importance of St. Petersburg, since the 
 construction of new railways, has diminished in favour 
 of Libau, whereas Novorossisk, since the opening of the 
 
 273 is 
 
THE GRAIN TRADE. 
 
 Vladikavkaz branch of railway, which leads to it, has 
 made rapid progress. 
 
 As far as regards tariffs, in former years, when these 
 depended in most cases upon the railway companies, the 
 grain trade often found new 7 routes of its own; but now 
 that all railway tariffs are under direct control of the 
 Government, measures have been taken to do away 
 with the preference given by the previous scale of 
 charges to the Baltic ports over those of the Black Sea. 
 
 The distribution of export is also much affected by 
 the scale of sea freights and various other charges. The 
 sea freight to England, for instance, is 30% per pood 
 dearer from the ports of the Sea of Azoff than from 
 those of the Black Sea, and 150%) more than from the 
 Baltic. Thus, the cheapest freight of all is obtained at 
 the Baltic ports which, however, is an advantage coun- 
 teracted by the greater distance of these ports from the 
 grain growing regions. As regards other charges, it is 
 very difficult to ascertain their dimensions, with the ex- 
 ception of port dues, which are more or less the same 
 everywhere. Before loading into the railway trucks the 
 producer has to pay for transporting the grain to the 
 railway station, and for the agency of others in selling 
 it on the spot. As the network of our railways is not 
 yet close enough, and we have very few good highways 
 and roads, transport to the railway stations becomes 
 expensive. The causes, however, of this dearness clearly 
 point to the means of remedy. We must then take into 
 consideration the agency of various middlemen, which 
 probably costs more, besides doing great harm to our 
 
 274 
 
THE GRAIN TRADE. 
 
 grain export, than the means of transport; as the export- 
 agents, especially those at our southern ports, are often 
 dishonest in their dealings, and injure the reputation of 
 our grain on the foreign market by mixing with it all 
 kinds of dirt. For this reason grain exported from the 
 Baltic ports often fetches 10 kopeks per pood more. 
 
 But our agriculturists and farmers cannot get on 
 without middlemen. Only persons commanding capital 
 are able to take the risk of organizing export and of 
 waiting for favourable prices. It may be imagined, there- 
 fore, how much the producer loses in this way. With 
 the construction of railways, which has radically changed 
 the conditions of the Russian grain trade, and removed 
 its centres of gravity from the markets of the interior 
 to the ports, the business of agents and middlemen has 
 greatly increased. This has led to a consideration of the 
 necessity of setting them aside in one way or the other. 
 The initiative in this good work was taken by the 
 directors of the South -Western Railways, who established 
 a Commercial Agency at Odessa for the sale of grain 
 on commission, and the advance of money on the se- 
 curity of the same. In 1888 the Government found it 
 useful to issue regulations for the advance of money by 
 the State Bank on the security of grain, through the 
 medium of the railway authorities, who would under- 
 take to hire or build special warehouses for storing the 
 grain and establish a special agency in Russia and abroad 
 for the sale of it on account of the senders. 
 
 This organization should enable owners of grain to 
 wait for favourable opportunities, with their corn in store; 
 
 275 
 
THE GRAIN TRADE. 
 
 and also help them ro do without middlemen, brokers 
 etc.; while the railways should thus be enabled to estab- 
 lish something like a connected system of elevators in 
 the interior, and at the ports. 
 
 In this way also, the natural reserves of grain, 
 continually renewed and distributed along the ways of 
 communication, may serve as a powerful adjunct in 
 guaranteeing the victualling of the population. 
 
 Unfortunately, this is only a picture of the future. 
 At present we have only a few elevators, and compul- 
 sory classification and inspection of grain for the purpose 
 of superintending its cleaning and sorting, as in the 
 United States, has as yet been introduced only at the 
 elevators, and the ports of NicholaiefF and Libau, although 
 this is the only means of preventing various kinds of 
 cheating in the grain trade. 
 
 In this matter, a beginning has already been made 
 by the establishment of Special Corn Exchanges at Ry- 
 binsk, at the Kalashnikoff landing stage in St. Petersburg, 
 and in Moscow; but these are of more importance for 
 trade with the interior, than for export abroad. 
 
STATESMAN'S HANDBOOK 
 
 f 
 
 for 
 
 RUSSIA. 
 
 Sdited by tlie Chancery 
 of the Committee of Ministers. 
 
 Vol. II. 
 
 St. Petersburg. 
 
 Eugen Thiele, Success. 5, Blagovestchensky Square. 
 
 1896. 
 
ijeHaypow, C.-nerepfiypr-B, 15 Anpija 1896 r. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Material Resources of the State (continued). 
 
 3. Industry and trade i 98 
 
 I. Village Industries 1 
 
 II. Mining Industry. The coal industry. The 
 naphtha industry. The iron industry. Gold mi- 
 ning. Totals of the mining industries 8 
 
 III. The general importance of manufacturing 
 industry 31 
 
 IV. Different branches of manufacturing indu- 
 stry. Spirit distilling industry. Beet sugar indu- 
 stry. Cotton industries 37 
 
 Trade. Forms of home trade. Forms of 
 
 foreign trade 48 
 
 The removal of the obstacles to trade and 
 industry. Trading and industrial associations . 60 
 
 Commercial and industrial credit 63 
 
 Legislation on workmen 74 
 
 Technical and commercial education .... 86 
 
 4. Ways and means of communication 98 uo 
 
 a) Water ways 98 
 
 b) Natural and macadamized roads . . . 104 
 
 c) Railways 108 
 
 d) The Great Siberian Railway 125 
 
 e) The Post. f) The Telegraph. g) The 
 Telephone 132 
 
 h) Educational institutions 138 
 
 5. Government organs administering 
 the material resources of the state. 
 
 Ministry of Finance. State Comptrol. Mini- 
 stry of Agriculture and State Domains. Chief 
 Administration of the State Studs. Ministry of 
 Ways of Communication . 140 147 
 
Page. 
 
 Spiritual Welfare. 
 
 1. Ecclesiastical Institutions 148-184 
 
 I. Organization of the ancient Russian Church. 
 Dioceses, parishes and monasteries. The poli- 
 tical services of the ancient Russian clergy. 
 Independence of the ecclesiastical government. 
 Means for the maintenance of the church and 
 clergy . 148 
 
 II. The church and the clergy during the 
 Tatar period. Church government and mona- 
 steries The South-Western church and the sub- 
 division of the metropolitan sees 154 
 
 III. The church in the XV XVII centuries. 
 The curtailment of the autonomy of church 
 government. The patriarchate. Parishes. 
 Missionary activity 158 
 
 IV. Church organization, from the XVIII cen- 
 tury to the present time. The diocesan govern- 
 ment. The parishes. The monasteries. Mis- 
 sionary work and the defence of the faith. Theo- 
 logical schools 166 
 
 V. Administration of the other religious pro- 
 fessions. Christian Faiths. Nonchristians . . . 181 
 
 2. National education 184265- 
 
 I. Kief period 184 
 
 II. The Tatar period 189 
 
 III. The Moscow period. - State of elementary 
 education in the beginning of this period. Maxim 
 the Greek and Ivan the Terrible. Schools in 
 Western Russia; brotherhoods. The rule of the 
 
 first sovereigns of the house of the Romanofs. . 191 
 
 IV. General conclusions on the state of the 
 schools before Peter the Great 202 
 
 V. National education in the XVIII century. 
 Measures of Peter the Great. The Empress 
 Elizabeth and Shoovalof. The age of Catherine II. 
 General character of instruction in the XVIII 
 century 206 
 
 VI. The, XIX century. 
 
 1. The higher educational institutions 220- 
 
 2. Middle educational institutions 231 
 
Page. 
 
 3. Lower and elementary schools 241 
 
 4. Learned Institutions. Art Education .... 262 
 The Ministry of National Education 264 
 
 3. Institutions of the Empress Mary 265 28& 
 
 I. Historical sketch 265 
 
 II. Present state of the Institutions 279' 
 
 Police of security 283308 
 
 1. Public Charity 284 
 
 2. Public Alimentation 293 
 
 3. Public Health 299 
 
 4. Insurance 303 
 
 5. The Ministry of the Interior 306 
 
 Justice 309314 
 
 Local Government and Self government 315341 
 
 1. Historical sketch 315 
 
 2. Local administration 323 
 
 3. Zemstvo institutions 328 
 
 4. Town public institutions 331 
 
 5. Institutions of the Nobility 333 
 
 6. Peasant institutions 335 
 
 7. The local institutions of the Grandduchy of 
 Finland 340 
 
 Appendix: Races inhabiting the Russian Empire. I XII 
 
INDUSTRY AND TRADE. 
 
 MATERIAL RESOURCES OF THE STATE, (Continued). 
 
 3- Industry and Trade. 
 
 In proceeding to a sketch of the measures taken 
 by the Government in the region of Russian industry, 
 we must make the reservation that neither the scope 
 nor the aim of this book will permit of a detailed des- 
 cription of the historical development and present state 
 of all the infinitely various branches of industrial activity 
 in Russia. For such an undertaking even many volumes 
 would not suffice. The reader will therefore find here 
 an attempt only to characterize the general direction of 
 industry and the influence exerted by it upon the eco- 
 nomical condition of the country. 
 
 I Village Industries. The fundamental feature of Rus- 
 sian, as distinguished from Western European, industry 
 is the more intimate connexion of the former with rural 
 economy. This does not mean that Russians are occu- 
 pied only with manufactures in which grain, wood, and 
 animal products furnish the raw materials. It means, 
 on the other hand, that to this day, at any rate in the 
 majority of cases, our factory hand does not abandon 
 husbandry in his own village, but strives to maintain 
 his connexion with the land; that trades are in our coun- 
 try developed to a far greater extent in the villages than 
 in the towns. 
 
 In ancient Russia, the town still retained compara- 
 tively more importance for industry. But already in the 
 Moscow period, with the strengthening of the power 
 of the Government and the decline of the autonomy of 
 
INDUSTRY AND TRADE. 
 
 the towns, trades begin to be concentrated in the villages, 
 whence craftsmen began to visit the towns only for 
 temporary engagements on hire or to execute the Tsar's 
 tasks as a duty. The causes of the concentration of 
 handicrafts in the villages were many: town life was 
 very feebly developed, the towns themselves differed 
 little from villages, and in the village husbandry alone 
 did not always and everywhere afford a living to the 
 peasantry, as is the case also at the present time. On 
 the other hand, the prolonged winters, especially in Cen- 
 tral and Northern Russia, left a great deal of spare time. 
 The prevalence of the communal system also had probably 
 no inconsiderable influence in retaining the peasant on 
 the land. In consequence of these and many other con- 
 ditions, an extensive domestic industry has developed in 
 our villages, affording an essential aid in the support of 
 the peasant family. 
 
 In this village, or, as it is called, koostar, industry, 
 besides the head of the family, the other members, both 
 men and women, take part in the work, and not un- 
 frequently children of seven to ten years of age. In 
 some trades, i. e. those of lacemaking and weaving, 
 women even take the chief part. Village industries, in 
 the course of their long history, have elaborated pecu- 
 liar technical methods of their own, and a certain divi- 
 sion of labour. Thus, for example, one part of the work 
 is performed by children, another by adults, and a third 
 by the aged; or, in one village one part of the article 
 is made, in another neighbouring village another, while 
 in a third the parts are put together, and in a fourth 
 
INDUSTRY AND TRADE. 
 
 painted. But all this has been established quite naturally, 
 under the influence of the requirements of the trade it- 
 self, and not in consequence of any regulations from 
 without. 
 
 Under these conditions, koostar industry has conti- 
 nued to develop, notwithstanding even that the cheap- 
 ness of peasant labour and of materials and the immense 
 competition resulting from these causes and the difficulty 
 of sale, have lowered exceedingly the prices for these 
 goods. There are now in all over 50 distinct kinds of 
 village, or koostar, trades. 
 
 Without dwelling upon their description, we will 
 merely say that, in accordance with local conditions, our 
 village artisans, or koostars, are employed above all in the 
 manufacture of articles from wood. There are as many 
 as 80,000 households employed in making baskets, mats, 
 wheels, carts, buttons, spoons, and even furniture and con- 
 certinas. The Northern flax-growing districts manufacture 
 linen, tablecloths, and towels. The Central districts take 
 orders from the manufacturers for weaving the commoner 
 cotton goods. More than 150,000 men are occupied in 
 the preparation of leather. As many as 19,000 peasant 
 households are employed in the manufacture of hardware. 
 Particularly well-known in the last respect are the villages 
 of Pavlovo, Vorsma and Bezvodnoe in the government 
 of Nizhny-Novgorod. Together with the extensive koostar 
 districts adjoining to them, these villages earn several 
 million roubles a year; and Pavlovo has, on account of the 
 excellent workmanship of its cutlery, justly gained the 
 name of the Russian Sheffield. If to the above mentioned 
 
INDUSTRY AND TRADE. 
 
 industries be added the samovar industry in the Toola 
 government, the painting of images on wood (two mil- 
 lion a year), lace-making (15 mill, arshins worth 3 milL 
 roubles) and the manufacture of toys, this will complete 
 the enumeration of the principal branches of koostar 
 production. 
 
 It is impossible to arrive at the total production of 
 such goods in Russia, from the absence of any even 
 approximately reliable statistical data. Some estimate it 
 at 75 to 100 mill, roubles, while others raise the figure 
 to 3 milliards. Neither figure, probably, corresponds to 
 the truth. An equal uncertainty reigns as to the exact 
 number of persons employed in koostar industries. Some 
 investigators fix it at 6 mill., or four times that of the 
 factory hands and miners. In any case, even these ap- 
 proximate figures are a clear indication of the importance 
 of koostar production in our national economy. In some 
 branches of industry it stands higher, in regard to the 
 value of the output, than that of the factories. For 
 example, in the leather trade, the production of the ma- 
 nufactories is estimated at 37 42 mill, roubles, while 
 that of the koostars reaches 58 mill, roubles. 
 
 The question as to whether koostar industry in 
 Russia is doomed to be absorbed by manufacturing in- 
 dustry on a large scale is therefore a moot one. In our 
 country the solution of this question depends not only 
 upon the advantages of production on a large scale over 
 small production, in the sense of the application of im- 
 proved methods, cheapening the work of machines, as 
 was the case in the struggle between the labour of the 
 
INDUSTRY AND TRADE. 
 
 handicraftsmen and the manufactories in the West, but 
 also upon the need of the koostar for agricultural earn- 
 ings, upon his connexion with the land; so long as these 
 earnings possess for the peasant a sufficiently serious 
 importance for him to regard the koostar industry as a 
 surrogate to agriculture, so long will he be in a position 
 to reduce the price of the articles he makes almost to 
 that of the material, and not to aspire to such a wage 
 as would secure his independent existence. Until then, it 
 will be more advantageous to the manufacturer himself 
 also in many cases to give the koostars the raw material 
 and to take their labour, to organise among them 
 svietelky, or huts, where 10 to 20 koostars work toge- 
 ther, and not to invite them to come to his manufactory. 
 Under such conditions, our koostar industry possesses 
 many elements for a prolonged existence in the future; 
 it may even be said that it is too little developed, and 
 would therefore deserve greater attention. This is indi- 
 cated by the brilliant success it has everywhere attained, 
 where it has enjoyed even the most insignificant support. 
 Such, for instance, is the cutlery industry in the village 
 of Pavlovo, created in the 18 century by the initiative 
 of the landowner Count Sheremetief, and which has be- 
 come the source of the welfare of an extensive district. 
 On the other hand, in the majority of cases, the 
 economical position of the koostars is not particularly 
 enviable. They frequently lack the capital to buy tools 
 and raw material, and as a consequence become enslaved 
 to the buyers up of their goods, upon whom it of course 
 then depends to fix an arbitrarily IOW T price. With such 
 
INDUSTRY AND TRADE. 
 
 a low price for the goods, the koostars are no longer 
 able to pay attention to fineness and elegance of work- 
 manship, but only to the quantity of the production. 
 The low qualities of koostar productions depend further 
 upon the limited education of the koostars and the im- 
 perfection of the technical methods applied by them; 
 while there are as yet too few lower technical schools 
 where they might learn these methods, although many 
 of them attain independently by stubborn labour various 
 improvements, and invent new tools and processes of 
 production. 
 
 From what has been said, it follows, it would seem, 
 that the most important measure for the improvement 
 of koostar productions and of the economical condition 
 of the koostars themselves must be regarded as the ex- 
 tension among them of technical knowledge, of cheap 
 credit, stores for the sale of koostar goods in the great 
 towns, etc. And these questions have received lately the 
 most careful attention from the Government and the 
 rural authorities (zemstvos). 
 
 We have already had occasion to speak of the or- 
 ganization of small credit in the section above on agri- 
 culture. We touch upon technical education in the further 
 development of the subject. It is here only necessary to 
 mention those measures which are directed to facilitating 
 the sale of koostar productions. With this in view the 
 zemstvos and the Ministry of Agriculture have now long 
 been engaged in the investigation of koostar industries 
 and in acquainting the public and the koostars them- 
 selves with the results. The most remarkable collection 
 
INDUSTRY AND TRADE. 
 
 of this kind of goods is indisputably the koostar section 
 of the Petersburg Agricultural Museum. Further, perio- 
 dical koostar exhibitions are organized in various places, 
 and stores of kocstar goods established, (i. e. in Moscow, 
 in the Novgorod government, etc.). Agents of the 
 zemstvos and of the Ministry are detailed not only to 
 show the best methods in one or other branch of in- 
 dustry, but in the capacity of intermediaries in the 
 purchase of the raw material necessary to the koostars, 
 and in the sale of their productions. Particular impor- 
 tance attaches to the intervention of the Ministry of 
 Agriculture between the koostars and the Marine and Artil- 
 lery Departments in the case of orders; the amount of 
 such orders to the koostars of several governments in 
 1894 5 alone reached a sum of 120,000 roubles. Measu- 
 res of this kind are not without visible results; thus, 
 thanks to the support of the Moscow zemstvo, the card- 
 board industry passed in the Moscow government from 
 the manufactories into the hands of the koostars. 
 
 Hardly less essential is the organization itself of the 
 industry. The principle of cooperation must serve for 
 manufacturers on a small scale as one of the serious 
 counterpoises to the concentration of capital in large in- 
 dustrial enterprises. This idea, continually gaining ground 
 in the West, has with us a national and historical foun- 
 dation in the artels, or workmen's associations. This is 
 why the koostar section of the Ministry of Agriculture 
 has directed particular attention to the benefit which 
 the organization of koostar artels might afford to the 
 cause of the development of koostar industry; and, with 
 
MINING INDUSTRY. 
 
 the object of investigating this question, a Commission 
 has been formed from among the members of the Koostar 
 Committee, a member of which is the Prince Peter Ale- 
 xandrovitch Oldenburg. 
 
 II Mining Industry. To koostar industry belongs a great 
 part in our economical development, not only as an 
 essential source of wages for the agricultural population, 
 not only as a means for the satisfaction of its demand 
 for goods long before the appearance of factories and 
 mills, but as the first school of Russian industrial labour. 
 Nevertheless, with the increase of the internal consump- 
 tion of manufactured goods, with the gradual develop- 
 ment of international trade balances, it is impossible for 
 a country to limit itself to domestic industries alone. 
 The Moscow Tsars were already aware of this, when 
 they invited foreigners to organize factories and works. 
 But the honour of establishing manufacturing industry 
 in Russia, in the present sense of the w r ord, belongs 
 indisputably to Peter 1. The great reformer directed 
 attention before all to the exploitation of our mineral 
 wealth, without which industry on a large scale is im- 
 possible, needing as it does large quantities of metals 
 and mineral fuel; and in 1719 he promulgated the first 
 law placing the mining industry in Russia upon a tho- 
 roughly regular basis. This was Peter's Berg-Privilegium. 
 The fundamental question of mining legislation, as is 
 known, has always been: to whom the disposal of the 
 bowels of the earth belonged or, at least, that of the 
 deposits of the minerals most important to the national 
 economy to the owner of the surface or to the State. 
 
 Q 
 
MINING INDUSTRY. 
 
 Following the example of the neighbouring German 
 States, Peter the Great decided this question in the se- 
 cond sense, declaring that To us alone, as Monarch, 
 belong mining works . This is the principle of the so- 
 called Mining Regalia or royal monopoly. But in order 
 that God's blessing should not remain in vain under the 
 earth, Peter allowed all and every one in all places, 
 both on his own and on other's lands, to search for, 
 smelt, and purify all metals and minerals)). The disco- 
 verer of ore received from the Mining Board a patent 
 of allotment for working the mine, and was obliged in 
 return to furnish one-tenth of the gross out-put to the 
 crown and one-thirty-second to the landowner, and, be- 
 sides this, to compensate the latter for the land occu- 
 pied by the mine and works, and for the wood taken 
 for fuel. In the following year, 1720, Peter the Great 
 issued a new ukas which strictly prohibited any hin- 
 drance to the development of mining industries. These 
 energetic measures had brilliant results. Crown and pri- 
 vate works began to arise in rapid succession in the 
 Ural and in the Toola and Olonets regions. But the 
 principle of mining freedom, established by the Berg- 
 Privilegium of 1719, did not last long in its former force; 
 and in 1782 it was completely abolished by Catha- 
 rine II, who, under the influence of the ideas of the 
 physiocrats, declared that the right of ownership of 
 every one in his estate extends to the bowels of the earth, 
 to all the hidden minerals and formations, and to all the 
 metals obtained therefrom.)) Since then the principle of 
 free search for ores was reestablished in 1806 only in 
 
 9 
 
THE COAL INDUSTRY. 
 
 reference to State lands, and at the present time our 
 mining legislation is characterized by the existence of 
 a mining monopoly expressed in a mining tax and the 
 obligatory delivery of gold and silver to the crown, and 
 by the absence of freedom of search for ores upon 
 private lands and by the permission of such search upon 
 State lands. Only the Kingdom of Poland forms a 
 striking exception in this respect. Here the principle 
 of monopoly and freedom has existed from time im- 
 memorial, but it was forgotten, and it was only in the 
 sixties* that the Government directed attention to the 
 contrast between the success of mining enterprise in 
 the Kingdom and that in the neighbouring State of 
 Prussia under almost identical natural conditions. Freedom 
 of mining was therefore declared in the Kingdom of 
 Poland in reference to coal, zinc, and lead, (and now 
 iron); and this law gave new life to mining enterprise 
 in the country. 
 
 Among the various branches of mining industry, 
 the greatest importance in this country belongs to coal, 
 naphtha, iron, gold, and salt. 
 
 1. The Coal Industry. Abundance of mineral fuel is a 
 most essential element in a country; the development 
 of the whole of the industry depends upon it, and there- 
 fore, we shall dwell with somewhat greater detail upon 
 the question of fuel. Russian industry, owing to the 
 wealth of forest in the country, differs essentially from 
 that of Western Europe or of America. There large 
 works and extensive manufactories are founded in the 
 neighbourhood of coal mines. In our country they arose 
 
 10 
 
THE COAL INDUSTRY. 
 
 long before the appearance of a more or less properly 
 organized coal industry. Already in the beginning of the 
 1 8 century, Peter the Great, when a piece of coal was 
 presented to him during the AzofF campaign, uttered the 
 significant words: This mineral will be exceedingly useful, 
 if not to us, to our descendants.)) But long years passed 
 since then without a beginning being made in the wor- 
 king of coal. Nevertheless, Russia without doubt holds 
 one of the first places in respect of the abundance of 
 mineral fuel. In European Russia alone, there are two of 
 the richest coal fields: that of the Donets and that of 
 Poland, capable of securing for a long time to come 
 the widest development of Russian industry and ways 
 of communication. Thus, the supply of coal in the 
 Western part of the Donets basin, in the government 
 of Yekaterinoslaf, is estimated at as much as 415 
 milliard poods, while the Eastern part of the basin, 
 situated in the territory of the Don Cossacks, is appa- 
 rently still richer. In Asiatic Russia the Kooznets deposits 
 in Siberia are not less rich: they present one of 
 the most extensive coalfields in the world, possessing 
 coking coal of the highest quality, of much importance 
 for metallurgical industries. Besides the three principal 
 coal fields mentioned, coal is worked in the Moscow and 
 Kief regions, in the Ural, in the Caucasus, and, in Asiatic 
 Russia, on the Island of Sakhalin, in the Toorkistan region, 
 and in the Kirghiz steppe. 
 
 But, as we observed above, the working of all this 
 wealth did not soon begin, neither is it everywhere con- 
 ducted on a desirable scale. Even in the South, in the Donets 
 
THE COAL INDUSTRY. 
 
 basin, where the forests were long since very scanty 
 the working of cast-iron on a mineral fuel had no 
 success whatever. It is a characteristic fact that till 
 the present day in the Don Cossack territory straw 
 is in great vogue as fuel for agricultural locomobiles, 
 which here have a fairly wide application. It was only 
 in the thirties)) and forties of the present century that 
 more or less consistent experiments in smelting iron 
 ore with coal were made in the South, while success 
 ensued in this enterprise in the beginning of the ((seven- 
 ties)). Somewhat earlier, in the middle of the ((sixties)), the 
 railways, particularly those in the South, turned to 
 mineral fuel; the carrying of some of them through 
 regions in the neigbourhood of the coal measures opened 
 new markets to the Southern coal, and from this time 
 only was it seriously attempted to work it. The Govern- 
 ment formerly maintained a somewhat indifferent at- 
 titude to the Russian coal industry: until 1884, the 
 importation of coal into Russia was entirely without duty, 
 with the exception of the governments of the Kingdom 
 of Poland. From this year foreign coal at all the 
 frontiers is subjected to a duty, which is higher along 
 the Southern sea frontier than in the Baltic and along 
 the Western land frontier, a measure taken with a view 
 to supporting the Donets coal industry. The regulation 
 of the railway tariffs facilitated the bringing of Southern 
 coal of the Moscow industrial region, while the wide 
 development of the beetroot industry created for it a 
 near and fairly sure market in the South-Western govern- 
 ments of Russia. On the other hand, the exhaustion of 
 
 12 - 
 
THE COAL INDUSTRY. 
 
 the forests caused a demand for coal in such localities 
 as, it seemed, were formerly fully provided with 
 wood fuel. 
 
 All these circumstances have had an immediate in- 
 fluence upon the development of the coal industry of 
 the South of Russia. Not further than in 1855, the output 
 in the Donets basin was only 4^/2 mill, poods. Forty years 
 after, the output increased 65 times (to 294 mill, poods). 
 The output of the Polish coalfields is expressed by a 
 figure not far from this, viz. 205 mill, poods in 1894. 
 But the Polish coal industry is in character widely 
 different from that of the Donets. Here, as in Western 
 Europe, industry established itself alongside the coal 
 mines, thanks to the abundance of mineral fuel. Thus, 
 forests being comparatively scarce, coal is almost the 
 only fuel in manufactories and works, on the railways, 
 and in household use. In consequence of this, the 
 exportation of Polish coal beyond the limits of the 
 Vistula governments is very small, and has only developed 
 a little latterly under the influence of cheapened freights. 
 Consequently, the consumption of Polish coal must be 
 called mainly a local one. On the contrary, the Donets 
 coal industry supplies the industrial regions of the 
 interior and the railways, and therefore it will be hardly 
 an error to say that Donets coal is the most important 
 for the industrial life of Russia. In this circumstance, 
 moreover, is contained the cause of the somewhat slow 
 development of the coal industry in the South as com- 
 pared with the wealth of the coal measures; the coal 
 has not a sufficient local market and is compelled to 
 
 13 
 
THE COAL INDUSTRY. 
 
 submit to all the conditions of competition with other 
 kinds of fuel, i. e. latterly with cheap naphtha residues. 
 This circumstance indicates that the wider industry 
 develops in the very south of Russia, the better the 
 coal trade will fare there: in other words, our South 
 presents the most favourable conditions for industrial 
 life generally, and, if to them be added the local black- 
 soil, we have here, undoubtedly a guarantee for the 
 whole future prosperity of European Russia. 
 
 In the extent of their output the Donets and Polish 
 coalfields leave all others far behind. The Ural yields 
 1 6 mill, poods, the Moscow fields 12 mill, poods. The 
 output from the latter has been gradually falling off 
 during the last 10 years in consequence of the compe- 
 tition of the Donets coal and of naphtha residues in the 
 Moscow manufacturing district. 
 
 The other coal fields taken together yield about 
 4 mill, poods. The total output for 1894 thus amounted 
 to 530 mill, poods, while 40 years ago it was not 
 more than y 1 /* mill, poods, and even 20 years ago 104 
 mill., i. e. 5 times less than now. 
 
 Notwithstanding this rapid growth of the coal 
 industry the importation of foreign coal (and coking coal) 
 into Russia is not only not diminishing but is even some- 
 what increasing. Already in the second half of the ((six- 
 ties)), it did not exceed 49 mill, poods; in the beginning of 
 the eighties, 112 mill, poods; while in 1894 ^ amounted 
 to 138 mill, poods. Evidently the consumption of coal 
 fuel is growing in this country still faster than the out- 
 put, under the influence of the general development 
 
 14 
 
THE COAL INDUSTRY. 
 
 of industry and ways of communication. And neverthe- 
 less, if our consumption be compared with that in other 
 civilized countries, it appears that in Russia there are 4 poods 
 to one inhabitant; while in England there are 252 poods, 
 in Belgium 188 poods; in the United States, 139 poods; in 
 Germany 112 poods; in France 58 poods; and even in 
 Austria-Hungary 36 poods, or 9 times more than in Russia. 
 
 This great difference depends without doubt mainly 
 upon the circumstance that coal fuel is in our country 
 hardly at all in use for domestic heating, with the 
 exception perhaps of the Kingdom of Poland. Not more 
 than ii per cent of all the coal got in Russia or im- 
 ported from abroad is expended in this way. The second 
 cause consists in the feeble development of industry, and 
 in the sluggishness with which in our country it is passing 
 from wood fuel to mineral. It is enough to say that 
 until now out of all the fuel consumed by manufactories, 
 works, railways, and river steamers, only 2 /5 are coal and l /$ 
 naphtha residues and peat, while the remaining 2 /s are 
 wood and charcoal. In metallurgical industries, in parti- 
 cular, wood fuel forms even 50 per cent. Thus, the 
 general defects of our industrial activity present an 
 obstacle to the development of the coal industry. 
 
 2. The Naphtha Industry. A quite different picture, it 
 would seem, is presented by our naphtha industry. 
 Naphtha appeared in the character of a fuel only very 
 recently, and quickly gained an extensive market, mainly 
 in the Volga districts and in the neighbouring industrial 
 governments. The chief centre of our naphtha in- 
 dustry is in the Baku government, upon the Apsheron 
 
 15 
 
THE NAPHTHA INDUSTRY. 
 
 peninsula. Fairly rich springs exist also in the Terek and 
 Kooban territories. Naphtha is further obtained in the 
 Transcaspian territory, in Toorkistan, in the Crimea and 
 in some parts of the Caucasus. The Apsheron peninsula 
 gives about 98 per cent of the whole yield. The working 
 of the naphtha fields began here already in the 9 
 century, but was without any industrial importance not 
 only then but until the sixties of the present century. 
 The cause of this was that the processes for obtaining 
 illuminating oil from naphtha were not sufficiently well 
 known, and naphtha was employed exclusively in the 
 crude state, either for burning or as a coarse lubricator. 
 The mode of exploitation of the oil fields also served to hinder 
 the development of their productiveness. At one time 
 the crown tried to work the springs on its own account; 
 and when this did not succeed, it passed to the farming 
 system, but the yield did not even reach 2 mill, poods 
 a year. In consequence of this, from the year 1872 the 
 naphtha industry was declared free, in adaptation to 
 the general principles of mining legislation, photogen or 
 illuminating oil being subjected to excise. From this 
 moment begins the unexpectedly rapid development of 
 the naphtha industry. Increased boring brought to 
 light immense quantities of oil, and the first conside- 
 rable naphtha spring, which appeared in 1873, produced 
 a complete revolution: the price of naphtha fell at one 
 blow from 45 to 2 kopeks a pood. The Baku market 
 soon began to offer more naphtha than was necessary 
 for the refineries then existing, so that in 1875 a naph- 
 tha crisis took place and the Government was compelled 
 
 16 
 
THE NAPHTHA INDUSTRY. 
 
 to abolish the excise on photogen, which it only reestab- 
 lished in 1888, when our naphtha industry had become 
 considerably strengthened. The following figures show 
 how rapidly this industry grew: in 1870 the output of 
 naphtha for the whole of Russia did not exceed 
 1,750,000 poods; in 1882, the yield was already more 
 than 50,000,000 poods; ten years later, about 300,000,000 
 poods; and in 1894, 316,000,000 poods, of which 
 309,000,000 poods were obtained in the Baku govern- 
 ment. Not all this immense quantity of naphtha is con- 
 sumed by Russia alone, which has increased the export 
 of naphtha and its products from 1,000,000 poods in 1881 
 to 60,000,000 in 1893 (53,000,000 in 1894). In value, 
 this item of our export has at once taken the first place 
 after grain, flax, and wood. As to extent of production, 
 Russia has gained the second place to the United States, 
 leaving all other countries far behind. And nevertheless, 
 Russian naphtha does not play the part in the world's 
 market which ought to belong to it on account of the 
 natural wealth of the Baku naphtha springs. As a 
 matter of fact, out of 300,000,000 poods of crude naph- 
 tha, obtained in the Apsheron peninsula, only 30 per 
 cent is offered in the form of lighting oils, the rest 
 being mainly composed of naphtha residues. Whereas, ac- 
 cording to its qualities the Baku naphtha might yield no less 
 than 8o/o. And yet lighting oil? form the principal element 
 in the export, 50,000,000 out of the 60,000,000 poods 
 constituting our total. If these oils still compete with 
 American oils, it is mainly due to the extraordinary cheapness 
 of our naphtha: American costs 15 to 18 kop. a pood, 
 
 - 17 - 2 
 
THE NAPHTHA INDUSTRY. 
 
 Russian 2 3 and less. But such low prices, still further 
 reduced by competition, do not even repay the costs 
 of production, and owing to this a somewhat strange 
 phenomenon is observed; the Baku works now manifest 
 a tendency to be satisfied with an even less distillation 
 of kerosin from the naphtha, while increasing in a 
 corresponding measure the amount of naphtha residues, 
 for the prices of kerosin have fallen so low that the 
 sale of lighting oils by themselves must be carried 
 on at a loss to be covered by the profit from the sale of 
 residues. But, as we mentioned above, naphtha residues 
 go abroad in comparatively small quantity and, there- 
 fore, the relative increase of their production to the detri- 
 ment of that of kerosin may have as a consequence the 
 loss of the foreign markets. 
 
 It is true that naphtha residues are undoubtedly an 
 important product, as a cheap easily transported fuel; they 
 have gradually begun to expel not only wood but coal 
 on the Volga. Yet, however this may be, it is beyond 
 doubt that the economical importance of naphtha, as 
 of every other natural production, will be greater as the 
 product which is obtained from it is more valuable, and 
 such product must be lighting oil, and not the residues 
 used as fuel. A serious obstacle impeding the sale of 
 kerosin and therefore lowering the prices offered for it 
 is, in Prof. Mendeleev's opinion, the lack in the means 
 of conveyance for transporting kerosin from Baku to the 
 Black Sea coast; for if from the naphtha obtained in 
 Baku there could be got, as in America, as much as 
 250 mill, poods of kerosin, the Transcaucasian railway 
 
 18 
 
THE IRON INDUSTRY. 
 
 could convey not more than 60 to 80 mill, poods. The 
 desire of the manufacturers, therefore, is natural to sell 
 as cheaply as possible the naphtha left on their hands 
 in the form of residues, by the Caspian Sea to the Volga 
 and further as far as the centre of Russia. But such a 
 mass of liquid fuel, threatening to increase every year, 
 may check the normal development of the coal industry, 
 and in the case of a sudden crisis in the naphtha trade, 
 examples of which have occurred, place the whole in- 
 dustry of the country in a rather critical position. 
 
 All these obstacles must disappear with the increased 
 facility of conveyance of kerosin from Baku to Batum, 
 whether by means of increasing the freight capacity of 
 the Transcaucasian line or by carrying a naphtha pipe 
 in that direction; with an improvement of the conditions 
 of navigation on the Don and Donets; with the building 
 of a railway from the Donets coal mines to the Volga; 
 and, we will add, with the gradual extension in Russia 
 itself of the consumption of kerosin, because even now, 
 notwithstanding the considerable increase, this con- 
 sumption does not yet exceed 10 Ibs. per inhabitant, while 
 in the other countries of Europe it is 2 to 2 l /z times 
 greater. 
 
 3. The Iron Industry. The second essential element, 
 after fuel, of the growth of industry in every country is 
 the development in it of metallurgical industries. Most 
 important here are cast iron, iron, steel, and copper. We 
 shall not dwell upon the Russian copper industry. It is 
 true that in the last century Russia furnished the whole 
 of Europe with copper and until the middle of the pre- 
 
 - 19 - 2 * 
 
THE IRON INDUSTRY. 
 
 sent century remained one of the chief purveyors of this 
 metal to the European markets, but since then, partly 
 under the influence of the reduction of customs dues on 
 foreign copper, partly perhaps in consequence of over- 
 production in other countries, the output of copper in 
 Russia has fallen extraordinarily and its export has almost 
 ceased, while, on the other hand, the import has been 
 increasing during the last few years very considerably, 
 which points to a growing demand for this metal. And 
 at the same time it is not, it would seem, yet possible to 
 speak of the exhaustion of the sources, for in the 
 Ural, in the Caucasus and in the Kirghiz steppe there 
 are still fairly rich copper ores. 
 
 As for the iron industry, here too Russia is far from 
 holding the first place among the European States, not- 
 withstanding the wealth of the iron mines met with al- 
 most everywhere. It is remarkable that the principal 
 sources of iron ore are in our country found in the 
 closest proximity to coalfields, i. e. in the South, in 
 Poland, in the Ural, and in Siberia, in the Altay. But as 
 we saw, the iron industry anticipated the coal industry 
 by a long time. Owing m to the abundance of wood 
 fuel, it became developed first of all in the Ural. Here 
 were discovered the very wealthy mines known as 
 M ts Blagodat, Vysokaya, and Magnitnaya, each of which 
 yields several million poods of ore containing as much 
 as 60 to 70 per cent of iron. The energetic efforts 
 of Peter the Great and his ministers in establishing the 
 iron industry in the Ural had such success, that 
 already in 1724 not only the whole of the Muscovite 
 
 20 
 
THE IRON INDUSTRY. 
 
 State was able to do without foreign, Swedish, iron, 
 but even a foreign trade in Russian iron was orga- 
 nized on account of His IMPERIAL MAJESTY>. In the 
 middle of the 18 century Russian iron became one 
 of the principal items of export, in 1782 reaching a value 
 of more than 5 mill, roubles. Great Britain alone at the 
 end of the last century received annually from Russia 
 about 2,000,000 poods of iron. But from the very be- 
 ginning of the present century the export begins to fall 
 in consequence of the development of the iron industry 
 in other countries, especially in Great Britain. After- 
 wards Russia, which had produced in the twenties i 1 /* 
 times as much cast iron as France, 47-2 times as much 
 as Prussia, 3 times as much as Belgium, and as much as 
 the United States, gradually fell far behind them. 
 
 Particularly during the Crimean War did this stagna- 
 tion manifest itself in industry, means of communication, 
 and elsewhere, so that the Government was compelled to 
 adopt all possible measures to develop the railway system 
 and manufactories and works of various kinds. Our iron 
 industry was not able with its own means to satisfy this 
 enhanced demand; it was necessary to take measures to 
 encourage the importation of cast iron, iron, and machinery. 
 As late as in the ((fifties)) the custom duties on foreign 
 iron and cast iron were protective, their importation by 
 sea being even entirely prohibited. But already in 1857 
 this prohibition was removed with the exception of the 
 ports of the Sea of Azoff, while the duties were con- 
 siderably reduced on the land frontier. Afterwards im- 
 portation duty free was permitted for machinery and all 
 
 - 21 - 
 
THE IRON INDUSTRY. 
 
 kinds of applicances used in manufactures. In this way,, 
 however, the duty on cast iron and iron was, as it were, 
 a premium for foreign machinery works to the detriment 
 of our own. Therefore the importation free of duty of 
 cast iron and steel was allowed on account of Russian 
 machine manufacture. Such ample privileges resulted in 
 a considerable increase in the importation of foreign iron : 
 already in 1870 this importation amounted to more than 
 18,000,000 poods, i. e. exceeded the native production by 
 almost 2,500,000 poods. 
 
 It would, however, be unjust to attribute the stagna- 
 tion in the Russian iron industry to the customs policy 
 alone. It developed feebly compared with other States 
 also before, when protective tariffs were in force. The 
 cause of our backwardness lies deeper and is indisputably 
 to be found in the fact that Russia till quite recently has 
 produced cast iron with wood fuel alone, while the coun- 
 tries which have widely adopted mineral fuel or have 
 entirely discontinued to smelt iron with wood fuel, have 
 made rapid advances. 
 
 The Government was perfectly aware of this side of 
 the question and in 1869 concluded a contract with John 
 Hughes, the former chief engineer of the Millwall Works 
 in London, according to which the latter, receiving a 
 large order of rails on favourable conditions, bound himself 
 on his part to build a blast furnace in the Yekaterinoslaf 
 government. At the present time these works have 5 
 blast furnaces and produce not less than 6,000,000 poods 
 of cast iron, 1,000,000 poods of iron and 3,000,000 poods 
 of steel and rails a year. At the same time as Hughes, 
 
 22 
 
THE IRON INDUSTRY. 
 
 similar works were built in the Territory of the Don 
 by the Russian capitalist Pastookhof for smelting cast iron 
 with local anthracite. In the course of time, especially 
 after the discovery of the rich iron beds of Krivoy Rog, 
 several more large works appeared in the South employing 
 mineral fuel. On the other hand, the Government took 
 measures to encourage the foundation in Russia of the 
 steel rails industry, with a view to a great development 
 of the Russian railway system, and thanks to this already 
 in 1 88 1 about 13,000,000 poods of steel rails were turned 
 out by the Russian works. In machine manufacture the 
 assistance of the Government was expressed, as we have 
 seen, in free importation of cast iron and iron. But at 
 the same time the importation was authorised duty free 
 of machinery and tools. Notwithstanding this, under the 
 influence of the general demand the number of works 
 grew in the sixties to four times what it was in 
 the fifties)) and the increase in the number of works 
 and of the production itself continued uninterruptedly 
 until the year 1880. It is even remarkable that since 
 then, notwithstanding protective duties, our machine ma- 
 nufacture began to fall, and the steel rail industry, after 
 the cessation of the railway fever, also considerably 
 contracted and began again to increase only after the 
 year 1889. 
 
 It would, therefore, be difficult to pronounce a final 
 judgment as to what influence upon the development 
 of our iron industry the preservation after 1857 f tne 
 protective tariffs existing before the Crimean war would 
 have had. With the decline in which the iron industry 
 
 23 
 
THE IRON INDUSTRY. 
 
 was, any obstacles to the importation of foreign iron, 
 cast iron and machinery would very probably have un- 
 favourably affected the general economical development 
 of the country, of its ways of communication, etc. But 
 by the beginning of the eighties)) our iron industry had 
 already acquired strength and was accordingly able to 
 assume the satisfaction of the local demand, and there- 
 fore the former privileges which had been shown to the 
 importation of foreign metals and machinery might in- 
 deed inflict a serious injury upon the home industry. 
 
 This is the reason why since 1881 the duties on 
 cast iron and iron are gradually raised and the duty free 
 importation of them and of machinery, not excluding 
 agricultural, entirely ceases. 
 
 The results of this protective policy are most clearly 
 to be seen in the figures for the production and 
 importation : 
 
 Production, in thousand poods. 
 In 1881. In 1893. 
 
 Cast iron 28,662 70,141 
 
 Iron 17,839 30,384 
 
 Steel 17,907 38,627 
 
 Imports, in thousand poods. 
 In 1881. In 1893. 
 
 Cast iron 14,293 9.799 
 
 Iron 6,544 5,339 
 
 Steel 1,450 2,145 
 
 Thus only the importation of cast iron diminished 
 considerably, while that of steel even increased, but the re- 
 lative importance of the imports for internal consumption 
 changed entirely: the home production during this time 
 
 24 
 
THE IRON INDUSTRY. 
 
 grew to such an extent, that the largely increased con- 
 sumption of cast iron, iron, and steel is now mainly sa- 
 tisfied by Russian production. 
 
 The comparison of the progress of the iron industry 
 in Western Europe and in America, made there thanks to 
 the extensive application of coal in smelting cast iron, 
 and of the progress due to the same methods of pro- 
 duction in the South Russian works, indicate the further 
 course which the Russian iron industry must keep. As 
 early as 1870, the Austrian metallurgist Tunner, during 
 his journey in Russia, said that: the Ural is a mine which 
 must supply its ores to the Don; with such a combina- 
 tion Russia will have no competitors in the iron industry.)) 
 At that time, however, the rich Krivoy Rog iron deposits 
 were not yet known, which now make it possible to 
 create in the very South a most important centre of Rus- 
 sian iron industry without the aid of the Ural ores. But 
 the Ural also need not on this account lose its impor- 
 tance but may also widely develop its production. It is 
 true that, according to the enquiry of 1891, only 36 
 works do not here consume the full annual growth of 
 wood appointed them, while of the remainder 19 reach 
 the limiting expenditure of wood fuel and 36 expend 
 more than the annual growth and, consequently, are in 
 need of mineral fuel; the latter can, to be sure, be easily 
 supplied to the Ural both from the Donets basin and, in 
 the future, by the Siberian railway, from the Kuznets 
 district in the East, yielding excellent coking coal for 
 every kind of metallurgical industry. Finally, new coal- 
 measures are expected in the Ural, until now unworked 
 
 25 
 
GOLD MINING. 
 
 Thus, the future of the Russian iron industry may be 
 considered guaranteed both by the abundance of ore and 
 by the necessary fuel, if there is only sufficient enter- 
 prise combined with knowledge of the business. If we 
 should even so not succeed in again conquering the for- 
 eign markets, our enlarged production will find an outlet 
 in Russia itself. Now the consumption of iron in our 
 country is still very small. While in the United States 
 and Belgium there are 6.8 and 6.6 poods of cast iron 
 per inhabitant, in Germany 5.4, in Great Britain - - 4.5 
 poods this consumption in Russia does not exceed 
 O.98 poods; though it undoubtedy cannot but increase 
 under the influence of the development of industry and 
 ways of communication, which is moreover noticeable 
 even now, for the rate in the beginning of the ((eighties)) 
 was less than 17 Ibs per inhabitant. 
 
 Without dwelling upon the salt industry, the growth 
 of which under the influence of the abolition of excise 
 has already been noticed by us in the Chapter on Finance, 
 we will conclude the section on mining industry by a 
 few remarks upon gold mining, occupying from the value 
 of the output the first place among all the branches 
 of mining industry in Russia, and especially important 
 in an economical respect, in view of the expected intro- 
 duction of metallic currency. 
 
 4. Gold Mining. Gold was first found in Russia in 
 the 1 8 th century, i. e. at a time when the value of the 
 gold stock in the whole world amounted already to 2 l /-> 
 milliards of roubles. But, from then till the twenties of 
 the present century, gold washing in Russia made very 
 
 26 
 
GOLD MINING. 
 
 slow progress; the sands from which it is now obtained 
 were not yet known, while quartz gold required for its 
 working both capital and energetic enterprise, which even 
 now are comparatively rarely met with among goldminers. 
 The legislature itself maintained a varying attitude towards 
 gold mining: till 1812 it was not authorized at all to 
 private persons, since then it has been allowed to land- 
 owners on their own lands, afterwards, in proportion as 
 the various auriferous alluvial deposits were discovered, 
 their exploitation was authorized to certain persons 
 upon crown lands also, and, only with the promulgation 
 in 1838 of the Mining Code, was this authorization made 
 general. According to the code in force, searching for 
 gold is permitted to everyone with the exception of Jews. 
 But anyone wishing to occupy himself with goldmining 
 must receive a permit. A certain area of land is set apart 
 to each goldmine and then the methods of working are 
 left to the discretion of the mineowners, upon condition 
 only that there should be no injury to the health or dan- 
 ger to the life of the workmen. The mineowners pay a 
 tax for the gold gotten and a rent for the lands set 
 apart for mining. They send the gold to the laboratories 
 in Yekaterinburg, Tomsk or Irkootsk, whence melted into 
 ingots it is despatched to the Mint in St. Petersburg for 
 refining and minting. The goldminers receive orders 
 payable in six months. Further, in oder to more quick- 
 ly realize the money expended on working the mines, 
 the State Bank gives loans in Siberia on slime gold, which 
 constitutes a considerable assistance to goldminers, who 
 are frequently in need of credit. 
 
 27 
 
GOLD MINING. 
 
 The fluctuations in the yield of gold in different 
 years depend upon exceedingly different causes. No 
 small influence is exerted by the abundance or lack of 
 water depending on the dryness or wetness of the 
 summer. Very essential are the prices of grain: by 
 them is determined the cost of the workmen at the 
 diggings. Finally the most decisive importance is attached 
 to the exchange for Russian paper roubles. The lower 
 the exchange of the paper rouble, the more profitable 
 obviously is it to wash more gold, and not unfrequently 
 golddiggers earn only on the exchange. These consi- 
 derations shew that the statistical data of the yield of 
 gold in former years do not make it possible to make 
 any surmises as to the future course of gold mining. 
 
 These data furnish evidence that the chief centres 
 of the Russian gold mining industry are Eastern Siberia, 
 next the Ural and last of all Western Siberia; the 
 relative amounts of the yield may be represented by the 
 proportion 9:4: i . Most gold of all is obtained from 
 alluvial deposits, viz. 93 per cent., quartz only giving 
 7 per cent. From 1882 the annual amount of the total 
 yield has not sensibly changed, fluctuating between 2015 
 and 2739 poods. At any rate, during the last 3 years 
 (1892 94) the yield has been much greater than the 
 average of all the preceding ten years. On the whole, 
 as far as the amount of the yield is concerned, our 
 country holds its place fairly well after Australia, 
 South Africa, and the United States, furnishing about 
 l /5 of the whole of the gold produced on the earth's 
 surface. 
 
 28 
 
TOTALS OF THE MINING INDUSTRIES. 
 
 Totals of the mining industries. If we compare the 
 value of the various kinds of metals and minerals ob- 
 tained in Russia according to the information for 1893, 
 we cannot avoid the conviction that, beyond those 
 described above, all the rest are without any essential 
 importance. Thus: 
 
 Article. Yield in poods. Value in roubles. 
 
 Gold 2,739 54,674,271 
 
 Cast iron 70,140,559 47,750,000 
 
 Coal 464,818,293 23,063,000 
 
 Naphtha 353,522,082 6,954,627 
 
 Salt 82,482,037 5,560,584 
 
 Copper 333,508 3,966,314 
 
 Platinum 311 2,293,077 
 
 Manganese 16,399,352 1,672,749 
 
 Zinc 274,774 1,071,510 
 
 Silver 580 691,740 
 
 Mercury 12,271 551,210 
 
 Asphalt 911,200 287,000 
 
 Iron pyrites 993,328 128,000 
 
 Lead 51,517 117,306 
 
 Phosphorites 836,735 92,485 
 
 Glauber's salt 307,636 91,885 
 
 Chrome iron ore 890,429 87,753 
 
 Graphite 19,000 38,000 
 
 China clay 195,201 32,121 
 
 Sulphur 35,975 18,000 
 
 Asbestos 64,654 17,089 
 
 Tin 415 6,253 
 
 Kir 103,600 4,149 
 
 Cobalt blende 192 
 
 149,169,123 
 
 29 
 
TOTALS OF THE MINING INDUSTRIES. 
 
 Perhaps platinum alone deserves special mention, 
 because Russia is really the only purveyor of this metal 
 so important in an industrial respect; not more than 10 
 poods a year are produced in all other countries put to- 
 gether. Farther may be mentioned mercury, obtained 
 mainly at the works of Auerbach & C, in the Yekate- 
 rinoslaf government, who have placed this industry upon 
 more rational and advantageous foundations than is the 
 case abroad; as a consequence, Russia, formerly importing 
 annually 2000 to 5000 poods, now herself exports 8000 
 20,000 poods. Finally, the manganese obtained principally 
 in the Caucasus, in the government of Kootais, as well 
 as in the South of Russia and in the government of Perm, 
 occupies the first place in the world's production, being 
 more than half of the total yield. 
 
 Summing up all that has been said upon mining 
 industry, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that the 
 quantity of metals and minerals actually produced does 
 not correspond to the natural resources of Russia and to> 
 the demands of the population for mineral products. At 
 the same time, however, these natural resources, as yet 
 to a considerable extent untouched, give Russia a great 
 advantage over Western Europe, where the bowels of the 
 earth are not only everywhere thoroughly investigated, 
 but have been worked now for a long time and with 
 great energy. In consequence of this, these sources must 
 become sooner or later exhausted, while immense mine- 
 ral wealth will still remain in Russia. Such considerations 
 must, however, not at all be held to be a justification for 
 insufficient enterprise in the present; the mineral resour- 
 
 30 - 
 
THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE OF MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY. 
 
 ces of Russia will suffice for the future, though they 
 be worked now with considerably greater energy. 
 
 III. The general importance of manufacturing industry. 
 
 We have dwelt in somewhat more detail upon the des- 
 cription of the mining industry, as the basis of the deve- 
 lopment of the whole of industry in general. In passing 
 over to its other branches, it is necessary to preface a 
 few general considerations on the special significance for 
 Russia of industrial activity. 
 
 Contemporary conditions have placed Russia in the 
 circulation of the world's trade. Russia's participation 
 therein is yet comparatively small, her share is 3 3.5 per 
 cent of the world's business; but the dimensions of her 
 export trade are constantly and considerably growing 
 parallelly with the general growth of her internal econo- 
 mical development. In the beginning of the fifties the 
 whole volume of our foreign trade, both imports and 
 exports, ammounted to 155,000,000 gold roubles. In the 
 nineties it reached 770,000,000 gold roubles, i. e. had 
 increased 5 times as compared with the beginning of the 
 fifties. With such a growth, which it may be assumed 
 will continue in the future, it is necessary to participate 
 in the world's exchange with the greatest benefit for 
 oneself. It is only possible to attain this greatest benefit 
 in one way: it is necessary to strive by every means 
 to increase the productiveness of the national labour. 
 In fact, labour alone gives a value to natural resour- 
 ces: however rich the black-soil may be, without the 
 application of labour its value will be inconsiderable. If 
 corn grows upon this black-soil and is sold as grain 
 
THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE OF MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY. 
 
 by the agriculturalist, the latter will receive a reward 
 only for his agricultural labour, the miller will earn on 
 the milling of the grain, the distiller on its conversion 
 into spirit. If all three, agriculturalist, miller, and distiller, 
 live in one and the same country, then all their earn- 
 ings remain in the country: by selling the flour or spirit 
 abroad, they compel the foreigner to pay for their la- 
 bour. Quite another thing, if the corn is sold abroad as 
 grain: then the whole profit from milling and distilling 
 will remain for the benefit of the foreigner; still worse, 
 if these foreigners sell the flour or spirit in the country 
 whence they received the grain. True, the inhabitants 
 of that country will have much free time; but they will 
 not only get nothing for this free time, but will in ad- 
 dition pay foreigners for it. The same consideration is 
 applicable to other branches of the industry in raw ma- 
 terials. Thus, the increase of the national wealth and 
 prosperity depends on the earnings of the nation. But 
 where are these earnings greater, in manufacturing indu- 
 stry or in agriculture? For an answer to this question 
 our economical conditions give the most eloquent res- 
 ponse. Although latterly our industry has been growing 
 very rapidly, yet, compared with other countries of Wes- 
 tern Europe and with the United States, it must still be 
 called very backward. In our country, 85 per cent of 
 the population are occupied with agriculture, there are 
 only i 1 /* per cent of workmen in the manufactories 
 and works. 
 
 At the same time, calculation shows that there are 
 approximately 14 roubles of grain breadsturls and ij 1 /^ 
 
 32 
 
THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE OF MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY. 
 
 roubles of manufactured goods to each inhabitant. Thus, 
 manufacturing industry has succeeded in catching up the 
 production of corn, both being expressed in roubles. 
 
 The cause, without doubt, consists in this, that in 
 agriculture a mass of labour is lost without any result 
 whatever, without any remuneration. According to Prof. 
 Mendeleev's calculation, our harvest demands for its pro- 
 duction and gathering approximately 5,000,000,000 work- 
 ing days, while, if it be reckoned that only 50,000,000 
 men out of the 120 millions of the population of Russia 
 are so employed and that there are only 200 working 
 days in the year (in England the normal number is con- 
 sidered 300 working- days per annum), it will appear that 
 these 50,000,000 men dispose of 10,000,000,000 work- 
 ing days, i. e. twice as much as is necessary; conse- 
 quently, 5,000.000,000 days are entirely lost. To utilize 
 this labour, to make it productive this is the pledge of 
 the whole of our economical future. Without dwelling 
 here upon such essential conditions for this as the devel- 
 opment of knowledge, enterprise, etc., and remaining on 
 the ground of the comparison of agriculture and manu- 
 facturing industry, we cannot but acknowledge that, what- 
 ever may be the increase in the productiveness of agri- 
 culture, which it is of course possible to attain with the 
 improvement of the methods of cultivation etc., we cannot 
 hope for any particular enhancement of the national wel- 
 fare from this alone. 
 
 In the Chapter on Agriculture we have already pointed 
 out to what an extent the prices of corn are dependent 
 upon the world's competition. The misfortune is that 
 
THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE OF MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY. 
 
 in this competition southern tropical countries have now 
 taken part, where labour is exceedingly cheap; thanks to 
 this condition, the prices of corn are falling and we are 
 evidently unable to compete without still further lowering 
 the remuneration of our agricultural labour. The depen- 
 dence upon foreign prices will become ever greater and 
 greater, if new centres of consumption, towns, do not 
 develop in Russia itself, but this is possible only with the 
 growth of manufacturing industry. This lowering of 
 agricultural earnings has a depressing effect upon the 
 national welfare. As a matter fact, our exports are growing, 
 the trading balance estimated in value is in our favour, 
 industrial activity is increasing, but consumption so far 
 is yet hardly making any progress at all. 
 
 In the Chapter on Agriculture we saw that the con- 
 sumption of corn in our country is lower than in other 
 countries, e. g. in France. But the consumption of 
 corn should on the whole grow in proportion to the 
 growth of population. A quite different phenomenon 
 should occur in relation to the products of manufacturing 
 industry. Here the consumption should grow parallelly to 
 the growth of the national wealth. And yet it appears that 
 in 1880 the consumption of goods produced by the Russian 
 manufactories, works, and mining industries, together 
 with the articles of foreign importation amounted to 
 1,818,000,000 roubles, during the five years iSSi 1885 
 the average was 1,854,000,000 roubles, and during the 
 five years 1886 1890, 1,932,000,000 roubles, i. e. in- 
 creased by only 114,000,000 roubles in 10 years. Though 
 beginning with the year 1884, the consumption kept con- 
 
 34 
 
THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE OF MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY. 
 
 tinually increasing, amounting in 1890 to 2,072,000,000 
 roubles, i. e. 254,000,000 roubles, or 14%, more than 
 in 1880, we must bear in mind, however, that the popu- 
 lation during that time had also increased, at the very 
 least, in the same proportion. Consequently, the con- 
 sumption of manufactured goods is growing parallelly 
 to the growth of the population, while so far there are 
 no clear indications of an increase in the purchasing 
 capacity of the population. From the considerations 
 brought forward there flows the further consequence 
 that if latterly, with such a severe fall in the prices of 
 corn, the purchasing power of the population has never- 
 theless not diminished, Russia owes this exclusively to 
 the application of her labour to other branches of pro- 
 ductive activity than agriculture, and therefore in the 
 future all efforts should be directed to the greatest pos- 
 sible development of our manufacturing industry. And 
 this has been the aim of the economical policy of the 
 two last reigns. 
 
 With the reform of the 19 February, 1861, free labour 
 was created the most essential basis of national welfare 
 and wealth, broad ways were opened for national enter- 
 prise, and the means of communication were improved. 
 The wise protective policy of the Emperor Alexander III, 
 of which we had occasion to speak in the Chapter on 
 Finance, supported the newdy born Russian industry 
 and created for it a position more or less independent 
 of the foreigner. To judge of the results, it is sufficient 
 to compare the statistical data on the value of produc- 
 tion, imports and exports. 
 
THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE OF MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY. 
 
 The annual imports and exports over the European- 
 frontier for periods of five years were, on an average,, 
 in millions of gold roubles, as follow: 
 
 Exports. Imports. Exchange. *->. ^exports. 
 1851 1855 81 74 155 + 7 
 
 18561860 141 120 261 + 21 
 
 18611865 140 121 261 + 19 
 
 18661870 192 212 404 - 20 
 
 18711875 303 364 667 - 61 
 
 18761880 345 326 671 + 19 
 
 18811885 346 304 650 + 42 
 
 18861890 380 224 604 + 56 
 
 1891 423 220 643 +203 
 
 1892 252 219 471 + 33 
 
 1893 339 258 597 + 81 
 
 1894 399 327 726 + 72 
 Thus, beginning with the second half of the ((seven- 
 ties,)) under the influence of protective tariffs the trading 
 balance is inclining ever more and more in our favour. 
 In 1891 the difference is particularly great, thanks to the 
 almost prohibitive tariff of that year; in 1892, on the 
 contrary, the exports fall in consequence of the prohibi- 
 tion of the exportation of grain, but already in the fol- 
 lowing two years the foreign trade again obtains a nor- 
 mal character. 
 
 Owing to the diminution of the imports of foreign 
 manufactures the home manufacturing industry increases. 
 From 1878 to 1892, the value of its products exclusive 
 of excisables (spirit, tobacco, etc.), increased from 588 
 to 1,225 mill, roubles, i. e. more than double, and even. 
 
 36 
 
DIFFERENT BRANCHES OF MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY. 
 
 45% more than what the products of 1880 yielded 
 (842 mill, roubles.) In the home market Russian manu- 
 factures are gradually expelling their foreign competitors: 
 as early as 1880 they amounted in value to 66 per cent 
 of the consumption, while in 1892 they were already 
 80 per cent. All these successes are not the result of 
 accident, they have been obtained by a consistent activity 
 extending over many years. But Russia cannot halt on 
 this road; the protective customs policy has attained its 
 results, has created a free soil for independent enterprise; 
 but for the further development of this enterprise are 
 wanted capital, knowledge, and the due organization of 
 the provision of the working classes. 
 
 IV. Different branches of manufacturing industry. The 
 comparative importance of the separate branches of our 
 manufacturing industry appears from the following 
 numerical data on the value of the productions: 
 
 1880 1892 Increase 
 
 mill, roubles. per cent. 
 
 i Textile fabrics 420 581 +38 
 
 2, Food products, (except exci- 
 sable) 124 213 +72 
 
 3 Metals 116 204 +76 
 
 4 Leather and other animal 
 
 products 98 73 25 
 
 5 Pottery 27 33 +18 
 
 6 Wood 19 31 +63 
 
 7 Paper 16 26 +63 
 
 -8 Chemical products .... 13 30 +130 
 
 3 Other branches of industry 9 35 +290 
 
SPIRIT DISTILLING INDUSTRY. 
 
 Data are here wanting on the value of excisable 
 articles: spirit, sugar, etc, because there are not sufficient- 
 ly exact data to determine their value in past years.. 
 For 1892 the value of all the excisable articles may 
 be estimated, not counting the excise, at approximately 
 265,000.000 roubles. 
 
 From a comparison of all the data set forth, it 
 appears that, as far as value of production is concerned, 
 the first place in Russia belongs to textile fabrics, of 
 which 70 per cent is reckoned to cotton goods. Next 
 follow excisable articles, mainly beet sugar and spirit, 
 after this other food articles and finally metal goods. 
 
 There is no possibility of reviewing all these branches 
 of industry in the present cursory sketch. We shall, 
 therefore, dwell upon the more typical measures adopted 
 by the Government for encouraging their development.. 
 There is no necessity to add anything about metallurgical 
 industry, after that which has been said above upon 
 mining. 
 
 1. Spirit distilling industry. The measures of the Go- 
 vernment in the region of spirit distilling were set forth 
 in the Chapter on Finance, as all these measures are 
 closely connected with the collection of excise, forming a 
 considerable part of the value of the spirit distilled. We 
 will, therefore, confine ourselves to a few remarks only. 
 
 Spirit distilling has an extraordinarily great impor- 
 tance in regard to agriculture. It is more profitable for 
 the husbandman to sell the spirit alone, leaving aside 
 the malt refuse, than to sell the grain itself. The essence 
 of the matter is that distilling in the place of production 
 
 38 - 
 
SPIRIT DISTILLING INDUSTRY. 
 
 converts the products of agriculture (potatoes, maize, 
 beet, grain) into spirit, i. e. into a substance more 
 valuable, weighing less, and containing only water, 
 carbon and hydrogen, elements obtained by the plants 
 from the air, while all the elements of the soil (nitro- 
 genous and ash), upon which depends the fertility of the 
 soil, remain in the refuse and can be employed for 
 fattening stock and manuring the fields. Hence it follows, 
 that by selling spirit instead of grain and other produce of 
 agriculture farmers can not only receive a higher in- 
 come, not only preserve the land from exhaustion,' but 
 also increase the quantity of cattle bred, which constitutes, 
 in combination with agriculture and manufactures to 
 this day one of the highest forms of intensive agricul- 
 tural industry (Mendeleev). 
 
 These considerations are true, both in reference to 
 individual farmers and for a whole agricultural country 
 like Russia: it is obviously more profitable for her to 
 export spirit and not corn in the form of grain. Unfor- 
 tunately the export of Russian spirit abroad is still far 
 from attaining the desirable dimensions; under the in- 
 fluence of the payment of a Government premium it 
 grew from 100,000 vedros in the beginning of the six- 
 ties)) to 6 l /2 mill, in 1887; but immediately on the low- 
 ering of the premium it began to fall and now scarcely 
 exceeds 2 mill, vedros; evidently, our distillers, trusting 
 to the premium, did not concern themselves about taking 
 measures independently, e. g. improvements in the rectifi- 
 cation of the spirit, in order to retain the foreign markets. 
 Thus the production of spirit is regulated with us by 
 
 _ QQ _ 
 
BEET SUGAR INDUSTRY. 
 
 the extent of the home consumption, and this latter is 
 uninterruptedly falling; in 1883 it still amounted to 
 0.33 vedro per inhabitant, while it is now only 0.2 vedro, 
 i. e. 3 4 times less than in Germany, Great-Britain, or 
 France; it is above the average in industrial localities, 
 where the purchasing capacity of the population is greater, 
 but in agricultural localities it is below. Under such con- 
 ditions the production of spirit cannot increase; as a 
 matter of fact, during the five years 1883 8 there were 
 distilled, on an average, 33 mill, vedros of anhydrous spirit 
 a year, and during the following five years 1888 93 
 only 30 mill, vedros, 
 
 Beet Sugar Industry. There yet remain two pecu- 
 liarly characteristic branches of Russian industry: beet su- 
 gar, and cotton goods. The beet sugar industry appeared 
 among us, simultaneously with Western Europe, for the 
 first time in the government of Took. During the first 
 few years its importance was very small: the refineries 
 belonged exclusively to the landowners, forming a 
 complement to husbandry. Only with the appearance of 
 new processes of sugar boiling, and with the establish- 
 ment in 1825 of protective duties on foreign sugar, does 
 our production receive a more considerable development : 
 in 1844 5 there were already 206 works, and the 
 production of sugar reached 484,000 poods. This success 
 caused the Government to direct attention to the sugar 
 industry from a fiscal point of view and in 1848 a 
 moderate excise was introduced for the first time, which 
 brought the treasury about 500,000 roubles revenue, 
 without retarding the development of the industry itself; 
 
 40 
 
BEET SUGAR INDUSTRY. 
 
 the number of sugar refineries continued to increase, their 
 productivity grew, the importation of foreign sugar dim- 
 inished. From the middle of the fifties a new period 
 began in sugar refining. 
 
 With the introduction of steam machinery, the pro- 
 duction in small works became unprofitable, it began to 
 be concentration in comparatively few hands, and the 
 works belonging to growers began to be closed; in this 
 latter respect no inconsiderable importance attached to 
 the emancipation of the serfs, as the refiners were de- 
 prived of unpaid labour. In 1860 there were still 432 
 works, in the beginning of the seventies there only re- 
 mained 235, while the production of sugar increased 
 more than ten times, as also the extent of the beetroot 
 plantations. In the course of the seventies)) the same 
 process of centralization of production in large works 
 continues: their number remains almost unaltered, but 
 the quantity of sugar manufactured doubles. The system 
 of levying excise itself led to this extension. The tax was 
 collected not on the weight of sugar manufactured but 
 on the normal produce of a definite quantity of beet. At 
 the same time the laws defining the normal produce 
 could never keep up with the technical improvements in 
 sugar boiling, originally perhaps with the intention that 
 the development of the industry should not be retarded 
 by means of the excise. In consequence of this, the 
 actual excise, thanks to a greater produce from a berko- 
 vets of beet that was calculated according to the stan- 
 dard, did not exceed l /s or later even l /4 of the no- 
 minal excise. 
 
 - 41 - 
 
BEET SUGAR INDUSTRY. 
 
 On the other hand, on exportation abroad the treasury 
 returned the nominal excise in full. These circumstances,, 
 and the high prices for sugar which ruled at the end of 
 the seventies, called forth heavy speculation in our sugar 
 industry, although already in 1 88 1 the system of levying 
 the sugar excise was radically changed, and the excise 
 was now collected on the weight of sugar actually refi- 
 ned, so that the revenue of the treasury increased to twice 
 and thrice what it was before. But the production con- 
 tinued to grow without interruption, reaching in 1885 6 
 as much as 29,000,000 poods. Prices suddenly fell ter- 
 ribly, and the Government was compelled to take mea- 
 sures to relieve the home markets of the surplus sugar 
 and in this way to keep up the prices. With this ob- 
 ject from 1885 begins the payment of premiums on the 
 sugar exported abroad over and above the return of the 
 excise. The export increased considerably, but the chief 
 object, the raising of prices in the home markets, remain- 
 ed unattained, because just in the second half of the 
 eighties)) the crops of beet were particularly good. The 
 Ministry of Finance warned the sugar refiners that they 
 must themselves take steps to reduce the plantations of 
 beet, that the payment of premiums would not be con- 
 tinued. But these warnings had small effect, and in 1886 
 prices for sugar again fell. 
 
 Then the refiners, in 1887, entered into an agree- 
 ment among each other, after the example of foreign 
 syndicates, obliging each other to export abroad a certain 
 proportion of the yield until the prices in the home 
 markets rise to a definite limit. Two hundred and ten 
 
 42 
 
BEET SUGAR INDUSTRY. 
 
 refineries joined the association. During its existence up 
 to the year 1892, no considerable fluctuations in the 
 prices for sugar were observable. But in this year, thanks 
 to the failure of the beetcrop and to a deficiency of 
 sugar in the home markets, the prices rose so quickly 
 that not only the obligatory exportation was abolished, 
 but the Government itself began to buy sugar abroad 
 for sale, by which measure indeed the further rise in 
 prices was stopped. 
 
 However this might be, notwithstanding all the 
 measures taken, overproduction did not diminish. From 
 1885 to 1895, with the energetic assistance of the Go- 
 vernment, as much as 48,000,000 poods of sugar were 
 exported, but prices nevertheless fell, mainly in conse- 
 quence of the excessive production of sugar in Germany, 
 France, and Austria-Hungary, putting their sugar like 
 Russia, principally on the London market. Under these 
 conditions, the voluntary agreement of the sugar refiners 
 proved powerless, firstly, because not all the refineries 
 took part in them and, secondly, because those partici- 
 pating did not always fulfil the obligations they had 
 assumed. 
 
 All that has been set forth finally induced the Go- 
 vernment to take upon itself the regulation of the beet 
 sugar industry. A certain normal home consumption of 
 sugar was defined; the excess over this norm, if thrown 
 upon the home markets, is levied with double excise, and 
 if exported abroad is freed from excise according to the 
 general rule; and it was ordered to form an untouched 
 reserve at each refinery, for placing on the home mar- 
 
 _ 43 - 
 
COTTON INDUSTRY. 
 
 kets in case the prices for sugar should rise considerably 
 to the detriment of consumers. The norms indicated 
 are subject to annual revision. All these measures receiv- 
 ed the Imperial sanction at the end of 1895. 
 
 Cotton Industry. Entirely unlike is the picture pres- 
 ented by the cotton industry. It was founded in Russia 
 as early as the i8 th century. Without any mills, yarn 
 was distributed among the villages to the peasants for 
 the preparation on hand looms of the simple national 
 stuffs in common use. Soon small weavers' workshops 
 began to be founded, for 20 to 30 looms, and in the 
 middle of the i8 th century the cotton goods industry 
 began to spread so rapidly among the villages that it 
 even expelled the weaving of linen cloth. At the same 
 time appears the calico printing industry, at first in the 
 village of Ivanovo, in the government of Vladimir, where 
 by the end of the last century there were already seve- 
 ral such manufactories. At that time it was held that 
 Russian fustians and calicoes were immeasurably superior 
 as regards dyeing to those of Western Europe. From the 
 beginning of the present century the weaving of the coarser 
 calicoes from English yarn began to spread in other pla- 
 ces besides the governments of Moscow and Vladimir, 
 and the demand for yarn so increased that attempts 
 were even made to build spinning mills. The war of 
 1812 retarded the development of the Russian cotton 
 industry, but already in the seventies it begins again to 
 rapidly develop, later attracting to itself a large number 
 of workmen and a great capital. In the absence at that 
 time of Russian machinery works, it was necessary to 
 
 44 
 
COTTON INDUSTRY. 
 
 apply to England for spinning jennies; on the other 
 hand, until 1842, their exportation from England was 
 prohibited, and they could only be obtained by smug- 
 gling. And notwithstanding all these obstacles in 1845 
 there were 40 mills, with more than 350,000 spindles, 
 and ten years later there were already about a million. 
 
 The considerable growth of our cotton goods in- 
 dustry is shown above all by the increase of the imports 
 of foreign cotton into Russia. In 1855 it still did not 
 exceed i i /z mill, poods, while subsequently the average 
 
 annual amounts were as follows: 
 
 Mill, poods. 
 
 18771881 5.8 
 
 18821886 6.9 
 
 18871891 8.1 
 
 1892 9.4 
 
 1893 7.6 
 
 1894 ll.s 
 
 This is the cotton brought over the European fron- 
 tier; but besides this there are 800 900 thousand poods 
 across the Asiatic frontier. Nor is this all: a still more 
 remarkable fact is the establishment as the basis of the 
 manufacture of cotton plantations in Russia itself, deve- 
 loping more and more with every year in Toorkistan > 
 the Caucasus, and the dependencies of Khiva and Bukhara. 
 These plantations in the beginning of the nineties furni- 
 shed over 3 mill, poods, and now probably far more. 
 
 Such being the progress made by the Russian cotton 
 industry, the general demand of the Russian people for 
 cotton goods is now satisfied almost entirely by the home 
 
 production. 
 
 45 
 
COTTON INDUSTRY. 
 
 The imports of yarn have diminished to such an 
 extent that they form only 2 l /z per cent, while the im- 
 ports of foreign textile fabrics do not exceed Vaoo part 
 of the total Russian consumption. It is true that the 
 exports from Russia of cotton goods is still small, they 
 possess a certain importance only for Asia, which con- 
 sumes every year an increasing quantity of Russian ma- 
 nufactures. But the home markets are finally conquered 
 from the foreigner. At the same time the consumption 
 of cotton goods has evidently grown not only in quantity 
 but in value. In 1880 the value of the whole production 
 together with imports amounted to not more than 270 
 mill, roubles, while ten years later, in 1889, it was about 
 500 mill, roubles. 
 
 In the number of spindles, the Russian cotton in- 
 dustry has taken the first place on the continent of Eu- 
 rope. In 1891 there were 6 mill, spindles in Russia, in 
 France and Germany 5 mill, each, in the other conti- 
 nental countries still less. Thus to Russia's share fell 
 V* of all the spindles of the continent; and yet it was 
 7 to 8 times less than in England (52 mill, in 1894). 
 But at the same time in Russia there is twice as much 
 raw cotton per spindle as in England, because Russian 
 spinning produces mainly only the medium and lower 
 numbers of yarn while in England the high numbers 
 also are produced. There we see, however, the good 
 sense of the Russian manufacturers: competition with 
 England in the production of fine yarn and sewing cot- 
 tons is for the present attended with too great difficulty. 
 
 The Russian cotton industry enjoys on the part ot 
 
 46 
 
COTTON INDUSTRY. 
 
 the Government the protection of a customs tariff against 
 foreign competition. In consequence of this perhaps the 
 prices of goods are with us somewhat higher than if 
 foreign goods were given free access to the home mar- 
 kets. But these sacrifices of the consumers are redeemed 
 by the advantages to the whole country from the exis- 
 tence of the cotton industry: we should pay foreigners 
 272 times as much for goods as for raw cotton (250 
 mill, instead of 100 mill); the population would lose 
 more than 40 mill, roubles of wages; and the constantly 
 growing cotton plantations could not develop in Russia 
 at all. 
 
 Comparing the course of development of the beet 
 sugar spirit distilling and cotton goods industries, it is 
 impossible to avoid observing a very essential difference 
 among them. In the first, in particular, all depended on 
 reckoning upon Government privileges and assistance; 
 the manufacturers, without paying any attention to 
 warnings, enlarged their production and finally compelled 
 the Government to take decisive measures for its regu- 
 lation, to assume the foresight which was obligatory for 
 the manufacturers themselves. In the case of the cotton 
 industry, on the contrary, the State only afforded the 
 same support which it gave to other branches of indu- 
 stry, protecting it by customs duties from foreign compe- 
 tition. Otherwise this industry was left to its own forces 
 and, not reckoning continually on privileges and encou- 
 ragement, developed in a normal manner, conquering 
 step by step the home markets from foreigners, crossing 
 the frontier, for the most part into Asia, where compe- 
 
 47 
 
TRADE. 
 
 tition is as yet much easier for us, and keeping its 
 production to those articles which are more accessible. 
 Our manufacturers lowered the prices on their goods 
 and thus contributed to the extension of their consump- 
 tion; while the sugar refiners are unable to stand the 
 existing prices for sugar, although these prices, after 
 deducting excise, are much higher with us than in the 
 London, and other European markets, partly in consequence 
 of which the consumption of sugar in Russia per in- 
 habitant is 23 less than in the other continental 
 countries of Europe and 10 times less than in England. 
 The course of the cotton goods industry affords a well 
 founded hope for its further regular development. Until 
 now, it is true, this industry has the support of a power- 
 ful customs tariff, but such protection obliges Russian 
 manufacturers to use all their efforts to develop the 
 technical side of the matter, and then they will have- 
 no need to fear foreign competition. 
 
 Trade. The characterization of the different branches 
 of industry we have made above is, it would seem,, 
 sufficiently convincing of the value created in the country 
 by the application of the national labour to industrial 
 productions. But this is far from all. In order to parti- 
 cipate in the fullest degree in the world's market it is 
 necessary to duly organize the passage of the produc- 
 tions from the producers to the consumers, i. e. the 
 home and foreign trade. It is most profitable of all for 
 the producer, if he is able to sell his goods immediately 
 to the consumer and not to a middleman, because the 
 middleman of course retains a certain part of the profit 
 
 48 
 
TRADE. 
 
 for himself. This rule, true in every day life, is perfectly 
 applicable also to the trade of countries; if the produc- 
 tions of a country are exported in foreign ships, this 
 country loses all the earnings of the freight and com- 
 mission in selling, and the loss will be the greater in 
 proportion as the goods exported are bulkier. 
 
 In order to judge of the importance of immediate 
 participation in trade, it is sufficient to compare the 
 dimensions of trade with the value of the produce of 
 the manufactories and works. According to the infor- 
 mation for 1892 the business of the banking, transport, 
 and trading enterprises (excluding railways) amounted in 
 Russia to 9,674 mill, roubles, while the business of the 
 industrial concerns reached only 1632 mill., or 6 times 
 less. Let us take a particular example: the value of the 
 lighting and lubricating oils obtained from naphtha, 
 together with the naphtha refuse is reckoned on the spot 
 at not more than 20 mill, roubles, and their transport 
 to the home and foreign markets costs 50 mill, roubles. 
 It is true, that it is here a question of a very cheap 
 product. But it must not be forgotten, that after grain 
 it is one of the most important articles of our foreign 
 export. A trading nation expending only labour and 
 floating capital, which returns to it, obviously always 
 receives an immense nett profit, without expending at 
 all its foundation capital in the shape of the natural 
 resources of the country. Herein is the chief cause of 
 the prosperity of such states as Phoenicia, Carthage and, 
 in our day, Holland and England. Therefore economy 
 in foreign and home trade is one of the most important 
 
 - 49 * 
 
FORMS OF HOME TRADE. 
 
 conditions of the prosperity of a country: both should 
 be organized in such a way that, as far as possible, 
 neither the producer nor the consumer should pay too 
 much to the middlemen. 
 
 Forms of home trade. In Russia we meet with all 
 the stages of home trade. Caravan trade is still carried 
 on in the south-eastern part of the Empire. Its chief 
 centres in the Russian territories are Orenburg, Tashkent, 
 Samarkand, Semipalatinsk, and Kiakhta, whence the cara- 
 vans proceed far beyond the limits of Russia into the 
 Central Asiatic States and China. 
 
 In other localities of Russia, as a consequence of 
 the lack of ways of communication and of the scarcity 
 of the population, trade by means of fairs has been long 
 developed. 
 
 The most ancient fairs appear already in the i6' Ul 
 century: for example, at that time there was a fair at 
 the confluence of the rivers Mologa and Volga, lasting 
 4 months, frequented by Germans, Poles, Greeks and 
 even Italians and Persians. Trade was conducted mostly 
 by barter. This fair was replaced in the iy th century 
 by a permanent trading centre in Rybinsk at the junction 
 of the Volga and Sheksna. The present fair at Nijni- 
 Novgorod appeared still earlier, in the time of the Grand 
 duke Vasili Ivanovitch, but not in Nijni but in Vasil- 
 sursk, and afterwards in Makarievo whence the fair itseit 
 received the name of Makarievskaya. In the iy th cen- 
 tury appears the Irbit fair in Eastern Russia, and still 
 earlier a fair near the monastery of Korennaya Pustynya 
 in the Kursk government, now transferred to Kursk. The 
 
 50 
 
FORMS OF HOME TRADE. 
 
 fairs satisfied an important want: they made it possible 
 to obtain goods straight from the producers, avoiding 
 middlemen. The Government therefore encouraged as far 
 .as possible the establishment of fairs, and Peter the 
 Great in his regulation to the Chief Magistracy in 1721 
 ordered them to be founded particularly in the neigh- 
 bourhood of water ways. The subsequent measures, 
 which had for their object the freeing of trade in the 
 fairs from various kinds of fiscal and other restrictions, 
 led to their still greater development. 
 
 At the present time there are about 400 more or 
 less large fairs and 2500 small ones. The most impor- 
 tant is that of Nijni-Novgorod, transferred thither from 
 Makarievo in 1817; this is at the same time the greatest 
 fair in the whole world. It lasts from the 15 July to 
 the 10 September. These dates are of importance because 
 the height of the Nijni fair corresponds with the time 
 when the prospects of the crop are already clear, and 
 the population knows what purchasing power it will 
 have at the end of the year. The economical importance 
 of the fair is thus explained by the fact that here the 
 business balances are struck for the whole region which 
 is drawn to it. But this region is very extensive: the 
 Nijni-Novgorod fair is situated at the confluence of 
 the Oka with the Volga, i. e. in the centre of all the 
 water ways of Central and Eastern Russia, and therefore 
 as many as 200,000 people assemble here every year. 
 The chief business consists in the sale of manufactured 
 goods and hardware to merchants coming to the market 
 from various towns, hence the merchants distribute 
 
 51 * 
 
FORMS OF HOME TRADE. 
 
 these goods over the whole of Russia. Here too appear 
 Asiatic traders for the purchase of Russian manufactures. 
 Purchases and sales are usually effected on credit,, 
 sometimes very long credit, a year and more. The 
 whole business of the Nijni- Novgorod fair, which 
 began in 1817 26 with 32,000,000 roubles, reached in 
 the beginning of the eighties* to 250,000,000 roubles. 
 But since then, under the influence of the development 
 of ways of communication, especially of the Transcaspian 
 railway, giving access to Central Asia during the whole 
 year, it has begun to somewhat fall and in 1895 did not 
 exceed 165,000,000. But this is only the value of the 
 goods sold, bespoken and remaining on the hands of the 
 sellers. The turnover of the banks, trading and in- 
 dustrial firms, and retail trade amounted in 1895 to not 
 less than 339,000,000 roubles. 
 
 As to the other fairs, the most important of them 
 is that of Irbit, now, however, falling. Its turnover in. 
 1888 amounted to 57,000,000 roubles, it is now 34,000,000, 
 Next follow the Ukraina fairs : 4 in Kharkoff, 4 in Romny 
 and i in Poltava. Their total business amounts to 
 40,000,000 roubles. These fairs are mainly remarkable 
 on account of the fact that they form, as it were, an 
 uninterrupted circle, following one after another, so 
 that the goods left unsold at one market are transported 
 to the next, and the sellers add on this account to the 
 price of the goods the cost of conveyance over the 
 whole circle. 
 
 Without dwelling upon the other fairs, we will 
 remark only that, with our comparatively small develop- 
 
 - 52 
 
FORMS OF HOME TRADE. 
 
 ment of ways of communication and of town life, fairs 
 are fated to continue to exist for some time still. The 
 thinness of our country population causes the home 
 trade to concentrate almost exclusively in the great 
 towns, where this trade is specialized and constant. But 
 there are as yet comparatively few such towns in Russia: 
 a population of a million exists only in Petersburg; more 
 than 500,000 inhabitants only in Moscow (862,000) and 
 Warsaw (573,000); more than 200,000 also in two 
 towns Odessa (343,000) and Kief (202,000); 16 towns 
 reckon from 100,000 to 200,000 inhabitants*; 20 from 
 50,000 to 100,000; and, finally, in no places, there 
 are 20,000 to 50,000. In Germany there are approxi- 
 mately the same number of towns with a population of 
 -over 20,000, but there this number of towns belongs to 
 an area 40 times less than Russia. Of course, the 
 majority of the towns enumerated are situated in Euro- 
 pean Russia (only 12 in Asia), but even so the area is 
 still 10 times greater than the German Empire. Further, 
 in the small towns, for the most part only articles of 
 every day consumption are to be found. Finally, in the 
 villages and hamlets there are, for the most part, no 
 trading firms. 
 
 This all calls forth the natural necessity for hawk- 
 ing and peddling. Hawking is the occupation of the, 
 so-called, cattle dealers (prasoly), who barter small 
 trinkets and haberdashery for various agricultural pro- 
 
 * Astrakhan (105), Baku (105), Berditchef in Kief gov. (101), 
 in Vilno (130), Kazan (144), Kishineff (144), Lodz (150), Nikolaeff 
 <ioi). Orel (103), Riga (195), Rostoff on the Don (103), Samara 
 (104), Saratoff (165), Tashkent (124), Tiflis(uo) and 
 
 53 
 
FORMS OF HOME TRADE. 
 
 ductions: feathers, down and bristles, and also buy 
 cattle, etc. Their main object is not sale, but purchase,, 
 so that they buy up produce for ready money. The 
 peddlers on the other hand (korobeiniky, ofeny) only 
 sell cheap wares to the country folk and rarely barter. 
 Besides these traders, koostars also sometimes wander 
 from place to place disposing of their goods to the con- 
 sumers. Under such conditions of trade, the tendency of 
 the dwellers in towns and settlements to gather at fairs 
 and bazaars is perfectly natural: there is no other place 
 for them to meet the vendors of the necessary goods; 
 and much time will yet be required for all the condi- 
 tions set forth to change to such an extent that there 
 will no longer be any need for fairs; but, as far as 
 concerns the Nijny-Novgorod fair in particular, it is hardly 
 likely that it should ever lose its importance, in conse- 
 quence of the particular position occupied by this insti- 
 tution in the economical life of the greater part of 
 Russia. 
 
 However this may be, trade in our great towns is 
 ever more and more acquiring a Western European 
 character. Here we meet with trade on the exchange and 
 by contract. Its superiority to that at the fair consists 
 not only in the uninterrupted nature of the turnover, 
 but also in the circumstance that it is not necessary to 
 bring the goods themselves to the exchange but it is 
 enough to present samples only. 
 
 Therefore exchanges have become indispensable in- 
 stitutions especially for international trade, as . on them 
 one can every day obtain information of the prices of 
 
 54 
 
FORMS OF HOME TRADE. 
 
 goods in all the chief markets of the world, of the im- 
 ports and exports, of the money and bill market, etc. 
 Xor is this all; trade is sometimes done on exchange in 
 goods which are not yet in existence, for example, grain 
 before harvest, wool before shearing. This form of trade 
 is called contractual. It must, however, be observed that 
 in consequence of the liveliness of business, not unfre- 
 quently contractual trade is carried on at fairs. Such, for 
 example, is the Contractual fair at Kief, which owes its 
 importance not to the importation and disposal of goods, 
 but to commercial transactions concluded at it between 
 the large manufacturers assembled from the whole of 
 the south-western region. Thus, for example, in 1892 
 goods were sold at this fair to the amount of 289,000 
 roubles, while the business transacted was 17,000,000 roub- 
 les. At any rate, contractual trade is an appurtenance of 
 more highly developed commercial conditions; it is in- 
 conceivable without the proper organization of the ways 
 of communication and means of conveyance; otherwise 
 the purchaser cannot be certain that the goods will be 
 furnished him in due time. 
 
 Turning to exchanges, it must be observed that in 
 Russia for a long time no need was felt for them, so 
 that the first exchange was opened here by order of the 
 Government. Being convinced by ocular demonstration 
 of the advantage of exchange trade, Peter the Great, on 
 his return from Holland, ordered exchanges to be es- 
 tablished in the ports and other prominent towns and 
 even that merchants should be forced against their will 
 to go on exchange. But till the forties)) of the present 
 
 55 
 
FORMS OF HOME TRADE. 
 
 century there were very few exchanges (in St. Peters- 
 burg, Moscow and Riga), and only since the sixties, witli 
 the development of the credit system, did the want of 
 an exchange medium begin to be felt far more strongly, 
 and exchanges were opened in the principal trading 
 towns. At the present time, besides the temporary ex- 
 change at the Nijni-Novgorod fair, there are 24 per- 
 manent exchanges. Russian exchanges are rarely special- 
 ized; as almost everywhere on the continent, exchanges 
 for funds and goods are with us united into one insti- 
 tution. There have lately appeared special corn exchan- 
 ges, as the KalashnikofF in Petersburg, and the Moscow 
 corn exchange. Our exchanges till now are without uni- 
 form organization, each being governed on the basis of a 
 special charter. As intermediaries in trade transactions, 
 attached to the exchanges are brokers and sometimes a 
 court-broker, appointed by the Ministry of Finance to 
 superintend the behaviour of the brokers; while for the 
 sorting of goods the exchange association elects sworn 
 sorters. 
 
 At the present time the state of the exchange busi- 
 ness in Russia is being carefully examined in the Mi- 
 nistry of Finance, which proposes introducing into the 
 law of exchanges certain essential amendments with a 
 view to bringing it into as near agreement as possible 
 with the requirements of our trade. 
 
 In connexion with exchanges the most important 
 institution of home trade must be held to be warehouses. 
 In exchange buildings, as we have said, goods are usu- 
 ally not kept, but only samples are brought there; but 
 
 56 
 
FORMS OF HOME TRADE. 
 
 special warehouses are arranged in the neighbourhood of 
 the exchanges. 
 
 For foreign goods such warehouses are also esta- 
 blished in the customs offices and ports. The owner of 
 goods lying in the warehouse is issued a warrant. In 
 Russia the warrant system is as yet, to all intents, har- 
 dly tried. A beginning has been made in Riga, where 
 at the end of the sixties a stock company was founded 
 called the Central Warehouse; although it did not possess 
 the right to issue warrants, loans were made on certi- 
 ficates of the insurance of the goods. In the beginning 
 of the seventies a whole series of joint-stock companies 
 arose with the object of establishing warehouses issuing 
 warrants. But the majority of them did not open ope- 
 rations. This failure is apparently explained by the fact, 
 that the companies kept to such centres as Petersburg 
 and iMoscow, without extending their operations to the 
 places of despatch of the goods and to the port towns, 
 and were, moreover, without any connexion with the 
 railways. In 1888, our legislature, by authorizing the 
 foundation of warehouses, \\ith the permission of the 
 Minister of Finance, by Zemstvos, town, merchant or 
 exchange, societies, joint-stock companies, associations 
 and separate individuals, with the issue of documents 
 for the sale and pledging of these goods, placed this 
 matter upon a perfectly rational basis. But until now 
 the new rules have served mainly to develop only spe- 
 cial corn warehouses or elevators, about which we spoke 
 in greater detail in the Chapter on agriculture. 
 
 Finally, the most important condition for the regu- 
 
FORMS OF FOREIGN TRADE. 
 
 lar development of the home trade is, without doubt, 
 the improvement of the internal ways of communication 
 and means of transport, to which a special chapter of 
 this section is devoted. 
 
 Forms of foreign trade. Turning to foreign trade, we 
 must again repeat that to retain it in its hand is at least 
 as important for a country as to arrive at a favourable 
 trade balance, because the overpayments for carriage of 
 goods and to middlemen are enormous. In this respect 
 the position of Russia cannot yet be called favourable. 
 
 With us sea trade predominates over trade by land. 
 2 /3 of the whole import and export business and as much 
 as 3 /4 of the exports fall to the share of the Black and 
 Baltic Seas, in which for exports the principal importance 
 belongs to the former. Under these conditions, the whole 
 question reduces to this, in what ships does the trade 
 take place, Russian or foreign. 
 
 The proportions between the numbers and tonnage 
 for the last six years are as follows: 
 
 Russian flag Foreign flag 
 
 Ships. Tonnage. Ships. Tonnage. 
 
 18901893 12.6 8.6 87.4 91.4 
 
 1894 11.8 6.9 88.4 93.i 
 
 The relation is still more unfavourable, if analyzed 
 according to separate seas. Russian sea trade has some 
 importance, but here only in the number, not the ton- 
 nage, of the vessels, only in the White Sea, to which 
 belongs only i per cent of our foreign trade; on the prin- 
 cipal seas, on the contrary, it is quite insignificant. It 
 is easy to imagine how much Russia pays foreigners for 
 
 58 
 
FORMS OF FOREIGN TRADE. 
 
 freight, when it is considered that her principal exports 
 are grain, distinguished from other goods by its bulkiness 
 and comparatively small value. According to some cal- 
 culations, this overcharge amounts to 70 to 80 mill, 
 roubles a year. 
 
 But besides trade on the high seas there is need of 
 coasting trade. This latter is by Russian law open ex- 
 clusively to Russian subjects, and so here, at any rate, there 
 can be no foreign ships. The extent of this trade exceed 
 even our foreign trade under both Russian and foreign flags. 
 The number of coasting craft calling at and leaving our 
 ports is 2 to 2 l /2 times greater than the number of 
 ships engaged in the foreign trade. Their tonnage at 
 the end of the eighties* was still somewhat less than 
 that of the latter, but it now already considerably ex- 
 ceeds it. Among the coasting vessels about 50 per cent 
 are steamers, their tonnage being more than 75 per cent, 
 a proportion which has lately been continually increasing. 
 The average tonnage of steam coasting vessels has in- 
 creased during the five years 1888 1892 by 28 per 
 cent, and under these conditions it is permissible to hope 
 that in the future the Russian coasting trade and the 
 Volunteer Fleet, of which we spoke in the Chapter on 
 the military and naval forces of the Empire, will give 
 rise to a Russian mercantile marine to foreign ports. 
 The Government measures for the encouragement of mer- 
 chant shipping have consisted hitherto, besides the pro- 
 hibition of the coasting trade to foreigners and the foun- 
 dation of the Volunteer Fleet, in the paying of milage 
 to the Black Sea Steamship and Trading Company and 
 
 5!) 
 
THE REMOVAL OF THE LEGAL OBSTACLES TO TRADE & INDUSTRY. 
 
 to some others, in the foundation of the Imperial Society 
 for the Assistance of Russian Navigation, in the digging 
 of the Petersburg Sea Canal, and mainly in the improve- 
 ment of the commercial ports, especially of the port 
 of Libau, and in taking measures for the safety of 
 shipping, such as the establishment of lighthouses, life 
 boat stations, etc; and finally in the founding of naviga- 
 tion classes. 
 
 Having completed the sketch of the principal forms 
 of home and foreign trade, we must now pass to the 
 question of the organization of the most important ele- 
 ments of production, on a level with the forces of nature, 
 capital, labour, and the propagation of technical and 
 commercial knowledge. 
 
 The removal of the legal obstacles to trade and in- 
 dustry. The fundamental condition for the develop- 
 ment of enterprise in a country is the removal, on the 
 part of the Government, of the obstacles to engaging in 
 industry and trade within limits not injurious to the 
 national welfare and public safety. Without touching the 
 history of this question, we will say that in Russia the 
 right to engage in trade or industry is afforded to per- 
 sons of both sexes, alike Russian subjects and foreigners 
 with the exception of the clergy, church readers, and 
 protestant preachers; further, Jews are subject to certain 
 restrictions without the pale of settlement. Government 
 officials also may with a few exceptions engage in in- 
 dustry and trade; only soldiers on active service may 
 carry on trade operations (except the spirit trade) and 
 manage industrial concerns not otherwise than by agents 
 
 .60 
 
TRADING AND INDUSTRIAL ASSOCIATIONS. 
 
 or managers; they again, as well as civil officials occu- 
 pying the highest posts, are forbidden to be founders of 
 joint-stock companies. Thus, in the sense of the remo- 
 val of legal obstacles to engaging in trade and industry,. 
 Russia has gone further than the Western European 
 States. 
 
 Trading and Industrial Associations. But besides right, 
 there is need of enterprise and capital. In a country 
 comparatively poor in capitalists, a very essential condi- 
 tion for the development of large industry is the com- 
 bination of small contributions for a common undertaking 
 in the form of various kinds of associations and joint 
 stock companies. In Russia, trading associations had an 
 extensive development in the period of the popular 
 councils (vietche), but were not regulated by law: custo- 
 mary law here constituted a complete guarantee. In the 
 Moscow period, when the conditions of trade were in 
 general oppressive, there is hardly any mention of 
 associations. Only Peter I ordered in 1699 Russian 
 merchants to trade in companies, as is done in 
 foreign countries. The Great Reformer indicated at the 
 same time that, if they do not voluntarily establish 
 companies for foreign trade, it is necessary to compel 
 them, and order the Board of Commerce to assume 
 the management of the course of affairs of such com- 
 panies, as a mother of her child in everything, until 
 it comes to perfection)). Solicitous during the course of 
 the whole of the 18 th century for the establishment 
 of companies for foreign trade, the Government did not 
 grudge either subsidies or privileges. A separate charter 
 
 61 
 
TRADING AND INDUSTRIAL ASSOCIATIONS. 
 
 was drawn up for each company, a general enactment 
 only appearing in 1807, and the companies were divided 
 into three classes: full associations, where the associates 
 w T ere bound by complete solidarity and liability in the 
 whole of their property; associations on trust, where to 
 the full associates were added shareholders responsible 
 for the affairs of the undertaking only with their contri- 
 butions; and finally, associations in shares or joint-stock 
 companies, where all the shareholders are responsible 
 only for their deposit. The formation of associations of 
 the two first categories is free from any special autho- 
 rization. The foundation of joint-stock companies requires 
 the confirmation of the statute by the Emperor, after 
 its examination in the Committee of Ministers, or in the 
 Council of State, if special favours or privileges are 
 asked for; the foundation of joint-stock banks is autho- 
 rized by the Minister of Finance. In this respect Russia 
 does not form the sole example: in Austria, Sweden, and 
 Holland a separate authorization is required, as with us, 
 for the formation of each company. 
 
 Until 1854, i- e - untu1 tne ascension of the throne 
 by the Emperor Alexander II, the number of joint-stock 
 companies was very limited. It became considerably in- 
 creased from the end of the fifties when on the lowering 
 of the interest on deposits in the Government credit 
 institutions, the capital circulating in them was compelled 
 to seek a more profitable investment. In the subsequent 
 years, thanks to the general revival in industry evoked 
 by railway construction and the starting of banks, the 
 number of new joint-stock companies gradually increased, 
 
 - 62 
 
COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CREDIT. 
 
 although with certain fluctuations. The last Eastern war, 
 in consequence of a considerable issue of paper money 
 and a not less consumption of every kind of articles of 
 home production, called forth a somewhat marked devel- 
 opment of joint-stock enterprise. After a certain lull in 
 1884 and the following years on account of the reduction 
 in the construction of railways and of the failures in 
 the crops, joint-stock companies have latterly received 
 a new development, and in this case railway construc- 
 tion, in connexion with the flow of capital into the 
 country has had a not unimportant effect; besides this, 
 the formation of joint-stock enterprises was caused also 
 by conversions of Government loans, which compelled 
 private capitalists to seek a more profitable, although 
 less secure, investment of capital in the shares of private 
 industrial ..and trading undertakings. The total number of 
 joint stock concerns in action by January I st , 1893, 
 amounted to 1,035, with a foundation capital of 913 
 mill, roubles: 976 of these were Russian, with a capital 
 of 856 mill, roubles, and 59 - - foreign, with a capital 
 of 57 mill, roubles. 
 
 Commercial and industrial credit. The question of the 
 application of capital to industrial activity is not, however, 
 exhausted by the organization of companies. An equal 
 necessity exists for a proper organization of industrial 
 and commercial credit. This credit was with us, like 
 that on land, originally exclusively a concern of the State. 
 Its origin also belongs to the second half of the i8 th 
 century. In 1754, the foundation of the State Commer- 
 cial Bank was the result of attention to the situation of 
 
 63 
 
COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CREDIT. 
 
 the ((merchants trading in the port of St. Petersburg. 
 Loans were made by this bank exclusively on the 
 security of goods brought to the port of St. Petersburg 
 in the proportion of four-fifths of their value. The 
 establishment of this bank was the foundation of goods 
 credit. After this the Government directed attention to 
 another important banking operation, that of bills of 
 exchange and orders, whose necessity was called forth 
 mainly by the inconveniences of transmitting heavy 
 copper money. For this purpose use was made in 1757 
 of the magistracies of fifty towns. 
 
 The order operations had such success that already 
 in 1758 they were considerably extended* by the foun- 
 dation in Petersburg and Moscow of banking offices for 
 the drawing of bills of exchange (the Copper Bank), 
 These offices not only occupied themselves with orders, 
 but received deposits and gave money in exchange for 
 bills to merchants, landowners, and manufacturers. 
 
 Simultaneously with the measures set forth, directed 
 towards facilitating pecuniary operations, the idea arose 
 of replacing copper money by paper tokens, i. e. of the 
 foundation of issue banks, issuing exchange bank notes. 
 In the reign of Peter III, in 1762, even an ukas was 
 published for the foundation of a State Bank of this kind, 
 but it was not carried into effect. This idea was realized 
 by Catharine II by the foundation for this purpose of 
 the Change and Assignation Banks. But the operation 
 of the issue of assignations, which soon ceased to be 
 changed freely for money and fell in value, i. e. from 
 bank notes became paper money, placed the banks upon 
 
 64 
 
COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CREDIT. 
 
 a financial basis and the commercial side of the matter, - 
 the facilitating of trade and industrial operations, was 
 really forgotten, and in 1782 the Commercial Bank itself 
 was abolished. Only fifteen years afterwards in the 
 reign of the Emperor Paul I was a further step taken; 
 three discounting offices were established : the first dis- 
 counted bills of Russian drawers, the second received 
 in pledge goods of Russian origin, from Russian traders 
 and producers insured in the third, or insurance office. 
 Goods credit was organized better than that on bills, 
 and therefore developed faster, so that in 1806 discount 
 offices were founded in several other towns. Nevertheless 
 -commercial credit in reality developed exceedingly feebly, 
 while land credit grew at the same time comparatively 
 quickly. At last, in 1817, decisive measures were taken 
 to reform our State credit institutions. But here also the 
 principal attention was directed to State and land credit. 
 First of all a council of State credit institutions was 
 founded, with a view to the introduction of publicity 
 and public control in the matter of national economy. 
 The council was constituted of the President of the 
 State Council, the Minister of Finance, the State Comp- 
 troller, six deputies from the nobility and six from the 
 merchants. Upon the council was imposed the annual 
 revision of all the State credit institutions and the pre- 
 vious discussion of amendments in the rules in force with 
 reference to these institutions. For the purposes of 
 commercial credit a new commercial bank was opened 
 with a capital of 30,000,000 roubles, which was destined 
 to receive deposits with and without interest, to make 
 
 65 5 
 
COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CREDIT. 
 
 loans upon Russian goods, and to discount bills. The 
 Government did not venture to authorize the bank to 
 issue its own notes, fearing fluctuations in the exchange 
 of Government assignations, which had already been 
 shaken without this measure. 
 
 The Government did not go further than this in 
 the region of commercial credit. The views of Count 
 Kankrin, who was Minister of Finance from 1822 to 
 1843, had a great influence in this respect. He was of 
 opinion that private banks are on the whole harmful, 
 while State banking operations should serve only existing 
 industry but by no means afford it artificial encourage- 
 ment. In this sense he regarded commercial credit gener- 
 ally with prejudice, and considered only those industrial 
 and commercial undertakings solid and normal, which 
 carry on business with their own capital. Such being 
 the views of the Minister of Finance, there could be no 
 organized private commercial credit at all. As a matter of 
 fact, before Kankrin's time, two private banks were foun- 
 ded; during it, in the course of 20 years, only one; and 
 it was only beginning with the forties that new banks 
 began to spring up, but until the sixties there were 
 only 21 with a capital of 500,000 roubles. 
 
 It must, moreover, be observed that, besides the 
 personal views of Kankrin, more profound causes of an 
 economical character operated: serfdom withheld labour 
 from free application to production, by law only persons 
 of the trading class were allowed to bind themselves by 
 bills, there was no considerable capital and therefore 
 there could be no movement in trade and industry. All 
 
 66 
 
COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CREDIT. 
 
 this appeared also in the activity of the State Commer- 
 cial Bank: deposits grew rapidly, but discount and loan 
 operations were comparatively very little developed, so 
 that there was a mass of free capital which was placed 
 in other banks as loans for long terms or to the 
 Government. 
 
 In order to arrest the flow of deposits into all the 
 credit institutions of the State, the interest paid on them 
 was lowered in 1857 fr m 4 to 3 per cent; but as this 
 measure coincided with the beginning of the joint-stock 
 fever which had taken prossession of our public, the 
 deposits began to diminish so rapidly that the position 
 of the State credit institutions became quite critical. It 
 was then decided to pass to a new system of encou- 
 ragement of private banking enterprise: the former 
 treasury banks were abolished and in 1860 the State 
 Bank was founded in their stead, of which we already 
 had occasion to speak in the section on finance. The 
 State Bank began operations with a capital of 15,000,000 
 roubles, afterwards increased to 25,000,000 roubles. Its 
 function was of a twofold nature. The region of national 
 economy, the liquidation of the debts of former State 
 credit institutions, the realization of operations of 
 redemption, the receipt of sumS due to the treasury, and 
 the effecting of various payments on behalf of the 
 treasury, were imposed upon it. In the region of 
 commercial credit, nearly all banking operations were 
 left open to it, with the exception of the right of 
 issuing its own notes. Thirty years' operations of the 
 State Bank have, however, made it clear that this bank. 
 
COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CREDIT. 
 
 founded for the encouragement of ((industry and trade , 
 rendered actual services only to the latter and but little 
 supported the development of our industry: it facilitated 
 operations with existing valuables but did not set itself 
 the task to facilitate credit for the production of new 
 valuables. These circumstances led in 1894 to the reform 
 of the Bank upon new principles. The operations 
 remained the same in name, but their carrying out 
 was considerably simplified and received a wider develop- 
 ment in the sense of the support of industrial under- 
 takings. 
 
 Seeing that such an enlargement of operations 
 must require greater resources, the foundation capital 
 of the Bank was increased from 25 to ^o mill, roubles, 
 and the reserve capital from 3 to 5 millions. At the 
 same time, however, the State Bank has not yet been 
 authorized to issue its own notes, on account of the 
 population being unaccustomed to bank currency, as with 
 us bank notes would be immediately exchanged for 
 paper money. It was decided from these considerations 
 to keep to the old arrangement, viz.: in case of need 
 for increasing the currency resources of the Bank, to 
 make temporary issues of paper money, covered by gold 
 to the whole of their nominal value. 
 
 The general direction of the State Bank is imposed 
 upon the Council and Manager. In the Council, besides 
 the representatives of the Ministry of Finance, sit one 
 member each from the nobility and merchants, appointed 
 by the Minister. The Bank has 9 offices in the larger 
 trade and industrial centres, 99 permanent and 10 tem- 
 
 - GS - 
 
COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CREDIT. 
 
 porary sections* and besides this agencies. Upon the 
 latter are imposed the carrying out of the simplest ope- 
 rations and in general the collecting of information neces- 
 sary for the Bank. In connexion with the offices and sec- 
 tions are established discount and loan committees, with 
 the participation of persons well known by their expe- 
 rience in trade, industry, and agriculture, for the deter- 
 mination of the extent of credit which may be given to 
 each person or institution. 
 
 The revision of the expenditure, operations, and 
 safes of the State Bank is imposed in regular course 
 upon the organs of the State Comptrol; the accounts of 
 the Bank are brought by the Minister of Finance before 
 the State Council. 
 
 Simultaneously with the State Bank, various kinds 
 of public and private credit institutions began to appear. 
 In 1862 the statute of town public banks was promul- 
 gated, and although such banks existed before, from the 
 very beginning of the present century, yet it was here that 
 they received for the first time a serious importance in the 
 provinces, so that in the latter part of the sixties, and 
 the beginning of the seventies)) the number of established 
 banks reached 293. Almost simultaneously (from 1864), 
 mutual credit companies open their operations. In 1871 
 the general conditions were determined for the foundation 
 of land banks, having a principal importance for farmers. 
 Assistance was rendered to industry and trade also by 
 the town mortgage banks, established in 1861, which 
 made loans on real property in towns, among other 
 
 * Besides this, four more sections are being formed. 
 
COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CREDIT. 
 
 things, on mills and factories. The greatest importance 
 belonged to the private joint-stock banks. Private en- 
 terprise in the foundation of various kinds of credit 
 institutions took, thanks to the general revival of business, 
 extraordinary dimensions and, in the interval 1864 72. 
 were founded 33 joint-stock commercial banks, u land 
 banks, and 52 various credit institutions on a basis 
 of mutuality. Such a multiplication of the number of 
 banks exceeded even the demand, and some of them 
 were carried away by speculative undertakings. The 
 result was a series of bank failures, which disclosed the 
 fact that private and public credit were not established 
 on a sufficiently sure basis. Abuses came to light in 
 the public banks of the towns; it was shown that 
 the enactments of the law as to the responsibility for the 
 integrity of the sums entrusted to them were not suffi- 
 ciently clear. Accordingly in 1883 supplementary rules 
 were published, which placed town banks under the 
 immediate inspection of the municipal institutions and of 
 the Ministry of Finance, and which limited with certain 
 guarantees the operations 6oth of these and of the joint- 
 stock commercial banks. Thanks to the circumstances 
 set forth, a reaction began in the foundation of banks: 
 between 1874 and 1894 on ty 6 new joint-stock banks were 
 opened; since 1883 only 7 town banks have been foun- 
 ded, and not a single new mutual credit society has been 
 formed. All this of course must be ascribed not merely 
 to disenchantment alone at the failures which overtook 
 banking business, but mainly to the insufficient develop- 
 ment of the consciousness of the advantage of selfhelp 
 
 70 
 
COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CREDIT. 
 
 in the organization of credit and to the feeble econo- 
 mical condition of the majority of our small towns. 
 
 At the present time the total number of credit in- 
 stitutions and their operations in millions of roubles ac- 
 cording to the balance sheets on the i January 1895 nav e 
 the following appearance. 
 
 There are 443 institutions for short term credit, 
 -among them the State Bank and two pawnshops, 34 
 joint-stock banks, 98 mutual credit societies, and 238 
 town public banks. 
 
 Their operations are distributed in the following order: 
 
 Discounting bills etc 536,000,000 rbls. 
 
 Discounting solo- bills 47,000,000 
 
 Loans: 
 
 a) in the form of running accounts 282,000,000 
 
 b) on stock 130,000,000 
 
 c) on goods etc 73,000,000 
 
 d) on buildings and land .... 29,000,000 
 
 Total . . . 1,097,000,000 rbls. 
 
 The capital belonging to all these institutions amounts 
 to 280,000,000 rbls., the deposits are 1,097,000,000 rbls., 
 and the loans 64,000,000 rbls. 
 
 The institutions for long term credit are much less 
 numerous, viz. 36, of which two belong to the State 
 the Nobles' and Peasants' Banks, 10 joint-stock land banks, 
 8 mutual and class banks, and 16 town credit societies. 
 Their capital is not great, something over 100,000,000 
 roubles; they receive hardly any deposits, and obtain all 
 their resources from loans. On the I January, 1895, 
 
COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CREDIT. 
 
 these loans amounted to 1,805,000,000 roubles. The 
 active operations of these institutions consist in making 
 loans on mortgage: 
 
 Land 1,206,000,000 rbls. 
 
 Buildings . . . . . 602,000,000 
 
 Total . . 1,808,000,000 rbls. 
 While speaking of capital, we have still to touch 
 upon one question of first class importance the accu- 
 mulation of popular savings. This accumulation is one 
 of the most important symptoms of national prosperity, 
 it is characteristic also of the national foresight by which 
 civilized nations are distinguished from uncivilized. Saving 
 is at the same time one of the most important incentives 
 to productive labour: labour combined with saving not 
 only satisfies .immediate necessities but secures the la- 
 bourer a quiet future; therefore the attention of govern- 
 ments has long been directed to the organization of sa- 
 vings banks, as for as possible accessible to the popu- 
 lation. In Russia the first savings banks were opened 
 in 1842, which were anticipated, however, in 1824 by 
 the Baltic Provinces. But until the sixties the movement 
 was very languid, so that in ten years the total savings 
 did not reach even 2,000,000 roubles. Ten years later, 
 in 1862, there were 12,000,000 roubles. In order to 
 advance matters, it was decided to open saving banks in 
 district treasuries, town halls, town public banks, and in 
 the offices and branches of the State Bank. And not- 
 withstanding this, hardly any success followed, the total 
 deposits even somewhat diminished compared with what 
 was before. From the eighties , on the contrary, a new 
 
 72 
 
COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CREDIT. 
 
 era begins in the development of savings banks in Rus- 
 sia. A series of enactments, which followed on the 
 initiative of the late Minister of Finance Boongue, made 
 the institution of savings banks a living force in Russia, 
 removing all superfluous formalities in the receiving and 
 returning of deposits. Thanks to this, at the end of 
 1888 the total deposits already reached 93,000,000 
 roubles. In the following year it was decided, after the 
 example ot Europe, to open savings banks at post and 
 telegraph offices and at factories and works, and by the 
 law of 1893 at the customs offices. 
 
 By November I st , 1895, there were 3,840 savings 
 banks with their branches, 3,044 among them being at post 
 and telegraph offices. The number of books, i. e. separate 
 depositors, is 1,843,822; the deposits form 371,977,203 
 roubles, the average amount of a deposit being thus 
 202 roubles. In 1880 there were only 75 savings banks, 
 97,000 books, and only 8,000,000 roubles of deposits; 
 thus, since the beginning of the late Emperor's reign, 
 the number of banks has increased 51 times, the num- 
 ber of depositors 19 times, the total deposits 46 times, 
 and the average amount of a deposit almost 2 l /z times. 
 These evident symptoms of an increase in the prospe- 
 rity of the population hardly require explanation. Ne- 
 vertheless Russia is still far from having attained in 
 this respect the success of other European countries. In 
 Great Britain, for example, the total deposits in savings 
 banks amounted in 1893 to 123 mill, pounds sterling, 
 i. e. more than a milliard roubles for a population of 
 only a third that of Russia; in Prussia with a still less nu- 
 
 73 
 
LEGISLATION ON WORKMEN. 
 
 merous population the deposits exceed i ] /2 milliard roubles; 
 in France the total deposits in 1891 were more than 
 3 milliards of francs (more than a milliard roubles); and, 
 finally, in the United States with half the population of 
 Russia, the deposits amounted in 1891 92 to 1,713 
 mill, dollars, or about 3 ! /2 milliards of roubles. 
 
 Legislation on workmen. Such are the institutions 
 contributing to the accumulation of capital and to its 
 application to productive labour. The question of the 
 organization of labour itself has almost a greater im- 
 portance, and after all that has been said up to now, 
 this importance scarcely requires further explanation. 
 We referred above to the numbers of our working po- 
 pulation. The number of koostars can hardly be deter- 
 mined with certainty; workmen employed in manufacto- 
 ries, mills, and works are reckoned at about 1,500,000, 
 which includes about 450,000 men in mines and me- 
 tallurgical works. 
 
 The latter differ considerably from the common 
 type of our factory workmen, especially in the Ural 
 where more than half of them are. We must therefore 
 devote a few words specially to them. 
 
 In founding the mining industry, the Russian sove- 
 reigns must first of all have encountered the question 
 of furnishing the works with the necessary hands. A 
 ready method for the purpose was found in the existence 
 of serfdom. Therefore it was that already in 1637, at 
 the request of the merchants Marselis and Akema, foun- 
 ders of some of the first works in Central Russia, pea- 
 sants were ascribed to them to work out their taxes 
 
 74 
 
LEGISLATION ON WORKMEN. 
 
 there. This method received the most extensive appli- 
 cation in the time of Peter the Great. In 1721, nobles 
 and merchants, who had hitherto not had the right to 
 hold serfs, were authorized to buy villages for their 
 works. Although Peter III abolished this right for mer- 
 chants, yet at the end of the i8 th century it was renew- 
 ed again. In this manner the mining population con- 
 stituted an indivisible accessory of the works. Besides 
 this, all who accidentally happened to get there were 
 attached to the works, even runaway and also so-called 
 crown artisans, i. e. skilled workmen whom the crown 
 placed tt the disposition of the works. All these work- 
 men and other State peasants attached to crown and 
 private works, received the name of ascribed peasants 
 and were distinguished from other State peasants by the 
 fact that they worked there instead of paying taxes. 
 
 The process of separation of the mining population 
 from the general mass of the peasantry continued in the 
 present century also. In 1811 all private mining works 
 were divided into proprietary and possessional. To the 
 first were referred those that received no assistance from 
 the crown, in men, lands, or forests; to the second, all 
 the rest. And the peasants ascribed to the latter also 
 began to be called possessional : they were not serfs but 
 State peasants of a special class. Finally in 1861, on 
 the emancipation of the peasants, the mining population 
 was divided into two classes, artisans and rural labour- 
 ers: to the first were referred those who were employed 
 in technical mining work, to the second the rest. The 
 rural labourers received exactly the same organization, 
 
 75 
 
LEGISLATION ON WORKMEN. 
 
 as the corresponding classes of peasants belonging to 
 landowners and to the State, while those artisans, al- 
 though they were all allotted land with payment of rent, 
 who could not pay, engaged to work off the rent in the 
 works or mine. Seeing that afterwards, in 1881, the 
 compulsory redemption of allotments was not extended 
 to the former artisans of the proprietary works nor to 
 the whole mining population in general of the posses- 
 sional works, their obligatory relations to the owners 
 of works have not yet everywhere ceased. 
 
 All that has been said shows that the miners in the 
 Ural, connected with their work from ancienf times, 
 ascribed from their forefathers to the works, are sharply 
 distinguished from the remaining mass of our factory 
 hands. Foreigners justly call the latter ouvriers tem- 
 poraires, nomades industriels; the majority of them are 
 not employed the whole year with their trade, but leave 
 for the factory when the field labour is over in the 
 village. They have their allotment in the country, the 
 chief source of their subsistence; they regard work at 
 the factory as supplementary earnings. Such a state of 
 things has its good and bad sides; our workmen are, 
 compared with foreign workmen, independent of the 
 manufacturer and of his material position: if the manu- 
 factory becomes bankrupt, they will find a living in the 
 village. They are not tied the whole year to the fac- 
 tory with its stuffy atmosphere, but in the summer labour 
 in the open air at their accustomed peasant's work. But, 
 on the other hand, they do not try to improve them- 
 selves in any special kind of work, easily pass from an 
 
 76 
 
LEGISLATION ON WORKMEN. 
 
 iron works to a glass works, from a chemical works to 
 a weaving or spinning mill; and this cannot but affect 
 the quality of the work, notwithstanding the prevalence 
 of machine production. It would, however, be wrong to 
 think that all our factory workmen without exception 
 are of this kind. An exception must be made for the 
 inhabitants of the towns, who have no allotment and 
 sometimes no dwelling of their own. Further, some- 
 times the peasants send their children to town to learn 
 a trade; the latter become specialists. Finally, there are 
 factories, besides the mining works, where there are 
 workmen who for several generations in succession have 
 been employed at one trade. And yet industries of the 
 former kind prevail, and in connexion with them stands the 
 most ancient phenomenon in Russian economy, the artel. 
 Artels, like the guilds in Western Europe, took their 
 rise in the towns. In the period of the vietches, the 
 handicraftsmen lived in the towns in communities. Thus, 
 for example, in Novgorod they occupied certain streets 
 and even groups of streets, the, so-called, potters', car- 
 penters', etc., ends. But these ends, unlike the guilds, 
 were not close corporations; the skilled craftsmen of 
 course helped the beginners and taught them, but did 
 not on that account place them in the position of de- 
 pendent pupils and apprentices. This was the soil upon 
 which the artel developed, as a moral and economical 
 alliance of craftsmen. With the fall of the vietche towns, 
 the artel passed together with the artisans to the village. 
 Here, more than ever, was an oppressive guild organi- 
 zation impossible, so that, coming to the towns for 
 
 77 
 
LEGISLATION ON WORKMEN. 
 
 work, the artels did not submit to the guild arrange- 
 ments artificially introduced in the beginning of the 
 1 8 th century, and have remained till now a characteristic 
 form of the organization of Russian industrial labour. 
 
 It should be stated that the principle of the artel 
 is applied with us not only to production but to con- 
 sumption, credit, and insurance. Artels concerned with 
 consumption only are very simple; they amount to the 
 uniform participation of all the members in the expen- 
 diture. Credit and insurance artels have passed into 
 various forms of credit associations, institutions of mutual 
 insurance, etc. As, however, concerns industrial artels, 
 they may be divided into four categories: i) Raw ma- 
 terial artels for obtaining the raw material used by their 
 members, 2) Store artels, to erect a ptore at the common 
 expense, 3) Productive assistance artels to obtain pre- 
 mises or instruments of production on the general ac- 
 count, 4) Productive artels in the fullest sense, i. e. em- 
 bracing every side of the industrial functions of their 
 members. 
 
 The artel, as distinguished from the village commune, 
 resembling it in many respects, is a contractual asso- 
 ciation. From each person entering it there is required 
 for the most part a strength equal to the strength of 
 the other members, and further, moral qualities capable 
 of justifying the confidence enjoyed by the artels. Finally, 
 the contribution to the capital of the artel is a necessary 
 condition only in those artels which need capital from 
 their very character and do not receive it from the 
 employer. Moreover, the capital is formed not only for 
 
 78 
 
LEGISLATION ON WORKMEN 
 
 production, but to cover losses caused any-one by the 
 artel. On entering the artel, each member of it assumes 
 a whole series of obligations: he must share with his 
 labour in the common concern, not unfrequently continue 
 periodically contributions to the capital, observe disci- 
 pline, behave conscientiously to third parties, and help 
 his fellows in every misfortune. In return for this he 
 enjoys in the same proportion as all the members of 
 the artel a share of the nett profit, help in sickness, if 
 it resulted from the will of God and was not caused 
 by drunkenness or bad conduct. The division of the 
 income is usually effected so 'that a part of it is distri- 
 buted in proportion to the contribuiions to the artel ca- 
 pital, and another part is divided according to the num- 
 ber of days passed in labour. Finally, each member of 
 the artel may be elected to offices in connexion with 
 the management of the affairs of the artel. This mana- 
 gement properly belongs to the whole body of members; 
 especially in the more ancient artels, founded on the 
 principle of the commune and kindred. In the majority, 
 however, of the rest, there are elective elders, sometimes 
 with assistants. In actual life the arrangement of the 
 artel is very various, but its essence always consists in 
 mutual responsibility to the giver of the order or to the 
 employer for the conscientious execution of the work. 
 Unfortunately here also mutual responsibility has un- 
 favourable results. For the fault of a careless member 
 the whole artel has to work off the loss and in conse- 
 quence of this not unfrequently falls into a condition of 
 servitude. 
 
 79 
 
LEGISLATION OX WORKMEN. 
 
 The principle of the artel has had without doubt 
 the most powerful influence upon the development of 
 our industry. One may be allowed to think that, were 
 there no artels, the position of industries away from the 
 village would be extremely unenviable, but without such 
 industries there would have been no factory workmen. 
 Created originally in the villages out of the inhabitants 
 of one settlement or out of the artisans of one trade, 
 the artel appeared in the town and here took root. The 
 fellow villager now 7 had some one in the town to apply 
 to, and a close connexion became established between 
 the village and the town. Therefore, at the present 
 time the workmen in many manufactories organize them- 
 selves in artels with a common canteen. In proportion 
 to the gradual development of town life and of means 
 of communication, such industries became possible 
 without artels, but artels continue to serve as an impor- 
 tant security for the interests of the working class, 
 long before the interference of the law in this impor- 
 tant question of national welfare. As a matter of fact, 
 the condition of the working population attracted the 
 attention of the Government, without mentioning the 
 measures taken by Catharine II against the arbitrary con- 
 duct of the masters of works, only in the beginning of 
 the present century, and then properly in reference to 
 workmen in metallurgical works. It was then ordered 
 to found a hospital in each large works, to see that the 
 work was free from danger, and to admit no children 
 younger than twelve years of age (in the Altay, fifteen). 
 The legislation did not touch other branches of industry 
 
 - 80 - 
 
LEGISLATION ON WORKMEN. 
 
 until the eighties. It must further be noticed that the 
 needs of our workmen, to all intents villagers, were 
 always very modest; for example, their subsistence even 
 in the Moscow government costs 4*72 to 5 roubles a 
 month, or with particularly high wages 7 to 8 roubles. 
 This provisioning is for the most part managed by an 
 artel for consumption with its own shop which even gives 
 the shareholders a dividend. The administration of the 
 works afford a kitchen, fuel, water, and a dining room. 
 Whatever the shop lacks, the neighbouring peasants 
 bring to the bazaars of the works. The premises for 
 workmen in our manufactories, where such exist, are 
 comparatively satisfactory. They are either large buil- 
 dings of several stories, with well-lit dormitories; or the 
 stories are divided in the middle by corridors, the lodg- 
 ings for the families being placed right and left. The 
 works give wood, and light the kitchen and corridors. 
 The workmen must provide the rest themselves. Our 
 workmen, however, prefer above everything separate cot- 
 tages for 2 4 families, with a yard, garden, and kit- 
 chen garden. Unfortunately, lodgings of this kind are 
 comparatively very rare. Model premises in every respect 
 are those seen by the author at the manufactory of 
 Bros. Maliutin in the village of Ramensk, near Moscow, 
 on the Riazan road. 
 
 The workmen receive all this either free or for a 
 very moderate payment, but, of course, such advantages, 
 where they occur, have an influence on wages. Wages 
 vary to an extraordinary degree with us not only accor- 
 ding to locality and kind of industry but in one and the 
 
 - 81 - 6 
 
LEGISLATION ON WORKMEN 
 
 same industry in different works. They are highest of 
 all in machinery works, lowest in textile manufactories. 
 In any case the remuneration of Russian workmen is 
 far below that of the Western European, but it must be 
 remarked that the productiveness of their work is also 
 less. Piece work prevails over work by the day or 
 month, and of course has a favourable influence upon 
 the results of the work and profits of the manufacturers. 
 On the whole, the mode of settlement with the 
 workmen has been for a long time the weak place in 
 the relations of manufacturers and workmen. Piece work 
 forces men to work day and night, without taking any 
 account of strength, and to send children and women to 
 the factory. The manufacturers, on their part, taking 
 advantage of their position, not unfrequently cheated the 
 workmen, made them take goods instead of money, buy 
 provisions on credit at higher prices in their own shop 
 (the truck system), thus leading the workmen into debts 
 which they could not pay, dismissed them before term, 
 arbitrarily lowered wages, inflicted heavy fines, etc. 
 These abuses attracted the attention of the Government. 
 In 1882, on the initiative of M. Boongue, the Minister of 
 Finance, the first law r was enacted on the labour of in- 
 fants and women, afterwards added to in 1884 and 1890. 
 By these laws, the labour of children under 12 is abso- 
 lutely forbidden. Children from 12 to 15 may work 
 only in the day and not more than 8 hours, with rest 
 after 4 hours' work. Further, in the textile industries 
 specially, night work is prohibited to youths from 1 5 to 
 17 and to women. This is an exceedingly important 
 
 82 
 
LEGISLATION ON WORKMEN. 
 
 measure, because 77 per cent of the workwomen are 
 engaged in the production of textiles. Underground 
 work is absolutely forbidden for children and women. 
 The Petersburg manufacturers even proposed in 1884 to 
 entirely prohibit night work, but met with vehement 
 opposition on the part of the manufacturers of the cen- 
 tral governments. As to the question of the length of 
 the working day for adults, this has so far not been 
 touched by our legislation. On the whole, day work 
 prevails with us; it lasts in the majority of cases, not 
 reckoning meals and rest, 12 hours or less, and only in 
 20 per cent of the works more. 
 
 A second essential question has been the regulation 
 of the conditions of hire, which was resolved in detail 
 by the law of 1886. According to this law, the contract 
 of hire is concluded in writing, and the workman is 
 given a book in which are written the term of hire, the 
 dates for paying wages, and their amount, the rent for 
 lodging, bath, dining room, and tea room, and fines with 
 a statement of the occasions for their infliction, and final- 
 ly, an extract from the enactments of the law and the 
 rules of the works. The estimate for piecework is con- 
 firmed by the factory inspector and is hung up in a 
 prominent place. Until the expir/ of the term of the 
 contract, the master is forbidden to lower the wages or 
 to change the number of working hours, or to dismiss 
 the workman. But if the contract was without term, it 
 may be repudiated only with a notice of two weeks to 
 the other side. Settlement with receipts, coupons, grain, 
 goods, and other articles is forbidden. The master is 
 
 83 fi * 
 
LEGISLATION ON WORKMEN. 
 
 not deprived of the right to dismiss the workman be- 
 fore term for misbehaviour, but if the dismissal was 
 without sufficient cause, the workman is adjudged^ be- 
 sides the wages, special damages. The master may fine 
 the workman for dissolute behaviour, bad work, and 
 breach of order, but not above a definite amount, the 
 fine, moreover, not going to the master but to a special 
 fund destined to satisfy the needs of the workmen. By 
 this means the fines are deprived of their former inte- 
 rested character and, in consequence of this, their amount 
 has considerably diminished. 
 
 A special factory inspection has been established to- 
 watch over the observance of the laws affecting workmen. 
 The localities in which various industries exist are divi- 
 ded into districts, in each of which there is one or se- 
 veral inspectors, at whose head is placed the chief in- 
 spector in the Ministry of Finance. Further, in each 
 government there is a factory board composed of repre- 
 sentatives of the local administration and of the owners 
 of the manufactories under the chairmanship of the go- 
 vernor, which among other things publishes obligatory 
 regulations as to measures for the preservation of the 
 life and health of the workmen during work in the fac- 
 tory or works. A special mining inspection is establish- 
 ed for mining works, consisting of the district engi- 
 neers and metallurgical boards. 
 
 The question as to the provision for workmen in 
 case of incapacity to work and for the family of the 
 workman in case of the death of its supporter has not 
 yet been touched by our legislation in its general form. 
 
 - 84 
 
LEGISLATION ON WORKMEN. 
 
 Nevertheless, already in 1878, the responsibility for acci- 
 dents of the owners of railway and steamer undertakings 
 was defined. Further, in the law on the hiring of agri- 
 cultural labourers it was declared that the hirer by 
 whose fault the labourer received an injury to his health, 
 is obliged to compensate him, and if the labourer from 
 this cause is deprived of his capacity to work, or dies, 
 the hirer is obliged to compensate all those members of 
 the labourer's family whose existence was secured by 
 his wages; the amount of the compensation is determin- 
 ed either by agreement or by the court. The same rules 
 are by analogy applied also in the relations of fac- 
 tory workmen to their masters. But there can be no 
 compensation if the injury to health takes place from 
 the workman's own carelessness or from other acciden- 
 tal causes. Relief funds are established to meet this case 
 in many, mostly metallurgical, works. The initiative 
 in this matter was taken by the Government already in 
 1861, and in 1866 special rules were published for funds 
 in Government works. Their capital is formed of a sum 
 granted by the Government, of regular deductions from 
 the wages of the members amounting to 2 3 per cent, 
 and of annual payments by the works. The funds give 
 constant relief to the members themselves who have 
 become unfit to work, and to the widows and children of 
 workmen. Members who have not earnt pensions are 
 given relief in single sums in case of illness or any 
 misfortune. There are now in all 15 such associations, 
 with 9,173 members and a capital of i r i29,ooo roubles. 
 Workmen are induced to participate in the funds 
 
 - 85 
 
TECHNICAL AND COMMERCIAL EDUCATION. 
 
 by the possibility of profiting by loans, as the majority 
 from the shortness of the terms of service cannot reckon 
 on obtaining pensions. Nevertheless, the number of pen- 
 sioners is constantly growing (from 13 in 1881 to 132^ 
 in 1895); the pensions now amount to 25,500 
 roubles. Besides the 15 associations mentioned, 13 of 
 which are in the Ural, one in the Caucasus and one in 
 the Olonets government, there is also an association in 
 the Government works of the Kingdom of Poland foun- 
 ded in 1817. Finally, after the example of the Govern- 
 ment w r orks, private works are also establishing such 
 funds, loan and savings associations, etc, and their num- 
 ber is constantly increasing. For the Kingdom of Poland 
 normal charters have lately been sanctioned, by which 
 funds may be established in the local private mining 
 works. Besides the mining funds, there have existed 
 since 1862 associations for permanent workmen in the 
 shipbuilding works of the Naval Department; their 
 organization is very similar to those of the mining works. 
 
 Technical and Commercial Education. To finish this 
 chapter, there yet remains one question of prime impor- 
 tance both for capitalists and employers and for work- 
 men, and therefore for the whole of our industry: the 
 question of the spread of technical and commercial 
 knowledge. 
 
 The means for the spread of this knowledge are 
 first of all professional schools. Without doubt, techni- 
 cal knowledge is imparted also in schools of the general 
 type: modern gymnasiums (real schools), district and 
 town schools, and primary schools of various depart- 
 
 86 
 
TECHNICAL AND COiMMERCIAL EDUCATION. 
 
 ments. With this object the teaching of some trade is 
 introduced into the programme, special classes are found- 
 ed, etc. But in the present chapter we shall have mainly 
 to do with special schools, as the question of general 
 education forms the subject of a section by itself. 
 
 Among special industrial schools the first to appear 
 in Russia are the mining schools, owing to the soli- 
 citude of Peter the Great for the development of me- 
 tallurgical industry. In 1721, on Tatishtchefs initiative, 
 two, so-called, arithmetical schools were established in 
 the works near Yekaterinburg for the preparation of 
 young men for the mining service. In 1723 these schools 
 were united and transferred to Yekaterinburg. The Yeka- 
 terinburg schools, subsequently renamed the Ural Mi- 
 ning Schools exist here to the present day, and until 
 the foundation of the Mining Institute in 1773 this was 
 the sole mining school in Russia. It prepares theoreti- 
 cally and practically chemists, assayers, and headminers, 
 has consequently the character of an intermediate school. 
 The new intermediate mining schools began to be open- 
 ed only in the seventies* of the present century. The 
 first was the school for head-miners in Lisichansk, go- 
 vernment of Yekaterinoslaf ; later was opened Poliakoffs 
 Mining School at the Korsunsk mine of the South Rus- 
 sian Coal Industry Company, then a mining school for 
 the preparation of head miners, skilled workmen, and fo- 
 remen in metallurgical works was founded in Dombrovo, 
 the centre of the coal industry of the Kingdom of Po- 
 land; and finally, in 1893 was opened the Irkootsk Mi- 
 ning School. 
 
 87 
 
TECHNICAL AND COMMERCIAL EDUCATION. 
 
 In all the 5 intermediate schools enumerated, on 
 the i January, 1895, there were 319 pupils. There only 
 exists one lower school, near the Toorinsk mines in the 
 government of Perm, with 97 pupils. 
 
 For the preparation of mining engineers, as we have 
 said, the Mining Institute was founded in 1773, and is 
 therefore one of the oldest higher educational institu- 
 tions in Russia. Soon after it was opened, there was 
 added to it a whole intermediate school, preparing pupils 
 to enter the special classes. Afterwards, in the reign of 
 the Emperor Nicholas I, the Institute and all mining 
 engineers were given a military organization. It was 
 only in 1866 that the Institute was again made exclusive- 
 ly a higher institution of a civil character; and in 
 1889 was introduced a new programme of teaching, 
 with the object of giving the education obtained in the 
 Mining Institute a more practical, specially mining di- 
 rection. On the i January, 1895, there were 309 stu- 
 dents in the Institute. In this Institute, besides various 
 cabinets and an artificial mine, there is an extensive 
 museum containing collections of minerals, rocks, fossils, 
 technical appliances, and models. The collections of 
 minerals are very rich and contain some rare specimens. 
 Among the latter may be mentioned very large nuggets 
 of gold and platinum found in the Ural, weighing res- 
 pectively 2 poods 8 Ibs. and io l /-> Ibs.; a magnificent 
 crystal of topaz weighing about 26 Ibs. presented by the 
 Emperor Alexander II, and a large beryl valued at 43,000 
 roubles. There is also a remarkable collection of uncut 
 diamonds. 
 
 88 
 
TECHNICAL AND COMMERCIAL EDUCATION. 
 
 The mining schools thus took their rise from the 
 intermediate school of head-miners at Yekaterinburg. 
 The foundation of the higher institution took place only 
 50 years later. The opening of the other technical 
 schools followed in the opposite order. The first to 
 arise was the higher technical school in 1828, under 
 the name of the Technological Institute. Until the six- 
 ties, it remained the only institution of its kind, nor were 
 there any lower and intermediate technical schools. Ori- 
 ginally, indeed, the Institute prepared merely master 
 workmen for the factories and works, and it was only 
 in 1849 that it began to send forth engineers and tech- 
 nologists. In 1862 was founded the second higher school, 
 the Riga Polytechnic, with, however, a much wider pro- 
 gramme. The Petersburg Technological Institute has 
 only two sections, mechanical and technological; while 
 the Riga Polytechnic has five, agricultural, chemico-tech- 
 nical, engineering, mechanical, architectural, and commer- 
 cial. In 1868 the Imperial Moscow Technical School 
 was opened, and in 1885 the Technological Institute 
 in Kharkoff, organized on the plan of that in Peters- 
 burg. Finally, there is the Polytechnical Institute in 
 Helsingfors. According to the number of students, the 
 Riga Polytechnic stands first with 1,130, then the Pe- 
 tersburg Institute with 786, the Moscow School with 
 656, the Kharkoff Institute with 550 and last the Hel- 
 singfors Polytechnic with 155, forming a total of 3,277 
 students. 
 
 The need for intermediate and lower schools began 
 to make itself particularly strongly felt with the advan- 
 
 80 
 
TECHNICAL AND COMMERCIAL EDUCATION. 
 
 cing development of our industry, i. e. since the sixties*. 
 Not to mention the railway schools, which we shall 
 have occasion to mention in the Chapter on ways of 
 communication, to this period belong the foundation of 
 the Moscow Komisaroff Technical School, the Alexander 
 School in Cherepovets, the transformation of the Lodz Real 
 School (modern gymnasium) into a higher trades school, etc. 
 These efforts on the part of both private persons and of 
 societies to found technical schools called forth in 1869- 
 the enactment of the first general rules for their opening. 
 A further step was taken in 1872, when in real schools 
 (modern gymnasiums) supplementary special classes began to- 
 be organized. These were of a general character, mechanico- 
 technical and chemico-technical. In the same year it was 
 decided to open trades classes in the two class and one 
 class rural , district, and town schools. The latter now exist 
 in connexion with 464 schools, and reckon about 11,000 
 pupils. In this way special technical education was 
 placed in relation with general education. But the special 
 divisions of the real schools did not justify the hopes 
 placed upon them, and the Government resolved to pass 
 over to the independent system of technical schools. Al- 
 ready in 1882, when M. Boongue was Minister of Finance,, 
 an order was issued for schools attached to the Imperial 
 Russian Technical Society, which was authorized to open 
 schools in factories and works, and in places with a 
 working population; while six years later a general 
 normal plan was drawn up for technical schools, whether 
 intermediate, lower, or trades. Besides this schools were 
 proposed for trades apprentices, to prepare boys for 
 
 90 
 
TECHNICAL AND COMMERCIAL EDUCATION. 
 
 employment in private workshops. Industrial schools of 
 all kinds may exist either apart or in connexion with 
 other similar schools of various levels and specialities. 
 They are supported either at the cost of the Govern- 
 ment or at that of zemstvos, societies, classes, towns, 
 or private persons, or on the combined means obtained 
 from all these sources. 
 
 The new rules evoked a considerable movement in 
 the establishment of technical schools. Zemstvos, town 
 societies, various institutions, and persons began to 
 advance funds for schools or to found them at their 
 own cost. 
 
 All the intemediate and lower technical and trade 
 schools in existence may be divided into the following 
 
 groups : 
 
 No of pupils. 
 
 a) 5 schools with the course of the 
 intermediate educational institutions . 1,680 
 
 b) 33 schools with the course of the 
 town, district and two-class rural 
 schools 3,750 
 
 c) 53 schools with the course of the 
 elementary schools 3,000 
 
 d) 35 schools of the Imperial Russian 
 Technical Society: 
 
 1) 4 special 270 
 
 2) 12 evening schools for 
 adult workmen or work- 
 women, about 1,200 
 
 3) 6 schools for children in 
 factories 550 
 
 - 91 
 
TECHNICAL AND COMMERCIAL EDUCATION. 
 
 4) 12 primary schools for 
 workmen's children. . . 1,300 
 
 5) i women's teaching workshop. 
 
 3,320 
 
 e) 13 schools for factory hands and 
 
 their children, about . , 1,450 
 
 f) 41 navigation classes ....... 1,500 
 
 There are in all then 180 schools and .about 15,000 
 
 pupils; to which must be added 50 schools in Finland 
 with 2,000 pupils. 
 
 Besides technical schools we have in many towns 
 classes and schools for technical drawing, among which 
 the best known are the Strogonoff School in Moscow, the 
 Central (Baron Stieglitz') School, and the drawing School 
 of the Society for the Encouragement of Art- in St. 
 Petersburg. The latter pursues mainly artistic objects. 
 
 The present sketch would be incomplete if we did 
 not touch upon women's professional schools. There 
 are professions common to men and women, but there 
 also exists a difference between them, which calls forth 
 the necessity for the existence of perfectly distinct 
 women's professional shools. These schools are with us 
 under the direction of various departments, societies 
 and institutions, as, for example, the Women's Art 
 Industry Society, the Ladies' Artistic Club, the Society 
 for the Propagation of Practical Knowledge among Edu- 
 cated Women, and in part, the Women's Patriotic Society. 
 They teach one trade or several trades at the same 
 time, among which prevail lace-making, spinning, straw- 
 plaiting, knitting, artificial flower making, and also 
 
 92 
 
TECHNICAL AND COMMERCIAL EDUCATION. 
 
 weaving, principally in Finland. But, among all the 
 women's professional schools, the first place belongs to 
 schools of needle work, although this art enters into 
 the programme of all the girls' schools with a general 
 course. The existing professional needlework schools 
 may be brought under the following three groups: schools 
 for adults without general educational courses, schools 
 in the form of special classes attached to ordinary 
 schools, and schools for adults and children with a 
 general course. The number of schools belonging to all 
 three groups reaches 200, with 10,000 pupils. There is 
 unfortunately a lack of trained teachers of needlework, 
 although there are already several schools intended 
 specially for this object. 
 
 In general, our technical education, thanks to the 
 measures being taken by the Ministry of National Edu- 
 cation and the sympathy of the local institutions, is now 
 in a state of uninterrupted development, and an in- 
 creasing number of new schools are springing up every 
 year. Together with this, the Ministry is engaged in 
 the improvement of the plan of teaching in accordance 
 with the demands made by practical life, and has 
 resolved for this purpose to have recourse to the 
 assistance of local specialists, which takes form in the 
 establishment in the schools of special boards of guar- 
 dians, composed of contributors and representatives 
 from the zemstvos, societies and classes, providing the 
 means for the support of the institutions. 
 
 Passing to commercial schools, it should first of all 
 be observed that they arose in Russia earlier than any- 
 
 93 
 
TECHNICAL AND COMMERCIAL EDUCATION 
 
 where else in the world. The first commercial school was 
 opened in Moscow in 1772 at the expense of P. A. De- 
 midoff, a descendant of the wellknown owner of works, 
 whom we have mentioned several times. In 1799 this 
 school was transferred to Petersburg. The object of the 
 school, according to its present statute, is to give the 
 pupils a general education and to prepare them for 
 commerce, and to fill the posts of bookkeepers, control- 
 lers, clerks in offices, manufactories, etc. It is accor- 
 dingly an intermediate school. In 1804, on the initiative 
 of the dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, two such 
 schools were opened in Moscow and Odessa, in the 
 same year a fourth was opened at the expense of the 
 merchants in Moscow under the name of the Practical 
 Academy of Commercial Sciences. The Odessa school 
 was soon transformed into a general school, and sprang 
 up again only in 1849. Somewhat earlier, in 1835, a 
 lower commercial school was founded in Moscow under 
 the name of the Burgesses' School. In the above named 
 schools are taught about 2000 pupils, while the eight 
 commercial institutes and schools in Finland have 420. 
 From then down till 1880, no new commercial schools 
 were opened, but since this year three have been founded: 
 the Peter School in Petersburg, the Alexander School 
 in Moscow, and the Kharkoff School at the expense of 
 the local merchants. Besides this, since 1872, two-year 
 commercial divisions have begun to be opened in the 
 real schools, and their number in 1885 reached 36, 
 since when it has been diminishing and is now not 
 more than 20. There are finally several private courses 
 
 - 94 - 
 
TECHNICAL AND COMMERCIAL EDUCATION. 
 
 of bookkeeping and commerce. It is easy to see from the 
 data quoted that commercial education is far from being 
 organized with us in a manner corresponding to the 
 need for it. 
 
 First of all, not counting the commercial division 
 of the Riga Polytechnic, we have neither higher nor 
 lower commercial schools, but only intermediate. On 
 the other hand, in Germany, for example, there are not 
 less than 200 lower schools and courses with 19,000 
 pupils, while the intermediate schools contain 5,000. In 
 France the number of pupils in the lower commercial 
 classes reaches 9,000, and in Italy 8,500 pupils are taught 
 in commercial divisions of the lower technical schools. 
 The transfer in 1894 f our commercial schools to the 
 control of the Ministry of Finance, marks a new period 
 in their existence. An inspectorship was immediately 
 established over them, and the draft of a complete re- 
 form is now confirmed. It is proposed to give lower 
 commercial education a proper place in the scheme. In 
 these schools the pupils will receive the necessary train- 
 Ing for service in the capacity of clerks and small 
 agents in trading and industrial, banking, and insurance 
 institutions. One-class schools will be appointed for 
 pupils for whom, on account of lack of means, a long 
 school course is unattainable. Three-class schools are 
 calculated for children of more well-to-do people, 
 shopmen, masters of small workshops and trading con- 
 cerns. Finally, for employees, boys and clerks in shops, 
 artelmen, etc., commercial classes will be opened on the 
 model of western countries, in which the lessons will 
 
 95 
 
TECHNICAL AND COMMERCIAL EDUCATION. 
 
 be in the evening as well as in the day, to suit the 
 pupils. Finally, the programme of the intermediate schools 
 and courses will, as far as possible, be adapted to the 
 requirements of local trade. 
 
 The propagation of technical, economical, and com- 
 mercial information receives considerable support from 
 various kinds of societies intended to assist the develop- 
 ment of the country's industry and trade. The oldest 
 of these is the Imperial Free Economical Society, found- 
 ed in 1765; thirty years later, the Livonian Economical 
 Society was opened in Riga. Further, in 1866, the above 
 mentioned Imperial Technical Society was founded, and 
 in 1868, the Society for the Promotion of Russian In- 
 dustry and Trade. The Technical Society consists of 
 several sections according to the specialities of tech- 
 nical science. It has organized its own museum, and 
 since 1868 has taken an active part in the foundation 
 of technical schools, of which, as we have seen, there 
 are now 35. It has founded a journal, opened a photo- 
 graphic exhibition, and in 1889 and 1895 summoned two 
 congresses of specialists on technical and professional 
 education. The Society for the Promotion of Industry 
 and Trade aims at promoting the development of industry 
 by means of the discussion of questions concerning in- 
 dustry and trade, of printing digested materials, and of 
 promoting the foundation of useful undertakings. Both 
 the above mentioned societies have local branches in 
 various towns of Russia. Special societies for the spread 
 of technical and trades knowledge exist in Moscow and 
 in other towns. In the region of mining industry the 
 
 - 96 
 
TECHNICAL AND COMMERCIAL EDUCATIOV 
 
 same importance attaches to the congresses of owners 
 of mines and works periodically assembled in various 
 localities and to the iron masters' Permanent Consultation 
 Office in Petersburg. 
 
 We have already referred above to industrial mu- 
 seums. Besides the Mining Museum, here should be 
 mentioned the Art and Industry Museum and the Poly- 
 technic Museum in Moscow; the Museum of the Impe- 
 rial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, and the 
 Museum of Applied Science opened by the Technical 
 Society in 1871 in Petersburg; the Kharkoff Museum, 
 and a series of museums belonging to various depart- 
 ments. Museums must be distinguished from permanent 
 exhibitions of sample articles of industry. The latter 
 are organized in various centres of export and, embra- 
 cing only home industry, have in view purely commer- 
 cial aims and serve even as intermediaries between pro- 
 ducers and foreign buyers. A Russian exhibition of this 
 kind was founded by the Government in Bukharest, and 
 it is intended that similar exhibitions should in the 
 future include, as in a net, the principal towns of the East. 
 
 As to what, finally, concerns periodical industrial 
 exhibitions, the first exhibition of the kind in Russia 
 was founded in 1829 in Petersburg; since then until 
 1835, exhibitions alternated every two years in Peters- 
 burg and Moscow. Later, in 1848, it was deter- 
 mined to organize Russian exhibitions alternately in 
 Petersburg, Moscow and Warsaw, every four years The 
 Petersburg and Moscow Exhibitions accept only products 
 of the factory and workshop, while those in Warsaw 
 
 97 7 
 
WAYS AND MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. 
 
 add agricultural produce. The awards to exhibitors are 
 adjudged by special commissions of experts. Latterly, 
 local exhibitions have been organized with a view to 
 representing the intellectual and economical condition of 
 a more or less extensive region. Such, for example, 
 were the science and industry exhibitions for Siberia 
 and the Ural in Yekaterinburg (1887), and for the Volga- 
 Kama region and the East of the Empire in Kazan 
 (1890). Governors also are recommended to organize 
 government industrial exhibitions, but the latter usually 
 admit agricultural produce, and vice versa agricultural 
 shows allow manufactured goods to be exhibited. 
 
 Finally, at the 1896 Pan-Russian industrial exhibi- 
 tion in Kijni Novgorod, Russia will place before the 
 eyes of the whole civilized w r orld those important eco- 
 nomical results which have been attained by her, thanks 
 to the wise solicitude of the Tsar Pacificator. 
 
 4- Ways and Means of Communication. 
 
 The good organization of ways of communication 
 is one of the most important conditions for the deve- 
 lopment of a country both morally and materially. 
 Though serving, in many cases, national purposes, ways 
 of communication have besides an extremely great po- 
 litical importance. Therefore the State in Russia, as 
 everywhere else, long since excepted ways of commu- 
 nication from private ownership, and declared their use 
 open to all upon terms of equality. 
 
 a) Water ways. In historical order, first in impor- 
 tance were the water ways: rivers and lakes. Our first 
 
 98 
 
WAYS AND MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. 
 
 towns were built on the rivers serving as the main trade 
 route from the Variags to the Greeks , viz. Kief on 
 the Dnieper, Novgorod on the Volkhof. The centre of 
 political life in Russia was afterwards transferred to 
 Moscow, around which the courses of all the most im- 
 portant rivers of European Russia have their origin. 
 
 We are very rich in water communications. In 
 European Russia alone (without Finland) the total length 
 of rivers, lakes, and canals amounts to 102,689 versts. 
 For Siberia a complete calculation has not been made, 
 but there, as is known, flow vast rivers, rivalling in their 
 dimensions the most considerable rivers of America. 
 Such are the Obi, with a length of 5,300 versts, pos- 
 sessing an extensive basin in which navigation is regularly 
 maintained over a course of 14,542 versts; the Yenisey 
 and Angara, of 4,800 versts; the Lena, of 4,200 versts, 
 forming with its affluents one of the richest water sys- 
 tems of the old world; and, finally, the Amoor and its 
 tributaries, of about 7,000 navigable versts. 
 
 Of course, the number of versts in extent has but 
 little meaning. It is necessary to know the direction of 
 the rivers and the natural properties of their current 
 and bed. In European Russia the rivers are extremely 
 conveniently distributed. They are not crowded together 
 in any one part of the country but, taking their rise on 
 the Valdai-Ural tableland, flow in different directions, 
 so that there is hardly a government not intersected by 
 or adjacent to some river. At the same time, however, 
 our navigable rivers are much less extensive in propor- 
 tion to the area than in other countries. The total 
 
 99 >' 
 
WAYS AND MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. 
 
 extent of the water ways of European Russia (102,689 
 
 versts) contains: 
 
 versts. 
 
 Suitable for floating rafts . . . 23,965 (23%). 
 
 Navigable down stream . . . 11,212 (11%). 
 
 in both directions . 34,619 (37%). 
 
 Total . . 69,796 (78%). 
 Among which, navigable for 
 
 steamers 21,045 (20%). 
 
 Thus, to 100 square miles we have 38 versts of navi- 
 gable ways in both directions, or 3 4 times less than 
 in Great Britain, France, and Germany. The direction 
 itself of the rivers of European Russia is not quite favour- 
 able to our trade interests. More than 40 per cent of the 
 floatable and navigable ways, among them the Volga, 
 belong to the basin of the internal Caspian Sea, 24 per 
 cent belong to the Baltic Sea, of more importance for 
 importation than for exportation, and only 22 per cent to 
 the Black and Azoff Seas. 
 
 A distinctive peculiarity of the Russian rivers 
 is their sources, whence depends the lack of water 
 and the variability of level. In Western Europe the 
 majority of rivers flow from mountains and are fed by 
 the continual melting of the snows; our principal rivers 
 on the contrary flow out of swamps and lakes, and in 
 summer in consequence of the evaporation from the 
 latter become very shallow. They would do so still 
 faster if they had the same fall as the Western Euro- 
 pean rivers. But, not flowing from mountains, they rim 
 much slower, and a sluggish current is very favourable 
 
 100 
 
WAYS AND MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. 
 
 not only for floating rafts but for navigation up stream. 
 On the other hand, the formation of the bed in the 
 majority of our rivers contains many conditions unfa- 
 vourable to navigation. In the most important rivers, 
 the bed, owing to the sandy bottom, changes every 
 year; and the shoals sometimes stretch right across the 
 river. Such shoals are called bars (perekaty), of which 
 there are very many on the Volga, Vistula, Dnieper and 
 Don. The mouths of the majority of Russian rivers are 
 also silted up with sand, thus presenting great obstacles 
 to navigation. Other rivers again abound in rocks and 
 rapids; such are the celebrated cataracts of the Dnieper, 
 extending over 70 versts. 
 
 Finally, the navigation season on the Russian rivers 
 is very short. The most important water route, the 
 Volga, is in consequence of its freezing navigable in the 
 part above Saratof on an average for less than 200 
 days in the year. Even among the southern rivers, the 
 Dnieper remains navigable at Kherson 277 days, at Kief 
 234 days and at Smolensk 214 days. 
 
 These natural inconveniences of our rivers exercise 
 an essential influence upon the dimensions of the car- 
 rying trade. 
 
 Water communications can compete with railways 
 by their comparative cheapness, and therefore, in count- 
 ries where as in Russia the great mass of freights con- 
 sists of cheap raw productions, which can bear distant 
 carriage only in case of its cheapness, the conditions of 
 competition for water ways should be easier. In prac- 
 tice it proves, however, to be the reverse: on the ave- 
 
 101 
 
WAYS AND MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. 
 
 rage for 1888 1893, the railways carried yearly 1,992 
 million poods, while the water ways carried only 1,090 
 million poods, or little over a half. Of the total quan- 
 tity of goods conveyed most of all (62 per cent in 1892 
 and 57 per cent in 1893) falls to wood and timber, 
 floated in and on rafts; this is partly, evidently, due to 
 the fact that rafts float on rivers where there is no 
 navigation. Of grain, conveyed long distances, three- 
 quarters to four-fifths have already passed to the railways. 
 
 Under these circumstances, all possible improve- 
 ments in the conditions of navigation form one of the 
 most important problems of State regulation. Improve- 
 ments in the natural conditions: clearing of the bed, 
 deepening of rivers that have become silted up, removal 
 of cataracts and bars, etc. all these measures are so 
 costly that they cannot be imposed upon the resources 
 of the organs of local selfgovernment, and therefore in 
 Russia almost all these works are executed by the State. 
 Unfortunately very little has yet been done. Even in 
 the case of our most important route, the Volga, the 
 works undertaken have yielded but the most insignificant 
 results. In European Russia, there are only 1,733 versts 
 of canals and canalized rivers, of which 754 versts re- 
 present canals. 
 
 And yet these few artificial water ways, whose 
 opening up was begun as early as the reign of Peter 
 the Great, form several systems uniting with an uninter- 
 rupted chain the basins of different seas and rivers run- 
 ning in opposite directions. The basins of the Baltic 
 and Caspian Seas are united by the so-called Maria System,. 
 
 102 
 
WAYS AND MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. 
 
 including a whole series of canals and rivers, from the 
 confluence of the Sheksna with the Volga to St. Peters- 
 burg on the Neva, in all 1,071 versts. The same ob- 
 ject is served by the Tikhvin System, from the conflu- 
 ence of the Mologa with the Volga to Lake Ladoga, 654 
 versts, and by the Vyshnevolotsk System from Tver 
 to Lake Ladoga, 812 versts. Duke Alexander of Wir- 
 temberg's System, from the Sheksna to the tributaries 
 of the Northern Dvina, 654 versts, unites the basins of 
 the Baltic, White, and Caspian Seas. 
 
 The basins of the Baltic and Black Seas are also 
 united by four systems: the Dnieper-Boog (1,011 v.); the 
 Oginsk, from the river Pina belonging to the Dnieper 
 basin to one of the tributaries of the Nieman (293 v.); 
 the Berezina from the river Berezina to the Western 
 Dvina (515 v.); and the Augustus System between the 
 Nieman and the Vistula (354 v.). Finally, in Siberia, 
 quite recently the Obi-Yenisey System (932 v.) has been 
 constructed, by means of which an immense water route 
 5000 versts long has been opened up, traversing the 
 whole of western Siberia from Tiumen to Irkootsk. 
 
 Besides the improvement of the fairway, it is ne-. 
 cessary to secure safe navigation. With this object na- 
 vigation regulations are published and pilots appointed 
 responsible for damage done to the vessel. In 1877 a 
 special police was organized to supervise the bargees on 
 the Maria System, and in 187480, when Admiral 
 Possiette was Minister of Ways of Communication, a 
 whole series of enactments were promulgated for pro- 
 viding rivers and lakes with danger marks, as to 
 
 103 
 
NATURAL AND MACADAMIZED ROADS. 
 
 the meeting of vessels, etc. The police inspection is 
 entrusted on the inland waters to the river police, in 
 Petersburg, Nijni and Rybinsk. There is a Society for 
 Saving Life from drowning under the patronage of the 
 Empress Maria Feodorovna, which has central and di- 
 strict offices and supports on rivers and seashores; in all 
 more than 150 stations. 
 
 Finally, one of the essential conditions facilitating 
 navigation is the increase and improvement of the 
 river fleet. In European Russia, according to the 
 register of 1890, there were 21,949 river craft, compo- 
 sed of 1,824 steamers with 9.222,000 poods tonnage, 
 and 20,125 other vessels with 401,000,000 poods ton- 
 nage. Formerly, however, the vessels without steam 
 were much more numerous. The construction of steam- 
 ers, on the other hand, is constantly developing. The 
 first steam vessel was built in St. Petersburg in 1813 
 by Baird, who obtained a patent, as a consequence of 
 which there were only 1 5 steamers on our inland waters 
 on the termination of this patent in 1843. But since 
 then the construction of steamers has been continually 
 .progressing, so that at the beginning of the eighties the 
 annual increase was more than one hundred; it has now 
 fallen to 72. Here, evidently, is to be found the reason 
 for the diminished number of other vessels being built: 
 steam-tugs make it possible for the latter to make a 
 greater number of voyages during the navigation season, 
 and therefore to convey a larger amount of freight. 
 
 b) Natural and macadamized roads. The second ca- 
 tegory of ways of communication consists of natural 
 
 104 
 
NATURAL AND MACADAMIZED ROADS. 
 
 roads. In Russia, as in other countries, several classes 
 of roads have long since existed. Post roads were ac- 
 counted to belong to the State; and, even among country 
 roads, some were distinguished as having a more public 
 character than others, and were also preserved by the 
 law. The use of the roads was made dependent on the 
 payment of various dues to the owners and the crow r n, 
 for bridges, ferries, dams, weirs, etc., which were finally 
 abolished only in the reign of Catharine II. This Em- 
 press, like her predecessors Peter the Great and Elizabeth, 
 devoted great attention to the improvement of the roads, 
 for which purpose she divided them into various classes 
 according to their importance, establishing a definite 
 breadth for each, etc. At the present day, our roads 
 are divided into five classes: main routes, high roads, 
 ordinary post roads from government to government, 
 trade and district communications, and rural or field 
 roads and bridle-paths. Following the example of France, 
 the State with us takes upon itself the maintenance only 
 of roads of the first class, while those of the second, third, 
 and fourth are entrusted to the zemstvos who may also 
 assume responsibility for the macadamized roads. Last 
 of all, the maintenance of the rural roads is the duty 
 of the settlements and landowners whose lands they 
 traverse. Real importance attaches only to the last clas- 
 sification, namely that according to administration, into 
 State, zemstvo (government and district) and rural roads. 
 But the roads cared for by the State, i. e. by the 
 Ministry of Ways of Communication, are very few. in 
 all only a little over 14,000 versts; and, seeing that 
 
 105 
 
NATURAL AND MACADAMIZED ROADS. 
 
 the extent of the natural roads of Russia is 150,000 
 200.000 versts, it follows that actually the maintenance 
 of the roads falls mainly on the zemstvos and, where 
 this organ does not exist, on the government commit- 
 tees entrusted with zemsky administration. For this pur- 
 pose, these institutions dispose of rates in money collec- 
 ted from the population and of contributions in kind. 
 The expenditure of money by the zemstvos on road- 
 making is comparatively small: in the thirty- four govern- 
 ments with zemstvos not more than 3 ] /3 mill, roubles, 
 in the fourteen without, and in Siberia less than 600,000 
 roubles. Thus the chief source for the maintenance of 
 the roads is contributions in kind, especially in the 
 governments without zemstvos, while in 238 out of 
 359 districts where the institution exists such contri- 
 butions have been replaced by rates. The system of 
 contributions in kind is applied in the following manner. 
 The peasants are obliged to perform personal service as 
 ordered, while private landowners, the State, and the 
 Department of Appanages furnish the necessary timber 
 in proportion to the estates in their possession, or, where 
 this is impossible, an equivalent in money. The proper 
 assessment of the contribution is very difficult, and hence 
 the zemstvos have been induced to substitute a rate 
 levied uniformly upon all classes. 
 
 But with the present heavy taxation of the land, 
 the pecuniary poverty of the village and its abundance 
 of free time, it is difficult to say which is the lighter 
 burden for the peasantry - - a rate, or personal labour. 
 The latter would probably be easier, if it were established 
 
 106 
 
NATURAL AND MACADAMIZED ROADS. 
 
 on a regular basis, came at a convenient time free from 
 field work, and did not compel the peasants to go 
 long distances to their task. Before the liberation of the 
 serfs, it sometimes happened that thousands of workmen 
 had to go a distance of as much as 70 to 80 versts. 
 The excellent condition of the roads in the Baltic pro- 
 vinces is a proof that properly organized contributions 
 in kind may tend to the improvement of the roads. 
 
 However this may be, very large sums will be 
 required for the improvement of our roads. 
 
 We have so far very few macadamized roads. Their 
 construction was begun in 1817 and there are no\v 
 about 22,000 versts. In twenty-two governments of 
 European Russia and in the Caucasus they do not 
 exist at all, while, where they do, the proportion is only 
 six fathoms per square verst. On the other hand, natural 
 roads in Russia, on account of the nature of the soil, - 
 black earth, clay, and sand - - are kept in order with 
 the greatest difficulty; they become quite impassable 
 in spring and autumn. And yet, on account of the 
 comparative poverty of the railway system, goods are 
 brought to the stations in carts over natural roads from 
 very great distances, delivery from a distance of a score 
 or so, or even a hundred, versts being far from excep- 
 tional, at a rate of one-fifth of a kopek per verst 
 pood. Therefore it is that the macadamizing of natural 
 roads, if only here and there, where they are in worst 
 repair, is absolutely necessary. True, this will require very 
 great expenditure in localities devoid of stone, and it is 
 in just such places that the roads are particularly bad. In 
 
 107 
 
RAILWAYS. 
 
 order to merely double the extent of the existing mettled 
 roads, a sum of about 300,000,000 roubles must be ex- 
 pended, reckoning 15,000 roubles per verst. But the 
 immense saving in the cost of conveyance of goods, in 
 repairs, and other charges would repay this outlay in 
 a few years. 
 
 Fully recognizing the necessity of improving the 
 natural roads, the Government is extending, as far as 
 the means at its command allow, the system of maca- 
 damized roads. In 1892 new regulations were issued as 
 to constructing such communications with the railways 
 in the governments of the South - Western Province. 
 Large sums are devoted to making strategical roads. 
 Finally, last year (1895) the Government, on the pro- 
 posal of the Minister of Finance, came to the aid of 
 the zemstvos, waiving the contributions which it re- 
 ceived from the rural taxation towards the support of 
 the district chiefs (zemsky natchalniks), justices of the 
 peace, etc., and devoting these sums to the formation in 
 each government of a special fund to be laid out in the 
 improvement of existing ways of communication and on 
 the construction and maintenance of mettled and natural 
 roads of importance to local agricultural, industrial, and 
 commercial interests. In this way the rural road budgets 
 have been increased to thrice their former dimensions. 
 
 c) Railways. Railways constitute the third category 
 of ways of communication. They appeared in Russia 
 almost at the same time as in the other countries of 
 Western Europe, such as France and Germany. The 
 first or Tsarskoe Selo line, 25 versts in length, between 
 
 108 
 
RAILWAYS. 
 
 Petersburg and Pavlovsk was built by private enterprise, 
 and was opened in 1838. But the real beginning of 
 our railway construction was, it must be admitted, the 
 building of the Nicholas line, joining Petersburg and 
 Moscow, which was entrusted to a Special Commitee 
 under the presidentship of the Emperor Alexander II, 
 then Heir to the throne. Begun in 1843, the Nicholas 
 line was opened for traffic only in 1851 and cost the 
 treasury 100,000,000 roubles or about 165,000 roubles 
 per verst, more than 200,000 paper roubles at the 
 present exchange. Simultaneously with the Nicholas 
 line, the Government constructed the Warsaw-Vienna 
 line from Warsaw to the frontier, opened in 1848. The 
 great outlay on construction and the insignificant returns 
 gave no encouragement to private enterprise, so that 
 the Government in 1852 was again compelled to under- 
 take the laying of a line from Petersburg to Warsaw. 
 At the same time projects were considered for uniting 
 Moscow with South Russia; but this scheme made such 
 slow progress that the Crimean War found Russia 
 entirely unprepared in respect of the means for mobi- 
 lizing the army and for the conveyance of war ma- 
 terial. Ammunition for the artillery were, as is well 
 known, conveyed from the Lugansk Works in the 
 Yekaterinoslaf government to Sebastopol in three-horse 
 postcarts. 
 
 Therefore, after the signing of the treaty of Paris, 
 was founded in 1857 the Chief Society of Russian Rail- 
 ways, to which was entrusted the completion of the 
 Warsaw line. At the same time, it received a concession 
 
 109 
 
RAILWAYS. 
 
 to build three other lines: from Moscow to Nijni- 
 Novgorod, from Moscow through Kursk to Theodosia 
 and from Kursk or Orel to Libau. But the Society, 
 notwithstanding the Government guarantee, succeeded 
 in collecting less than half of the proposed capital and 
 in constructing only two lines, the Warsaw and Moscow - 
 Nijni-Novgorod. The principal members of the Society 
 were foreign bankers, and the immediate superintendance 
 of the enterprise was confided to French engineers, 
 owing to whose ignorance of the local economical and 
 other conditions the expenditure was enormous. 
 
 After the ill-success of the Chief Society,, it was 
 of course exceedingly difficult to find persons ready to 
 undertake the building of new railways, so that the 
 construction of several of the main lines, as those from 
 Moscow to Kursk and from Odessa to Kief was again 
 assumed by the State. 
 
 At the same time the Government was compelled 
 to grant considerable privileges in order to attract private 
 capital. All the concessions for the years 1860 1868 
 bear this character. A high cost per verst, complete 
 independence of the companies in regard to technical 
 matters, authorization to import duty free everything 
 necessary for the lines, exclusion of all interference on 
 the part of agents of the Government such are the 
 distinguishing features of these concessions. The ad- 
 vantages mentioned were, nevertheless, granted by the 
 Government with the full conciousness of their necessity. 
 The sad experience of the Crimean War proved how 
 dangerous for the very integrity of the State was the 
 
 110 
 
RAILWAYS. 
 
 continued absence of a railway system uniting the out- 
 lying provinces with the centre. The extension of the 
 system made very rapid progress: between 1857 and 
 the autumn of 1868 the Government built 2,133 versts 
 and concessions were made to private companies for 
 9,406 versts. Owing to the advantages given the con- 
 structors, various individuals made considerable fortunes, 
 which in its turn caused a new flow of capital and 
 enterprise. Some railways were even built without 
 Government guarantee. Finally, even the zemstvos began 
 to appear in the capacity of concessionaries, ordinarily 
 afterwards entrusting the work to contractors or assu- 
 ming themselves the guarantee of the dividend on the 
 shares. Some zemstvos, indeed, incurred sensible losses 
 in so doing, but, nevertheless, by their means several 
 considerable lines were built in the central governments. 
 The success thus attending railway construction in- 
 duced the Government in 1868 to alter the mode of 
 making concessions. It was decided to first confirm the 
 conditions of the concession, and then to invite to 
 compete persons already acknowledged to be trustworthy, 
 who were then required to send in their terms in sealed 
 envelopes, to be opened in the Ministry of Finance in 
 the presence of the competitors. All the oilers were 
 then examined in the Committee of {Ministers, who 
 presented them with their opinion to the Emperor. 
 This course of proceedings proposed by Reutern, the 
 Minister of Finance, was followed by a considerable 
 reduction in the cost per verst. It did not, however, 
 remain long in force, and already in 1870 the Minister 
 
 Ill 
 
RAILWAYS. 
 
 of Ways of Communication was instructed, instead of 
 competition, to carry on negotiations with trustworthy 
 constructors and to submit the final draft of the con- 
 cession to the Committee of Ministers. 
 
 The different systems of concessions had one 
 essential defect: the formation of joint-stock companies 
 for the building of railways was in reality fictitious. 
 The founders and directors acted so as to keep nearly 
 all the shares in their own hands and then entrusted 
 the construction to contractors for the whole work, 
 often to the extent of the entire amount of the share 
 and bond capital, so that the Government was at last 
 obliged to give subsidies, the founders mean \vhile en- 
 riching themselves. This was the reason why in 1873 
 the Government proceeded to take upon itself the for- 
 mation of joint-stock companies. And yet it was not 
 found possible to get rid of the large railway contractors. 
 
 The simultaneous formation of different railway com- 
 panies, each of which placed its stock upon the money 
 market, undoubtedly injured the credit of the State, seeing 
 that the majority of these securities were under Govern- 
 ment guarantee. A special railway fund was therefore 
 formed out of the sums realised in 1868 by the sale of 
 the Nicholas railway to the Chief Society to cover the 
 expenses incurred through railway construction. 
 
 From this fund the Government proceeded to gua- 
 rantee the companies which obtained a preeminent im- 
 portance from the end of the sixties , the realization of 
 their bond capital, the sole obligation remaining upon 
 the companies being the placing of their shares. With 
 
 112 
 
RAILWAYS. 
 
 the object of still further developing private enterprise 
 and of replenishing the railway fund, all the State railways 
 were sold to private companies, with the exception of the 
 narrow-gauge Livny line, 57 versts long. In return for 
 the railways sold the State received from the companies 
 their shares and bonds, and it was in order to realize all 
 this capital that it was decided to have recourse to the 
 assistance of foreign markets by means of the issue of 
 consolidated bonds of the Russian railways. There were 
 five such issues during the years 1870 1875 to the 
 amount of 427,000,000 roubles. Such an encourage- 
 ment to private enterprise could not fail to lead to the 
 extension of our railway system. The Government took 
 other measures with the same object: it was resolved 
 to assign bounties on the production at first of iron, 
 and afterwards steel, rails, and locomotives; and a 
 Government order was given for rails, locomotives, and 
 carriages. In this way, works were successively created 
 employing first foreign and then Russian materials. 
 
 The Eastern War put a stop to the further deve- 
 lopment of railway construction. Nevertheless, during 
 the period 1868 81, the State built 1,261 versts of new 
 lines and private companies received concessions for 
 13,514 versts, so that the entire railway system by the 
 end of the reign of the Emperor Alexander II amounted 
 to 21,228 versts. 
 
 On the other hand, from the beginning of the ((se- 
 venties)), a certain change appears in the views of the 
 Government on railways. In time of war and after- 
 wards, serious irregularities had been disclosed on the 
 
 113 8 
 
RAILWAYS. 
 
 railways, and in 1878 a special high commission was 
 established, under the presidentship of Count Baranof, 
 then president of the Department of State Economy of 
 the State Council. It was charged to frame the neces- 
 sary measures to avert delay in the forwarding of freights 
 and irregularities in the traffic and to put the lines into 
 such good order that they might ((fully meet the de- 
 mands of industry and trade. The result of the labours 
 of this commission was a series of measures directed to 
 the extension of State interference with railways. Already 
 in 1880, the construction of lines was renewed at the 
 cost and under the control of the Government. The 
 first was the Yekaterina line built in the South on the 
 occasion of the famine which visited in 1880 our south- 
 ern governments. The inconveniences attached to pri- 
 vate management on lines of first-rate importance after- 
 wards led to the idea of the necessity of the State ap- 
 propriating the chief arteries of railway traffic and of its 
 doing so out of the general resources of the treasury, 
 seeing that the railway fund had been abolished in the 
 beginning of the reign of the Emperor Alexander III. 
 Thus, during this reign, 15,800 versts were taken over, 
 and 10,866 versts of new lines, not reckoning the Si- 
 berian railway, were built, 5,558 by the State and 5,308 
 by private companies. Our Government, accordingly, 
 did not unconditionally follow the course of nationalizing 
 railways, but, where possible, admitted private enterprise. 
 Thus, the consequences of the famine of 1891 led to the 
 idea of coming to the aid of the suffering population by 
 constructing railways in the neighbourhood. The resour- 
 
 114 - 
 
RAILWAYS. 
 
 ces of the treasury and the existing forces of the Mi- 
 nistry of Ways of Communication were occupied with 
 the building of other lines, and it was therefore consi- 
 dered more convenient to take advantage of the offers 
 of several old and trustworthy companies. On the other 
 hand, the construction of the Great Siberian railway de- 
 manded such an expenditure of national resources that 
 the treasury was able to devote but small sums to buil- 
 ding other lines; while the need for the extension of the 
 railway system of European Russia still remained as 
 pressing as before. 
 
 In consequence of this, during the last few years, 
 Together with the acquisition of one set of lines by the 
 State, authorization was given to form several other large 
 railway companies, by means of the fusion of previously 
 existing small lines, but with the obligation to build new 
 lines joining on to those already existing. As a result 
 of this measure we now have, besides the State railways, 
 several large private companies. Accordingly, in Russia 
 as in the West (England and France), a gradual fusion 
 is taking place of the small lines into large undertakings. 
 
 The expenditure on the construction of railways in 
 European Russia (without Finland) and on the increase 
 of their capacity for traffic amounted at the end of 1893 
 to 3,200,000,000 paper roubles or at the rate of 104,000 
 roubles per verst, i. e. a little over 97,000 roubles pet- 
 kilometre. Thus, the cost of construction of our rail- 
 ways has been comparatively small as appears from the 
 average per kilometre abroad, given below. 
 
 Great Britain 270,000 roubles 
 
 - 115 8' 
 
RAILWAYS. 
 
 France 160,000 roubles 
 
 Belgium 115,000 
 
 Germany ........ 116,000 
 
 Austria Hungary 116,000 
 
 United States 75,000 
 
 Denmark (State lines). . . 60,000 
 
 Sweden 35,000 
 
 Out of the total expenditure, 94 per cent were 
 given by the Government in the form of capital upon 
 which the State guaranteed the income, of bonds re- 
 tained by the State, building loans, and unconditional 
 subsidies. 
 
 The nett revenue of the Russian railways amounted, 
 on the average for the ten years 1883 1892, to 4,112 
 roubles per verst, and in 1893 to 4,645 roubles, i. e. 
 4.4 per cent on the building capital. Although, as it 
 thus appears, the returns of our railways are higher than 
 even in England, France and the United States and only 
 less than those of the German lines, yet the obligatory 
 payments on the foundation capital is in its turn still higher 
 on many lines. The additional payments by the State 
 thus necessitated in respect of the guarantee of the ca- 
 pital of railway companies have resulted in the conside- 
 rable indebtedness of these companies to the Government, 
 which on the I January, 1894, reached 1,415,000,000 
 roubles and on the i January, 1895, fell to 954,000,000 
 roubles. 
 
 A comparison of the nett income on private and 
 State lines shows, that, in 1893, it was i l /2 times 
 greater on the former than on the latter (5,444 roubles, 
 
 116 
 
RAILWAYS. 
 
 compared with 3,594 roubles per verst). This was, how- 
 ever, not because the private lines were worked more 
 economically, their expenditure was absolutely higher 
 and almost identical with the State lines in proportion 
 to the gross income per verst but because the gross 
 receipts on the State lines was much less than on the 
 private, as in 1893 the lines worked by the State were 
 still comparatively less profitable. On the contrary in 
 1894, with the transfer to the State of the lines belon- 
 ging to the Chief Society: the Nicholas, Petersburg 
 Warsaw and Nijni-Novgorod railways, the nett income 
 of the State lines increased by almost 1,000 roubles the 
 verst, while that of the private lines fell by almost 500 
 roubles. Finally in 1895, on the taking over of the 
 South -Western lines, the gross receipts of the State sys- 
 tem of railways exceeded those of the private lines. 
 
 On the i January, 1896, there were (besides the 
 Siberian Railway) 36,692 versts of railways open for 
 traffic in the Russian Empire, as follows: 
 
 a) State lines or worked by the State: 
 
 European Russia 20,403 versts 
 
 Transcaspian ....... 1,343 
 
 Finland 2,244 
 
 23,990 versts (65%) 
 
 b) Lines worked by private com- 
 panies in European Russia . 12,702 (35%) 
 
 Total . 36,692 versts 
 Add to this: 
 
 - 117 - 
 
RAILWAYS. 
 
 
 Building. 
 
 Authorized to 
 be built. 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 
 V e r s t s. 
 
 
 By the State , . . 
 
 2,240 
 
 457 
 
 2,697 
 
 By companies . . 
 
 3,310 
 
 474 
 
 3,784 
 
 5,550 931 6,481 
 
 In European Russia, exclusive of the Caucasus and Fin- 
 land, there are o.e kilom. of railway to every 100 square 
 kilometres; the figures for other countries are as follows: 
 
 United States 3.7 kilom. 
 
 Austria Hungary 4.2 
 
 France 7.2 
 
 Germany 8.2 
 
 Great Britain 10.4 
 
 Belgium 18.4 
 
 i. e., from 6 to 30 times more. Such a considerable dif- 
 ference depends, of course, on the immense extent of the 
 Empire: in the absolute length of its railways, European 
 Russia closely approaches the principal Western coun- 
 tries. Further, excepting the northern governments of 
 Archangel, Vologda and Olonets, where there are so far 
 hardly any raihvays 85 versts only in Vologda the 
 relative extent of the lines is increased to 0.9 kilom. per 
 100 square kilometres. 
 
 Our northern districts were then, until quite lately, 
 entirely devoid of railway communications, which, coupled 
 with the early freezing of the rivers, constituted an in- 
 surmountable obstacle to their economical development. 
 This question has attracted during the present reign the 
 most serious attention, and a railway has already been 
 commenced from Perm to Kotlas on the Northern Dvina. 
 
 118 
 
RAILWAYS. 
 
 This line, uniting Archangel with the Siberian Railway 
 and traversing the regions in the North, which abound 
 in mineral wealth and numerous fisheries but are not 
 furnished with the necessary grain supply, is calculated 
 on the one hand to remove the defect referred to, and 
 on the other to provide an outlet for the copious grain 
 stocks of Siberia to the world's market through Archan- 
 gel, and thus make possible the continued development 
 of Siberian agriculture without unfavourably affecting hus- 
 bandry in European Russia. At the same time this line will 
 resuscitate the importance of the port of Archangel and 
 contribute to the development of navigation on the North- 
 ern Dvina and its tributaries, and at the same time promote 
 the economical regeneration of the whole of the North.* 
 It was decided at the same time to proceed to survey 
 the line from Petersburg to Kemi on the White Sea, so 
 that our North will be united also with the Baltic, the 
 most important sea for the importation of foreign goods. 
 On the other hand, all possible measures have been 
 taken to develop the systems of branch communications. 
 The question of making them was raised already at the 
 end of the sixties. But it was only in 1887 that an enact- 
 ment was published upon the subject, applying, moreover, 
 only to railways; they have, however, received very little 
 development. This circumstance attracted the special 
 attention of Mr. Witte, the Minister of Finance. In the un- 
 satisfactory condition of our natural roads, with the high 
 freights for the conveyance of goods by them to the 
 
 * Of no less importance is the line that is being at present 
 constructed from Vologda to Archangel, thus connecting the White 
 Sea with the centre of Russia. 
 
 119 
 
RAILWAYS. 
 
 railways and wharves, reaching on an average l /& kopek 
 per verst and pood, and in some cases exceeding even 
 i kopek, and with the enormous sums required to keep 
 them in order, the construction of branch roads may 
 well reduce the expense of conveyance to such an extent 
 that the saving will more than cover the cost entailed. 
 
 In the States of Western Europe, where the entire 
 system of railways is much more extensive than with 
 us and the natural roads are much better kept, the ex- 
 tent of the railways of a cheap type is constantly on 
 the increase, and amounts, in Belgium to 29 per cent, 
 in Germany to 27 per cent, in Austria-Hungary to 26 
 per cent, and in France to 9 per cent of the entire sy- 
 stem. The development of railway lines of the same 
 character in Russia is evidently one of the most efficient 
 means for alleviating the depression from which agricul- 
 ture is now suffering. 
 
 These considerations led to the decision last year 
 to grant 10,000,000 roubles from the treasury annually 
 for the construction of railways of secondary and local 
 importance, and of branch lines, and, in consequence of 
 this, authorization was given to build 446 versts on ac- 
 count of this credit and orders were further issued to 
 make surveys for 1,000 versts more. 
 
 At the end of 1893, there were on our railways 
 (excepting those of Finland, the Transcaspian, and branch 
 lines) 7,333 locomotives, 8,118 passenger, and 160,000 
 goods carriages. The passenger carriages contained more 
 than 290,000 places, the goods trucks had a capacity of 
 more than 105,000,000 poods. Hence, without mentio- 
 
 120 
 
RAILWAYS. 
 
 ning the American lines, the number of engines and 
 carriages is only one third what it is in England and 
 two-thirds that in France and Germany, the capacity of 
 the goods carriages being less. 
 
 Owing to the comparatively less extension of the 
 railway system, paucity of rolling stock, comparative 
 slowness of the trains (especially the passenger trains), 
 the goods and particularly the passenger traffic on our 
 lines is even now many times less than in Western 
 Europe or in America. It is, however, on the whole, 
 growing; thus, in 1883, 38,000,000 passengers and 
 3,045,000,000 poods of goods were conveyed, while, 
 in 1895, the figures were about 50,000,000 passengers 
 and 4,560,000,000 poods, i. e. in 12 years the passenger 
 traffic increased 32 per cent and the goods traffic 50 
 per cent. 
 
 One of the essential causes of the small passenger 
 and goods traffic on the Russian lines was the disorder 
 in - our railway tariffs. The economical and political 
 significance of railways and their monopolistic character 
 impose upon the Government the direct obligation of 
 regulating the activity of these undertakings in the in- 
 terest of the national \velfare. In this respect, such re- 
 gulation of the tariffs constitutes, perhaps, the most im- 
 portant question. Availing themselves of the monopoly 
 of conveyance, the railways are able by high and dis- 
 proportionate tariffs to retard the production and stop 
 the consumption of a given article. Not the absolute 
 height alone, but even the frequent fluctuation of freights, 
 may assert its share of unfavourable influence upon the 
 
 121 
 
RAILWAYS. 
 
 national economy. This is the reason why tariffs have 
 always arrested the especial attention of the State. 
 
 The tariff question with us arose soon after the ope- 
 ning of railway traffic, and our first tariff system was 
 borrowed from France. Its essential feature consisted in 
 the establishment of maximum normal rates per pood for 
 each class of goods; within the limits of these normal 
 charges, the arrangement of the tariff was left to the 
 discretion of the companies themselves. Owing to this, 
 each line had its own tariff and the confusion of tariffs 
 for the public was extreme. Count Baranof's commission, 
 which we mentioned above, pointed out all these irre- 
 gularities in detail already at the end of the seventies)). 
 The agents of the lines themselves did not know their 
 own tariffs and were unable to understand them. In con- 
 sequence of this, in 1887 ^ was declared that the super- 
 vision of the actions of the railway companies as regards 
 tariffs belongs to the Government, and at the end of 1888 
 special tariff institutions were formed in the Ministry of 
 Finance. 
 
 The task of these institutions consisted, in the first 
 place, in creating such a system of tariffs as should not 
 be burdensome to trade and industry and [should at the 
 same time afford all the industrial regions uniform tariff 
 conditions; and in the second place, in making the ta- 
 riffs accessible to all. 
 
 These objects are to a certain degree attained by 
 the new unified tariff of the Russian lines, founded upon 
 the following bases. First of all, the number of tariff 
 rates is considerably reduced compared with what it was 
 
 122 
 
RAILWAYS. 
 
 before: there remain in all but twelve ranging from 
 YIO to ] /ioo kopek per pood-verst. In the distribution 
 of the goods into classes, the principle has as far as pos- 
 sible been observed that the tariff rates should bear a 
 certain relation to the value of the goods; for the con- 
 veyance of articles of general consumption the rates are 
 considerably lowered, as well as for goods of home pro- 
 duction as compared with foreign. Formerly, on the con- 
 trary, imported goods enjoyed with us a reduced tariff to 
 the detriment of home industry and in direct contradic- 
 tion with the protective customs dues. The tariffs, 
 further, for the conveyance of bulky goods, mainly grain, 
 are not only considerably reduced but are also altered in 
 the sense of equalizing the conditions of competition 
 between the different grain producing regions. Finally, 
 in the new tariff, consistent application was made of the 
 principle of varying the rates in dependence upon the 
 distance traversed by the goods, so important in view 
 of the great distances in our country. The reduction 
 for 200 500 versts is 10 per cent, and reaches, for 
 over 2,000 versts, 30 per cent; this reduction, moreover, 
 is made not in regard to each railway separately but to 
 the total milage over State and private lines. The new 
 tariff is issued in the form of a small book, easily re- 
 ferred to by any one interested in the freight of goods. 
 There, thus, still remained to reform the passenger 
 tariff, which was higher with us than in almost all the 
 other countries of Europe. This reform indeed ensued 
 on the i December, 1894, and was further of so tho- 
 rough a nature that it at once made our tariff almost 
 
 123 
 
RAILWAYS. 
 
 the cheapest in Europe. The system adopted is the 
 combination of the zone tariff with the principle of gra- 
 duation, in which the verstage is reduced in proportion 
 to the increase of the journey. Thus, for distances up 
 to 300 versts a verstage is levied, higher for i 160 
 versts than for 161 300. After this, the charge is cal- 
 culated by zones uniformly for each zone, but the 
 length of the zones is gradually increased from 25, for 
 distances from 301 to 500 versts, to 50 versts for dis- 
 tances above 1,510 versts. 
 
 So far we have touched upon railway construction 
 in European Russia. The reign of the late Emperor Ale- 
 xander III was signalized by the extension of the railway 
 system to our Asiatic territories. In 1880, when we as 
 yet had not a single verst there, England already pos- 
 sessed in India more than 14,000 versts of railway (now 
 over 28,000 versts). It was in this year, when the 
 Akhal-Tekke Expedition was being equipped, that the 
 question was raised of building a small branch of 26 
 versts from the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea for 
 military purposes only. In 10 days it was ready. A year 
 afterwards the line was continued another 191 versts, 
 and subsequently, notwithstanding all the difficulty con- 
 nected with laying the rails over the sands and water- 
 less expanses of Central Asia, carried on in 1888 to 
 Bukhara and Samarkand. 
 
 Begun with a strategical object, the Transcaspian 
 Railway having traversed the Khanate of Bukhara and 
 reached Toorkistan, at once obtained an extremely great 
 importance for the whole of Central Asia, by facilitating 
 
 124 
 
THE GREAT SIBERIAN RAILWAY. 
 
 the exploitation of its natural resources and completely 
 changing the direction of the trade routes, uniting the 
 Central Asian States with European Russia. Further, the 
 direction taken by goods from European Russia also 
 changed, and Samarkand became the chief trade centre 
 of the country. Finally, among all the branches of na- 
 tional economy in Central Asia, after the construction of 
 the Transcaspian Railway, the greatest advantage accrued 
 to cotton growing, so important for our cotton mills. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to dwell upon the political 
 significance of the Transcaspian line. 
 
 d) The Great Siberian Railway. Another great achie- 
 vement in the extension and establishment of Russian 
 civilization in the East is beyond doubt the construction 
 of the Great Siberian Railway. The idea of the neces- 
 sity for the construction of a line in Siberia arose as 
 early as the fifties, after the annexation of the region 
 of the A moor and Ussuri. The first projects, so grand 
 in their conception, which were proposed in the sixties, 
 among which was that of Colonel (now Privy Coun- 
 cillor) Bogdanovitch, were replaced by plans of a more 
 limited character, having for their object, under the 
 name of the Siberian line, the construction of lines in 
 European Russia to the frontier of Siberia. It was only 
 in the beginning of the eighties, when the general sys- 
 tem of railways had already reached Orenburg, the Ural 
 line had been opened, the bridge of Alexander II had 
 been built across the Volga, and an Imperial order had 
 been issued to construct the section of the line between 
 Yekaterinburg and Tinmen, that the question began to 
 
 125 
 
THE GREAT SIBERIAN RAILWAY. 
 
 be discussed about the direction to be taken by the Si- 
 berian main line. On the completion of the Yekaterin- 
 burg -Tinmen line uniting the basins of the Volga and 
 Obi and on the eve of the completion of the Obi-Yeni- 
 sey canal, the question even arose, whether there was 
 any necessity, in the presence of an excellent water route, 
 of immediately constructing an uninterrupted railway 
 communication right through Siberia, and whether it 
 would not be better to limit the undertaking at first to the 
 construction of separate sections having the greatest im- 
 portance. There were very many such schemes, and 
 besides this the Governors General of Siberia urgently peti- 
 tioned for the building of separate sections. 
 
 Under these circumstances, the opposite decision 
 taken by the Emperor Alexanner III is the more remark- 
 able. It is hardly possible now to doubt that the con- 
 struction of separate lines and sections without the ge- 
 neral system, w T hile demanding no small expenditure of 
 money, would have long delayed the realization of the 
 great work. 
 
 At last in 1890, the question of the Siberian Rail- 
 way was submitted for final consideration. 
 
 The enlightened view which our Government took 
 of this matter deserves special attention. It regarded 
 the object of the construction of the Siberian Railway 
 as being, not so much in the opening of new markets 
 in Siberia for the sale of the productions of European 
 Russia, as in enabling Siberia itself to enter upon the 
 path of normal economical development by placing it 
 as far as possible in equal conditions with European 
 
 126 
 
THE GREAT SIBERIAN RAILWAY. 
 
 Russia. It was resolved to begin the construction simul- 
 taneously from the two opposite ends East and West. 
 In the East the point of departure was only one, the 
 town of Vladivostock, while in the West the railway 
 system projected into Siberia at three points: Tinmen, 
 Mias and Orenburg. Wherever, however, the Siberian 
 Railway should be begun, all three variants were to join 
 about Nijneudinsk. The direction from Mias was 
 chosen, as the shortest and at the same time embracing 
 the most densely populated and fertile localities in pas- 
 sing through Cheliabinsk, Koorgan, Kainsk, Kolyvan, 
 Achinsk, Krasnoyarsk and Nijneudinsk. Finally, on the 
 17 March, 1891, an Imperial rescript was addressed to 
 the Heir to the Throne, now the Emperor Nicholas II, 
 on the construction of the Great Siberian Railway*. 
 This rescript was made known by the Heir to the Throne 
 in Vladivostock, and he, with his own hand, overturned 
 the first barrow of earth for the railway embankment. 
 
 At the head of the whole enterprise, as is known 
 from the preceding account, was placed the Special Si- 
 berian Railway Committee under the personal president- 
 ship of the Heir to the Throne, and on ascending the 
 throne, His MAJESTY the Emperor Nicholas II deigned 
 to keep this office for himself. 
 
 The undertaking was divided into three shifts. To 
 the first was assigned the Western Siberian section from 
 Cheliabinsk to the Obi, the Central Siberian section from 
 the Obi to Irkootsk, the completion of the line previously 
 begun from Vladivostock to Grafskaya and the construction 
 of a connecting line between the Ural Mining and the 
 
 127 
 
THE GREAT SIBERIAN RAILWAY. 
 
 Siberian Railways. The works of this part were to be 
 finished not later than the year 1900. 
 
 To the second shift were reckoned the sections on 
 the East from- Grafskaya to Khabarovsk, and on the West 
 from Lake Baikal to Sretensk on the Amoor; and finally 
 to the third shift the line from Sretensk to Khabarovsk 
 and the building of the Circumbaikal line. 
 
 In the autumn of 1893, the possibility was disco- 
 vered of carrying an uninterrupted line to Irkootsk already 
 in 1898, i. e. two years earlier than the term originally 
 fixed. With this object, the conveyance of railway ma- 
 terial was organized not only along the line as it was 
 built but also along the rivers to various points of the 
 line by the river Chulym to Achinsk and by the river 
 Angara to Irkootsk, while the necessary works were un- 
 dertaken for the improvement of the navigation of these 
 two rivers. At the same time, it was resolved to carry 
 on at an accelerated rate the construction of the Ussuri 
 line, in order that it might reach the Amoor in 1896, 
 and make it possible to bring freights on the Trans - 
 baikal and Amoor sections, not only from the West by 
 the Angara to Irkootsk and further by Baikal, but also 
 from the East. Under these conditions, it was found 
 possible to accelerate the construction of the two last 
 sections as well, and it was determined to carry on the 
 works, so that traffic might be opened on the Trans- 
 baikal line in 1898, simultaneously with the completion 
 of the Central Siberian line to Irkootsk and Baikal, and 
 that the Amoor Railway might be finished not later than 
 1902. Thus, by the beginning of the 2o th century Rus- 
 
 128 
 
THE GREAT SIBERIAN RAILWAY. 
 
 sia will possess convenient steam communication right 
 across the Asiatic continent, and the continuity will be 
 broken only by Lake Baikal over which the trains are 
 proposed te be conveyed upon a special steamferry, 
 built on the type of the vessels used, for a like purpose, 
 between the Danish islands and the continent in Europe, 
 and across the strait between Lakes Huron and Erie near 
 Detroit in America. 
 
 Besides the main line, in autumn of last year, the 
 laying of the rails was completed on the Yekaterinburg 
 Cheliabinsk branch, owing to which the Ural Mining 
 line is now connected with the general railway system 
 of the Empire, while a continuation of this junction-line 
 is to be the above mentioned Perm Kotlas line. Fur- 
 ther, on the initiative of the Most August President 
 of the Siberian Committee, this year a branch of 90 
 versts will be built to Tomsk, the chief centre of the 
 intellectual life of Siberia, and finally a branch from 
 Irkootsk to Listvenitchnaya on Baikal, which, moreover, till 
 the construction of the Circumbaikal line will be a con- 
 stituent part of the main line, as all the trains will take 
 the route across Baikal. 
 
 The state of the works on the Siberian line at the 
 beginning of 1896 appears from the following data. 
 
 5S. Su ^ed. Coveted. J" 
 I. Main line, 
 i. Western Siberian 
 line from Chelia- 
 binsk to the river 
 
 Obi (term 1896) 1,322 1,322 1,321 1,321 
 100/o 100% 100%) 100% 
 
 129 
 
THE GREAT SIBERIAN RAILWAY 
 
 2. Central Siberian 
 line from the ri- 
 ver Obi tolrkootsk 
 
 (term 1898). . 1,732 1,732 719 118 
 
 100% 100% 41.5% 6.8% 
 
 3. Irkootsk - Listvi- 
 nitchnaya branch 
 
 (term 1898). . 66 66 
 
 100% 100% 
 
 4. Transbaikal line 
 from Baikal to 
 Sretensk (term 
 
 1898) . . . 1,057 1,057 
 100% 100% 
 
 5. Amoor line from 
 Sretensk to Kha- 
 barovsk (term 
 
 1901) .... 1,950 1,250 
 100% 64.1% 
 
 6. Ussuri line from 
 Khabarovsk to 
 Vladivostock (term. 
 
 1896) .... 717 717 447 388 
 
 100% 100% 62.4% 54.1% 
 
 6,844 6,144 2,487 1,827 
 
 100% 89.8% 36.3% 26.7% 
 II. Circumbaikal line 294 131 
 
 100% 44.6% 
 III. Branches : 
 
 a) ToYekaterinburg 
 
 (term 1896). . 226 226 226 226 
 
 100% 100% 100% 100% 
 
 130 
 
THE GREAT SIBERIAN RAILWAY. 
 
 b) To Tomsk (term 
 
 1898) .... 90 90 
 
 100% 100% 
 IV. Perm -Kotlas 
 
 Railway .... 935 935 
 
 100% 100% 
 
 8,389 7,526 2,713 2,053 
 100% 89,7% 32,3% 24,5/ 
 
 It thus appears that rails are now laid down on the 
 main line over more than Vs of the road, and tempo- 
 rary traffic opened over more than V* of its extent. 
 With the completion of the line to Krasnoyarsk, Russia 
 possesses, since the end of 1895, continuous railway 
 communication between St. Petersburg and the banks of 
 the Yenisey for a distance of 4,610 versts. 
 
 The cost of the construction of the Siberian Rail- 
 way in separate lots has till now fluctuated between 
 35,500 and 64,500 roubles per verst. Such cheapness 
 is explained in the first place, by there being but a 
 single line, and by the stations and other buildings being 
 of a cheap type, and in the second place, by the circum- 
 stance that the outlay on expropriation of land is insi- 
 gnificant, as the line passes mainly over crown lands. 
 
 The construction of the Siberian Railway, as we 
 said above, aims at affording Siberia the possibility of 
 entering upon the course of regular economical develop- 
 ment. Therefore the enterprise is placed in immediate 
 connexion with the realization of a whole series of 
 auxiliary undertakings, having for their object, not only 
 the facilitating and cheapening of the construction of the 
 
 131 9' 
 
THE POST. 
 
 line itself, but also the enhancement of its economical 
 and civilizing influence upon the welfare of Siberia. 
 Fourteen million roubles have been specially assigned 
 for this object. In their general character these auxili- 
 ary undertakings have in view the settlement of the 
 localities adjacent to the Siberian line, the stimulation 
 and extension in Siberia of various industries, in parti- 
 cular, coal-mining, the production of iron, steel, and ce- 
 ment, and the equipment, with this object, of expeditions 
 for geological surveys ; further, j the developmentj of 
 steam navigation on the river systems intersected by the 
 line or in connexion with it. All these questions con- 
 cern other sections of this book and have been partly 
 already touched upon in it, and therefore we shall here 
 dwell no longer upon them. 
 
 There still remains to say a few words on the 
 means of communication, i. e. posts, telegraphs, and 
 telephones. 
 
 e) The Post. The post appears in Russia so early 
 as the Tatar yoke; then post stations, called 3 7 ims, 
 were arranged for the Khan's messengers, and the con- 
 veyance of travellers was a service imposed upon the 
 inhabitants dwelling in the neighbourhood of the yams, 
 who thence received the name of yamshchiks. This ex- 
 tremely unequal carrier's service was replaced in the 
 1 6 th century by a money tax, and the carriers who un- 
 dertook the conveyance of the post were erected into a 
 separate class, freed from all other services. 
 
 The letter post did not then really exist. It was 
 only in the 17 th century that some foreigners took 
 
 132 
 
THE POST. 
 
 upon themselves its organization over several of the main 
 roads, principally for the convenience of foreign mer- 
 chants, and partly for that of the higher dignitaries of 
 State. The rest of the public lived at that time such a 
 retired life that they had no need for the services of 
 the post. 
 
 In the reign of Peter I a number of new post roads 
 were opened up. By the ukases of 1718 and 1720, the 
 so-called ((ordinary posts to all considerable towns 
 were established for the necessities of the Boards, and 
 the Government post service was fused with the foreign 
 letter post under the general superintendance of a Go- 
 vernment director of posts. From that time till Catha- 
 rine II, there were no essential changes in our postal 
 service. In the reign of this Empress, however, the 
 class of yamshchiks or common carriers was abolibhed, 
 and the stage houses on the post roods began to be 
 farmed to the highest bidder. Verstage was levied on 
 travellers, according to a common tariff, for the use of 
 post horses, while letters were charged by weight and 
 distance. Since then, it was only in the thirties of the 
 present century that a new epoch began in the develop- 
 ment of the Russian postal service, and a whole series 
 of enactments manifest a persistent desire to regulate 
 postal communications as quickly as possible, and to 
 place them upon the same level as they had attained in 
 Western Europe. 
 
 The postal service, as is known, consists in the 
 conveyance of passengers, the transmission of valuable 
 parcels and money and the sending of newspapers and 
 
 133 
 
THE POST. 
 
 letters. In Russia, on account of the comparatively feeble 
 development of the artifical ways of communication, the 
 importance of the conveyance by horses of mails and 
 passengers is till now very great. Posthouses are built 
 along the post roads and are either let to individuals,, 
 associations, artels, etc, or handed over to the manage- 
 ment of the local zemstvos. 
 
 The transmission of valuable parcels and money by 
 the post is now more and more losing importance, as 
 special carriers' offices and railways undertake the con- 
 veyance of parcels, and banking houses the transmission 
 of money. Our post, moreover, till now only practises 
 the transmission of money parcels, while the bringing 
 of money and parcels to the addressee's house (so long 
 in vogue abroad) was only lately introduced in the two 
 capitals and in Warsaw for value not exceeding 100 roubles, 
 as was also the sending of parcels to be paid on delivery. 
 
 The conveyance of letters, newspapers, and printed 
 matter in wrappers is better organized. Already in the 
 thirties and forties , the first town posts were instituted, 
 followed by the establishment of a uniform tariff per lot 
 for the whole of Russia, instead of extremely numerous 
 charges for the conveyance of letters, by the introduc- 
 tion of stamped envelopes and letter boxes. Stamps were 
 adopted at the end of the fifties)), but the despatch of 
 unpaid postcards was allowed only in 1894. Yet, on 
 the whole, the organization of the Russian post leaves 
 much to be desired. Before all, transmission by post is 
 very dear compared with what is the case in Western 
 Europe, 7 kopeks being charged for i lot ( ! /32 of a pound) 
 
 134 
 
THE POST. 
 
 inland correspondence. The chief difficulty, however, 
 hitherto has consisted in the circumstances, that the deli- 
 very of letters, where there are no railways, has been 
 attended with great delay and that the use of the postal 
 service has been extremely hampered by the fewness of 
 the offices. Thus, in 1893 there were 6,910 post and 
 telegraph offices in Russia (besides 576, in Finland), 
 while her neighbour Germany had 28,000 and the United 
 Kingdom had about 22,000, not to mention the United 
 States where there are about 70,000. 
 
 This 'lack of post offices, of course, has an influence 
 on the number of letters despatched. Truly, between the 
 years 1865 and 1892, our correspondence increased eleven 
 times, but yet there are only about 4 communications 
 by post per inhabitant in Russia, while the figures for 
 the rest of Europe are as follows: 
 
 England 77 
 
 Switzerland 70 
 
 Germany 59 
 
 France 52 
 
 Austria 30 
 
 i. e. from 7 to 20 times more than with us. 
 
 Nevertheless, the chief cause of the difference lies 
 undoubtedly in the comparatively feeble diffusion of 
 elementary education. 
 
 In order as far as possible to stimulate the develop- 
 ment of postal communications, in 1870, the zemsky au- 
 thorities were instructed to open their own zemsky postal 
 service, for the conveyance from the postal station of 
 ordinary and registered correspondence, for the transmis- 
 
 135 
 
THE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 sion of all kinds of correspondence from distant locali- 
 ties of the district to the nearest post offices, and for 
 the transmission of all kinds of correspondence between 
 localities deprived of postal communication. The zemsky 
 posts are allowed to use those roads which are not tra- 
 versed by the Government service, and to have their 
 own stamps. According to the information existing for 
 1892, the zemsky post existed in 150 out of the 359 
 districts where local government has been introduced, 
 and was, as experience showed, very well organized, 
 opening every year 100 new offices. In 1889, 6,706,900 
 communications were despatched by the zemsky post; 
 three years later, 7,285,400. 
 
 In 1894 further extension was given to the rural 
 post by the authorization of the sale of stamps and of 
 the receiving and delivery of private correspondence in 
 the volost offices with the consent of the volost meetings. 
 A special need for the development of the post was felt 
 in Siberia, where the great difficulty of communication 
 proceeding from the remoteness of the post offices, some- 
 times compelled emigrants to return to European Russia 
 to the detriment of their material welfare. Therefore, in 
 1895, the Siberian Railway Committee elaborated general 
 bases for the receiving, transmission, and delivery of all 
 kinds of correspondence both at the stations of the Siberian 
 Railway and at the volost offices within its region. 
 
 f) The Telegraph. The telegraph in Russia, as in 
 other European countries, belongs to the State. Its mana- 
 gement is fused with that of the post, with the excep- 
 tion of the telegraphs on the private lines which are 
 
 136 
 
THE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 only under Government inspection, while for the con- 
 venience of the public they are allowed the right of 
 receiving private telegrams. 
 
 In the thirties, we still had an optical telegraph 
 between Petersburg and Warsaw, although at that time 
 the electric telegraph was already invented by the Rus- 
 sians, Baron Schilling and Jakobi, simultaneously with 
 Gauss and Weber in Gottingen. The first experiment in 
 the application of the electric telegraph in Russia was 
 made by Baron Schilling in 1832. Afterwards Jakobi 
 united by an electric telegraph the Imperial Winter 
 Palace in Petersburg with the General Staff, and Peters- 
 burg with Tsarskoe Selo and Peterhof. But the telegraph 
 wires lay on the ground instead of on posts, were very 
 thick and expensive, and the telegraphic machine showed 
 the letters on a dial. It was only sometime after, in 
 1850, that the Government proceeded to construct an 
 electromagnetic telegraphic system on posts, with writing 
 appliances, at first along the Nicholas Railway, while 
 the first town office was opened in 1863. Since then 
 our telegraphic system has rapidly developed, so that at 
 the beginning of 1893 ^ was tne ^ rst m Europe both 
 in the length of the lines (121,000 versts) and in the 
 length of the wires (293,000 versts). But we have only 
 12 telegrams per 100 inhabitants, while in England 
 there are 13 times as many, in France 10, in Germany 
 5, in Austria-Hungary 4 l /2 and- in Italy 27-2. 
 
 Our telegraphic tariff is drawn up on the same 
 system as in other countries a fixed charge of 15 
 kopeks is made for each telegram, to which is added 
 
 137 
 
THE TELEPHONE. 
 
 5 kopeks per word within the limits of European or Asiatic 
 Russia, 10 kopeks when the telegram is sent from Euro- 
 pean to Asiatic Russia or vice versa, and one kopek in the 
 case of town telegrams. A special rate per word exists for 
 international correspondence, varying for each country. 
 
 We do not touch upon the participation of Russia 
 in the international postal and telegraphic leagues, a 
 subject which was discussed above in the section on the 
 international relations of the Empire. 
 
 g) The Telephone. Finally, the telephone like the 
 telegraph has been reckoned since 1881 a State mono- 
 poly. At the beginning of 1896, Government telephones 
 had been constructed in 43 of the principal provincial 
 towns and between towns (for example, Nicholaief and 
 Odessa) but at the same time private telephones were 
 authorized belonging to the American Blake-Bell Com- 
 pany, viz. in the very largest cities - Petersburg, 
 Moscow, Odessa, Warsaw, Riga and Lodz, and to 
 other companies in five more towns. 
 
 Owing to the monopoly, the subscriptions to our 
 private telephones are very high, exceeding 100 200 
 roubles, while in Sweden they are 3045 roubles. This 
 difference in the charges is reflected in the number of 
 subscribers, who with us are fewer than elsewhere both 
 absolutely and relatively to the population. 
 
 h) Educational Institutions. It remains, in order to 
 finish this chapter, to say a few words about those 
 educational institutions which prepare engineers and 
 mechanics for the construction, improvement and working 
 of various kinds of ways and means of communication. 
 
 138 
 
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 In 1810, simultaneously with the organization of a 
 special department of ways of communication, there 
 was founded the Institute of Ways of Communication 
 for the preparation of officers of the corps of civil 
 engineers. Until the sixties, this was an institution of a 
 military type, as the civil engineers formed a military 
 corporation. Now the Institute has received a civil or- 
 ganization, and in 1877 was named after its founder 
 the Emperor Alexander I Institute of Civil Engineers. 
 There are five courses, in which, in 1894, 490 students 
 received instruction. A special boardinghouse, bearing the 
 name of the present Emperor is attached to the Institute. 
 
 Those who complete the course obtain the diploma 
 of civil engineer, which is further granted to all persons 
 who have received higher technical instruction and are 
 engaged in the service of the ministry upon works of 
 construction. The institute possesses, besides a rich 
 select library, an extensive collection of models of 
 machinery, rolling stock, vessels, etc. 
 
 With the development of our railway system, already 
 at the end of the sixties)), lower railway schools began 
 to be founded, and almost all our lines proceeded to set 
 apart for their maintenance 15 roubles per verst; and 
 in 1876 a regulation was issued for technical railway 
 schools for the preparation of second class mechanics, 
 machinists, etc. 
 
 In all there are 33 such schools. Besides this, in 
 1874 was founded the St. Petersburg school of foremen 
 for railway works, in 1883 the railway guards' school 
 in Vyshni-Volotchock, while in Nijni-Novgorod there 
 
 139 
 
THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE. 
 
 is a special school for the preparation of river pilots 
 and bargemen. 
 
 Later, in 1888, a regulation was passed for railway 
 technologists, and examination programmes drawn up 
 for the obtaining of the diploma. 
 
 Finally, for the preparation of telegraph engineers 
 and teachers in the local posts and telegraph schools, 
 there was established in 1886 in Petersburg a special 
 higher institution called the Electrotechnical Institute. 
 
 The wide sphere of State administration touched on 
 in the four chapters of the preceding section is entru- 
 sted in the main to five Ministries. 
 
 5- Government organs administering the material resources 
 of the State. 
 
 Among them, the Ministry of Finance, founded in 
 1802, has cognisance of the following principal matters: 
 
 i) The sources of the national revenue, with the 
 exception of crown domains, the movement of the funds 
 belonging to the State and the making of estimates for 
 national expenditure. 
 
 Five departments are occupied with these questions : 
 
 a) The Department of the State Treasury, control- 
 ling the movement of the funds and the keeping of ac- 
 counts for all the treasuries, verifying the estimates, and 
 composing the draft of the national budget. 
 
 b) The Department of Assessed Contributions for 
 taxes and zemsky services. 
 
 c) The Department of Trade and Manufactures for 
 direct taxes levied on industry and trade. 
 
 140 
 
THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE. 
 
 d) The Department of Customs Duties. 
 
 e) The Department of Unassessed Taxes and for the 
 Government Sale of Liquors i. e. a special Council under the 
 presidency of one of the assistants of the Minister of Finance, 
 and the general Management, consisting of the Technical 
 Committee, the Unassessed Taxes Section, the Section for 
 the Government Sale of Liquors, the Chancery, Revisors 
 Jurisconsults etc. 
 
 The local organs of the first three departments are in 
 each government the Crown Courts together with the Go- 
 vernmental and District Treasuries and tax inspectors atta- 
 ched to them. The organs of the Department of Unassessed 
 Taxes and for the Government Sale of Liquors are the go- 
 vernmental and territorial excise offices. To the Department 
 of Customs Duties are subject twelve customs districts with 
 the custom houses of various classes belonging thereto. Cer- 
 tain of the principal custom houses are immediately subject 
 to the department. For the purpose of watching contraband, 
 there is stationed in the districts a customs guard with a mili- 
 tary organization, while a customs flotilla cruises in the Baltic. 
 
 The second task of the Ministry of Finance is the con- 
 trol of the credit of the State and the general supervision of 
 all credit institutions. This function is imposed upon the Spe- 
 cial Credit Chancery and the State Commission for the 
 Acquittance of Debts. Besides the State credit institutions, 
 there are further subject to the Ministry of Finance in this 
 branch the Mint and the Department for the Manufacture of 
 State Papers in St. Petersburg, where paper roubles and other 
 securities are printed. Apart from the Ministry stands the 
 above mentioned Council of State Credit Institutions, of 
 which the Minister of Finance is a member. 
 
 - 141 
 
THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE. 
 
 Finally, the third and very important duty of the 
 Ministry of Finance is the care for the promotion of 
 trade. This is mainly imposed upon the Department of 
 Trade and Manufactures, to which are subject Factory 
 Inspection, the Depot of Measures and Weights, the Assay 
 Courts, and commercial and trades schools. Besides this, un- 
 der the presidentship of the Assistant Minister is the Coun- 
 cil of Trade and Manufactures composed of technologists, 
 manufacturers, merchants and others, with a branch at 
 Moscow which, on the proposal of the Minister of Fi- 
 nance, examines all the most important questions concern- 
 ing trade and manufacturing industry. The other princi- 
 pal towns besides the capitals possess similar committees. 
 
 In this sphere of duties of the Ministry of Finance, 
 a special position is held by the tariff institutions, among 
 which the Department of Railways decides the less im- 
 portant tariff questions. The more important of the pri- 
 vate tariff questions are brought before the Tariff Com- 
 mittee, which is under the presidency of the Director 
 of the Department of Railways. Finally all general ques- 
 tions and complaints against the decisions of the lower 
 authorities come before the Council on Tariff Affairs,, 
 formed under the presidency of the Minister out of 
 members from officials of all the departments and from 
 representatives of all branches of agriculture, industry, trade, 
 and railways. The final instance in case of disagreement 
 in the Council is the Committee of Ministers, while le- 
 gislative questions are brought before the State Council. 
 
 Besides the institutions enumerated, the Ministry of 
 Finance includes also two Assistant Ministers, a Council, 
 a General Chancery, and Scientific Committee. 
 
 142 
 
THE STATE COMPTROL. 
 
 The State Comptrol, founded in 1811 and finally re- 
 constituted in the sixties)), in its function comes nearest 
 to the Ministry of Finance: it looks to the legality and 
 regularity of action of all the departments (with the ex- 
 ception of the Ministry of the Court, the Department of 
 the Empress Mary, etc.) in respect of the employment 
 of money, and gives conclusions on the advantage or 
 disadvantage of their economical operations. 
 
 Its central organs are the Council, the Departments 
 of Civil, Military and Naval, and Railway Accounts, the 
 Chancery and the Central Bookkeeping office, while its 
 local organs are the Boards of Comptrol and the local 
 control appointed to the State, and some of the private 
 railways. 
 
 At the head of the whole Comptrol stands the State 
 Comptroller with the rights of a minister, attached to 
 whom is one Assistant. 
 
 The Ministry of Agriculture and State Domains has 
 existed since 1837, at first under the name of the V 
 Section of His Imperial Majesty's Chancery, afterwards 
 as the Ministry of State Domains. Its chief task was 
 originally the organization of the State peasantry; after- 
 wards, on their being transferred to the Ministry of the 
 Interior, there remained the management of the State 
 lands, quitrents and forests and the care for the deve- 
 lopment of agriculture, to which was added in 1873 the 
 charge of the mining industry previously imposed upon 
 the Ministry of Finance. 
 
 To agriculture the Ministry on account of its very 
 organization was until quite recently unable to give much 
 
 143 
 
THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND STATE DOMAINS. 
 
 thought: for this purpose it disposed of one department 
 only and was without any local organs. 
 
 This abnormal state of things, in a country where, 
 agriculture has the most vital importance for the national 
 welfare, justly attracted the attention of the Emperor 
 Alexander III, who ordered a scheme to be immediately 
 worked out for the reconstitution of the Ministry of 
 State Domains into the Ministry of Agriculture and State 
 Domains. This scheme was soon ready and received 
 the Imperial sanction on the 21 March, 1894. 
 
 In its present form, the Ministry of Agriculture, 
 presided over by the Minister and his Assistant, consists, 
 without counting the Council and Chancery, firstly of 
 institutions having reference to agriculture. 
 
 Here belong first of all the Agricultural Council, 
 which discusses all the measures having for their object 
 the improvement of rural economy and its different bran- 
 ches. The Council assembles annually, principally in 
 winter, and consists, under the presidency of the Mini- 
 ster, of fiften members taken from farmers and persons 
 nearly acquainted with the needs and interests of agri- 
 culture. The latter are received by the Minister for 
 one year, their appointment being confirmed by the 
 Emperor. The Council has only a consultative voice 
 and expresses the opinions and desires of the practical 
 farmers. 
 
 The Scientific Committee, on the other hand, was 
 founded for the elaboration of scientific and technical 
 questions. Finally, the executive organs are the Department 
 of Agriculture, the Section of Land Improvements and 
 
 144 
 
THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND STATE DOMAINS. 
 
 the Section of Rural Economy and Rural Statistics together 
 with the Koostar Committee. 
 
 In the second place, for the management of forestry 
 affairs, has been founded a Forestry Department, attached 
 to which are corps of foresters and a special forestry 
 -committee. 
 
 Thirdly, to the Special Department is entrusted the 
 .administration of State lands, emigration, etc. 
 
 The local organs subordinated to the institutions 
 -enumerated, are so far only the formerly existing Govern- 
 ment offices of the State domains. Attached to the Mi- 
 nistry also are inspectors of agriculture, fisheries, forestry 
 and mining. The scheme for the reform of the local 
 institutions is being actively elaborated. 
 
 The management of the mining section stands apart, 
 and was not subjected to reform in 1894. ^ possesses, 
 as formerly, four central organs: the Mining Council, 
 the Mining Scientific Committee, the Geological Com- 
 mittee and the Mining Department. For the local mi- 
 ning administration have been formed ten regions, of 
 which four are in the immediate cognisance of the De- 
 partment, while the rest are subject to the district and 
 works offices. We made mention above of the institu- 
 tions for the inspection of private mining industry, 01 
 district engineers, and mining boards. 
 
 Under the management of the Ministry finally are 
 the greater number of agricultural and all the forestry 
 and mining schools. 
 
 In 1 88 1 was separated from the Ministry of State 
 
 145 10 
 
THE MINISTRY OF WAYS OF COMMUNICATION. 
 
 Domains the Chief Administration of the State Studs, con- 
 sisting of a Council and a Chancery; to this department 
 belong all the State studs. 
 
 Finally, the Ministry of Ways of Communication has 
 
 existed under this name only since the year 1865. Be- 
 fore this, beginning with the year 1742, it was preceded 
 by a whole series of institutions bearing the titles of the 
 Chancery for the Construction of State Roads, the Com- 
 mission for State Roads, the Chief Administration, etc. 
 At the present time, the Ministry is presided over by a 
 Minister, attached to whom are his Assistant, the Council 
 and the Chancery. The Engineering Council is consti- 
 tuted for the purpose of elaborating general technical 
 questions and schemes. The administration is further 
 divided into the following branches: 
 
 1) Macadamized roads and water communications are 
 entrusted to a special Department, to which are subordi- 
 nated districts, which are in their turn subdivided into 
 divisions and sections. 
 
 2) Commercial ports are under the supervision of a 
 special commission and local boards of works. 
 
 3) Over the administration of the railways is placed 
 the Council for Railway Affairs, under the presidency of 
 the Minister. It submits to preliminary examination the 
 schemes for new laws and other general questions. The 
 executive organs are the Department of Railways for 
 private railways, and the Administration of State Rail- 
 ways. Besides this there is the special Administration 
 for the Construction of the Siberian railway. Local or- 
 gans for the management of railways do not yet exist, 
 
 146 
 
THE MINISTRY OF WAYS OF COMMUNICATION. 
 
 but they are proposed to be established. Till now, each 
 line has a special administration, while an inspection is 
 established at the Ministry for their general supervision. 
 
 It still remains to mention the Chief Factory In- 
 spection, superintending the preparation of railway plant, 
 the Temporary Statistical Section, the Legal Counsel's De- 
 partment, and the Educational Section together with the 
 Inspection of the Ministerial Schools. 
 
 Some branches of the administration of the present 
 section are also subject to other Ministries: e. g. posts 
 and telegraphs to the Ministry of the Interior, technical 
 and trades schools to the Ministry of National Education, 
 and so on; but of these Ministries we shall have occasion 
 to speak in the further development of our subject. 
 
 IV. SPIRITUAL WELFARE. 
 
 The spiritual welfare ot man is the name given to 
 the most complete development of his spiritual faculties. 
 vSuch a development enables him, while conscious of his 
 moral freedom, to direct it by reason towards the hap- 
 piness of himself and neighbours; while satisfying his 
 religious needs, to purify his beliefs from prejudices; to 
 experience pleasure in the understanding of the beauti- 
 ful; to obtain knowledge of the surrounding world, and 
 to strive unceasingly towards its expansion. 
 
 Thus, development in the religious, moral, intellec- 
 tual, and esthetic spheres forms an indivisible whole, and 
 all that is directed towards improvement in one of them 
 helps also to improve the rest. 
 
 147 - w 
 
ORGANIZATION OF THE ANCIENT RUSSIAN CHURCH. 
 
 Iii the present section we therefore propose to give 
 a sketch of those institutions and means which are in 
 Russia at the disposal of the Church, the State, and soci- 
 ety for the satisfaction of the religious and moral needs 
 of the people, and of its yearning after intellectual and 
 esthetic development. 
 
 1. Ecclesiastical Institutions. 
 
 Speaking of ecclesiastical institutions, we must warn 
 the reader that we shall here treat exclusively of the 
 organization of church government, and briefly of the 
 activity of the clergy in the sphere of the preservation 
 of the purity of the faith and of its propagation among 
 the non-christian peoples of the Empire. The fruitful 
 activity of the church in the sphere of popular education, 
 and public charity will form the subject of the following 
 sections. 
 
 I. Organization of the ancient Russian Church. Accord- 
 ing to tradition, the Apostle St. Andrew preached among 
 the tribes inhabiting Russia, and several dioceses were 
 early formed at the mouths of the Danube and in the 
 Crimea. It is impossible, of course, to determine with 
 accuracy the influence upon the Slavs of the preaching 
 which proceeded from these dioceses, but it is impossible 
 also to deny that examples of conversion might have 
 occurred before. Igor's (912945) followers already in- 
 cluded so many Christians that a special church, St. Elias', 
 existed for them in Kief. It is known that St. Olga became 
 a convert to Christianity. But an ecclesiastical hierarchy 
 in the present sense of the word did not then yet exist; 
 it appeared only with the solemn, universal acceptance 
 
 148 
 
DIOCESES, PARISHES AND MONASTERIES. 
 
 of the Christian faith in the year 988 under the Grand- 
 duke St. Vladimir. 
 
 1. Dioceses, parishes and monasteries. The faith was 
 received by us from Byzantium, and therefore the newly 
 converted country formed a metropolitan see of the 
 Byzantine patriarchate, and there arrived in Kief from 
 Greece our first metropolitan St. Michael with a number 
 of bishops and priests; the latter, according to some 
 accounts, were Bulgarians, related in language to their 
 future flock. They brought with them the scripture in 
 a language understood by the people, and the orthodox 
 faith became at the same time, thanks to this, the 
 national faith of the Russians. Under the metropolitan 
 Michael the bishops did not yet receive definite dioceses, 
 but merely assisted him in the propagation of the faith 
 among the heathen. It was only under our second 
 metropolitan, Leonty that, in 992, bishops were ap- 
 pointed in Novgorod, Chernigoff, Rostoff, Vladimir- 
 Volynsk and Belgorod. After this, during the i i th , 12 th 
 and part of the 13 th centuries, till the Tatar invasion, 
 10 more dioceses were founded, in proportion to the 
 spread of the Christian doctrine. All the bishops were 
 dependent upon the metropolitan of Kief, who with the 
 consent of the local princes and, in some cases, by 
 universal suffrage (as in Novgorod) appointed them, 
 summoned them to councils, judged them with a council 
 of the other bishops, and made general dispositions 
 affecting the whole church. In his turn, the metropolitan 
 was appointed by the patriarchs of Constantinople, for the 
 most part Greeks, so that even the consent of the Grand- 
 
 149 
 
DIOCESES, PARISHES AND MONASTERIES. 
 
 duke of Kief began to be taken into account only from 
 the 12 th century onward. However, the patriarchs, with 
 rare exceptions, did not meddle in matters concerning 
 the internal government of the Russian church and 
 allowed the Russian metropolitans ampler rights than the 
 other exarchs. 
 
 Together with the bishops, as we have seen, arrived 
 priests. Baptizing the people throughout the towns and 
 villages, St. Vladimir proceeded to found churches in 
 the towns. Thus arose the parishes, first in the centres 
 of the oblasts, or districts, then called volosts, and 
 afterwards gradually in the different settlements. For all 
 these parishes priests were needed; those that had arrived 
 from Greece were not sufficient, so that already St. Vla- 
 dimir, with the assistance of the higher clergy and under 
 his direction, took measures for the preparation of dea- 
 cons from among the Russians by means of the exten- 
 sion of book learning. In this way, at the very beginning, 
 the Government itself was obliged to take steps for the 
 formation of parishes and the appointment of clergy. 
 Subsequently, with the spread of Christianity among the 
 mass of the population, the formation of parishes and 
 the choice of candidates for clerical posts began to 
 depend upon the parish communities, or upon the land- 
 owners, the candidates when selected being ordained by 
 the bishops. 
 
 The third institution of the Russian church, after 
 the diocese and the parish, is in the earliest times of 
 Christianity the monastery. In contradistinction to the 
 heathen egotism, the church introduced into both the 
 
 150 
 
DIOCESES, PARISHES AND MONASTERIES. 
 
 public and the family life of the Russians a moral prin- 
 ciple common to all mankind, placed above personal, 
 tribal, and practical interests. Among a society wor- 
 shiping physical force and deifying its manifestation in 
 its bogatyrs, or heroes, the Christian doctrine exhibited 
 the principle of the subordination of physical to moral 
 force, and the church presented examples of exploits 
 in the victory over passions, of exploits of meekness and 
 humility. These exploits were achieved in the monaste- 
 ries, which evoked the profound wonder and reverence 
 of contemporaries. Hence it was that the founding of 
 a monastery was held to be a pious work, so that before 
 the 12 th century there were reckoned to be about 90 
 monasteries. But, says the annalist: Many monasteries 
 have been established by kings, boyars and rich men; 
 quite other are those that have been established by tears, 
 fasting, prayer, and watching.)) The latter, founded by 
 the hermits themselves, gathering around them followers 
 by their high morality and holiness of life, had the 
 greatest importance in ancient Russian life. Foremost 
 among them must be placed the Petchersky Monastery, 
 still existing in Kief, founded in 1051 by St. Anthony, a 
 native of the town of Liubetch in the present Chernigoff 
 government. 
 
 Under its next abbot, Theodosius, this monastery 
 became a duly constituted college after the model of 
 the Byzantian Studite Monastery, and itself served as 
 the model for other Russian monasteries. Hence went 
 forth missionaries, propagating the doctrine of the faith, 
 at first along the water way from Kief to Novgorod, 
 
 151 
 
THE POLITICAL SERVICES OF THE ANCIENT RUSSIAN CLERGY. 
 
 afterwards to the west and east of this way, and along 
 the Volga; and hence also proceeded some fifty bish- 
 ops and the first writers and annalists. 
 
 2. The political services of the ancient Russian clergy. 
 
 Coming from Byzantium, the clergy became among us 
 from the very beginning the harbingers of Byzantine 
 political ideals, all the more that in Russia they met with 
 a perfectly different social organization, based on the 
 division of power among the appanaged princes and the 
 vietche self-government of the towns and communes. 
 On the contrary, the Byzantine political ideal consisted 
 in the unity and fulness of power in the hands of the em- 
 peror, the heir of the Roman Caesars, the anointed of God. 
 
 This is why our hierarchy, if they were unable to 
 abolish the disorder reigning among the appanage princes, 
 yet at once assumed a position of uncompromising ne- 
 gation towards it, which did not cease until the com- 
 plete consolidation of power in the hands of the Moscow 
 sovereigns. 
 
 In consequence of this, the clergy in Russia, with 
 the exception perhaps of Novgorod, never had a local 
 character, but remained all Russian in sentiment and 
 strictly maintained the ecclesiastical unity of the Rus- 
 sian land. 
 
 Further, the negative attitude towards the continual 
 enmity among the princes of the different clans was the 
 direct duty of the church if only from the Christian 
 love of peace. Prince! said the metropolitan Nikifor to 
 Vsevolod III (1176 1 21 2), we are placed in the Russian 
 land by God to keep you from bloodshed.)) 
 
 152 
 
INDEPENDENCE OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 3. Independence of the ecclesiastical government. The 
 
 respect which the hierarchy enjoyed in the eyes of the 
 princes is therefore intelligible: they became the first 
 counsellors of the princes even in State affairs. On the 
 other hand, the church appeared with an existing orga- 
 nization, while the power of the princes at that time 
 was not yet sufficiently strong for active interference in 
 the affairs of church government. This circumstance suf- 
 ficiently explains why church government with us at 
 once became remarkably independent. 
 
 According to the Graeco-Roman laws, the ecclesi- 
 astical court had three forms: i) the court for trying 
 clerics in spiritual cases, 2) that for trying the same in 
 civil cases, and 3) that for trying laymen in spiritual cases 
 and in those others which were by law submitted to 
 the ecclesiastical court. Ail this passed to us, and even 
 received a greater development: in cases between the 
 clergy and laymen a common mixed court was formed 
 of ecclesiastical and lay judges. It must further be re- 
 marked that by clerics were understood not merely 
 members of the clergy. To heathendom help to one's 
 neighbour as neighbour was unknown: the community 
 protected only its own members; any one who left it 
 was deprived of this protection also, so important in a 
 primitive society, where the State authority is still 
 without the means of maintaining security. But such 
 exiles from the community, or as they were called 
 izgoys, were numerous, and they all came under 
 the shield of the church, became clerics or church 
 people. 
 
 153 
 
MEANS FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF THE CHURCH AND CLERGY. 
 
 4. Means for the maintenance of the church and clergy. 
 
 The whole complex organization of church government 
 and of the ecclesiatical court, embracing the various 
 aspects of the common weal, demanded considerable 
 material means. These means, for the metropolitans and 
 bishops, were composed of the tithe, which the princes 
 set apart from their revenues for the principal churches 
 in their volosts, of court fees, of fees on the appoint- 
 ment of priests and deacons, and finally of the revenues 
 from real estate. The monasteries also had lands - 
 whole volosts, with the right of levying in them all 
 kinds of taxes. Finally the rich considered it their duty 
 to make large donations to the monasteries; and those 
 who took the habit or veil, if possessing property, used 
 to make offerings in movable or real estate to the 
 monasteries they entered. As far as regards the inferior 
 clergy, the information on the sources of their subsis- 
 tence that has come down to us is very meagre. It is 
 to be presumed that princes and private persons, perhaps 
 communes, when building a church, appointed certain 
 estates or revenues for its support and that of the clergy. 
 
 II. The church and the clergy during the Tatar period. 
 1. Church government and monasteries. From the time of 
 the Tatar invasion the importance of the clergy becomes 
 still greater. The Tatar Khans treated strange religions 
 with indifference and even with respect, and there- 
 fore our church government maintained its independence 
 under their rule; even the officials of the horde had not 
 the right to enter the church villages, and therefore 
 church lands offered more than any others a guarantee 
 
 154 
 
CHURCH GOVERNMENT AND MONASTERIES. 
 
 for a quiet life. Under such circumstances, and with 
 the dissipation of the princely power, only the church 
 was strong enough to restrain by its authority the fist 
 law which reigned in the society of the time. Offering 
 in its landed estates examples of good order, as far as 
 it was then possible, it directed its efforts to the spread 
 of peace throughout the land. 
 
 In general, the activity of the church in this period 
 must in justice be called creative. Especially great were 
 the services of the monasteries. At the very beginning 
 of the Tatar yoke, new monasteries were not built: they 
 might always be threatened by the possibility of a Tatar 
 devastation. But when the yoke was alleviated, the 
 princes began to express their religious feeling by the 
 foundation of cloisters; on the other hand, crowds 
 began to gather around the noted hermits. More than 
 1 80 monasteries in all were refounded and newly 
 established during the Tatar period. At the same 
 time, when the monastry arose in distant places, the 
 brethren occupied the waste lands and cultivated them; 
 to these lands they invited parties of fresh colonists, 
 and when the prince gave the charter, there appeared a 
 hamlet. While serving the purposes of colonization for 
 the depopulated country, the monasteries were at the 
 same time the principal asylum of learning; here it was 
 that the scriptures were collected and copied, and the 
 authority of the ascetics, as of old, was so great that 
 the princes applied to them for advice and loved to 
 converse with them. Especially celebrated was the 
 Troitsko-Sergievsky Monastery which arose in the 14 th 
 
 155 
 
CHURCH GOVERNMENT AND MONASTERIES. 
 
 century, being founded near Moscow by St. Sergy oi 
 Radoneje (1314 1391), to whom Dmitry Donskoy came 
 to be blessed when setting out for the fight with Mamai. 
 Like the Petchersky, the Troitsky Monastery became the 
 parent of a number of others. Another famous monastery 
 was the Kirillo-Belozersky in the Novgorod country, 
 founded by St. Cyril (1337 1427). 
 
 Finally from the monasteries went forth, as before, 
 missionaries, spreading Christianity among the heathen 
 principally in the north of Russia. Such was Stefan of 
 Perm, who composed the Permic alphabet, (fl396)* 
 
 The clergy, further, rendered great services in con- 
 nexion with politics. Kief, the chief city of the metro- 
 politan see, was devastated by the Tatars, and was 
 constantly subjected to their raids. In consequence of 
 the impossiblity of remaining here, the metropolitans 
 step by step removed towards the north, founding their 
 cathedral residence first in Vladimir on the Kliazma. 
 But later, Ivan Danilovitch Kalita, Prince of Moscow, 
 ( 1 320 1 340), fully aware of the importance of transferring 
 it to his capital, succeeded in inducing the metropolitan 
 St. Peter to remove to Moscow. Having finally established 
 himself there in 1325, St. Peter requested the prince to 
 build a church in honour of the Mother of God for 
 his burial, at the same time pronouncing this remarkable 
 prophecy of the future greatness of Moscow: If you 
 listen to me, my son, said he to the prince, aboth 
 you and your family shall be rendered more famous 
 than the other princes, and your city shall be celebrated 
 among all the cities of Russia, and prelates shall dwell 
 
 156 
 
THE SOUTH-WESTERN CHURCH. 
 
 in it; and my bones shall be laid here.* Soon after the 
 death of St. Peter, (i 326), Ivan Kalita became indeed Grand- 
 duke, and the metropolitans never more abandoned the 
 new capital of Russia, contributing in every way to the 
 strengthening of the power of the Moscovite princes, 
 and to the union and extension of the Russian State. 
 Over the grave of St. Peter was built a church, now 
 the great cathedral of the Assumption, in which the 
 sacred rite of the coronation of the Russian monarchs 
 is performed. 
 
 Thus it was that the clergy found in Moscow 
 the realization of their political ideals, brought from 
 Byzantium. 
 
 2. The South -Western church and the subdivision 
 of the metropolitan sees. The southern princes, and 
 subsequently the Lithuanian princes who repkced them, 
 could not, however, view with indifference the depen- 
 dence of their subjects upon the metropolitans, after the 
 latter had removed to another principality, and insisted 
 on a special metropolitan being appointed for Kief. 
 After long disorders and changes, during which there 
 was at one time one metropolitan, at another two and 
 even three, in the i$ th century ensued the final separa- 
 tion of the metropolitan sees of Moscow and Kief, which 
 were placed in different relations to the patriarch of 
 Constantinople. The metropolitan see of Moscow became 
 almost entirely independent of the patriarch. Having 
 regard to the peculiar position of the churches, the 
 eastern patriarchs, in their communications with the 
 Moscovite granddukes, established the rule once for all 
 
 157 
 
THE CHURCH IN THE 1 5 th iy th CENTURIES. 
 
 that the Moscow metropolitan should be appointed by 
 his own bishops, and should be held in greater honour 
 than all the other metropolitans, taking place immedi- 
 ately after the patriarch of Jerusalem. The metropolitan 
 see of Kief, on the other hand, in consequence of the 
 dangers to which it was exposed from the catholics, 
 came into closer dependence upon the patriarch of 
 Constantinople than even was the case with that of 
 Moscow before its separation. 
 
 III. The church in the XV XVII centuries. 1. The 
 curtailment of the autonomy of church government in the 
 XV XVII centuries. The patriarchate. In what follows we 
 shall only concern ourselves with the Great Russian 
 church, as from it was developed our present ecclesiatical 
 organization. Towards the end of the Mongol period 
 the political power of the grandduke of Moscow gradu- 
 ally increases: it is the representative of political unity 
 and the sufficient guarantee of the general place, no 
 longer disturbed by the intestine quarrels of the princes. 
 Under these conditions, the autonomy of the church 
 government loses ever more and more in importance, 
 remaining a mere relic of antiquity. The metropolitan 
 is appointed by the prince, and the bishops, with the 
 decay of the appanages, begin also more and more 
 often to be designated from Moscow. The metropolitans 
 continue to receive charters of privilege from the princes, 
 but in them the civil rights of the church government 
 are a little diminished compared with the ancient 
 charters and letters. In the Tatar time a court of civil 
 dignitaries formed around the ecclesiastical authorities, 
 
 158 
 
THE CHURCH IN THE 15 th iy th CENTURIES. 
 
 there were to be seen metropolitan boyars and voevods; 
 boyars were appointed judges in lay cases; the chief 
 management of the estates of the metropolitan see 
 belonged to the steward; mention is made of secre- 
 taries, undersecretaries, treasurers, table-decker and cup- 
 bearer, and, in the volosts and villages, volost and village 
 elders, as in the case of princes. The Moscow sovereigns 
 strive, on the contrary, to reduce or even entirely 
 exclude by officials from the diocesan administration. The 
 essential basis of the independence of the church govern- 
 ment were the large material resources at the command 
 of the church. Its proprietary privileges first of all 
 attract the attention of the Moscow princes, who do not 
 allow the church any new rights in this direction, but 
 strive to confine those already existing within clearly 
 defined limits. Soon afterwards Ivan III, the first Tsar of 
 Moscow, (1462 1505) even raised the question of secul- 
 arizing the church estates, but the time for this was not 
 yet come. Nevertheless, the secular power after Ivan III 
 persistently takes the way of the limitation of the propri- 
 etary privileges of the clergy. At the Council of One Hund- 
 red Chapters, summoned by Ivan the Terrible in 1551 
 to consider the various disorders that had crept into the 
 life of the church, notwithstanding strenuous opposition, 
 archbishops, bishops, and monasteries are prohibited 
 from acquiring property without the permission of the 
 sovereign, and this prohibition is afterwards confirmed 
 and developed in a whole series of councils at the end 
 of the 1 6 th century. Finally, in respect to jurisdiction, 
 the clergy is gradually subjected to the civil authority, 
 
 159 
 
THE CHURCH IN THE 15 th 17 th CENTURIES. 
 
 'first of all in criminal cases and then in civil. For the 
 latter there existed the Court of the Great Palace, which 
 at the same time began to take cognisance also of the 
 financial side of the diocesan and monastic administra- 
 tion, by the collection of money, grain, recruits for 
 military service, etc. 
 
 In their attempts to limit the autonomy of the church, 
 the Moscovite sovereigns did not however, in the i6 tk 
 century, meet with opposition on the part of the clergy. 
 The latter even to a certain extent sought the inter- 
 ference, of the authority of the State in its affairs. 
 According to the just remark of Prof. Gradovsky, it 
 could not be otherwise, in view of the ancient alliance 
 of the clergy with the civil power. The metropolitans 
 of old took part in political affairs; on their part, the 
 granddukes and tsars played an active part in church 
 government . Gennady, archbishop of Novgorod, applied 
 to the grandduke to correct the disorders to be met 
 with in the life of the church and monasteries, and the 
 State legislation, the Codes of Ivan III and Ivan IV, the 
 royal edicts and the decisions of the Hundred-Chapters 
 Council, evoked by the questions of the tsar, delimit to 
 a certain extent the spheres of the civil and ecclesiastical 
 authority. Under these conditions the elevation of the 
 Moscow metropolitans to the dignity of patriarchs in 
 1589 was not an extension of the ecclesiastical authority: 
 to the patriarch passed only the rights of the late metro- 
 politan, so that the establishment of the patriarchate 
 can only be called a new step towards fortifying the 
 independence of the Russian State, thus freed even from 
 
 160 
 
THE CHURCH IX THE 15^ jyth CENTURIES. 
 
 the nominal supremacy of foreigners in ecclesiastical 
 matters. 
 
 The events of the period of internal dissensions 
 somewhat changed this state of things the patriotism 
 of the patriarch Hermogen (1606 - 1612), firmly defending 
 the independence of the fatherland, the lively participation 
 of the clergy in the political destiny of the country, 
 the absence of real authority on the part of the State, 
 tended to the extraordinary elevation of the patriarchs, 
 and the patriarchate of Philaret, the father of Michail 
 Feodorovitch, the first tsar of the house of Romanof, 
 made their authority equal to that of the sovereign. The 
 wise and strongwilled Philaret supported his son in deed 
 and counsel in the organization of the State after the 
 internal dissensions. He occupied the second place to the 
 tsar, and came to be called the Great Lord, while 
 edicts were written in the name of both. The patriarch 
 was surrounded by a brilliant court like that of the tsar, 
 and the government of the church was divided among 
 the courts of the patriarch, i. e. similar institutions to 
 those which existed for the general administration of 
 the State. 
 
 The exalted station of the patriarch could not but 
 be reflected in the position of the whole of the ecclesi- 
 astical hierarchy. Together with the patriarch, the prelates 
 were invited to the tsar's council and to the popular 
 councils; in the towns the voevods were required to 
 consult them, while laymen applied to the prelates in case 
 of exactions by the Government officials. The ecclesi- 
 astical court again became independent, but, however, 
 
 161 11 
 
THE CHURCH IN THE 15 th iy th CENTURIES 
 
 not universally, which brought great confusion into the 
 civil jurisdiction: it was difficult to find out to what 
 court one was subject. The financial requirements of the 
 State demanded the exact determination of the parti- 
 cipation of the clergy in the burdens of the State. On 
 the other hand, the number of ecclesiastical estates grew, 
 notwithstanding all the prohibitions of the Govern- 
 ment, so that in the middle of the 17 th century the 
 church had in its possession 118,000 homesteads, or, 
 according to the statements of foreigners, an entire third 
 of the country. 
 
 Under Philaret's successors the importance of the 
 church government was of course unable to maintain 
 itself at its former height. A decisive change was made 
 by the statute of the tsar Alexey Mikhailovitch in 1649, 
 which confirmed the prohibition to increase the church 
 estates and established a special Government organ, the 
 so-called monastery court, for the civil trial of claims 
 against the clergy, and also for making dispositions as 
 to the dues levied on church patrimonies, the effecting 
 of confiscations of church estates, etc. This court evoked 
 complaints and objections from the clergy and they found 
 expression in the patriarch Nikon (1652 1667). In the 
 enjoyment of the unlimited confidence of the tsar Alexey 
 Viikhailovitch, he made a determined stand against the 
 innovations of the statutes of 1649, trvm g to prove that 
 they were contrary to the canon law and were intro- 
 duced in passion, on account of the popular disturbances. > 
 Nikon again placed the authority of the patriarch as 
 high as it had been under Philaret, and began to assume 
 
 162 
 
PARISHES. 
 
 the title of Great Lord, not as father of the sove- 
 reign, but as patriarch. But this did not last long. His 
 good relations with the tsar were broken, and in 1658 
 Nikon voluntarily abandoned the patriarchate, and began 
 the contest with the tsar, which ended with the con- 
 demnation of Nikon at the council of 1666 1667. 
 
 The main contention of Nikon, however, that the 
 clergy should be free from the civil court, was at the 
 same time acknowledged to be correct, and the mona- 
 stery court retained only its financial rights, till 1677, 
 when it was abolished. From that time there were no 
 dissensions between church and State, although the civil 
 legislature made very few concessions to the demands 
 of the clergy: clerics in practice were summoned before 
 the lay court, and the supervision of the administration 
 of church property was continually increased. 
 
 Parishes. Such was the position of the superior 
 ecclesiastical hierarchy in the 1 6 th and 1 7 th centuries. In 
 the parishes at that time equally essential changes ensued 
 as compared with the past. 
 
 We mentioned that priests were chosen by the 
 commune or the landowner, and then presented for the 
 confirmation of the prelate. On the contrary, the Hun- 
 dred-chapters Council (1551) already speaks clearly of 
 the inheritance of clerical posts by children from their 
 fathers. The posts are filled, it is true, still on the 
 election of the parishioners, but this election, on account 
 of the restriction of the circle of eligible persons, natu- 
 rally falls upon the children of the clergy. 
 
 163 * 
 
PARISHES. 
 
 The priest, in his capacity of educated man, and 
 with him the clerk, took an active part in local affairs, 
 in the conclusion of various communal transactions, in 
 boundary cases, in the communal court, in elections and 
 in petitions to the authorities. The commune, on its 
 part, participated directly in the affairs of the clergy; its 
 representatives, elective elders and sworn men sat in the 
 court of the prelate's officials, trying members of the 
 clergy. The relations of the clergy to the prelate were 
 expressed not only in submission to his orders, but in 
 the payment of various taxes: they paid not only for 
 appointment and transfer from one parish to another,. 
 but upon each homestead in the parish and upon each 
 marriage solemnized. 
 
 Besides this, the clergy gave money towards defray- 
 ing the expenses of the journeys of the prelates to the 
 metropolitan at Moscow, maintained the prelate's offici- 
 als, built and repaired his house. These taxes were far 
 from light, especially as the material position of the 
 white clergy was not provided for. In the beginning of 
 the 17 th century, an order was given, indeed, to assign 
 allotments of land to the churches, but not all the 
 churches were so endowed, and but very few were 
 further given a prestimony in grain or money. This it 
 is, which in a certain degree affords an explanation of 
 the phenomenon that the lower clergy often had recourse 
 to the protection and defence of the civil arm against 
 the extortions of the prelate's officials; and the Hundred- 
 chapters Council was compelled to take the collections 
 levied on the clergy out of the hands of these officials 
 
 164 
 
MISSIONARY ACTIVITY. 
 
 and to transfer them to elders and their assistants, chosen 
 by the priests themselves out of their midst. These offices, 
 however, had already in the 17 th century lost all im- 
 portance. 
 
 Missionary activity. The i6 th and iy th centuries 
 were signalized, on the one hand, by the annexation 
 to Russia of vast regions, inhabited by Mahometans 
 and heathens: the tsardoms of Kazan, Astrakhan and 
 .Siberia, and on the other, by the development of dis- 
 sent. A wide field was accordingly opened to the 
 missionary and educational activity of the clergy. We 
 will not, however, dwell in detail upon this subject; 
 dissent, its divisions and sects were discussed by us 
 in the first volume. An energetic struggle was carried 
 on with it by church and State, with the aid of 
 preaching and of public condemnation, a struggle 
 which is still continuing. In order, however, to cha- 
 racterize missionary activity, we will here quote ex- 
 tracts from the instructions given to archbishop Goory, 
 when starting in 1555 to convert the Kazan Tatars. 
 On his arrival in Kazan, the new archbishop was ob- 
 liged to teach the people every Sunday, to attach to 
 himself the newly baptized, to give them food and 
 drink, to favour and protect them in every respect, in 
 order that the other infidels, seeing such protection 
 and favour, might become zealous for the Christian 
 law of righteousness, and be converted by holy baptism. 
 Those Tatars who shall desire to be baptized of their 
 own will, but not against their will, order such to be 
 baptized and keep the best of them in your bishopric, 
 
 165 
 
THE DIOCESAN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 to teach the Christian law and to live in peace . . . 
 The archbishop is to attach the Tatars to himself in every 
 possible way and to bring them by love to baptism, 
 but in no way by fear. This humble, truly Christian 
 behaviour had the very best results: several thousand 
 Mahometans and heathens were then and there con- 
 verted to Christianity. There were also conversions 
 in Astrakhan, and priests were sent to the Caucasus 
 to the Circassian princes to raise orthodoxy from the 
 decay into which it had fallen. 
 
 IV. Church organization, from the XVIII century to the 
 present time. We have thus sketched the organization of 
 church government in the time before Peter; the 18 th 
 century continues and completes the policy laid down 
 in the second half of the 17 th century. 
 
 1. The diocesan government. Without dwelling upon 
 the organization of the Most Holy Synod, which in 
 1721 replaced the patriarchs, as is described in the 
 first volume of the present book, we will mention that, 
 like the Synod, our diocesan administration has since 
 the time of Peter the Great become a constituent part 
 of the general organization of the State. Under the 
 general supervision of the Government the bishop is, as 
 formerly, not only the master of the diocese in an 
 administrative sense, but also its legislator, as until the 
 reorganization of the consistories the diocesan administra- 
 tion was carried on almost exclusively according to the 
 instructions of the bishops. The bishop is chosen and 
 appointed by the Most Holy Syncd with the sanction 
 of the Sovereign from persons belonging to the black 
 
 166 
 
THE DIOCESAN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 clergy. In direct subjection to the Synod and being its 
 local executive organ, the bishop is the head of the 
 whole of the white clergy of the bishopric, of the 
 monasteries, of the clerical and lay schools, and of the 
 consistory itself. The military and court clergy and that 
 attached to the embassies, alone do not enter into the 
 constitution of the bishoprics. The first are under the 
 control of the protopresbyter of the military and naval 
 clergy, while the clergy of the court are under a proto- 
 presbyter, the chaplain of their Majesties. The bishopric 
 ordinarily coincides with the government, but some 
 embrace several governments, viz.: Warsaw the 10 
 governments of the Kingdom of Poland; Riga the 
 3 Baltic governments; Lithuania the governments of 
 Vilna, Kovno, and Grodno; Finland the whole of 
 the grandduchy. Some of the Asiatic bishoprics also 
 embrace two or more governments and territories. The 
 bishops of St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Kief bear the 
 honorary title of metropolitans; the first of them is the 
 senior member of the Most Holy Synod. Of the remain- 
 ing 60 prelates, 17 have the title of archbishops and 
 43 that of bishop. Attached to the metropolitans, arch- 
 bishops, and bishops of the large dioceses are vicarial 
 bishops or suffragans, in the capacity of associates or 
 immediate assistants, to whose administration are appor- 
 tioned one or several districts, but in complete depen- 
 dence upon the bishop of the diocese. Such vicarial 
 bishops are 37 in number. 
 
 A special position is occupied by the Georgian 
 exnrchate. For its government was founded in 1814 
 
 167 
 
THE DIOCESAN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 the Synodal Office of Georgia and Imeretia under the 
 presidency of the exarch of Georgia, the archbishop 
 of Kartalia and Kakhetia. This office is the chief ad- 
 ministrative organ of the local church and the inter- 
 mediate authority between the 5 bishoprics of Georgia 
 and Imeretia and the Most Holy Synod. 
 
 The organ through which, under the immediate 
 authority of the bishop of the diocese, the administra- 
 tion and the trial of spiritual cases is conducted in the 
 diocese, is a collegiate institution, with a consultative 
 voice, named the consistory. The members of the con- 
 sistory are chosen by the bishop from among the clergy 
 and are confirmed in their office by the Synod. The 
 chancery of the consistory is conducted by the Secre- 
 tary, an organ of the High-Procuror of the Most Holy 
 Synod, having the same relation to the consistory as 
 the High-Procuror has to the Most Holy Synod. 
 
 Without touching upon the sphere of jurisdiction 
 entrusted to the consistories in respect of church govern- 
 ments, as in this respect, with the exception of church 
 seminaries and their curatorships, to them are subject all 
 the institutions and persons of the diocesan administra- 
 tion, we will remark that the present juridical compe- 
 tence of the consistories is the result of the limitations 
 which ensued from the beginning of the i8 th century in 
 the region of the ecclesiastical court, to which at the 
 present time clergy and laity are subject. The former 
 are tried by it for offences and crimes against their 
 office, good order and morality, in respect of disputes 
 arising from the enjoyment of church property, and on 
 
 168 
 
THE PARISHES. 
 
 complaints against clergymen of various offences and 
 infractions of indisputable obligations. Laymen are subject 
 to the ecclesiastical court in cases concerning marriage, 
 and for offenses against the faith and morality, if these 
 offences are not provided for by the criminal law, or 
 involve only church penance. 
 
 For the superintendence of the parish clergy and 
 churches the bishop appoints from the priests so-called 
 blagochinnye or provosts to every 10 15 parishes, 
 which form a provost's district; besides this, there are 
 special provosts over the monasteries. Expression is 
 given to the requirements and views of the whole 
 diocesan clergy by the diocesan congress of the parish 
 clergy, summoned by the bishop, and consisting of 
 deputies from the parish clergy in the proportion of one 
 to 10 15 parishes. 
 
 This congress assembles, not periodically (except 
 the congresses connected with the seminaries, maintained 
 at the expense of the clergy), but occasionally, and dis- 
 cusses questions concerning the religious and moral edu- 
 cation of the people, the material position of the 
 clergy, etc. 
 
 Into the composition of the diocesan government 
 enter, finally, the diocesan school council, of which 
 mention will be made later, and the curatorship for the 
 poor clergy. 
 
 2. The Parishes. Subject to the diocesan administra- 
 tion, as we have said, are all the ecclesiastical institutions 
 of the diocese. Occupying the first place among them 
 are the church parishes, as the units out of which the 
 
 169 
 
THE PARISHES. 
 
 diocese is composed. The parish is a society of Chris- 
 tians having their own presbyter, for divine service and 
 the performance of the religious rites and their own 
 temple for common prayer; the parish is the fundamen- 
 tal and indivisible part of the diocese, presenting an in- 
 dependent religious Society, subject immediately to the 
 bishop, as the authority of the provosts and other auxi- 
 liary organs has significance only in dependence on the 
 bishop. 
 
 We have seen that in the ij i}i century the principle 
 of the election of the priest by the parishioners, still held 
 good, although a considerable part was already played by 
 the hereditary replacement of offices. Under Peter I both 
 these systems were practised parallelly. Afterwards here- 
 ditary succession received greater and greater extension, 
 elections, where they existed, were no longer conducted 
 by the whole mir, or community, but by the best 
 people under the strict supervision of the provost, and at 
 the end of the i8 th century the spiritual authority became 
 accustomed to regard elections as something illegal and 
 contrary to the rules of the church, and in 1797 they 
 were entirely abolished. 
 
 In consequence of this, heredity among the clergy 
 began to attain such proportions that clerical and lay 
 offices were attached)) by the bishops to the daughters 
 of priests and lay clerks, i. e. passed to their husbands. 
 This arrangement proved at last embarrassing not only 
 for the church, but for the State, as there w r as nowhere 
 to bestow those persons who had passed through the 
 seminaries. In consequence of this, by the law of 1869 
 
THE PARISHES. 
 
 the heredity and exclusiveness of the clergy were abo- 
 lished, and at the present time the bishops appoint all 
 legally competent persons to posts in the church, pro- 
 vided they satisfy the demands of the church regula- 
 tions by their knowledge and moral qualities. 
 
 Thus now the representative of the parishioners in 
 the administration of the parish is not the priest, but a 
 special elective elder confirmed by the bishop. He is ob- 
 liged to have care for the property and the whole church 
 economy, to see to the embellishment of the edifice and 
 to its maintenance in" due order, to keep the church 
 money and the various collections. For the objects of 
 parochial charity a parish curatorship is composed of 
 the priest and the most respected parishioners, but these 
 curatorships do not form a necessary appurtenance of 
 the parish. 
 
 The means for the support of the parish clergy 
 must even now be considered insufficient, and, most 
 important, wanting in stability, placing the clergy in de- 
 pendence upon the parochial community and therefore 
 hindering the establishment of the necessary moral au- 
 thority of the spiritual father over his flock. These 
 means consist principally of the voluntary gifts of the 
 parishioners for the performance of the rites of the 
 church. This is essentially the chief source of the pecu- 
 niary revenue of the parochial clergy. Next follow the 
 land allotments to the extent of 33 to 99 desiatins per 
 parish, and also at times the so-called rugal or presti- 
 monial lands set apart by the parishioners from their 
 own allotments. On the rural parishioners are levied 
 
 171 
 
THE PARISHES. 
 
 beyond this in some places contributions of provisions 
 in kind, called ruga. Finally the parish clergy have the 
 use of church houses and of revenues from the interest 
 on the clergy funds. 
 
 All these sources, however, are extremely inconstant 
 and irregular, and during years of scarcity, when both 
 the gifts of the parishioners and the revenues from the 
 land diminish, the clergy are placed in a very difficult 
 position. Premises for the clergy are far from existing 
 in all dioceses, and, where they exist, are often inadequa- 
 tely kept up and badly repaired. The clergy funds in the 
 majority of cases are so modest that the revenues from 
 them do not exceed ten roubles a year for a whole 
 parish. 
 
 Hence it is, that the question of appointing the 
 parish clergy a permanent salary was raised as early as 
 the reign of the Emperor Alexander I; but up till now 
 it has not received a complete solution. 
 
 For the first time in the forties)), the parish clergy 
 were allowed from the treasury a sum of ioo,coo roubles 
 a year, but subsequently this aid was discontinued and 
 only recently, thanks to the solicitude of the Emperor 
 Alexander III, on the recommendation of the High Pro- 
 curer of the Most Holy Synod Pobedonostsef, since 1893 
 ensued a renewal of the State grant, which, moreover, is 
 increasing every year. However, even now a full salary 
 is paid to the clergy of dioceses with a preponderance 
 of unorthodox population, where there are not enough 
 parishioners. Such is the case in the Baltic governments, 
 those of the Vistula, etc. In the years 1892 3 the 
 
 172 
 
THE MONASTERIES. 
 
 number of parishes in Russia was 35,865, with an ave- 
 rage population of more than 2000 souls. They were 
 reckoned to contain 708 cathedrals, 35,546 parish chur- 
 ches, 9,742 cemetery, private, and other churches, and 
 17,195 chapels and prayer-houses. The white clergy in- 
 cluded 42,513 priests, 12.953 deacons and 43,925 clerks, 
 in all 99,391. Of the total number of parishes, only in 
 18,936 did the clergy receive support from the treasury, 
 in all 6.436,533 roubles, i. e. 340 roubles per parish. 
 Parish curatorships existed in 14,564 parishes, and their 
 donations amounted to 2.566,000 roubles, but of this 
 sum only 174,000 roubles went towards the support of 
 the clergy, 358,000 roubles going to schools and chari- 
 table institutions and more than 2,000,000 roubles to 
 the maintenance and embellishment of the churches. 
 Further, offerings of all kinds were received to the 
 amount of 15,365,000 roubles, but out of this only 
 188,500 roubles went to help the clergy. 
 
 3. The Monasteries. The next constituent of the dio- 
 cese are the monasteries. Until the i8 th century, as- we 
 have seen, their foundation was very free, but the ((Spi- 
 ritual Reglement)) of Peter the Great introduced rules 
 for taking the habit, with the object of making the 
 practice more difficult, as it had become too indiscrimi- 
 nate and was injurious in its effects upon the life in the 
 monasteries, many being ready to enter a monastery in 
 order to escape military service. These rules, of course, 
 could not but affect the diminution of the number of 
 those leading a monastic life. But particular importance 
 in this respect attached to the measures taken by the 
 
 173 
 
THE MONASTERIES. 
 
 Government, directed to the curtailment of the monaste- 
 rial estates a question raised, as we have said above, 
 in the reign of the grandduke Ivan III. In the begin- 
 ning of the 1 8 th century, the church patrimonies were 
 subjected to the control of the State, and the bishops 
 and monasteries were removed from the administration 
 of their affairs and from the enjoyment of their reve- 
 nues: they were allowed a definite salary, while the 
 remaining income went to the satisfaction of the needs 
 of the State and society. Even the complete confiscation 
 of ecclesiastical patrimonies took place, at one time for 
 debts, at another, to reward the services of retainers or 
 to endow works with. It is true that at the end of the 
 reign of Peter I the ecclesiastical patrimonies again pas- 
 sed into the management of the ecclesiastical authority, 
 but they were constantly laid under excessive contribu- 
 tions for the satisfaction of the needs of the State. Later, 
 after various fluctuations during which the administra- 
 tion of the patrimonies was at one time entrusted to 
 the Synod, at another to the Senate, at the end of the 
 reign of Elizaveta Petrovna it was ordered to free 
 monks, as having rejected this temporary life, from the 
 worldly cares of it, and, on the ascension of the 
 throne by Catherine II, in 1764, took place the secula- 
 rization of all church property, whereby 910,866 male 
 serfs passed to the State. At the same time fixed reve- 
 nues were assigned for the bishops' houses and the 
 monasteries. They were all divided into three classes 
 with a definite sum for their maintenance. Only the 
 necessary lands and meadows, conventual buildings and 
 
 174 
 
MISSIONARY WORK AND THE DEFENCE OF THE FAITH. 
 
 houses were left, which in the majority of cases exist 
 to this day. With the introduction of fixed staffs the 
 number of monasteries at the end of the i8 th century 
 was diminished by half, but the building of new ones 
 was allowed only with the authorization of the sovereign 
 authority. However, under Paul I and especially under 
 Alexander I, the numbers of the black clergy again in- 
 creased, and monasteries received new privileges, even 
 the right to acquire land, upon obtaining each time 
 special authorization. The total number of monasteries 
 at the end of 1893 was 74 2 i f which 507 for monks, 
 and 235 for nuns. They contained 7,464 monks and 
 7,566 nuns, and 6,152 lay brethren, and 21,758 lay sis- 
 ters, or a total of 42,930. Among the monasteries are 
 reckoned 64 bishops' houses, which manage the house- 
 hold affairs of the bishop. The majority of the mona- 
 steries are under the control of the bishops of dioceses, 
 but 7, the so-called stauropegial, and 4 lavras the Kief- 
 Pechersky, Troitsa-Sergievsky, Alexander-Nevsky in Pe- 
 tersburg, and Pochaevsky in the government of Volhynia, 
 are directly subjected to the Synod. 
 
 4. Missionary work and the defence of the faith. In 
 Russia there are even to-day very many heathen natives. 
 Their illumination with the light of the Gospel teaching 
 now, as formerly, constitutes an important care of the 
 orthodox church. But the majority of the native tribes 
 lead a nomadic life and their grazing grounds are scat- 
 tered over vast regions, and therefore action upon these 
 heathens is not always possible for the parish clergy. 
 Besides this the conversion of the natives demands not 
 
 175 
 
MISSIONARY WORK AND THE DEFENCE OF THE FAITH. 
 
 unfrequently a special preparation, zeal, and even self sacri- 
 fice. Therefore in localities with a heathen population special 
 missions have been founded. Siberia is the field of action 
 of the following missions: Altay, Kirgiz, Chukch, Kam- 
 tchatka, Transbaikal and Irkootsk. In European Russia is 
 stationed the Astrakhan mission, and in the Kazan region 
 the brotherhood of bishop Goory. Among contemporary 
 missionaries, particularly remarkable was Innokenty, me- 
 tropolitan of Moscow (ti8y9). When yet a priest, he 
 on his own initiative set out 5,000 versts from Irkootsk 
 to the island of Unalashka to preach the Gospel. Here 
 he remained ten years, learnt the Aleut tongue, translated 
 into it the Gospel and the prayers and founded a school 
 and church. He then transferred to the island of Sitha 
 and here, having learnt the language of the natives, 
 preached likewise to them. Ordained bishop of Kamtchat- 
 ka, Innokenty removed in 1853 to Yakootsk and here 
 having learnt Yakootish, translated into it the Gospel, 
 liturgy, and prayers and converted fully 300,000 Yakoots. 
 Four years afterwards, archbishop Innokenty removed 
 his residence to Blagoveshchensk on the Amoor, where 
 he converted to Christianity several thousand half savage 
 Mongols. Having finally become metropolitan of Moscow, 
 Innokenty reformed the Orthodox Missionary Society 
 thus accomplishing the labour of his whole life. This 
 Society, has committees in the diocesan cities, supports 
 missionaries, promotes the building of churches, publishes 
 translations of the Scripture in the local dialects, opens 
 libraries for the clergy, schools and hospitals, helps 
 new converts, etc. 
 
 176 
 
MISSIONARY WORK AND THE DEFENCE OF THE FAITH. 
 
 In the Caucasus a like importance with that of 
 Innokenty in Siberia, attached to the career of Feofilakt, 
 the exarch of Georgia. Even in the i8 th cejitury conver- 
 sions were to be counted there by thousands. Under 
 Feofilakt more than 40,000 souls were converted, more 
 than 40 churches built, and 'the church service was print- 
 ed in Ossetinian. With the subjugation of the Caucasus 
 in 1859, the missionary activity of the church began to 
 develop still more, and in 1860 in Tiflis was founded 
 the Society for the Revival of Orthodox Christianity in 
 the Caucasus. Finally, the Russian church has its mis- 
 sions in other countries also, namely, at Jerusalem, at 
 Pekin, and in Japan, while it possesses the entire bish- 
 opric of Aleutia in North-America. 
 
 In the same manner as the conversion of the hea- 
 then, the missionaries, hand in hand with the parochial 
 clergy, are engaged in a vehement struggle with dis- 
 sent and sectarianism, mainly by means of preaching, 
 public discussion with the sectaries, the organization of 
 antisectarian libraries in the bishops' houses, the opening 
 of schools, and conversations held out of service time. 
 Particular merit in this respect belongs indisputably to 
 the church's orthodox brotherhoods, that ancient Russian 
 form of communion between the clergy and the laity 
 for works of spiritual grace. Without dwelling here 
 upon the original history of the brotherhoods, which 
 we shall treat more in detail in the chapter on national 
 education, we will merely remark that, according to the 
 last enactment of 1864, the whole function of these 
 brotherhoods falls into four main groups: religious and 
 
 177 12 
 
MISSIONARY WORK AND THE DEFENCE OF THE FAITH. 
 
 educational, expressing itself principally in the foun- 
 dation of parish schools; missionary, in the struggle 
 chiefly with .dissent and sectariarism; charitable, and 
 church building. 
 
 The strengthening of the true understanding of 
 orthodox faith and piety is further promoted by various 
 kinds of Societies. Thus, there is the Society for the 
 Propagation of Religious and Moral Education in the 
 Spirit of the Orthodox Church, which, besides daily 
 conversations in its own church, carries on similar con- 
 versations in a whole series of churches in the capital, 
 as well as at the manufactories and works. Further, 
 there is the Orthodox Palestine Society, under the pa- 
 tronage of the Grandduke Serghey Alexandrovitch, whose 
 object is the support of orthodoxy in the Holy Land, 
 its exploration,, and the facilitation of the voyage of 
 Russian pilgrims to the Holy Land and Mount Athos. 
 This Society has branches in various towns. The Society 
 of the Mother of God meets in the house of the High 
 Procurer of the Most Holy Synod Pobedonostsef. 
 Finally, there is the Society for the Propagation of the 
 Scripture in Russia. The distribution of books is effected 
 by means of book-stores in various parts of Russia and 
 of colporteurs who often reach the most distant and 
 forlorn regions of Eastern Siberia, Toorkistan, etc. The 
 books are sold at the cheapest price possible, and in the 
 case of the poor with a reduction, or are even given 
 away. The total number of copies of the Scripture 
 distributed by this Society, from the day of its founda- 
 tion in 1863 till the i January, 1894, i s 1,658,000. On 
 
 - 178 
 
THEOLOGICAL SCHOOLS. 
 
 a large scale is the activity of the British Bible Society, 
 which has stores in many towns. 
 
 Lastly, for the purpose of insuring the correct print- 
 ing of the scriptures and all books whatever of a reli- 
 gious character, we have Committees of Censure in 
 certain diocesan cities and Censors under the general 
 inspection of the Synod. 
 
 5. Theological schools. We still have to say a few 
 words on the theological schools, founded especially for 
 the preparation of the clergy. 
 
 Of the schools existing before the reign of Peter 
 we shall not speak. At that time, the whole general 
 education bore an ecclesiastical character, and priests 
 were prepared in the general educational institutions. 
 Specialization began only under Peter the Great, when 
 in accordance with the Spiritual Reglement the priest 
 was required to possess a special preparation. In 1730, 
 an order was issued to found theological schools in all 
 the dioceses and to ascribe to them the name of 
 seminaries. Under Catherine II a scheme was elabor- 
 ated for small and large seminaries, but remained un- 
 realized, and it was only in the reign of Alexander I 
 that a really higher theological school was created, 
 seeing that the academies which had existed until then 
 were only superior seminaries, but in 1808 and 1814 a 
 whole system of theological educational institutions was 
 elaborated. 
 
 According to the statute of 1884 now in force, 
 distinction is made between theological schools, inse- 
 parably connected with the seminaries, theological semi- 
 
 - 179 - 12- 
 
THEOLOGICAL SCHOOLS. 
 
 naries in the function of intermediate educational insti- 
 tutions, and theological academies. Those who have 
 finished the six-years course of the seminary have open 
 to them the academy or appointments as priest, to which 
 must be added the posts of teachers or inspectors in 
 theological or elementary schools. Therefore, the semi- 
 naries include teaching classes and church schools. The 
 necessity of priests coming to the aid, not only of the 
 spirit, but of the body in sickness, led in 1892 to the 
 idea of introducing by way of experiment in some 
 seminaries the teaching of medicine. Lastly, the aca- 
 demies present as it were a faculty of theology, having 
 for its object to afford the highest theological education 
 in the spirit of orthodoxy, for the enlightened service 
 of the church in the career of pastor and teacher 
 of theology. The course is four years. 
 
 The special theological educational institutions, 
 together with the pupils attending them, appear according 
 to the information for 1893 as follows: 
 
 Number. Pupils. 
 
 Academies 4* 884 
 
 Seminaries 5-5 18,597 
 
 Schools , 1 86 ^110 
 
 245 50,591 
 
 Among the pupils in the Seminaries, 754 were learn- 
 ing native dialects with a view to future missionary work. 
 
 * In Petersburg. Moscow, Kief and Kazan. 
 180 
 
ADMINISTRATION OF THE OTHER RELIGIOUS PROFESSIONS. 
 
 V. Administration of the other religious professions, 
 In conclusion to this chapter, mention mnst further be 
 made of the organization existing in Russia for the 
 government of the other Christian and nonchristian 
 faiths under the inspection of the Ministry of the In- 
 terior (Department of Foreign Faiths). 
 
 1. Christian Faiths. In Russia there are 12 Catholic 
 bishoprics; the chief among them is that of Mogilef, 
 whose head, having his residence in St. Petersburg, is 
 at the same time metropolitan of all the Roman Catholic 
 churches of the Empire and of the Grandduchy of 
 Finland. But the dioceses of the Kingdom of Poland 
 are not subject to him. Under the presidency of the 
 metropolitan is the Roman Catholic theological college. 
 The metropolitan and bishops are appointed by the Tsar 
 in agreement with the pope of Rome. In 6 dioceses 
 have been founded offices of bishops suffragan and 12 
 consistories to assist the bishops in the administration 
 of their sees. The dioceses are divided into parishes, 
 presided over by priests and their vicars, under the in- 
 spection of deans. Each diocese contains a Roman- 
 Catholic theological seminary, while Petersburg possesses 
 a theological academy. 
 
 The Evangelical Lutheran church in Russia is divided 
 into 5 consistorial districts, which again are subdivided 
 into subdistricts and parishes. At the head of the parish 
 si placed the pastor, chosen from persons who have 
 passed the theological faculty in the university of Yurief 
 or who have satisfied the examination of the consistory. 
 He is assisted by the church guardians and elders, 
 
 181 
 
ADMINISTRATION OF THE OTHER RELIGIOUS PROFESSIONS. 
 
 elected for three years. In the towns the boards of 
 guardians are called parish councils or convents*. For 
 the inspection of the parishes, over the subdistricts are 
 appointed provosts, and over the districts consistories 
 composed of a lay president, a clerical vicepresident, who 
 ordains the preachers and pastors, and members clerical 
 and lay in equal numbers. Besides these there is a 
 secretary. Lastly, the highest administrative functions 
 belong to the general consistory in Petersburg, over and 
 above which the Government in case of necessity may 
 convoke a General Synod of deputies and members from 
 the local and general consistories. 
 
 The Armenian Gregorian church has in Russia 
 only 6 dioceses, while there are 6 in Persia and 18 in 
 Turkey. The Russian and Persian dioceses are subject 
 to the patriarch of Echmiadzin resident in Russia, 
 whose title is katholikos of the Haik people. The 
 katholikos presides over a permanent council of 4 
 bishops and 4 archimandrites, called the synod of 
 Echmiadzin, whose members are appointed by the 
 Tsar. In matters of faith, the synod is subject to the 
 katholikos, in matters of church government it has 
 cdllegial rights, but presents certain questions for the 
 sanction of the patriarch or even of the Tsar. The 
 katholikos himself is elected by the synod assisted by 
 clerical and lay deputies from the dioceses and by ail 
 the archbishops or bishops residing in Echmiadzin. The 
 dioceses are governed by the bishops. In each diocese 
 there is a theological seminary, and an academy attached 
 to the Echmiadzin monastery. 
 
 182 
 
ADMINISTRATION OF THE OTHER RELIGIOUS PROFESSIONS. 
 
 2. Nonchristians. The Jews have their synagogues 
 and prayerhouses. All Jews constantly attending a syna- 
 gogue or school form a prayer community which 
 elects for three years a spiritual board consisting of 
 scholar, elder, and treasurer. Besides these, a permanent 
 member is the rabbi, appointed from among those who 
 have finished the course in the rabbinical school or in 
 some other intermediate or superior educational institu- 
 tion. Attached to the Ministry of the Interior is the 
 rabbinical commission, convoked periodically. 
 
 The Karaim have their spiritual heads or gaham's 
 in Eupatoria and Troki. 
 
 The Mahometans have a spiritual council in Oofa 
 presided over by a mufty, of two or three mollahs, elected 
 for three years. There is also the Tauric Spiritual 
 Board, consisting of a mufty and six kadis, in Simfer- 
 opol. These institutions examine all candidates for spiri- 
 tual posts. * 
 
 The number of lamas, the clergy of the lamaists 
 is fixed by law. Among the Calmucks, lama is the title 
 of the chief priest only, who has his office and receives 
 his salary from the Government. He appoints the other 
 priests and is the chief of the lama monasteries or 
 khuruls. In Eastern Siberia at the head of the priest- 
 hood stands the chief lama Bandido Hamba, with 34 
 datsans, (prayer-houses) under him, each governed by 
 a shiretoo, or superintendant; the other lamas bear 
 
 * The Mohametans of the Transcaspia belong to 2 sects. 
 Part of them are Sunnites with a mufti as their spiritual head, 
 and part, Shiites recognizing only the Sheikh-ul-Islam. 
 
 183 
 
KIEF PERIOD. 
 
 various appellations as: gheloongs, gutsools, bandies, and 
 hovarucks, in all 250. 
 
 2. National Education. 
 
 1. Kief Period (io th 1 3 th centuries). The solicitude of 
 the State authority for the propagation of learning and 
 enlightenment begins at the same time as the introduc- 
 tion of Christianity. Under the year 988, the annalist 
 says that prince St. Vladimir after the baptism of the 
 Kievites ordered the children of the best citizens to be 
 taken and put to book-learning. But the mothers of 
 these children, adds the annalist, mourned over them 
 as if they were dead, because they themselves had not 
 yet become firm in the faith. Thus, faith and book- 
 learning are bound together, only the unenlightened by 
 faith are afraid of books. The demand for book learning 
 was great; although clergy arrived in numbers from 
 Greece and Bulgaria, yet they were insufficient for all 
 the territories to which Christianity had penetrated. It 
 was necessary for Russia to prepare her own native 
 priests. This is why the first metropolitan Michail 
 counselled St. Vladimir to establish schools. Vladimir 
 followed his advice and sent learned priests with in- 
 structions to open schools in connexion with the churches. 
 The son of Vladimir, Yaroslaf I, called the Wise, 
 founded a school in Novgorod, and appointed the priests 
 a salary for teaching the children. 
 
 Like, says the annalist, as if some one should 
 plough up the ground, and another should sow, and 
 others again should reap and eat abundant food, so also 
 
 184 
 
KIEF PERIOD. 
 
 prince Vladimir ploughed up and softened the hearts of 
 men, by enlightening them by baptism; his son Yaroslaf 
 sowed them with the words of books, and we now 
 reap, receiving the learning of books.)) 
 
 The successors in the princedom to Vladimir and 
 Yaroslaf were also their successors in the solicitude for 
 the spread of enlightenment. The annals have preserved 
 evidence that the appanage prince of Smolensk, Roman 
 Rostislavitch (f 1180) was very learned and incited 
 many people to learning by founding schools, and 
 supported teachers, Greeks and Latins, at his own 
 expense, and so exhausted his purse upon this that the 
 Smolnians were compelled to make a collection for his 
 burial. And all the Smolnians mourned his loss, under- 
 standing his kindhearted behaviour towards them, in 
 other words, understanding the benefit of the learning which 
 he had afforded them. What a difference then had taken 
 place in 200 years compared with those mothers at Kief, 
 who wept over their children as over the dead, when they 
 were sent to school. The king of Galicia, Yaroslaf Vla- 
 dimirovitch, called Osmosmysl, (f 1 1 88 ), showed great inte- 
 rest in the organization of schools, being in intimate rela- 
 tions with Byzantium. In Vladimir the schools flouri- 
 shed particularly under prince Constantine Vsevolodovitch, 
 (i 1 86 1 21 8), who set apart for their maintenance no small 
 volosts. Even princesses were zealous in the establishment 
 -of schools. Thus Anna, the daughter of the grandduke 
 Vsevolod Yaroslavitch, (1030 1093), took the veil in 
 the convent built by her father, and having gathered 
 together young girls, taught them writing, handicrafts, 
 
 185 
 
KIEF PERIOD. 
 
 singing, sewing, and other usual knowledge)). St. Euphrosy- 
 ne Polotskaya, (f 1 1 70), also was celebrated for her learning. 
 The examples cited sufficiently characterize the 
 activity of the State in regard to national education in 
 the pretatar period of Russian history. The State's 
 chief assistant and counsellor in this work was the 
 clergy. Schools were opened at the churches and 
 monasteries, the teachers being principally members of 
 the clergy: priests, monks, clerks. According to the just 
 remark of Pogodin ((every new diocese became a new 
 educational district)), for every .bishopric had its school 
 under the guidance and inspection of bishops, who thus 
 gave an example to their flock. Whether there was 
 afterwards a school in every parish, attached to every 
 church, or only to many, it is difficult to say from the 
 materials extant. One may, however, be sure that the 
 teaching of reading and writing and religion went on 
 as far as possible everywhere where there were churches 
 and clergy. The church schools satisfied first of all the 
 chief demand of the time, namely for the preparation 
 of pastors. Nevertheless, it is hardly possible to call 
 them special theological institutions in the present sense 
 of the word. They were ordinary general elementary 
 schools, for our clergy clearly recognized from the very 
 beginning that only education and enlightenment can 
 open the way to the true and exact knowledge of 
 religion and to truly Christian virtue. This is why in 
 those ancient times not only prelates of the church but 
 princes presented examples of high education. Book- 
 learning became a necessity for princes, so to say a 
 
 186 
 
KIEF PERIOD. 
 
 covenant from father to son. We meet with remarkable 
 writers not only among the clergy, but among laymen, 
 such as Vladimir Monomakh, Daniel Zatotchnik. That 
 not future priests alone were taught is proved by the 
 mass of literary productions of an even perfectly lay 
 character, which has come down to us from that time; 
 but all these writings must have had readers. Nor is 
 this all, the capacity to read and write was required in 
 ordinary life at every step for the accomplishment of 
 various kinds of legal acts. 
 
 These facts, in connexion with the monuments of 
 ancient Russian literature, which bear witness to the 
 high gifts and education, for that time, of their authors, 
 have raised the presumption that, in ancient Russia, 
 besides elementary schools, there were also higher 
 institutions of learning. This presumption, on the whole 
 not improbable, is not, however, confirmed by any direct 
 proofs. But the school, of which we know, was an 
 elementary one: the subjects taught in it were reading 
 and writing in Church-Slavonic, and church singing. At 
 first they taught the alphabet and then they read the 
 psalter, which was the chief textbook of that time and 
 the fovourite book for reading not only of the clergy 
 but of princes and of the whole people. Moreover, in 
 the west of Europe also, those who could read and 
 write were called in the middle ages psalterati. Of the 
 methods of teaching writing no information is preserved. 
 Writing was considered a special art and was held in 
 great respect. It w r as necessary for the very dissemina- 
 tion of books, which were zealously copied in various 
 
 187 
 
KIEF PERIOD. 
 
 monasteries and were then stored in the libraries be- 
 longing to them and to the churches. Finally, church 
 singing was a favourite subject not only with the clergy, 
 but also with the laity. Whether anything else was 
 taught in these schools, it is impossible to say with 
 certainty. Maybe, in some of the schools, grammar too 
 was taught; arithmetic may also have been a subject of 
 instruction, for numeration existed and problems are met 
 with in integers and fractions. However this may have 
 been, the principal subjects were reading, writing, and 
 singing, while all other knowledge was obtained appar- 
 ently by self-instruction, by reading the extensive, mainly 
 ecclesiastical, literature of that time. 
 
 Although the course of teaching was thus com- 
 paratively small, the school satisfied the needs of our 
 ancestors, for, opening the door to the acquaintance 
 with holy writ, it gave solid foundations of education. 
 The Christian church attracted by ideals of humility, 
 meekness, by spiritual exploits; and such was also the 
 Christian school. It not only taught reading and writing, 
 but communicated to the pupils the truths of religion, 
 the feelings of Christian morality, the fear of God, and 
 the love of labour. And these virtues were inspired,. 
 not by corporal punishment, not by the rod, but by 
 gentle treatment of the pupils: Teach them, says the 
 metropolitan Michail in his instruction, neither by rage, 
 nor cruelty, nor anger, but by a cheerful fear and 
 loving intercourse, and sweet instruction, and kindly 
 discussion; while St. Leonty, bishop of Rostoff, seeing the 
 impossibility of acting upon the adult generation of hea- 
 
 188 
 
THE TATAR PERIOD. 
 
 then, turns to the children and attracts them to him by 
 kindness, teaching them the truths of religion. 
 
 The wide dissemination of enlightenment and school 
 teaching in ancient Russia recalls the brilliant era o 
 Charlemagne in the west. Ancient Russian instruction 
 even had the advantage of universality as compared 
 with that in the west: owing to the church language 
 being comprehensible to the whole people, education 
 was accessible to every one from prince to peasant. 
 
 II. The Tatar period (i3 th 15 th centuries). It is 
 therefore difficult to judge what would have been the 
 subsequent development of education in Russia, if there 
 had been no Tatar invasion. It is extremely probable 
 that from elementary schools it would have passed on 
 to the organization of higher institutions. But the Tatar 
 yoke puts a sudden stop to the development of science, 
 leaving room for elementary instruction alone. The best 
 and most thickly populated parts of Russia were converted 
 into deserts, the possibility of that secure and peaceful 
 leisure, which has such an immense importance in the 
 history of the culture of every people, was destroyed. 
 A blow to education was struck also from the side of 
 its material resources: scores of libraries perished and 
 only in a few places, and these the least rich in books, 
 were any remains preserved of our primitive bookstores. 
 Not only the common people, but even princes then 
 had no time to think of school or books. Accordings to 
 the just remark of the historian Solovief: the habit 
 of being guided by the instinct of selfpreservation led 
 to the predominance of every kind of material incentives 
 
 189 
 
THE TATAR PERIOD. 
 
 over those of a moral character)). If the property of 
 the citizens was hidden in the churches, then treasures 
 of a moral kind had need too of secure asylum in 
 wildernesses and in monasteries)). 
 
 Even during this period enlightened princes, lovers 
 of books and reading, are not wanting; such were Alex- 
 ander Nevsky, (f 1263), Michael Prince of Tver, (f 1318), 
 and Vladimir, Prince of Voluin, (f 1288). But the annals 
 do not say that they founded schools. The princes were 
 occupied with wars and journeys to the Horde. Under 
 such conditions the home education of their children could 
 not take a regular course, and the falling off of learning 
 among the princes continued without interruption. Of 
 Dmitry Donskoy (1350 1389) it is stated out right in 
 the annals that he was no book scholar, and Vasily the 
 Dark (1415 1462) was simply unable to read. By the 
 princes may be judged the degree of education of the 
 other classes, of laymen. 
 
 Only the clergy, who enjoyed under the Mongols, 
 as we already know, considerably more independence 
 than all the other classes of society, were able to be the 
 keepers of divine and human learning. The services ot 
 our church in this respect are beyond doubt. Notwith- 
 standing all unfavourable circumstances, the clergy suc- 
 ceeded in preserving the school, and with its aid in not 
 allowing learning to completely disappear from among 
 the people. The residences of the bishops, as before, 
 were centres of education, the prelates themselves caring, 
 as far as possible, for the training of the members of 
 the priesthood, for the establishment of schools and lib- 
 
 190 
 
THE MOSCOW PERIOD. 
 
 raries, for the copying and dissemination of church ser- 
 vices. Direct notices of the foundation of new schools 
 we do not possess, except for the region of Perm, where 
 St. Stephen opened them principally with a view to mis- 
 sionary efforts. In the schools, as before, the subjects 
 taught were reading, writing, and church singing. Besides 
 persons belonging to the clergy, appear also lay teachers 
 bookmen, statute-keepers and popular narrators,)) but 
 under the protection of the ecclesiastical authority, being 
 reckoned among the dependents of the church. 
 
 And yet in the course of three centuries the school 
 evidently lost many of its former merits. 
 
 III. The Moscow Period (i5 th i8 th centuries). 
 
 1. State of elementary education in the beginning of 
 ihis period. Statistics indeed show that elementary edu- 
 cation in the i6 i}l iy th centuries was comparatively 
 widely spread. From calculations made on the basis of 
 signatures on various kinds of documents, it is ascer- 
 tained that the white clergy were then universally lite- 
 rate; that the black clergy contained 70 per cent, the 
 merchant class 90 per cent, the boyars and lesser boyars 
 50 per cent, the townsmen 20 per cent, and, finally, the 
 peasants 15 per cent of literates. For the townsmen and 
 peasantry these figures are of course very favourable for 
 that time, but it is impossible to avoid acknowledging 
 that the illiterateness of half the boyars and lesser boyars, 
 i. e. of the class called upon to render service to the 
 State in every capacity from the tsar's council to local 
 administration, is extremely lamentable. As far, however, 
 as concerns the white clergy, according to the words of 
 
 191 - 
 
MAXIM THE GREEK AND IVAN THE TERRIBLE. 
 
 Gennady, archbishop of Novgorod in the beginning of 
 the 1 6 th century, in Russia at that time there were no 
 good schools for teaching the priests, the future teachers 
 of the people. They were taught not seldom by m asters 
 who had no conception of proper educational methods. 
 Elementary knowledge was obtained, but neither solid 
 nor thorough. If then even the priests lacked good 
 schools, could the whole mass of the remaining popula- 
 tion be provided with them? But by the schools one 
 may judge of the character of the education. 
 
 To the same period (i5 th iy th centuries) belongs 
 the development of dissent in the extreme form of esteem- 
 ing in religion not the inner meaning but the letter,, 
 which is evidence that, in contradistinction to more an- 
 cient times, the school discerned in education not the 
 means merely for knowing the truths of religion and 
 morals, but the object itself of learning, attributing more 
 importance to the form than to the contents. 
 
 The reserve must, however, be made that the cha- 
 racterization given above of school teaching refers to the 
 time immediately following the Tatar period. Since then 
 and before Peter the Great, thanks to the energetic 
 action of the State and clergy, much was corrected and 
 improved. 
 
 2. Maxim the Greek and Ivan the Terrible. The wife 
 of the grandduke of Moscow Ivan III was, as is known, 
 Sophia Palaeolog, the niece of the last Byzantine Em- 
 peror. With her arrival were renewed the tendencies 
 which had once prevailed in Russia towards Byzantine 
 culture. She gave her son a certain education, and ac- 
 
 192 
 
MAXIM THE GREEK AND IVAN THE TERRIBLE. 
 
 cording to contemporary evidence Vasily Ivanovitch loved 
 book-learning. Wishing to put in order the rich collec- 
 tion of Greek manuscripts, which he had acquired from 
 his mother, Vasily Ivanovitch was yet unable to find in 
 Russia anyone capable of doing this, and accordingly 
 invited in 1506 to Moscow 7 from Athos the learned 
 monk, Maxim the Greek, a man of wide culture who 
 had attended lectures in the various sciences at Paris, 
 Florence, and Venice. Maxim belonged to that pleiad of 
 Byzantine scholars who, having removed to Italy, laid 
 the foundation in Western Europe of the epoch of the 
 Renaissance; but, having received his education in foreign 
 universities, Maxim yet remained a true son of the or- 
 thodox church. He came to Russia only for the purpose 
 of arranging the library of the grandduke, but he lived 
 here the greater part of his life and became Russian in 
 sentiment. He was carried away by a warm zeal for the 
 enlightenment of this country and educated a whole ge- 
 neration of new men, who afterwards advanced further 
 along the path of a wider moral and intellectual deve- 
 lopment, proud to call themselves Maxim's pupils. 
 Maxim the Greek was the first to undertake the correc- 
 tion of the scriptures, corrupted by ignorant copyists 
 and translators; with characteristic energy he proceeded 
 to condemn the worship of the letter to the detriment 
 of the spirit, and to disclose the falsehood and super- 
 stitions contained in our apocryphal books. 
 
 Unfortunately, the power of the pedants was so 
 great that Maxim was condemned as a heretic, excom- 
 municated, thrown into prison and even forbidden to 
 
 read and write. 
 
 193 13 
 
MAXIM THE GREEK AND IVAN THE TERRIBLE. 
 
 But the seed he had sown produced its fruit. The 
 throne was ascended by Ivan IV Vasilievitch, the begin- 
 ning of whose reign was occupied by a whole series of 
 beneficent enterprises for the enlightenment and general 
 welfare of Russia. 
 
 In 1551, at the so-called Hundred-chapters Council, 
 the tsar proposed to the prelates a whole series of ques- 
 tions upon various kinds of disorders, for whose remo- 
 val their cooperation was necessary. Among these ques- 
 tions was: Why are pupils taught carelessly, and how to 
 remedy it? It was resolved: to select good priests, dea- 
 cons and married clerks, pious men, and those learned 
 in reading and writing; and to organize schools in their 
 houses where they should teach children reading, writing 
 and church singing with all spiritual instruction, but 
 above all should keep and preserve their scholars in 
 all purity, and protect them from every seduction, that 
 they, when they should come of age, might be worthy 
 of the priestly office. 
 
 It is to be presumed that the ordinance of the 
 council found a practical realization. From it we see 
 that it was decided to open elementary schools of a 
 general educational character such as had existed before, 
 for teaching reading, writing, and church singing princi- 
 pally with a view to the preparation of candidates for 
 holy orders. The school remains as before in the main 
 a religions and educational institution. Thus, in respect 
 to school teaching, we see in the i6 th century the 
 restoration of that which had in the preceding period 
 fallen into decay, but all kinds of innovations are still met 
 
 194 
 
MAXIM THE GREEK AND IVAN THE TERRIBLE. 
 
 with great distrust. This is particularly noticeable in the 
 original history of Russian printing. At the Council of 
 1551, the tsar, among other disorders, pointed to the 
 corruption of books of scripture by copyists. It was 
 resolved to establish an inspection of them, and to 
 confiscate incorrect copies whether in the hands of the 
 seller or the buyer without compensation. But, of course, 
 it was impossible to keep watch over incorrect manu- 
 scripts. Therefore, the tsar, apparently at the suggestion 
 of Maxim the Greek and the enlightened metropolitan 
 Makary, decided to establish a printing office in Moscow. 
 This printing office, under the name of the Printing 
 Court, was opened the 19 April, 1563, and on the 
 i March, 1564, was completed by the printers Ivan 
 Fedorof and Peter Timofeef the first printed book in 
 Great Russia, viz. the Acts of the Apostles. The next 
 year saw the issue of the Prayerbook. It is remarkable 
 that our first printers, who had learnt their art in Italy 
 or from Italians visiting Russia even founded their type 
 in Russia and did this very well; and that the first 
 printed book, in the opinion of experts, presents an 
 extremely remarkable phenomenon in the region of 
 printing on account both of its beauty and elegance. 
 And, nevertheless, our printers already in 1565 were 
 compelled to fly from Moscow, being accused of heresy 
 and of corrupting the books; while the printing office 
 was it would seem even burnt down by their opponents. 
 It is true that in 1568 printing was again renewed in 
 Moscow, but its influence was nevertheless so inconsi- 
 derable that, side by side with it and in far greater 
 
 195 is. 
 
SCHOOLS IN WESTERN RUSSIA; BROTHERHOODS. 
 
 proportion, was continued the copying of manuscripts, 
 which circulated together with the books, found readers 
 and buyers and provided subsistence to a whole crowd 
 of copyists. 
 
 3. Schools in Western Russia; brotherhoods. Such 
 was the state of education in Moscovite Russia at the 
 end of the i6 th century. In western and south-w T estern 
 Russia, the schools receive another direction, which in 
 the 1 7 th century extended also to Moscow. The ancient 
 Russian orthodox population of these parts of our 
 country was united at first to the Lithuanian princi- 
 pality and afterwards to the Polish Kingdom, when 
 it experienced the whole weight of the catholic propa- 
 ganda. The Jesuits, who had established themselves in 
 Poland under Sigismund Augustus, proceeded through 
 their schools to act principally upon the younger gene- 
 ration. In defence of their religion the orthodox were 
 obliged to arm themselves with the same weapon viz. 
 to found schools and prepare scholars. The initiative 
 in this important matter belongs to the western Russian 
 grandees. The celebrated prince Koorbsky, having removed 
 from Moscow to escape the persecution of Ivan the 
 Terrible, and settled in the estates granted him by the 
 king, remained true to the traditions of orthodoxy. He 
 took active steps to increase the books written by the 
 fathers of the Eastern church, himself translated them, 
 hired translators, and warned his fellow believers against 
 catholic influence. Prince Constantine Ostrojsky founded 
 schools, and combated in every way the uniate church. 
 But the connexion with Poland paralysed these efforts 
 
 196 
 
SCHOOLS IN WESTERN RUSSIA; BROTHERHOODS. 
 
 of the aristocracy: the sons of Koorbsky and Ostrojsky 
 together with the other representatives of the noble 
 families passed over to Catholicism. The town popula- 
 tion proved much more stubborn. In the government 
 of the western Russian church an immense importance 
 attached to the right of patronage to churches and 
 monasteries. On town land this right ordinarily belonged 
 to the town society or brotherhoods. These brother- 
 hoods of townsmen had originally philanthropic objects, 
 but they afterwards obtained a serious importance in 
 connexion with church education. The most ancient 
 was the Lvovsk brotherhood which arose in 1439, after 
 which followed those of Vilno, Kief, Lootsk, Mogilef, 
 Orsha, Brest, etc. In 1588 arrived in Lithuania Jere- 
 miah II, patriarch of Constantinople, who seeing that 
 the orthodox church was in danger clearly unders- 
 tood that the brotherhoods might supply it with a 
 trustworthy support. In order to give them still greater 
 importance, the patriarch raised the Lvoff and Vilno 
 brotherhoods to the rank of patriarchal stauropigia, i. e. 
 institutions dependent upon the patriarch personally, 
 instituted statutes for them and blessed the foundation 
 of the new brotherhoods. From that time the activity 
 of the latter developed in ever increasing proportions. 
 A means of combat in their hands was the foundation 
 of schools, but the former parish schools were no longer 
 enough, there was need for more considerable and 
 many sided knowledge. The schools of the brotherhoods 
 were not elementary but intermediate schools. The 
 course of instruction included the following languages 
 
 197 
 
SCHOOLS IK WESTERN RUSSIA; BROTHERHOODS. 
 
 Greek, Slavonic, Russian, Latin and Polish, and grammar, 
 rhetoric, poetry, dialectics, moral theology and some 
 other subjects. From among these schools soon arose a 
 true high school, the School of Helleno-Slavonic and 
 Latino-Polish Literature*, founded in 1589 by the brother- 
 hood attached to the church of the Epiphany in Kief. 
 Here the prime mover was the metropolitan, Peter 
 Mogila. Owing to his efforts and contributions, the 
 School was reorganized in 1631 into the KiefMogili- 
 ansk high college. With a view to training worthy- 
 teachers, Peter Mogila selected several talented monks 
 and sent them abroad at his own expense. When they 
 returned, the college received the organization of similar 
 western European institutions. The methods and manner 
 of teaching were essentially the same as in the Jesuit 
 schools, instruction was carried on in the Latin language.,, 
 only the spirit was a different one: here were trained 
 defenders of orthodoxy, preachers and enlighteners of 
 the Russian people. The object of the instruction cons- 
 isted in the logical proof of the Christian truths, 
 preliminarily taken on faith. All possible objections were 
 sought for, as well as the confutation of the objections. 
 This was in effect dialectics based on the highest 
 sciences philosophy and theology, while the form of 
 the dissertation was supplied by rhetoric. All these 
 sciences together were called scholasticism. In the West, 
 in the 17 th century, scholasticism was already dying 
 out; with us, on the contrary, it took a firm root and 
 long maintained itself. Besides the successful defence of 
 orthodoxy, scholasticism afforded another benefit to 
 
 198 
 
RULE OF THE FIRST SOVEREIGNS OF THE HOUSE OF ROMANOFS. 
 
 Russian life. It inspired respect for science in general 
 and, when transferred in the 17 th century to Moscow, 
 gradually extirpated those wily seducers giving them- 
 selves out as teachers, of whom Koorbsky wrote, that 
 they seduce industrious youths wishing to become 
 familiar with literature, saying to them: do not read 
 many books, and point out, that this man lost his wits 
 from books, while that one fell into heresy . 
 
 4. The rule of the first sovereigns of the house of 
 the Romanofs. The ij ih century in the history of 
 education in Moscovite Russia presents a considerable 
 step in advance, thanks to the enlightened activity of 
 the first tsars of the house of the Romanofs. The 
 orthodox church under the patriarch Nikon declared 
 an uncompromising war against the sextons and church 
 readers who kept to the letter of the law in questions 
 of doctrine. Nikon himself fell in this struggle, but his 
 cause triumphed. Church schools of the former type 
 undoubtedly increased, but a demand appeared for edu- 
 cational institutions with a wider programme. It is well 
 known that Boris Godoonoff already conceived the idea 
 of founding a university in Moscow and with this 
 object sent several young men to study abroad. After- 
 wards the patriarch Philaret, the father of the tsar 
 Michael Feodorovich, founded in Moscow at the Tchoodof 
 monastery in 1633 the first school, called Greco-Latin. 
 About the same time there appeared such enlightened 
 men as Rtishchef, Ordyn-Nashchokin and Matveef, who 
 invited to Moscow scholars from Kief. The publication 
 of the first kurants, or newspapers was begun by 
 
 199 
 
RULE OF THE FIRST SOVEREIGNS OF THE HOUSE OF ROMANOFS. 
 
 Ordyn-Nashchokin. Matveef opened a theatre, where 
 mysteries were performed, in which the tsar Alexey 
 Mikhailovich took an interest. Finally, to Rtishchef 
 belongs the honour of founding in 1648 a learned 
 brotherhood in the deserted Andreevsk monastery, where 
 there was also a school. The soul of the brotherhood 
 was supplied by the Kief scholars, Slavinetsky and 
 others, who appeared in Moscow in great numbers, 
 especially after the annexation of Little Russia. The 
 learned brotherhood laboured at translations and original 
 compositions, while the school furnished instruction in 
 the Greek and Slavonic tongues. 
 
 The organization of high schools was particularly 
 insisted upon by the Greek prelates who came to 
 Moscow. I strove to learn , says the learned metro- 
 politan of Gaza, Paisi Ligarides, whence flowed this 
 inundation of heresies and so increased to our common 
 destruction? At last I found two causes: the absence of 
 schools and the lack of sacred libraries . . . O, most 
 illustrious tsar, he continues, imitate the Theodosius 
 and Justinians and create here schools for teaching the 
 three languages: Greek, Latin, and Slavonic . To the 
 two schools of Tchoodof and Rtishchef was added in 
 1665 the school of the Saviour, founded by Simeon 
 Polotsky, a native of Little Russia. In contradistinction 
 to the former schools, the Greek language did not enter 
 at all into its programme, but only Latin, grammar, 
 rhetoric, poetry, and versification. This difference of the 
 schools was the expression of the two tendencies at 
 that time struggling for mastery in Moscow: the eastern 
 
 200 
 
RULE OF THE FIRST SOVEREIGNS OF THE HOUSE OF ROMANOFS. 
 
 which regarded the learning of Latin as even dangerous 
 to orthodoxy, and the western, a representative of which 
 was Simeon Polotsky, \vho transposed the psalter and 
 menology into verse, greatly shocking thereby the zelots 
 of the old school of piety. 
 
 In the course of the ij ih century, the eastern or 
 Greek tendency obtained an undoubted supremacy. Not 
 only the distinguished men of that time busied them- 
 selves with the foundation of high schools; all the 
 members of the church of St. John the Theologian in 
 Moscow presented a petition to the tsar praying for 
 the opening of a grammar school in their parish, with 
 instruction in the Greek tongue and in part singing. 
 Finally, in 1679. the tsar Feodor founded a new Greek 
 school, in order that the light of learning received 
 by Russia from the Greeks, might not be extinguished)). 
 It is impossible to describe)), says a contemporary, 
 the zeal of the tsar and patriarch for the school: at 
 one time both together, at another separately, openly 
 and secretly, almost every week, they came to the 
 school to refresh their spirit with the new and unheard 
 of enterprise)). 
 
 Soon the tsar wished to reorganize the school 
 into an academy. Its statutes were drawn up by Simeon 
 Polotsky: it was ordained that almost the same subjects 
 should be taught in the academy as in the college at 
 Kief. The pupils were admitted from all classes; all the 
 teachers and pupils in corpore were granted the right 
 of a court of their own after the model of western 
 institutions. But the academy was presided over by two 
 
 201 
 
THE STATE OF THE SCHOOLS BEFORE PETER THE GREAT. 
 
 learned Greeks, the brothers Likhudas, who held stead- 
 fastly to eastern ideas. The programme of classical 
 instruction under the Likhudas was as follows: the 
 course began with grammar, which was read in all 
 three classes, in the infima, divided into inferior and 
 superior, in the media and in the suprema. After 
 grammar came poetry, then rhetoric, and finally logic 
 and physics. On Sundays and holidays the pupils 
 of the academy assembled in the auditory and there 
 listened to preaching or interpretation of bible his- 
 tory, and sometimes themselves conducted disserta- 
 tions. The methods of teaching, as in Kief, were purely 
 scholastic. 
 
 IV. General conclusions on the state of the schools 
 before Peter the Great. Summing up all that has been 
 said of the period before Peter, it is impossible to avoid 
 the following general deductions. School instruction was 
 not specialized, and until the iy th century the elemen- 
 tary school prevailed in Moscovite Russia to the exclu- 
 sion of every other. This was a church school, devoted 
 mainly to training the character. Its services in the 
 history of our education are immense: it gave us all 
 our prelates and writers of the period before Peter. 
 This school further supported among the masses edu- 
 cation, the fear of God, and love for their tsar and 
 country in times when Russia, it seemed, stood on the 
 brink of destruction, and, hemmed in by her enemies, 
 was on the point of losing her independence as a nation. 
 
 The great importance of the ancient Russian school 
 is explained among other things by its being drawn 
 
 202 
 
1'HE STATE OF THE SCHOOLS BEFORE PETER THE GREAT. 
 
 from all classes: boyar, priest, and peasant had an equal 
 right to send their children to school, and they all in 
 equal measure derived thence the principles of religion 
 and morals. 
 
 In the 17 th century appear the first intermediate 
 and high schools of science, providing a general scien- 
 tific education. They embraced the whole cycle of know- 
 ledge: they included in their courses not only rational 
 or speculative philosophy, but natural philosophy or 
 physics. At the same time the object of the instruction 
 in natural sciences did not consist so much in the com- 
 munication of exact knowledge as in raising the spirit 
 and intellect from creations to the Creator, from all 
 that was beautiful and wonderful in the creations to the 
 allwise and blessed Creator. In the textbooks of natural 
 science, the so-called bestiaries, giving particulars on 
 astronomy, physics, and natural history, animals, plants, 
 and stones appear as extraordinary beings, full of my- 
 sterious force. Such for example is the story by the 
 letters)) (by the alphabet) of birds and beasts, which 
 treats of the lion, crocodile, unicorn, asp, alconast, phe- 
 nix, strophocamel, and so on. As late as the 17 th cen- 
 tury was in circulation The book of Kozma Indikoplof 
 about Christ, comprising the whole worlds, translated 
 from a Greek work of the 6 th century, where the author 
 affirms that the earth is four-cornered, surrounded by 
 the ocean, and that the heaven is fixed on to the earth 
 like a hemisphere. 
 
 In Western Europe also at that time the knowledge 
 about nature taught in the schools was often far from exact. 
 
 203 
 
THE STATE OF THE SCHOOLS BEFORE PETER THE GREAT. 
 
 The absence of specialization in education was, 
 moreover, no defect. It was always and everywhere the 
 same: first developed educational institutions with a ge- 
 neral course, and afterwards such as prepared for one 
 or another of the professions. In the West also in the 
 17 th century, professional schools did not yet exist. The 
 Russian school of that time cannot be blamed for this, 
 but on account of the onesided tendency of the instruc- 
 tion. Mathematics and natural science were not yet ac- 
 knowledged to have any educational importance. Arith- 
 metic, to which a very modest place was given in the 
 course, was regarded mainly from the practical point of 
 view. This wisdom of ciphers and accounts)) was re- 
 commended for study, because by its aid every buyer 
 or seller may right conveniently find the number of 
 every article.)) Of the method of object lessons, of the 
 acquaintance with the nature of things from the things 
 themselves, and not from books, of the necessity of 
 natural development, nothing at all was yet known by 
 us at that time, when the w r orks of the founder of the 
 science of education Jan Amos Komensky were already 
 translated not only into 12 European languages but 
 even into some of the languages of Asia. 
 
 The effect of such onesidedness in the system of 
 education was necessarily reflected in practice. In the 
 West also, as we have had occasion to mention, special 
 schools did not yet exist in the iy tk century. 
 
 But the German schools of that time, although 
 they were far from attaining the ideal set up by edu- 
 cational science, yet opened a comparatively wide field 
 
 204 
 
THE STATE OF THE SCHOOLS BEFORE PETER THE GREAT. 
 
 for acquaintance with nature and her most useful pro- 
 ductions for man, so that into the sphere of the natio- 
 nal school entered more or less the teaching of such 
 subjects as the description of plants, animals, man, the 
 phenomena of nature, the knowledge of one's country, 
 the principal laws, domestic economy, landsurveying, etc, 
 according to the time and the degree of proficiency of 
 the pupils. 
 
 In the intermediate educational institutions were 
 taught architecture, astronomy, botany, geometry, sphe- 
 rical geography, etc. The professional direction of in- 
 struction, indeed, appeared in the West not in the iy th 
 century, but much earlier, viz. in the town schools of 
 the 14 th century with their trades guild organization. 
 What is still more important for the universal character 
 of instruction, the elementary school was open alike to 
 boys and girls. On the contrary, the information exist- 
 ing on the Russian school of that time do not permit 
 the conclusion that it was attended by girls, while the 
 negative view of woman which prevailed in Society ob- 
 liges one rather to presume that the opposite was the case. 
 
 The chief cause of the backwardness of Russia in 
 the various branches of applied knowledge, which so 
 struck Peter the Great when comparing our mode of 
 life with that of foreign countries, is, it would seem, 
 not to be sought in the lack of special schools, but in 
 the absence of life in the system of teaching. For the 
 assimilation of practical knowledge there is need of a 
 certain intellectual habit, an intimacy with actual life, 
 which is not given by speculative philosophy alone. 
 
 205 
 
MEASURES OF PETER THE GREAT. 
 
 V. National Education in the XVIII century. 1. Measures 
 of Peter the Great. All this sufficiently explains to us 
 the point of view from which Peter regarded national 
 education. He was far from breaking with the past and 
 did not touch the former general schools, but tried to 
 make good the defect by creating beside them educa- 
 tional institutions with another spirit. 
 
 Already in 1700 was founded in Moscow a mathe- 
 matical school for the children of nobles and govern- 
 ment clerks, under the superintendence of the Englishman 
 Farwarson. After this, there appeared a whole series of 
 special schools, principally military, naval, and mining, 
 and from 1714 and 1716 the Government began to open 
 in the bishops' houses and in prominent monasteries 
 cipher, or arithmetical schools. Being devoid both of 
 example for imitation and of experienced assistants, Peter 
 the Great was unable to give the cipher schools any 
 definite organization. The subjects ordered to be taught 
 were only figures and part of geometry. It was very 
 natural that the new schools, being in flat contradiction 
 with the ideas of the time upon school instruction, could 
 not quickly take root in Russia. The clergy, obliged to 
 support them out of their own resources, but removed 
 from their control, maintained an attitude of hostility. 
 The magistrats or town councils, in which Peter placed 
 great hopes, opened no new schools whatever. Although 
 the teaching was to have been free, and the attendance 
 compulsory for the ages between ten and fifteen years, 
 so that it was even forbidden to marry without a 
 diploma, yet up to the year 1722 the arithmetical schools 
 
 206 
 
MEASURES OF PETER THE GREAT. 
 
 reckoned in all 1,389 scholars, of whom 95 passed, 
 while the rest ran away. 
 
 The failure which befell the arithmetical schools 
 did nor, however, stop Peter the Great. From the organi- 
 zation of new schools he strove to pass over to the 
 introduction of new methods of teaching into the old 
 church schools. This is the best proof that Peter the 
 Great had no intention, as is sometimes thought, of 
 breaking the whole structure of ancient Russian life, but 
 only strove to renew this structure, preserving all that 
 was good in it. 
 
 Thus, for example, in the ccReglement of the Spi- 
 ritual Board, 1721, it is said: It is exceedingly pro- 
 fitable for the church that every bishop should have in 
 his house a school for the children of priests, and for 
 others destined to take holy orders.)) 
 
 But in the ukas of the Synod, 1722, it was or- 
 dained that the pupils of these episcopal schools should 
 after grammar be taught arithmetic and the most neces- 
 sary part of geometry. in order that they might be 
 skilled in both sciences useful to the church and to 
 citizenship, and that the previous ukases of His IMPERIAL 
 MAJESTY upon the teaching of arithmetic and geometry 
 might be fulfilled.)) 
 
 And so, we repeat, it was not the organization of 
 a new type of school that was important, but the new 
 direction given to teaching. 
 
 It is, however, very intelligible that Peter the Great 
 could not limit himself in the carrying out of his exten- 
 sive plans exclusively to theological schools, even albeit 
 
 207 
 
MEASURES OF PETER THE GREAT. 
 
 with the introduction into their programme of the teach- 
 ing of mathematics and natural science. 
 
 It was necessary to transplant to Russian soil the 
 last word of European science; for this the resources of 
 the ancient academies with their scholastic spirit were 
 insufficient. The sole means was to invite foreign men 
 of science and out of them form an independent aca- 
 demy. This academy was at first to have principally 
 an educational force. Each academician was obliged to 
 compose a textbook for the use of students, and to 
 spend an hour every day in the public teaching of his 
 subject. He was required to prepare one or two pupils 
 who should in time take his place, Peter expressing the 
 wish that the pupils ((should be selected from a Slavonic 
 people, that they might more conveniently teach Rus- 
 sians.)) In creating such an academical university, Peter 
 had in view also the foundation of middle schools of a 
 new type. Such schools were, indeed, not opened during 
 his reign, but having acquired with the Baltic provinces 
 the Reval gymnasium, the Emperor commanded that 
 it should be maintained for the benefit of Russian youth, 
 and that an experienced teacher of the Russian language 
 should be taken into the gymnasium and appointed a 
 salary^). 
 
 Later, in 1726, an academical gymnasium was formed 
 of two sections : a German preparatory and a Latin, with 
 the character of the humanist German schools, including 
 courses not only of Latin but of Greek, the study of the 
 Roman poets, etc. This gymnasium notwithstanding all 
 efforts the founding of stipends, the reception of sol- 
 
 208 
 
THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH AND SHOOVALOF. 
 
 diers' children etc., even in 1737 na ^ only 18 pupils. 
 But it must not be forgotten that in it the celebrated 
 Lomonosof received his education. 
 
 Thus, in the mind of the Reformer of Russia had 
 evidently already taken shape a whole system of educa- 
 tional and scientific institutions, from the lowest school 
 to the University and Academy. 
 
 The twenty years that followed the death of Peter 
 the Great were not signalized by any thing especially 
 remarkable either in the region of national education or 
 in the other branches of political and public life. His 
 enlightened ideas spring to life again during the reign 
 of the empress Elizabeth (1741 1761). 
 
 2. The Empress Elizabeth and Shoovalof. They found 
 expression in one of the most cultured men of that 
 time, the friend and patron of the celebrated Lomo- 
 nosof, the great nobleman J. J. Shoovalof, to whom 
 Russia owes reforms of the greatest importance in nA- 
 tional education. 
 
 We have seen that the Academy of Science, founded 
 by Peter the Great and opened after his death (1725), was at 
 one and the same time a learned and an educational insti- 
 tution. Attached to it were a printing office, various 
 workshops, engravers and draughtsmen's rooms, and other 
 establishments. But it was only in 1747 that a charter 
 was given to the academy, it being divided into two 
 institutions: the academy proper, and the university. 
 The former was constituted of 10 academicians, 10 
 honorary members, and 10 adjuncts, the last to be of 
 necessity Russians. 
 
 209 u 
 
THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH AND SHOOVALOF. 
 
 In the beginning of each year, the academy pro- 
 posed a problem in one or other branch of science, 
 the best essays being by order of the president translated 
 into Russian and printed at the expense of the academy. 
 Thanks to the new arrangement of its affairs, the activity 
 of the academy found expression in the i8 Ul century not 
 only in a number of remarkable works on mathematics 
 and natural science, but in the collection and elaboration 
 of the sources of Russian history. Thus, our academy 
 soon occupied a distinguished position in Europe, and 
 the wish of Peter I was realized, that the academicians 
 should acquire us confidence and respect, by proving 
 indeed that we also have men working in the cause of 
 science, and that it is time to cease regarding us as 
 barbarians despising science . The university was separated 
 from the academy, the president of the academy was 
 ordered to select for it 30 students duly prepared; 
 while for the training of such students in future the 
 gymnasium attached to the academy was preserved as 
 before. 
 
 It was not long that the academical university and 
 gymnasium remained the sole institutions of the kind 
 in Russia. Already in 1755, Shoovalof, in his report to 
 the Senate, affirmed that the vast Russian Empire 
 cannot be satisfied with this single learned body (the 
 academy), that the cadet corps, for the landforces 
 founded as early as the reign of Anna loannovna, and 
 the naval corps reformed in 1752 from the navigation 
 school of Peter the Great, do not satisfy the demands 
 of education, and that it is, therefore, necessary to found 
 
 210 
 
THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH AND SHOOVALOF. 
 
 in Moscow a university after the European model, and, 
 attached to it, two gymnasiums, one for the nobility, 
 the other for the commoners, exclusive of the serfs. 
 The latter exception is very remarkable; it was supported 
 by the argument that the sciences do not suffer 
 compulsion and are reckoned among the most noble of 
 human institutions*. In the gymnasium the nobles are 
 separated from the commoners, but the university course 
 is attended by both in common in order to stimulate 
 the more to industrious application*. This ennobling 
 importance attributed to knowledge has been placed, as 
 is well known, at the foundation of the whole of our 
 contemporary political system: learning levels the noble 
 and the commoner, affording the latter all the means 
 necessary to distinction in his political career. This is 
 the reason why till the present day each degree or diploma 
 is with us connected with the right to a certain rank in 
 the hierarchy of service. 
 
 And thus, in 1755, was opened in Moscow the first 
 university in the present sense of this word, consisting 
 of three faculties : jurisprudence, medicine, and philosophy. 
 Of course this university was far from attaining the 
 level of the universities of to-day; from the lack of 
 professors only ten chairs were appointed for all three 
 faculties. The teaching was p'aced under the complete 
 superintendence of the two curators of the university; 
 the professors were not allowed to conduct their courses 
 at their choice, but were obliged to submit themselves 
 to the system of teaching which was prescribed by the 
 council of professors or the curators. Students were 
 
THE AGE OF CATHERINE II. 
 
 elected from those who had completed the course of 
 the university gymnasiums, and of that at Kazan, also 
 founded at the expense of the Moscow university in 
 1758. Two years afterwards J. J. Shoovalof, who had 
 become curator of the university he had created, 
 presented to the Senate a petition upon the necessity 
 of founding gymnasiums in all the great towns, as 
 preparatory schools for the cadet corps, academy, and 
 universitv; while in all the small towns schools should 
 be founded, in which the Russian language, arithmetic, 
 and other elementary subjects should be taught, and 
 which should supply students to the gymnasiums. 
 This scheme was fully approved by the Senate, but 
 was never carried out. 
 
 And yet, during the reign of Elizabeth very much 
 was done, and the question raised by Peter the Great 
 as to a system of institutions with a course of general 
 education was again brought fonvard. 
 
 3. The Age of Catherine II. The attempt to solve 
 this question characterizes the age of Catherine, so 
 distinguished by the flourishing state of literature and 
 culture, by the number of prominent representatives of 
 science and art, by which the throne of the Great 
 Empress was surrounded. From the very beginning of 
 her reign and to her death, Catherine II regarded as 
 her most important duty the universal organization of 
 normal public schools. 
 
 In 1763 1767 was issued the General Plan of the 
 Moscow Foundling Hospital, in which the Empress' 
 own ideas were expressed through the pen of Betsky. 
 
 212 ~ 
 
THE AGE OF CATHERINE II. 
 
 The main intention, as far as education is concerned*, 
 says the General Plan, rcquires the production of pupils, 
 healthy, strong, and capable of serving their country 
 by art and industry, and that their minds and hearts 
 should be so trained that they may be not only useful 
 to themselves, but also good Christians and loyal 
 subjects. It is necessary to strive to produce such an 
 education that the useful examples of the teachers may 
 edify the reason and hearts of the pupils*. 
 
 In quoting the opinions on education of various 
 writers of antiquity and of recent times, Catherine II 
 shows particular esteem for the views of Locke, and of 
 the founder of modern educational science, Komensky, 
 who resolutely rejected pedantry, artificial systems, and 
 the forcing of the child's personality, while pointing to 
 the forming of the character as one of the principal 
 tasks of education. Mens sana in corpore sano, was his 
 fundamental principle. 
 
 With Locke, Catherine II said, if you wish children 
 to learn virtue, you must first make their teachers and 
 trainers virtuous, and examples worthy to be followed)). 
 The Empress added, the instructors must be Russians, 
 for it is impossible for foreigners to give the pupils an 
 example in everything, to be with them in church and 
 in all places where the rules of religion arc observed*. 
 
 In 1767 was published the direction of the Com- 
 mission for the drawing up of a new statute, written 
 almost in its entirety by the Empress' own hand, where 
 art. 245 reads: Do you wish to prevent a crime? act 
 
 so that education way be spread among the people ; 
 / 
 
 213 
 
THE AGE OF CATHERINE II. 
 
 and in a letter to the celebrated Grimm of the 7 Sep- 
 tember, 1780, Catherine II adds: No one will ever 
 make me afraid of an educated people. 
 
 From the directions given to the deputies of the 
 above mentioned Commission, it appears that the need 
 for education then began already to find expression 
 among all classes of the Russian people. 
 
 Thus, the measures taken by the Empress with a 
 view to national education found a soil incomparably 
 better prepared than their predecessors. 
 
 Eight years more had not passed before the 
 Empress proceeded to practical measures of more or less 
 extensive import. We do not here speak of girls' insti- 
 tutes; these will be treated later on in the section upon 
 the Institutions of the mpress Mary. These eight years 
 passed in the investigation of the subject, which the 
 Empress did not allow to be discontinued even afterwards: 
 she carried on a correspondence upon the organization 
 of schools with many of the most celebrated thinkers 
 and educationalists of Western Europe, such as Grimm, 
 Diderot, Baron Dalberg, and others. 
 
 The Empress entered into the most minute parti- 
 culars, collected articles on schools, even composed an 
 alphabet w 7 ith moral sentences for her grandson, the 
 future Emperor Alexander I. An extract was made from 
 this alphabet for the public, of which 20,000 copies 
 were sold in a fortnight. C'est cet ABC qui va devenir 
 Paccoucheur de toutes nos cervelles futures . wrote the 
 Empress. When founding the School Commission, the 
 Empress ordered its President and one of its members 
 
 214 
 
THE AGE OF CATHERINE II. 
 
 to write a textbook for teachers; she was, however, 
 dissatisfied with the projects presented for her approval 
 and seizing a pen, in half an hour, in the presence of 
 the blushing President, herself wrote the textbook 
 required. Evidently this was not a singular case, and 
 the Empress, while taking part in the labours of the 
 commission, probably examined all the other school- 
 books also. 
 
 Finally, in 1775 ensued the publication of the statute 
 for the administration of the governments. In each 
 government were opened, under the presidency of the 
 governor, Boards of Public Guardians for the control of 
 the educational and charitable institutions. An order 
 was given to open national schools in all towns and 
 populous settlements with free teaching for the poor 
 in reading, writing, drawing, arithmetic and, for ortho- 
 dox, divinity. The teachers were forbidden to use 
 corporal punishments; special attention was ordered to 
 be given to the cleanliness and ventilation of the school 
 premises. 
 
 Unfortunately the Boards met with an obstacle in 
 the lack of means, and afterwards in the absence of 
 teachers. The first schools were founded in 1779 in 
 Petrozavodsk and Olonets; the Petersburg Board opened 
 six parish schools, but here the matter ended. There 
 was no general guidance until the foundation in 1782 
 of the Commission for the Opening of National Schools, 
 to which was entrusted the drawing up a draft statute, 
 the organization of schools throughout the Empire, the 
 composition of textbooks and the training of efficient 
 
 215 
 
THE AGE OF CATHERINE II. 
 
 teachers. In 1783 was opened at last in Petersburg a 
 teachers' seminary under the name of the Chief National 
 School. From that time in the course of three years 
 there were 19 schools in the government of Petersburg 
 alone, with 41 teachers and 2,355 pupils, besides which 
 there were 30 foreign schools. In 1786 the Com- 
 mission already disposed of such a number of teachers 
 that it was able to open main four-class national 
 schools in 25 government towns. It was resolved 
 to open in the district towns at their expense small 
 schools, the teachers for which were to be trained 
 in the main schools. The educational arrangements of 
 the national schools were so good, that the Synod soon 
 sent directions throughout the dioceses for the intro- 
 duction into all theological schools of the plan of 
 teaching adopted in the national schools, and the arch- 
 bishop of Mogilef George Konissky, in a speech delivered 
 on the occasion of the opening of the national schools, 
 while condemning the old system of seminary instruc- 
 tion, praised the system of teaching adopted in the 
 schools founded by Catherine. 
 
 Thus, Catherine II laid down a firm foundation 
 for the further development of national schools. 
 
 In the region of higher education, the measures 
 she took were a continuation of those taken before. 
 The Academy in 1766 was finally made a purely 
 learned institution without gymnasium or university. 
 Having taken it under her own immediate care, the 
 Empress helped to widen its scope by the despatch of 
 scientific expeditions for the investigation of the con- 
 
 216 
 
GENERAL CHARACTER OF INSTRUCTION IN THE 1 8 th CENTURY. 
 
 ditions of life in different parts of Russia. The activity 
 of the Moscow university continued to develop, especially 
 after the return from abroad of its pupils, who then 
 occupied the professorial chairs. In connexion with the 
 university was opened the Society of Amateurs, with 
 the object of developing the language and of studying 
 national history. In Petersburg, meantime, was founded, 
 after the model of that in Paris, the Russian academy, 
 with the view of purifying and enriching the Russian 
 language, subsequently, in 1840, united to the Academy 
 of Science. 
 
 The Empress Catherine proposed to open a whole 
 series of gymnasiums and universities in Yekaterino- 
 slaf, Pskof, Chernigof and Penza. But these projects 
 were never realized and Vilna alone entered among the 
 number of the Russian universities, on the occasion of 
 the annexation of the western governments; while 
 under Paul I, in 1799, was founded the university of 
 Dorpat, now called Yurief. 
 
 4. General character of instruction in the XVIil century. 
 If we review all that has been said on the course of 
 development of education in the i8 th century, it is 
 impossible not to note the considerable success which 
 was attained in that period. Not to mention that Russia 
 entered into lively intercourse with the West, borrowing 
 from it much useful knowledge; in respect to educa- 
 tional matters, in particular, a great step forward was 
 made by the adoption of more perfect methods of 
 teaching, by the introduction into its courses of such 
 subjects as, being almost unknown to the former schools, 
 
 217 
 
GENERAL CHARACTER OE INSTRUCTION IN THE 1 8 th CENTURY. 
 
 made it possible to give a more varied character to 
 the national development. Universities and academies 
 were at last created, which abandoned the methods of 
 scholasticism and applied themselves to true scientific 
 investigation. But no system of educational institutions 
 is yet to be seen at that time, although projects for 
 the establishment of such a system began under Peter 
 the Great. There existed, of course, higher, middle, and 
 lower edurational institutions, but the connexion between 
 them was still very superficial. Neither had there been 
 fixed, for it was as yet impossible, an exact delimitation 
 between the educational establishments with a general 
 educational course, and those with a special object. 
 
 We here refer to theological schools and military 
 corps. Undoubtedly even now they bear to a consider- 
 able degree a general educational character, as the corps 
 and theological schools and seminaries are alike entered 
 by children at such an age that a general training is 
 still required. But in the i8 th century there was a 
 peculiarity attaching to them, in that the corps and 
 seminaries were essentially almost the only intermediate 
 educational institutions, while gymnasiums hardly existed, 
 the main (four-class) national schools, founded by 
 Catherine II, being scarcely worthy to be reckoned as 
 equivalent to intermediate educational institutions, 
 although it was from them that the gymnasiums were 
 subsequently developed. 
 
 The theological seminaries which arose in 1724 
 maintained for a long time their scholastic and classical 
 tinge. It was only at the end of the i8 th century, as 
 
 218 
 
GENERAL CHARACTER OF INSTRUCTION IN THE 1 8 th CENTURY. 
 
 we have seen, that the question was raised of applying 
 to them the humanistic principles of education. On 
 the contrary, the corps bore rather the character of 
 professional institutions: here the children of the gentry 
 were taught, besides certain sciences and arts of a 
 military nature, arithmetic, geometry, and drawing, but 
 as not every man's nature is inclined to military 
 exercises alone, so in the State there is not less need 
 of political and civil training, - - therefore are there to 
 be teachers of foreign languages, history, geography, juris- 
 prudence and other useful sciences, so that having 
 ascertained the natural inclination of the pupils, their 
 training may be determined accordingly)). These words 
 of the ukas of 1731 for the foundation of corps clearly 
 express their importance for general education. How 
 thorough was the instruction received in the corps, 
 appears from the fact that the professors of the Aca- 
 demy of Science, on examining several cadets, found 
 them very w T -ell versed in jurisprudence, arithmethic, 
 geometry, etc., and perfectly well acquainted with the 
 German and even with the French and Latin languages. 
 If, further, the higher military schools the 
 engineering and artillery schools were really special 
 or professional institutions, the same cannot be said of 
 the theological academy. The latter was essentially the 
 old Slavo- Greco -Latin academy, which had yielded 
 place to the university but had preserved all its former 
 character, with this difference only that, already in the 
 beginning of the i8 Ul century, an end had been put to 
 Greek influence and the whole of the teaching after 
 
 219 
 
THE HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 the example of the Kief academy and under the influ- 
 ence of its former pupils had received a Latin tinge. 
 
 To the theological academy all were admitted: 
 nobility, commonalty, and even foreigners. Having 
 received certificates as to education and conduct, the 
 pupils obtained various posts in the ecclesiastical, edu- 
 cational and civil service, and this procedure continued 
 not only in the i8 th but in the 19 th century, although 
 with the increase of universities, the theological aca- 
 demies obtained more and more the character of pro- 
 fessional educational institutions. 
 
 As far as concerns, finally, the elementary schools, 
 no general information is at our disposal as to their 
 number for this period; it is, however, beyond doubt 
 that the former church schools were most likely to have 
 attained a wide development. It may even be said that 
 in the settlements outside the towns there could not 
 then be other schools except the ancient church schools, 
 because the elementary schools of Catherine II were 
 opened principally in the towns, being, indeed, rather of 
 the nature of model schools. 
 
 The 1 8 th century left behind it the soil upon which 
 was created our contemporary educational organization. 
 Its elements are to be met with not only under Cathe- 
 rine II but even stil earlier, before Peter the Great. 
 
 VI. The XIX Century. 1. The Higher Educational Insti- 
 tutions. Passing to the 19 th century, we consider it 
 necessary to remark that, after having elaborated in the 
 preceding period the conceptions of higher, middle or 
 intermediate, and elementary educational institutions, it 
 
 220 
 
THE HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 will be more convenient in what follows to subdivide 
 the exposition of the subject according to the categories 
 of these institutions. 
 
 A word must, however, first be said on the organi- 
 zation of the administration itself of the educational in- 
 stitutions. We have seen that under Catherine II for the 
 administration of the schools was established in 1782 
 the Commission of National Schools, upon which was 
 imposed in the main the elaboration of the plan of na- 
 tional education in Russia. Under the Emperor Alexan- 
 der I, in 1802, this Commission was transformed into 
 the Ministry of National Education, attached to which 
 was the Chief Directorate of Schools, among whose 
 members was distributed the management of the educa- 
 tional districts; they, accordingly, received the title of 
 curators of these districts. But the real basis of the 
 organization of this management was the educational 
 institutions themselves. The Chief Directorate of Schools, 
 whose members were the Emperor's intimates, Stroganof, 
 Novosiltsof, Chartorysky and Pototsky, who invited the 
 counsel of the most famous educationalists of the time, 
 based their action upon the general position that the 
 universities must be placed in the closest connexion with 
 the gymnasiums and national schools, by preparing for 
 them a staff of teachers and publishing the necessary 
 textbooks an idea by no means novel, as may be judged 
 from all that has been said^above. 
 
 In consequence of this, according to the statute of 
 1804, the universities were made to be not only teaching 
 bodies but administrative organs, to them were entrusted 
 
 221 
 
THE HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 the gymnasiums and the lower schools of the uni- 
 versity district, which at the same time became the edu- 
 cational district. The scheme of administration was as 
 follows: to the universities were subjected the govern- 
 mental gymnasiums with governmental directors of 
 schools and educational councils, to whom in turn were 
 subjected the inspectors of the district schools. 
 
 The educational institutions were to form a scale 
 proceeding from the parish school as a preparation for 
 that of the district, thence to the gymnasium, and from 
 the gymnasium to the university. At the same time, 
 each of these institutions was to give a complete edu- 
 cation to those who did not wish to proceed further. 
 In what follows, we shall see how far the realization of 
 this plan \vas successful. As far as concerns the uni- 
 versities themselves, the control of other educational 
 institutions necessarily embarrassed their action in many 
 respects, by diverting the attention of the professors 
 from their scientific work; and this was the reason why 
 in the next reign, in the year 1835, the universities 
 were relieved of this burdensome duty, and became 
 exclusively teaching bodies. 
 
 We will not dwell upon the details of the univer- 
 sity statutes, promulgated before the last statute of 1884 
 (in 1804, 1835, and 1863). We will merely say that 
 the essence of the charges consisted in granting the 
 universities a greater or less autonomy in respect of the 
 teaching and of their internal management, in dependence 
 upon the tendencies which prevailed at one time or 
 another. 
 
 222 
 
THE HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 According to the statute of 1804, the universities 
 not only were independent in the management of their 
 own affairs, elected rectors and deans, sanctioned the 
 programmes of instruction, supervised the students and 
 tried them and the servants of the university even in 
 civil actions, but, as we have seen, shared with the cura- 
 tors the administrative powers over the other schools. 
 This state of things did not, however, depend upon the 
 strength of the statute. When, at the end of the reign 
 of Alexander I, there prevai'ed a tendency to mysticism, 
 which, preparing some new religion, directed a fierce 
 attack against literature and education, the statute of 
 1804 did not protect the universities from interference 
 in their affairs on the part of the curators Magnitsky, 
 Runitch, and others, which found expression in the re- 
 moval of professors and in the abolition of freedom of 
 teaching. 
 
 When the mystic movement had finally lost credit, 
 it was necessary to begin every thing afresh. The new 
 statute of 1835 in this respect was a new creation; the 
 resources of the universities were considerably increased, 
 the faculties, thanks to the preliminary training of the 
 new professors who had been sent abroad to complete 
 their studies, were put upon a far wider basis, especially 
 that of jurisprudence. The autonomy of the universities 
 was indeed at the same time limited, and the power of 
 the curator who supervised the students through the in- 
 spection under his control was increased, but all this did 
 not retard the course of things until at the end of the 
 forties under the impression of events in Western 
 
 223 
 
THE HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 Europe measures were taken even to restrict the access 
 to the universities, by fixing a small establishment of 
 not more than 300 to each university and by the pro- 
 hibition of the attendance of lectures by outsiders. 
 
 The statute of 1863 appears as a reaction to these 
 restrictions; the autonomy, consisting in the election of 
 professors and rector and in the freedom of teaching, 
 was reestablished, the normal establishment of students 
 was abolished and outsiders were again admitted to the 
 courses. At the same time, however, something quite 
 new was created: the independence of the students 
 themselves of the university. Outside its walls, they 
 were simple citizens, subject to the general police, al- 
 though there existed a university court for student of- 
 fenses. Formerly, according to the statute of 1804, it 
 was otherwise, e. g. the State students even lived in the 
 university, they were placed under assistant inspectors 
 chosen from candidates and masters, who had also their 
 lodging there, dined with the students and helped them 
 in their studies, like the English fellows of colleges. 
 
 It is impossible not to allow the benefit of such 
 an institution: the youths who have left the gymnasium 
 are still far from being prepared for independent work 
 and they pass at once from a comparatively strict school 
 discipline to complete freedom, without any near gui- 
 dance in their studies, with the obligation of passing 
 their examinations at the end of the year, while remain- 
 ing for the rest of their time free to do what they like. 
 Certain disorders in university life, upon which 
 it is not possible here to enlarge, finally resulted in 
 
 224 
 
THE HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 the issue of the statute of 1884, which is in force 
 even now. 
 
 According to this statute, the universities, being 
 under the special protection of the Sovereign, are sub- 
 ject to the control of the Ministry of National Educa- 
 tion and are under the authority of the curators of the 
 educational districts. Each university has four faculties: 
 historico-philological, physico-mathematical, jurispruden- 
 tial, and medical. Exceptions are presented by: the univer- 
 sity of St. Petersburg where, instead of a medical faculty, 
 replaced by a special Military Medical Academy, there 
 is a faculty of oriental languages; that of Novorossisk in 
 Odessa, without a medical faculty; Tomsk with a me- 
 dical faculty only; and Yurief (until 1892 Dorpat) con- 
 sisting of four general faculties and one of Lutheran 
 theology. 
 
 The immediate direction of the university belongs 
 to the rector, appointed for four years by the Sovereign 
 from among the ordinary professors, on the selection 
 of the Minister of National Education. At the head of 
 the faculties are the deans, elected by the curator and 
 confirmed by the ministry also for a period of four 
 years. The professors, ordinary and extraordinary, the 
 minister either appoints himself, or allows the univer- 
 sity to elect, in which case they are presented to the 
 minister for confirmation. Professors may be only per- 
 sons with the degree of doctor; privat-docents may be 
 masters and in general persons who have acquired a 
 reputation by their scientific work, and are admitted to 
 deliver lectures on applying themselves and receiving the 
 
 225 15 
 
THE HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 consent of the faculty and the authorization of the cu- 
 rator. Finally, for the superintendence of the students a 
 special inspection is instituted consisting of an inspector 
 and his assistants under the authority of the curator 
 and the rector. 
 
 From all the persons enumerated are formed in the 
 university collegiate institutions in regard to teaching : 
 i) a council of the rector and all the professors, and 2) 
 meetings of faculties, composed of the dean and pro- 
 fessors of the faculty. For the management of econo- 
 mical matters,, and to decide questions affecting the stu- 
 dents there is a board constituted of the rector, dean 
 and inspector. 
 
 Freedom of teaching, though not unlimited, is suf- 
 ficiently great. Of course the faculty looks to the 
 fulness, consistency and regularity of the teaching 
 and of the scientific exercises of the students, and 
 draws up one or several plans of study; but, within 
 these limits, the delivery of lectures, the methods of 
 exposition of science, the means of making it known to 
 the students depend wholly upon the teachers. A do- 
 cent may be prohibited from delivering lectures only 
 in case of teaching not worthy of the subject, or having 
 a harmful tendency. Students in choosing their subjects 
 are obliged to take for their guidance one of the plans 
 sanctioned by the faculty; with the permission of the 
 faculty, however, they may depart from it; every one 
 is allowed to attend lectures in the other faculties also. 
 Finally, if the subject is taught by several professors, 
 the choice among them is also left to the student him- 
 
 226 
 
THE HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 self; but the passage from one university to another 
 requires the consent of the authorities of the latter. 
 
 As far as concerns university tests, according 
 to the statute of 1884, the centre of gravity lies 
 in the State examinations. Moreover, if we turn to for- 
 mer times, it appears that then too our final university 
 examinations could hardly have been called purely scien- 
 tific. Clearly, the difference in examinations depends in 
 a considerable measure upon the rights which are 
 acquired by them: purely scientific tests give a learned 
 degree; State examinations the right to public service, 
 special privileges therein or the right to a certain kind 
 of activity, for which the State demands definite attain- 
 ments, e. g. the function of a physician, advocate, etc. 
 But if degrees are bound up with the right to public 
 service or special activity of such a kind protected by 
 the State the difference between a scientific and a State 
 examination becomes less essential. 
 
 In our country, the demand for educated persons 
 in the service of the State from the very foundation of 
 the universities compelled the attribution to the univer- 
 sity diploma of considerable service privileges. In con- 
 sequence of this, the title of candidate, which was for- 
 merly acquired by those who completed a course of 
 studies, lost by degrees the importance of a real degree. 
 It is true, that the examinations were conducted by the 
 professors themselves according to their programme, and 
 the aim of the examinations consisted principally in tes- 
 ting scientific knowledge. But, now, according to the 
 statute of 1884, with the abolition of the degree of 
 
 - 227 - ' 
 
THE HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 candidate and the title of actual student, and their re- 
 placement by diplomas of the first and second rank, the 
 programmes of the examinations are issued by the Mi- 
 nistry of National Education, and the examinations them- 
 selves are carried out in Commissions appointed by the 
 Ministry. But, looking at the matter from the point of 
 view of the students, it appears that the majority of 
 them, both before 1884 and now, approach the exami- 
 nation with a utilitarian aim. 
 
 To the State examination are admitted only those 
 students/ to whom the faculties have reckoned the appoin- 
 ted number of semesters for the completion of the course. 
 A half-year is counted, if the student, having attended 
 the proper number of lectures, has passed the halfy early 
 test examination in the faculty itself and has taken part 
 in the proper practical work. But the halfyearly exami- 
 nations cannot be called a scientific test. This is, accor- 
 ding to the meaning of the statutes, a purely educational 
 means with the object of securing the profitable course 
 of the students' studies. There then remain the exami- 
 nations for the learned degrees of master and doctor; 
 although these degrees give the right to a certain rank, 
 yet the scientific element is here of more importance 
 than that of the service or any other practical aim. Those 
 who proceed to the learned degrees usually do so, after 
 having completed their university studies and after se- 
 veral years of work with a purely scientific aim; further, 
 the chief element in them is not so much the exami- 
 nation as the defence of a thesis a scientific work, upon 
 which as a rule the most exacting demands are made. 
 
 - 228 
 
THE HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 In conclusion, we must farther add that, according 
 to the statute of 1884, the university receives those 
 who have completed the course of a classical gymnasium 
 w r ith the ((certificate of maturity)). Besides students 
 persons having a definite social position or occupation, 
 are admitted, as free attendants at lectures. Although 
 without the buildings of the university, the students 
 are subject to the control of the ordinary police, yet 
 even there they are under the surveillance of the uni- 
 versity inspection. The fees for students are 25 roubles 
 per semester to the university, and one rouble per 
 weekly lecture hour to the professor. Poor students 
 receive stipends. 
 
 In Russia there are in all ten universities: Peters- 
 burg, Moscow, Kazan, Kharkof, Novorossisk in Odessa, 
 St. Vladimir in Kief, Warsaw, Yurief, Tomsk, and the 
 Alexander university in Helsingfors, the latter having 
 rules of its own. 
 
 On the i January, 1894, tne tota ^ attendance on 
 lectures \vas 15,368, among whom 14,842 students and 
 526 outsiders or free attendants. 
 
 The students were distributed according to faculties 
 as follows: 
 
 1. Theological (Yurief and Helsingfors) 341 
 
 2. Historico-Philological 937 
 
 3. Physico-Mathematical ...... 3,048 
 
 4. Jurisprudence 5,244 
 
 5. Medical (excepting" Petersburg and 
 
 Novorossisk) 5,187 
 
 6. Oriental languages in Petersburg . . 85 
 
 14,842 
 
 - 1-29 - 
 
THE HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 The figures quoted are very eloquent: they shew 
 that 70 per cent of the youth of our universities belong 
 to the faculties of the most professional character - 
 those of jurisprudence and medicine, although in Peters- 
 burg and Odessa there is no medical faculty. In Ger- 
 many the same faculties reckon only 60 per cent. 
 
 Besides universities, we have further a series of 
 educational institutions with a curriculum corresponding 
 to one of the faculties, comparable to the French 
 facultes. Such are the Demidof Law Lyceum, and 
 the Imperial Alexander Lyceum. The latter has a 
 course like that of the faculty of laws, and is a closed 
 institution, united with an intermediate school, having 
 for its direct object preparation for the public service; 
 into it, as into the Imperial School of Law, are 
 received the children of nobles or of the higher 
 civil and military officials. To the philological faculty 
 correspond the Historico-philological Institutes of St. 
 Petersburg, and Nejin; to the faculty of oriental langu- 
 ages, the Lazaref Institute of Oriental languages, with 
 gymnasium classes. We here merely refer to the Mili- 
 tary Medical Academy, the Clinical Institute of the 
 Grandduchess Helen Pavlovna. and the four veterinary 
 institutes. 
 
 With respect to higher female education, without 
 counting the Helsingfors university, which admits women 
 students as well as men, there exists a whole series of 
 higher female courses. These are: the St. Petersburg 
 Courses, consisting of an historico-philological and phy- 
 sico-mathematical division (557 students); the Gherie 
 
 230 
 
MIDDLE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 and Loobiansk Courses in Moscow; and several more in 
 other towns. An entirely special position is occupied 
 by the female medical courses, appearing in Russia be- 
 fore they did in any other European country (1872). 
 They were temporarily closed, but will be opened in 
 the near future. 
 
 2. Middle educational institutions. We have seen 
 that in the :8 th century the establishment of intermediate 
 educational institutions resulted in the opening of a 
 very few gymnasiums, corps, theological seminaries, and 
 also so-called chief national schools in the governmental 
 towns. 
 
 These gymnasiums were intended to serve a triple 
 object: firstly, to be a preparatory school for the uni- 
 versity; secondly, to supply a general and, to a certain 
 extent, complete education, necessary for a gentleman; 
 and, thirdly, to prepare candidates for the post of 
 teacher in the district, parish, and other lower schools. 
 Such a varied programme demanded the introduction 
 into the course of a number of subjects, which encum- 
 bered it to the detriment of the successful completion 
 of their studies by the pupils. To attain all this, there 
 were four yearly classes with only 128 teaching hours 
 per week, and eight teachers. But not only were there 
 no good teachers, there were not even textbooks on 
 many subjects before 1814. 
 
 The great number of subjects and the lack of 
 teaching power soon showed that the gymnasiums could 
 not simultaneously achieve all their objects, prepare for 
 the university and for practical life. Therefore, according 
 
 231 
 
MIDDLE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 to the statute of 1828, gymnasiums became in the main 
 preparatory schools for the university. At the same 
 time the number of teachers was increased to 12, the 
 number of lessons per week to 240, the course to seven 
 years. The centre of gravity was placed in the study 
 of the classical languages. The material condition of the 
 gymnasiums was also considerably improved. 
 
 The time that has elapsed since 1828 may be called 
 the period of the flourishing of our gymnasiums. The 
 object proposed by the statute, preparation for the uni- 
 versity course, was attained with sufficient success. But, 
 at the end of the forties)), the symmetry of the pro- 
 gramme was exposed to considerable fluctuations, under 
 the influence of the tendency to return to the gym- 
 nasiums the character not of preparatory only but of 
 finishing schools. The course was divided from the 
 fourth class onwards into two sides: one was to prepare 
 for the university, in it was left only the teaching of 
 Latin and partly Greek (for those who wished) the 
 other trained for military and civil service, and accord- 
 ingly included more extensive teaching in mathematics 
 and the Russian language, with the addition of a course 
 of law. Later, according to the educational plans of 
 1854, the Greek language was entirely excluded from 
 the majority of gymnasiums and replaced by the teaching 
 of natural science. Thus were formed three categories 
 of gymnasium: in the first, were taught natural history 
 and law; in the second, only law; in the third, instead 
 of this, Latin and Greek. It is necessary, however, 
 to observe that the teaching of these languages had 
 
 - 232 - 
 
MIDDLE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 little in common with what existed before. Instead of 
 the old classical authors and the study of ancient Greek 
 and Roman life, were read the works of the fathers of 
 the church. 
 
 Owing to this, however, the gymnasiums were alike 
 unfit to prepare for either university or practical life. 
 It would, however, be extremely unjust to condemn too 
 strictly all these fluctuations. At bottom lay the idea upon 
 whose realization European science is still labouring not 
 with any great success, namely, that intermediate edu- 
 cation cannot be exclusively preparatory to higher edu- 
 cation, cannot bfc isolated from actual life. 
 
 Under this influence already in the i8 th century, 
 attempts began to be made in the West to create so- 
 called real schools, with the object of enabling persons 
 who were not seeking a university education, to re- 
 ceive such a general education as would be applicable 
 to their practical or industrial career. 
 
 The elaboration, however, of a wellgrounded system 
 for such real schools proved still more difficult in 
 consequence of the extraordinary variety of man's prac- 
 tical activity. 
 
 The establishment of special real gymnasiums, without 
 classics, begins in 1864. The real gymnasiums did not, 
 however, prepare for the university, but only for the spe- 
 cial higher schools. Thus, they were gymnasiums only 
 in name. At the same time, the Ministry of National 
 Education was allowed to choose where the classical 
 gymnasium should be founded and where the real 
 gymnasium, although they in no wise replaced each other 
 
 233 - 
 
MIDDLE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 in the sense of giving the right to further education. 
 On the other hand, the classical gymnasiums also were 
 not quite satisfactorily organized: their curriculum was 
 too extensive for seven years, while some subjects, as 
 law, were perfectly superfluous as preparation for the 
 university. 
 
 Thus, although the statute of 1864 returned to 
 more regular ground, yet the system of teaching was 
 nevertheless still far from being properly worked out; 
 on the other hand, this statute brought with it an 
 essential benefit to the spread of intermediate education 
 by authorizing the foundation of gymnasiums not only 
 on the initiative and at the expense of the Government, 
 but on that of societies, classes and private persons. 
 Further, following the example of Germany, authoriza- 
 tion was given to establish progymnasiums consisting of 
 the four lower classes. 
 
 With the appointment of Count D. A. Tolstoy as 
 Minister of National Education, the separation of clas- 
 sical and real education received its final sanction in the 
 statute of gymnasiums of 1871. Classical schools only 
 are now called gymnasiums, they alone open the way 
 to university education. The course of the gymnasiums 
 was accordingly increased to eight years, their pro- 
 gramme itself was considerably changed the teaching 
 of ancient languages was expanded, logic was introduced, 
 one of the modern languages was made optional, while 
 drawing was to be taught only to those who desired it. 
 
 Further, in practice the teaching of ancient langua- 
 ges acquired at the same time an almost purely grammatical 
 
 234 
 
MIDDLE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 character: the chief object consisted in translations from 
 Russian into Latin and Greek, in the mastering of the gram- 
 mar and style of the ancient languages. The works of the 
 authors obtained the character rather of models, than 
 of independent subjects of study. The new system of 
 teaching demanded both the training of teachers and 
 teaching appliances, which we did not possess. The 
 textbooks were at first translated from German, and 
 teachers had to be invited from abroad. Therefore it 
 was that, already in 1867, the Historico-Philological 
 Institute was founded in Petersburg; in 1875, a similar 
 Institute was opened in Nejin, and, still earlier, in 
 1873, a Russian Seminary was founded in Leipzig with 
 German teachers and directors, which was only quite 
 recently abolished. As a model of what a gymnasium 
 should be, the initiators of the statute of 1871, 
 KatkofF and Leontief, opened in Moscow, in 1869, the 
 private Lyceum of the Tsesarevitch Nicholas, with the 
 object of contributing to the establishment of a thorough 
 education for Russian youth, and by means of a living 
 example of encouraging the development in Russia of 
 independent educational work, and of elaborating in 
 practice its bases and methods. 
 
 The strictness with which the programme of the 
 classical gymnasiums was drawn up, the difficulty for 
 pupils of average capacity in mastering this programme, 
 and the lack of intermediate educational institutions of 
 other categories all this combined led to the result 
 that, although the entries were very numerous, those 
 who completed the gymnasium course with the right 
 
 235 - 
 
MIDDLE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 to university education were comparatively few; thus, 
 for example, out of 11,301 who quitted the gymnasiums 
 in 1891, 7,762 or about 70 per cent left before finishing. 
 The need for any possible relaxation of the programme 
 and of the strictness of the examinations without detri- 
 ment to the preparation for the attendance at univer- 
 sity lectures was pressingly felt. The honour of approx- 
 imating the programme of our classical gymnasiums to 
 their scientific ideal belongs undoubtedly to Count Delianof, 
 the Minister of National Education, in conjunction with 
 Kapoostin, the curator of the Petersburg educational 
 district. In 1890 were confirmed the new rules and 
 programmes for gymnasiums, in which the main aim 
 in the study of the ancient languages is recognized to 
 be the intelligent reading of the authors and the under- 
 standing in the broadest sense possible of the contents 
 of their works. In the two senior classes, grammar is 
 repeated only subsidiarily in reading the authors. The 
 gaining of the certificate of maturity is made dependent 
 upon written translations from the ancient languages 
 into Russian, while translations in the opposite direc- 
 tion are regarded as having a merely didactic value. At 
 the cost of the ten lessons taken from the ancient 
 languages, increased attention is given to the teaching 
 of the Russian language and of literature, history, and 
 physics. Thus, in the number of lessons devoted to 
 ancient languages (75 out of 225 weekly lessons), our 
 gymnasiums now yield to the Prussian, where ancient 
 languages obtain 117 out of 268 weekly hours, and to 
 the Austrian, where the numbers are 78 and 194. 
 
 - 236 - 
 
MIDDLE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 Owing to this, the programmes of the examinations 
 and the courses of instruction of the historico-philolo- 1 
 gical faculties, which have always served as the chief 
 source for the teachers of ancient languages, were 
 changed in accordance with the gymnasium programme: 
 the ancient languages lost their exceptional position; in 
 teaching them, the principal attention was devoted to 
 reading the authors and not to written exercises in 
 translation from Russian into the ancient languages. 
 In consequence of this, began the increase in the 
 attendance which in its turn is a sure guarantee that 
 our classical gymnasiums will have a sufficient number 
 of teachers. 
 
 Such is the position of classical education. As to 
 what concerns the real gymnasiums, in 1872 they lost 
 this title and were renamed real schools. Their object 
 remained as before indefinite enough: on the one hand, 
 they prepared for the higher professional schools; on 
 the other, they were to give their pupils a more or 
 less complete education, necessary for practical life. 
 
 The attainment of both these aims in one school, 
 even a real school, demanded as w T as to be expected, 
 the division of the highest classes, the 5 th and 6 th , into 
 fundamental and commercial. In the first prevailed the 
 teaching of mathematics and drawing, in the second, 
 foreign languages, and commercial correspondence and 
 bookkeeping. But, in fact even this was too little: the 
 sphere of practice is not limited by commerce alone. 
 Therefore, permission was given, at the desire of the 
 zemstvo or society maintaining the real school, to orga- 
 
 237 
 
MIDDLE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 nize a third or agronomic section and, attached to the 
 fundamental division, a supplementary class divided 
 again into three sections: a general section intended 
 mainly for the preparation of the pupils for entering 
 the higher special schools, then a mechanical, technical 
 and chemical, and even a building, section. The opening, 
 however, of all the sections or even of one of them 
 was far from taking place in all the schools. Thus, 
 essentially, out of the real schools there was developed 
 a whole series of professional schools, with a somewhat 
 indefinite character. Therefore, already in 1888, as we 
 saw in the chapter on industry and trade, the Ministry 
 of National Education passed to the establishment of 
 real industrial schools and at the same time there 
 began the gradual abolition of the mechanical and 
 chemical sections of the real schools, so that the latter 
 remained in the main educational institutions of a 
 general character, having for their object preparation 
 for the higher special schools. But even in this respect, 
 the classical gymnasiums successfully compete with 
 them, because the entry from both the real school and 
 the gymnasium into the Mining, Technological, and 
 other Institutes requires the passing of a special checking 
 examination; the universities, on the other hand, do 
 not accept anyone from the real school but do so from 
 the classical gymnasium without examination. 
 
 Thanks to this state of things, we have far more 
 classical gymnasiums and progymnasiums than real schools. 
 
 On the i January, 1894, there were in all 178 
 classical gymnasiums and 58 progymnasiums, while the 
 
 238 
 
MIDDLE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 real schools were only 106; the pupils in the classical 
 gymnasiums were 64,000, in the real schools only 25,000, 
 or 2 l /-> times less. On the average, there were 310 
 pupils to one classical gymnasium, while the real 
 school contained a third less. 
 
 Surveying all that has been said so far upon inter- 
 mediate educational institutions, it is impossible not to 
 come to the general conclusion that neither the classical 
 nor the real school, preparing simultaneously for higher 
 education and for practical life, have as yet been 
 successful in practice. Contemporary life has become 
 so specialized, that a general mathematical or philolo- 
 gical development alone is not sufficient. There is need 
 for the choice of a more limited specialization, i. e. it 
 is necessary to establish special middle schools: in- 
 dustrial, commercial, trades, technical, military, theolo- 
 gical, and so on. In them there will, of course, always 
 be also the element of general education in the farm 
 of teaching some of the sciences having a general 
 educational value ; but to limit oneself to these sciences 
 is hardly possible; what is wanted is their application. 
 This is done either in the same school, in such case 
 the school itself becomes a special school; or, on the 
 other hand, it is transferred to another higher school, 
 and then the first school must remain merely a prepar- 
 atory school without utilitarian aims which are outside 
 its reach. The objection may, of course, be made: what 
 will those do, who have passed this middle school 
 with a general educational course, but for some reason 
 are unable to go higher? This objection is absolutely 
 
 239 
 
MIDDLE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 of weight in the case where among the middle edu- 
 cational institutions those with a general educational 
 character predominate over the special, but it loses force 
 with the increase of the latter, with the limiting of 
 the preparatory schools by the actual demand for higher 
 university and special education. 
 
 With the removal of utilitarian aims from the 
 course of the general educational schools, whether 
 classical or real, it will be possible to analyze what 
 sciences most contribute to the development of the 
 intelligence, and to the acquisition of the knowledge 
 obtained in the higher schools; and, consequently, it 
 will be possible to elaborate types of general educa- 
 tional schools, corresponding to the various capacities 
 of individuals, for some have a greater capacity for 
 mathematical and exact sciences and others for philology. 
 
 Russia, as we have seen in all the preceding sec- 
 tions, has already entered upon the path of founding 
 special middle schools; and when their number shall 
 increase to such an extent that it will no longer be 
 necessary to apply to gymnasiums and real schools for 
 practical knowledge, the time will come for the final 
 elaboration of their programme in accordance with 
 their real aim to be schools affording a general 
 education, preparatory to higher education. 
 
 With respect to female middle class educational 
 establishments, besides the Institutes and the other schools 
 of the Department of the Empress Mary, of which we 
 shall speak presently, the number of female gymnasiums 
 is 1 6 1, and that of progymnasiums and like institutions 
 
 240 
 
LOWER AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 
 
 - 178, with a total of 68,000 pupils The seven years 
 course (the 8 th year pedagogical) embraces the principal 
 educational subjects, the classics excepted. 
 
 The clergy have their female educational establish- 
 ments likewise, more than 60 in number, with upwards 
 of 13,000 pupils in all.* 
 
 3. Lower and elementary schools. We saw that the 
 Chief Board of schools proposed in 1802 to establish a 
 direct connexion between all the categories of educational 
 institutions. The Board also concerned itself with lower 
 schools; they were divided into two kinds: parish and 
 district. Each parish, or two parishes, was to have 
 one school; hence, on completing the course of teaching, 
 the pupils might pass into the district schools, which 
 were ordered to be opened in all the governmental and 
 district towns. In their turn, the district schools prepa- 
 red for the gymnasiums. In crown settlements, the care 
 for the parish schools was imposed upon the priests; 
 and in those situated upon the estates of private land- 
 owners, it was imposed upon the latter under the ge- 
 neral supervision of the superintendent of district schools, 
 subject to the authority of the governmental director of 
 gymnasiums. But most important of all, there was a 
 lack of good teachers for these schools of the time of 
 Alexander I; there was no school answering the purpose 
 for their training. Therefore it was that Alexander I 
 directed especial attention to the education of the clergy, 
 
 * In Finland the number of middle class general educational 
 establishments of different kinds amounted in 1892 3 to 114, with 
 about 6,700 male and 4,000 female scholars. 
 
 241 >& 
 
LOWER AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 
 
 as the instructors standing nearest to the people, and 
 organized a complete system of theological educational 
 institutions. 
 
 The following statute of elementary schools was 
 promulgated in 1828. According to this statute, the 
 parish schools are to exist mainly for peasants, towns- 
 men and tradesmen of the lower class, while the dis- 
 trict schools are principally intended for the merchant 
 class, subaltern officers children and nobles. At any 
 rate, in both material and educational respects, dis- 
 trict and parish schools alike were on a much bet- 
 ter footing than before, and their number began 
 to increase. But in the society of that time, there 
 was not yet a sufficient consciousness of the impor- 
 tance of the school for the people: the Government 
 almost alone had to consider and provide for everything. 
 It is very natural, under such circumstances, that the 
 Government, with the comparatively limited means, at 
 its disposal, began to think first of all about easily at- 
 tainable and utilitarian objects. In 1830, accordingly, 
 came the Imperial order for the opening in the settle- 
 ments of the crown serfs of volost schools with the 
 object of preparing capable volost and village clerks. 
 Upon the foundation of the Ministry of State Domains, 
 with the same object were selected three boys from each 
 volost and sent to the nearest town school. Only in the 
 forties did this Ministry proceed to establish schools in 
 general for the people. Under the management of the 
 Courts of State Domains, the teaching in these rural 
 schools was entrusted to the local clergy, and their 
 
LOWER AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 
 
 maintenance imposed upon a special tax levied on the 
 community. But on the estates of the landowners, for 
 the whole mass of serf population, there were yet but 
 very few schools. 
 
 It was thus the rural clergy that preserved litera- 
 teness among the people, by teaching children not only 
 in the schools, where such existed, but also at their 
 own homes, and herein was their great service. 
 
 At last, came the Peasant Reform of 1861, marked, 
 as might have been expected, by a .decided step in ad- 
 vance in the work of national education. 
 
 Recognising that, for the successful carrying on of 
 the work of national education, there is need of the 
 combined activity of all the Government and social or- 
 gans and institutions, the Government by the new en- 
 actment upon elementary national schools of 1864 
 attracted to the organization of the national schools 
 all the public and private forces, w T hile taking upon 
 itself the duty of facilitating the means for the opening 
 of schools; of encouraging private initiative in the sphere 
 of national education; of harmonizing scattered efforts, and 
 of directing them to the attainment of one common object. 
 
 For the management of the elementary schools 
 were formed district and governmental school councils 
 from the representatives of various departments of the 
 clergy, of the Zemstvo, and of the towns. 
 
 Authorization to open a new school was given by 
 the district council, and upon it was imposed the task 
 of improving existing schools. The superintendence 
 of the instruction was entrusted to special Government 
 
 - 243 w 
 
LOWER AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 
 
 directors and inspectors of national schools. Besides 
 this, the institutions supplying the means for the support 
 of the schools were empowered to elect curators for 
 them. 
 
 Later by the Imperial rescript of the 25 De- 
 cember, 1873, the chief care for national education 
 was imposed upon the first class in the empire, the 
 nobility, which was called upon to guard the in- 
 terests ot the national school, in order by a vigilant 
 supervision on the spot to assist the Government in 
 protecting the school from corrupting and destructive 
 influences. In the following year (1874) ensued the 
 final organization of the management of national schools, 
 when at the head of the governmental school councils 
 were placed the governmental marshals of the nobility, 
 and at the head of the district councils, the district 
 marshals; and not only was the representation imposed 
 upon them, but the immediate supervision of the schools, 
 of the teachers, of the moral tendency of the teaching, 
 etc., with the right of being in direct communication 
 with the curator of the educational district and even 
 with the Minister of National Education. On the other 
 hand, upon the clergy, in the person of the bishops, was 
 imposed the supreme supervision of the instruction in 
 divinity and of the religious and moral tendency. The 
 statutes upon national education of 1864 and 1874 had 
 the most decisive influence upon the development of 
 elementary education. All the Government and social 
 organs vied with each other in furthering as far as their 
 strength permitted this sacred work. 
 
 244 
 
LOWER AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 
 
 The Ministry of National Education directed its chief 
 attention to the preparation of the teaching staff. With 
 this object it proceeded to the foundation of teachers' 
 seminaries and of training courses in connexion with 
 various kinds of educational institutions, and also of mo- 
 del Government schools. 
 
 The Zemstvos, on their part, having proceeded to 
 found schools, began to organize their teachers' semina- 
 ries and schools, training courses, and teachers' con- 
 gresses. But, seeing that, nevertheless, even in these 
 conditions, the contingent of specially prepared persons 
 was very inconsiderable, the zemstvos began to use 
 their efforts in order that, of the persons who had not 
 received a special training, those who entered the na- 
 tional schools should be the most highly developed and 
 cultivated elements. With this object, the zemstvos 
 began to show 7 solicitude for the improvement of the 
 material condition of the teachers. 
 
 At the same time, the Zemstvos took heed also of the 
 intellectual interests of the teachers, by organizing in 
 connexion with the schools teachers' libraries, similar 
 libraries for the whole district and even for the whole 
 government, whence books were distributed to the tea- 
 chers free by the Zemstvo post. The Zemstvos again 
 raised the extremely important question of admitting 
 women teachers to the national schools, who, as expe- 
 rience has shown, are even more suited to the elemen- 
 tary school than men teachers. They also introduced 
 teachers' assistants, for the most part, taken from the 
 cleverest boys who have finished the course in the same 
 
 245 
 
LOWER AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 
 
 school, who thus by practice acquired skill in the teach- 
 ing art and might subsequently themselves become 
 teachers. The amelioration of the teaching staff very 
 naturally was reflected in the improvement of the me- 
 thods of teaching. 
 
 The Zemstvos opened in connexion with the ele- 
 mentary schools the first trades' classes, introducing 
 into the sphere of subjects of instruction handicrafts and 
 other practical work. Further, attention was directed to 
 the difficulties arising from the scattered nature of the 
 population, and the zemstvos strove to create conditions 
 under \vhich education should be accessible to the mass 
 of the population, by establishing for the pupils night 
 shelters and lodgings attached to the schools, even intro- 
 ducing movable schools wandering from one centre of 
 population to another. In response also to the needs of 
 the adult illiterate, some of the zemstvos organized in 
 connexion with the schools evening, or Sunday, teaching 
 for this class, which also was destined to serve as a 
 powerful means for the struggle with recidivism in 
 illiterateness. The material side also of the school 
 was considerably improved, such improvement, affecting 
 school premises, their internal arrangements, stores of 
 books and appliances, etc. With the teaching proper 
 the zemstvos have no concern, although they keep an 
 eye upon it through their representatives in the school 
 councils; for the supervision, however, of the internal 
 economy, they usually possess their own inspectors and 
 managers. 
 
 In 1869, the zemstvos expended upon national edu- 
 
 246 
 
LOWER AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 
 
 cation a total of less than a million roubles or about 6 per 
 cent of the whole of their budget. In 1893, however, 
 the sum assigned already reached 7,657,000 roubles, or 
 14 per cent of the budget, while the expenditure on 
 National Schools alone in 1891 was 5,334,000 roubles. 
 
 No less zeal was exhibited by the organs of muni- 
 cipal administration. The schools of Petersburg, for 
 example, justly enjoy a high reputation, and the expen- 
 diture of the various city institutions upon elementary 
 education amounted in 1891 to about 3 1 / 2 millions of 
 roubles. 
 
 There remain the church schools. We mentioned above 
 that, until the sixties, priests and other servants of the 
 church were almost the sole teachers in the village 
 schools. It is very natural, accordingly, that at the time 
 of the reform especial attention was directed to them. 
 
 Unfortunately, there were at that time still many 
 obstacles in the way of their further development. The 
 chief and fundamental of these was the entire absence 
 of resources of their own at the disposal of the clergy 
 for placing the schools' organization upon the high level 
 demanded by the requirements of the time. On the 
 other hand the organization of the church school system 
 was of an entirely indefinite character. 
 
 Owing to all this, in the beginning of the eighties 
 there were not more than 4000 church schools. The 
 situation was evidently abnormal : the cause of education 
 was losing gradually the very class which is called to 
 take part in the work by the very nature of its duties. 
 This circumstance did not long fail to attract the most 
 
 - 247 
 
LOWER AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 
 
 zealous attention of the Government. Already in 1879^ 
 in the Committee of Ministers, due consideration was 
 given to the question of affording the orthodox clergy 
 a proper influence upon national education, and in 1882, 
 the High Procurer of the Most Holy Synod, Pobedo- 
 nostsef, was commissioned to draw up a plan for the 
 enlargement of the sphere of activity of the clergy in 
 the cause of national education. The result was the 
 promulgation of the rules of the 13 June, 1884, now ' m 
 force, regulating church parochial schools, which in- 
 augurate a new period in the history of the participa- 
 tion of the clergy in national education. The rules 
 issued in 1891 concerning elementary schools -complete the 
 organization created by the law of 1884. According to 
 this law, the church schools are all placed under the 
 immediate control of the Most Holy Synod and of the 
 school council attached to it. For their management 
 is established in every diocese a diocesan school council, 
 attached to the bishop, with a consultative voice, while 
 there are branches of this council in each district. The 
 diocesan council consists of clerical and lay members ap- 
 pointed by the bishop. The branches contain as ex officio 
 lay members, zemsky chiefs (natchalniks), and inspectors 
 of national schools from the Ministry of National Edu- 
 cation. For the more immediate superintendence of the 
 schools, the bishop appoints priests as district and dio- 
 cesan inspectors. Further, there may be lay honorary 
 curators of the church parochial schools, chosen by the 
 Most Holy Synod from among those who have distin- 
 guished themselves by their zeal for the spread of 
 
 248 
 
LOWER AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 
 
 national education in the spirit of the orthodox church. 
 However, both they and the representatives of the in- 
 stitutions which support the schools by their contribu- 
 tions, may only visit the schools and receive the 
 accounts of the expenditure of the donations, but may 
 themselves make no dispositions, limiting themselves 
 to the communication of their observations to the 
 spiritual authorities. Far more decisive is the part 
 allotted to the lay founders of small elementary schools, 
 who in the capacity of curator and in conjunction with 
 the priest have the immediate care of the teaching and 
 internal economy of these schools. The sources of the 
 means of support of the church schools, indicated by 
 the law of 1884, are very various, including the local 
 resources of the parish and assistance on the part of 
 public institutions, private persons, the spiritual autho- 
 rities and even the treasury. But the help afforded by 
 the treasury has been very small, 55,500 roubles in the 
 first two years, and 175,500 roubles, in those following. 
 And, notwithstanding this, thanks only to the fact that 
 the church schools were given a definite and, most 
 important, an independent organization, their number 
 began to rapidly increase, and from 3.500 4,000 in 
 1884 reached 27,264 in 18921893. During the decade 
 that has elapsed since 1884, the clergy have built 
 9,200 schoolhouses, costing ab much as 7,000,000 roubles, 
 and 7,000,000 copies of textbooks have been published 
 and distributed, at a reduced price and partly free. In 
 spite of all this, however, the existence of church 
 schools could not be regarded as placed beyond danger 
 
 240 
 
LOWER AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 
 
 from a material point of view. Every case of crop 
 failure or epidemic demanding the direction of local 
 resources to other and more urgent needs, accordingly 
 threatened the very existence of church schools. An 
 act of the greatest importance, therefore, it must be 
 acknowledged, was the Imperial decree of 1895, in 
 virtue of which 3,279,145 roubles are now annually 
 paid out of the treasury towards the support of the 
 church schools. In this way their resources have been 
 more than doubled. 
 
 Turning to the present state of elementary schools, 
 we must first observe that these schools form a series 
 of successive steps. Upon the lowest step of all stands 
 the elementary school, at present as we have seen 
 under the management of the clergy. These elementary 
 schools are the most ancient schools in Russia, created 
 by the people itself at a time when as yet there were 
 no government schools. We have more than once had 
 occasion to refer to them in this section. The teacher 
 in them was a supernumerary clerk, a country laysister, 
 a retired soldier, or some literate person or other. And 
 at the present time, there is no qualification to be tea- 
 cher in an elementary school. But at any rate, it is 
 the duty of the parish priest to find a trustworthy tea- 
 cher and to look after his teaching, which greatly im- 
 proves the work, the more that the spiritual department 
 is opening a series of two-class church parochial schools 
 (there are 200 at the present time), with the special 
 object of preparing from among the peasants themselves 
 trustworthy teachers for the elementary schools. The 
 
 250 
 
LOWER AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 
 
 programme in the elementary schools is of course ot 
 the most limited character: divinity, church singing, rea- 
 ding Church-Slavonic and Russian, writing, and reckoning. 
 The parochial schools and the national schools of the 
 Ministry of National Education, (those of the zemstvos, 
 the crown, tow r ns, etc) form the second step; they are 
 in their turn divided into two categories: one-class and 
 two-class. Even for the teachers of these schools there 
 is no definite qualification fixed. In the ministerial 
 schools teachers may be, with the permission of the 
 inspector, persons alike from the laity and the clergy, 
 confirmed in their posts after a year's performance of 
 its duties. In church parochial schools, the posts of 
 teacher are principally although not exclusively filled by 
 persons who have received education in theological 
 educational institutions, and in the girls' schools of the 
 spiritual department. But the teaching of divinity is the 
 direct duty of the local priest or deacon; in exceptional 
 cases only are others allowed to teach. In 1891, in the 
 Ministerial schools there were 53,260 male and female 
 teachers, who had passed the following educational 
 establishments in this proportion: 
 
 1. Higher educational institutions . . 321 
 
 2. Middle . . . 26,731 
 
 3. Lower ... 10,110 
 
 4. Special training colleges for teachers. 14,273 
 
 5 . Without any educational qualification 1,825 
 
 53.260 
 In the church schools, according to the information 
 
 251 
 
LOWER AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 
 
 for 1892 3, there were 11,500 divinity teachers and 
 about 26,000 other teachers. Among the latter, 10,511 
 were clergy, including 2,960 priests, 2,604 deacons and 
 4.947 psalmreaders. Among those not belonging to the 
 clergy, were 1,920 who had completed the course of 
 the theological seminaries; 1,643 wno na ^ passed out 
 of the theological schools; and 1,737 from, the diocesan 
 girls' schools. The remaining 11,000 teachers were 
 persons who had come out of teachers' seminaries,, ele- 
 mentary national schools, girls' gymnasiums, etc, and 
 partly persons educated at home. 
 
 For the special preparation of teachers for national 
 schools, the Ministry of National Education has at its 
 disposal 6 1 teachers' seminaries and schools, with cour- 
 ses extending over three or four years, in connexion 
 with which as a rule are opened model elementary 
 schools, where the pupils of the seminaries are practi- 
 cally exercised in the art of teaching. There arc more 
 than 4,500 pupils in these seminaries. Approximately 
 900 to 1,000 pass out annually with the diploma of 
 elementary school teacher, a result which is of course 
 still very modest. The spiritual department has 10 spe- 
 cial church teachers- schools, and further prepares tea- 
 chers in 54 theological seminaries. Besides the semina- 
 ries, summer teachers' courses are established and also con- 
 gresses of teachers. These courses and congresses have 
 in view the acquainting of the teachers with the newest 
 and best methods of teaching. They are there, under 
 the direction of specialists, made to give trial lessons, 
 to draw up plans of teaching, etc. 
 
 252 
 
LOWER AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 
 
 The programme of the Ministerial and of church 
 parochial schools is essentially almost the same. It con- 
 tains divinity, the reading of Church-Slavonic and Rus- 
 sian print, writing, and the elements of arithmetic. The 
 difference consists in this that the course of divinity in 
 the church schools is somewhat more extensive compared 
 with the other subjects, and church singing is compul- 
 sory. The programme of the two- class schools, with the 
 same subjects, is of course wider, and there are more 
 teachers in them. Besides the subjects enumerated, 
 which have from the earliest times entered into the pro- 
 gramme of our elementary schools, latterly the need has 
 been continually more and more felt for imparting to 
 the pupils of the elementary schools, if not special, pro- 
 fessional knowledge, at any rate that necessary skill 
 whose possession would not allow them to be taken 
 unawares by the exigencies of practical life. It were, 
 of course, desirable that the peasant on completing the 
 course of the primary school should take away with 
 him the knowledge adapted to his profession, whether 
 agriculture or a trade. But, on the other hand, the 
 universal combination of a special, even elementary, course 
 with that having a general educational character, is not 
 so easy: it requires the extension of the school, the in- 
 crease of its means of support, special training of the 
 teaching staff, etc. At the present time, for example, to 
 the whole mass of lower educational institutions of the 
 Ministry of National Education there are only 464 trades 
 classes. Such a combination is difficult of attainment, 
 as we have seen, also in the middle educational insti- 
 
 253 
 
LOWER AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 
 
 for 1892 3, there were 11,500 divinity teachers and 
 about 26,000 other teachers. Among the latter, 10,511 
 
 were clergy, including 2,960 priests, 2,604 deacons and 
 
 
 4.947 psalmreaders. Among those not belonging to the 
 
 clergy, were 1,920 who had completed the course of 
 the theological seminaries; 1,643 wno na ^ passed out 
 of the theological schools; and 1,737 from the diocesan 
 girls' schools. The remaining 11,000 teachers were 
 persons who had come out of teachers' seminaries, ele- 
 mentary national schools, girls' gymnasiums, etc, and 
 partly persons educated at home. 
 
 For the special preparation of teachers for national 
 schools, the Ministry of National Education has at its 
 disposal 6 1 teachers' seminaries and schools, with cour- 
 ses extending over three or four years, in connexion 
 with which as a rule are opened model elementary 
 schools, where the pupils of the seminaries are practi- 
 cally exercised in the art of teaching. There are more 
 than 4,500 pupils in these seminaries. Approximately 
 900 to 1,000 pass out annually with .the diploma of 
 elementary school teacher, a result which is of course 
 still very modest. The spiritual department has 10 spe- 
 cial church teachers- schools, and further prepares tea- 
 chers in 54 theological seminaries. Besides the semina- 
 ries, summer teachers' courses are established and also con- 
 gresses of teachers. These courses and congresses have 
 in view the acquainting of the teachers with the newest 
 and best methods of teaching. They are there, under 
 the direction of specialists, made to give trial lessons, 
 to draw up plans of teaching, etc. 
 
 252 
 
LOWER AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 
 
 The programme of the Ministerial and of church 
 parochial schools is essentially almost the same. It con- 
 tains divinity, the reading of Church-Slavonic and Rus- 
 sian print, writing, and the elements of arithmetic. The 
 difference consists in this that the course of divinity in 
 the church schools is somewhat more extensive compared 
 with the other subjects, and church singing is compul- 
 sory. The programme of the two- class schools, with the 
 same subjects, is of course wider, and there are more 
 teachers in them. Besides the subjects enumerated, 
 which have from the earliest times entered into the pro- 
 gramme of our elementary schools, latterly the need has 
 been continually more and more felt for imparting to 
 the pupils of the elementary schools, if not special, pro- 
 fessional knowledge, at any rate that necessary skill 
 whose possession would not allow them to be taken 
 unawares by the exigencies of practical life. It were, 
 of course, desirable that the peasant on completing the 
 course of the primary school should take away with 
 him the knowledge adapted to his profession, whether 
 agriculture or a trade. But, on the other hand, the 
 universal combination of a special, even elementary, course 
 with that having a general educational character, is not 
 so easy: it requires the extension of the school, the in- 
 crease of its means of support, special training of the 
 teaching staff, etc. At the present time, for example, to 
 the whole mass of lower educational institutions of the 
 Ministry of National Education there are only 464 trades 
 classes. Such a combination is difficult of attainment, 
 as we have seen, also in the middle educational insti- 
 
 253 
 
LOWER AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 
 
 tutions, where both means and teaching power are far 
 greater. At the same time, however, there is no doubt 
 that the elementary school, created for the whole popu- 
 lation, should not divorce it from practical life, but should 
 impart to it not only the intellectual but the physical 
 development, destined thereafter to facilitate the aqui- 
 sition of a trade. This is why, already since the i6 th 
 century, the question of manual work as one of the 
 fundamental elements in primary education has attracted 
 the attention of the thinkers and educationalists of Western 
 Europe. The object of manual work as a subject of 
 instruction consists not in the imparting of skill in any 
 particular trade, but in the development of the attention, 
 of accuracy and of love for physical labour in general, 
 in the training of the eye and of the hand for the most 
 varied purposes. Although it thus appears that, in theory, 
 manual work is a question of long standing, yet the first 
 attempt to teach it took place only in 1866, in Finland, 
 where the first law was passed making the teaching of 
 manual work compulsory in primary schools and teachers' 
 seminaries. The example of Finland found many imi- 
 tators in Western Europe. Elsewhere in Russia, namely 
 in Yurief, courses for the preparation of school teachers 
 of manual work were opened in 1878. But this was a 
 solitary case. Russia owes the placing of this question 
 upon a wider basis to the late Minister of Finance, 
 Vyshnegradsky, who in 1884 obtained the assignation of 
 the necessary sums for teaching the new subject in the 
 Petersburg Teachers' Institute, whose example was fol- 
 lowed by many teachers' seminaries and institutes, and 
 
 254 
 
LOWER AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 
 
 in 1895 there were already many such courses in various 
 places. From the training colleges the teaching of ma- 
 nual work passed gradually also into the ordinary schools, 
 both town and country, while courses of manual work 
 also began to be organized for village teachers. 
 
 Turning from the school and its programme to the 
 pupils, we must first of all notice that the attendance of 
 the primary school in Russia is not compulsory, with 
 the exception of the Baltic governments. And this is 
 perfectly intelligible: considering the great distances and 
 the lack of schools, compulsory education would be an 
 intolerable burden alike for children and parents, and 
 even for the Government, which would be compelled 
 inevitably to have every where boarding houses attached 
 to the schools. 
 
 According to the information published by the Mi- 
 nistry of National Education and by the Spiritual De- 
 partment, in 1895 (for 1891 in regard to Ministerial 
 schools and for 1892 3 for church schools), the pri- 
 mary schools of Russia, exclusive of Finland, were dis- 
 tributed as follows: 
 
 Ministerial 27,101 
 
 Church parochial 11,342 
 
 Elementary (Shkoly gramoty) . . . 15,922 
 
 Total . . . 54,365 
 The scholars in them are represented as follows: 
 
 Boys 2,086,000 
 
 Girls 590,000 
 
 2,676,000 
 255 
 
LOWER AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 
 
 To which must be added about 89,000 scholars in 
 Finland. In Russia, however, the number of children of 
 school age, that is from 7 to 1 1 years of age, can 
 hardly be estimated at less than ten million. Three- 
 quarters., therefore, of the children of this age attend no 
 school; and it is to be noted that the percentage of girls 
 attending . school is particularly small. The last circum- 
 stance is specially important, as the prevailing influence 
 in the education of the family is that of the mother. 
 
 We have already above touched upon the means of 
 support of the primary schools; we will therefore now 
 only adduce the statistical data. The expenditure upon 
 the Ministerial schools amounted in 1891 to 16,222,000 
 roubles or, on an average, to 600 roubles per schooL 
 This sum was made up as follows: 
 
 Zemstvos 33 per cent. 
 
 Rural communities ...... 26 
 
 Towns 18 
 
 Treasury 9 
 
 Donations 7.5 
 
 Various sources 6.5 
 
 The sums received for the support of the church 
 schools in 1892 3 amounted to 3,564,000 roubles, con- 
 tributed as follows: 
 
 Rural communities 18 per cent. 
 
 Benefactors 13 
 
 Parochial resources 8 
 
 Zemstvos and towns 7 
 
 Balance from former years . . 28 
 
 256 
 
LOWER AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 
 
 The expenditure, however, did not exhaust the whole 
 income, but only 2,500,000 roubles, or about 92 roubles 
 per school, i. e. 6 to 7 times less than the cost of the 
 Ministerials schools. This difference in the expense of 
 maintenance is explained by the circumstances that, 
 among church schools more than half are cheap schools 
 of the elementary (gramatica) type, that the members 
 of the clergy hardly received anything for their labours 
 as teachers. 
 
 The figures quoted above upon the expenditure on 
 primary education are a witness to the lively interest 
 in the cause shown by all the local institutions zemst- 
 vos, towns, and rural communities. It must further be 
 added that the rural communities make large offerings, 
 not in money only, but in kind, such as premises, fuel, 
 lighting, etc. It is to be observed that we have no gene- 
 ral school taxes imposed throughout the Empire (with the 
 exception of the western borderlands), but local school 
 dues are met with in separate localities. 
 
 The second category of lower educational institutions 
 is composed of district and town schools, which may 
 contain two, three or four classes, and on the petition 
 of the founders, even six. The difference between them 
 is perfectly insignificant and consists only in the time of 
 their foundation. Town schools began to arise in 1872, 
 and latterly district schools are being gradually trans- 
 formed into them, so that the town schools now num- 
 ber 488, with 66,000 scholars, and the district schools 
 149, with 12,000 scholars. The subjects taught in the 
 town schools are divinity, reading and writing, Russian 
 
 - 257 - 17 
 
LOWER AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS . 
 
 language, and Church-Slavonic reading with translation 
 into Russian, arithmetic, practical geometry, geography, 
 and history (principally Russian), facts from natural 
 history and physics, planning and freehand drawing, 
 singing, and gymnastics. Further, in connexion with 
 these schools may be opened trades classes and even 
 Sunday and evening classes for adults. We should explain 
 that town and district schools are founded in towns, but 
 there also are a great many one and two-class schools; 
 in 1891, for example, there were of the latter 2,885, 
 with 228,000 scholars (without reckoning church paro- 
 chial schools) and consequently far more than in all the 
 towfi and district schools put together. Thus, even for 
 the town population, town and district schools in the 
 strict sense of the words represent the highest stage of 
 elementary education. There are therefore greater demands 
 made upon their teachers; the teachers in the town 
 schools must have completed a full course of study in 
 the teachers' institutes or have passed a corresponding 
 examination. We have as yet but few of these institutes, 
 only ten in all, attached to each of which is a town 
 school for practice; the pupils number only 62o. It must, 
 however, be observed that the teachers of town schools 
 are prepared, besides this, in the town schools them- 
 selves, from among the best pupils. 
 
 As schools of a higher category, the district and 
 town schools are maintained principally at the cost of 
 the treasury. In consequence of this, the management 
 of these schools belongs exclusively to the officials of 
 the Ministry of National Education; but the Zemstvos 
 
 258 
 
LOWER AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 
 
 and towns, supplying the means for their support, may 
 appoint honorary inspectors on their own account, who 
 visit the schools at any time and sit in the school coun- 
 cil with the right to vote. In the question of the 
 spread of elementary education among the people, the 
 district and town schools have of course no essential 
 importance, there the principal part belongs to the pri- 
 mary school and its auxiliary, the soldiers' school, where, 
 as we remarked in the first volume of this book, more 
 than 200,000 men annually receive the elements of edu- 
 cation. Next follow Sunday schools for adults, school 
 and people's libraries, etc. 
 
 Courses for adults are usually organized in school 
 premises on Sundays or even on weekdays after lessons. 
 They are largely attended by persons of all ages from 
 1 8 to 50 inclusive. The courses for adults derive a 
 great importance from the circumstance that the children 
 of peasants very often leave school before completing 
 the course. In the peasant household economy, a child 
 twelve or thirteen years of age is already a real work- 
 man; hence it is that, for example in 1891, the number 
 leaving and not completing the course in the primary 
 schools were fully 20 per cent of the total number of 
 pupils, while the full course was finished by scarcely 10 
 per cent. Courses for adults undoubtedly render it possible 
 to make good this defect. Next come holiday discussions 
 and popular readings; by their means is attained another 
 most important aim of the school the religious and 
 moral education of the people, and its protection from 
 the injurious action of the market and the factory. The 
 
 259 17- 
 
LEARNED INSTITUTIONS. ART EDUCATION. 
 
 statistics show that, in 1874, illiterate recruits formed 
 79 per cent; while in 1887, they formed 74 per cent, 
 and in 1893 64 per cent. Although, in this way 
 the number of literates increased in this country in the 
 course of 20 years by more than 70 per cent (from 
 21 to 36 per cent of the total number of recruits), 
 nevertheless Russia is in this respect far behind the other 
 large states of Europe, where the figures for illiterate 
 recruits in 1888 91 were as follows: 
 
 Percentage of illiterate recruits. 
 
 Germany O.e 
 
 France 9,-t 
 
 Austria 30.8 
 
 Hungary 36.o 
 
 Italy - . 42.o 
 
 The greatest percentage of literate recruits is yielded 
 by the Baltic governments of Esthonia and Livonia, and 
 by Finland. Here the state of education approaches that 
 of the western European States. Then follow the govern- 
 ments of the capitals and the industrial Great Russian 
 governments. The smallest percentage of literates, on 
 the contrary, appears in the governments of the kingdom 
 oi Poland, in Siberia, and in the southern governments, 
 inhabited by Little Russians. 
 
 4. Learned Institutions. Art Education. In conclusion, 
 we must enumerate the chief learned institutions serving 
 to disseminate knowledge. 
 
 Here the first place belongs to the Academy of 
 Science, of which we have already had occasion to 
 speak, comprising three sections: physico-mathe- 
 
 262 
 
LEARNED INSTITUTIONS. ART EDUCATION. 
 
 matical science, Russian language and literature, and 
 historical science and philology. The Academy disposes 
 of a whole series of museums and of the Poolkovo 
 observatory. It is presided over by the Grandduke 
 Constantine Constantinovitch. 
 
 Like objects with the Academy are pursued in 
 regard to separate branches of science by the learned 
 societies in connexion with the universities or by those 
 which have been founded independently. Such are the 
 Imperial Historical Society, the Imperial Geographical 
 Society, and others. 
 
 Further, among the scientific institutions must be 
 mentioned the Statistical Council, the Central and govern- 
 mental statistical committees, the Archaeographic Com- 
 mission with the Archaeological Institute, congresses of 
 men of science, and especially libraries. Among the latter, 
 undoubtedly the first place is occupied by the Peters- 
 burg Imperial Public Library, with 1,000,000 to 1,300,000 
 volumes. Its manuscript department may be said to 
 include the whole history of Russian, and in part, of 
 Slavonic, civilization. In respect of accessibility to the 
 public, our library occupies one of the foremost places 
 in Europe. Among the other public libraries deserve 
 mention those of the Rumiantsef Museum in Moscow 
 (300,000 volumes), the Academy of Science, the His- 
 torical Museum, and the libraries of some of the uni- 
 versities, of the Spiritual Department, and lastly the 
 governmental libraries. 
 
 As far as art education is concerned, the chief or- 
 gan for its propagation in Russia is the Academy of Arts, 
 
 - 263 - 
 
LEARNED INSTITUTIONS. ART EDUCATION. 
 
 founded in 1757, and now under the presidency of the 
 Grandduke Vladimir Alexandrovitch. It not only repre- 
 sents the highest school of painting, sculpture, and archi- 
 tecture, but, besides this, helps to maintain the existing 
 art schools of Russia and to open new ones, organizes 
 exhibitions, congresses, museums, etc. The same object 
 is pursued by the Society for the Encouragement of 
 the Arts, in St. Petersburg. It is impossible to make a 
 complete enumeration of the mass of special drawing 
 schools and classes, as well as clubs and museums, among 
 the latter of which the most prominent are the Imperial 
 Hermitage in Petersburg, and the Tretiakoff Gallery in 
 Moscow for Russian painting. Further, Petersburg will 
 shortly see the opening of the Museum of Alexander III. 
 
 For the spread of musical education conservatoires have 
 been founded in Petersburg, Moscow and Warsaw, to 
 which must be added a number of schools of music. 
 
 The dramatic art is taught in the theatrical schools 
 attached to the Imperial theatres in Petersburg and Mos- 
 cow, and in a whole series of private dramatic classes. 
 
 We have still to say a few words upon the orga- 
 nization of the Ministry of National Education, established 
 in 1802. It consists of the minister, his assistant, the 
 Council of the minister, and one department. A special 
 institution of the ministry is the Scientific Committee, 
 which examines questions concerning the art of teaching. 
 Attached to it are sections for the examination of books 
 recommended for popular reading. In the same ministry 
 is the Archaeographical Commission of which we have 
 already spoken above. 
 
 26 1 
 
INSTITUTIONS OF THE EMPRESS MARY. 
 
 The local administration of education is entrusted 
 to the curators of the educational districts. There are 
 twelve such districts, namely: Petersburg, Moscow, Khar- 
 kof, Odessa, Kief, Vilno, Kazan, Orenburg, the Caucasus, 
 Western Siberia, Riga and Warsaw, each containing se- 
 veral governments. In Toorkistan, Eastern Siberia, and 
 the Amoor region are appointed Chief-Inspectors. The 
 curator is assisted by a Council and District Inspectors, 
 and in some districts he has an assistant. The higher 
 and intermediate educational institutions are immediately 
 subject to the curator. For the lower and private schools 
 there exist in the governments Directors, and in the 
 districts, Inspectors of National schools. 
 
 Of the other institutions controlling the schools we 
 have had occasion to speak above. 
 
 3. Institutions of the Empress Mary. 
 
 National Education, especially female education is 
 entrusted not exclusively to the Ministry of National 
 Education, but also to a perfectly independent Depart- 
 ment for the Institutions of the Empress Mary. It was 
 formed under the following circumstances. 
 
 I. Historical sketch. 1. Reign of the Empress Catherine II. 
 During the reign of Peter the Great a change took 
 place in the position of Russian women, which did 
 away with their former seclusion and invested them 
 with new duties towards society. In this way the 
 question of female education was brought to the front. 
 The first step in this direction was taken by the Empress 
 Catherine II soon after her accession to the throne. 
 Fully aware of the influence which educated women 
 
 265 - 
 
INSTITUTIONS OF THE EMPRESS MARY. 
 
 exercise on social life and the development of the rising 
 generation, the Empress was induced in 1764 to establ- 
 ish a society for the education of girls of good families 
 with a section for the daughters of burghers. The 
 regulations for these educational institutions., drawn up 
 by the celebrated philanthropist Betsky, were based upon 
 the Empress' idea of creating a new race of fathers 
 and mothers, and they served as a model for the subse- 
 quent organization of other girl schools. 
 
 In order to guard the girls in these schools as 
 much as possible from the effects of outside influence 
 they were strictly isolated from their families during the 
 whole period of instruction. .Girls were received at the 
 age of 5 to 6 years, and the system of education was 
 divided into 4 classes, and extended over 12 years. 
 Besides instruction in general subjects, they were taught 
 Scripture; the Russian language and three foreign 
 languages with their respective literatures; arithmetic^ 
 history, geography, the fine arts, needle work and even 
 the bases of agriculture. No little pains were also taken 
 to teach the young ladies the strictest rules of social 
 decorum, and to develop their wit. 
 
 The interest which the Empress Catherine II took 
 in education was combined with concern for the }^oung 
 in their earliest years. In 1763 at Moscow, and in 1770 
 in St. Petersburg, homes for foundlings were established, 
 with lying-in hospitals for women, and schools for 
 teaching midwifry. These Institutions were secured by 
 generous donations out of the Empress's private purse, 
 subsidies from the Government, and various privileges. 
 
 - 2G6 
 
INSTITUTIONS OF THE EMPRESS MARY. 
 
 The idea of the Empress was to increase the middle 
 classes by bringing up these infants and turning them 
 into skilled workmen and artists, for which purpose 
 various kinds of factories and workshops were attached 
 to the homes in question. The children were taught 
 to read and write; also Scripture and arithmetic. In 
 some cases those who showed special gifts or aptitude 
 for the fine arts or mechanics were sent to the Aca- 
 demy of Arts or to England to complete their educa- 
 tion. Finally, the first Commercial school was opened 
 by the Home for Foundlings at Moscow. 
 
 The management of these homes for foundlings 
 with their auxiliary institutions, and also that of the 
 Society for educating young ladies of good family was 
 placed by the Empress under the control of a special 
 Council invested with legislative and executive powers. 
 The members of this council were Honorary Guardians 
 and ((persons of distinction, who fulfilled their duties 
 gratuitously out of love for humanity . 
 
 2. The administration of the Empress Maria Feodorovna. 
 The Empress Catherine died before being able to 
 complete the organization of these institutions. Her 
 successor in this good work was the consort of the 
 Emperor Paul I, the Empress Maria Feodorovna, who 
 first of all took steps to put order into the domestic 
 management of the society for educating young ladies, 
 employing for that purpose her own so called kassetny 
 means, and then proceeded to introduce reforms in 
 the teaching departments by increasing the number of 
 pupils, extending the limit of age for admission, and 
 
 267 - 
 
INSTITUTIONS OF THE EMPRESS MARY. 
 
 curtailing the period occupied by the full course of 
 studies. 
 
 Subsequently, beginning in 1797, a number of new 
 girl schools were established, namely, the Mary (1797) 
 and Catherine (1798) Institutes, in St. Petersburg; the 
 Catherine Institute at Moscow (1802 3), together 
 with a section for the daughters of burghers; the 
 Moscow Alexandrofsky Institute, and the Paul Institute 
 at Moscow, (1807). These few of our first institutes 
 for girls were all established on the same principles 
 after the model of the society for educating young ladies 
 of good family. Only in 1817, with the establishment 
 of the Kharkof Institute a considerable change took 
 place in this respect. Although still retaining connexion 
 with the general plan of education compiled by Betsky, 
 the statutes of the new Institute differed notably by 
 their extension of philanthropic principles. The council 
 of the institute for instance, were instructed not only 
 to find situations 'as governesses for the girls on 
 leaving the Institute, and to investigate their disputes 
 with the families in which they were to live, but also 
 to look after the affairs of pupils after their departure 
 from the Institute, and even to find them husbands. 
 The character of these statutes, with some small modi- 
 fications, was applied by the Empress to the organi- 
 zation of other female educational institutions subse- 
 quently established. We need only mention four schools 
 for the children of soldiers, and a school for deaf and 
 dumb, founded by the Empress in 1806 out of her 
 own private means. 
 
 268 
 
INSTITUTIONS OF THE EMPRESS MARY. 
 
 Not less fruitful was the activity of the Empress 
 Maria Feodorovna in the management of the Homes 
 for Foundlings; and here the first care of the Empress 
 was to provide these institutions with sufficient material 
 means. At the same time the Empress caused the stric- 
 test attention to be paid to the nursing and treatment 
 of the children, created a special department to look 
 after those of the children who were given out to be 
 nursed and brought up in villages, and also established 
 a special village lazaretto for them; but considering 
 these measures still inadequate, the Empress ordered a 
 special village home for foundlings to be opened in 
 1803 in Gatchina for 700 children, which was transfor- 
 med in 1834 into the Gatchina Institute for male orphans. 
 
 For the further welfare of the children, Latin, 
 French, German, and music classes were opened in these 
 foundling homes; also workshops for shoe makers, book 
 binders, etc., printing offices, and a village colony for 
 grown up foundlings not able to learn any trade. 
 
 As chief means of imparting technical instruction 
 the Empress chose the Alexandrofsky Manufactory near 
 St. Petersburg. The more capable boys were here 
 made acquainted with mechanical work, while the girls 
 worked at cotton spinning, weaving, stocking knitting, 
 and the manufacture of playing cards. 
 
 These mills and factories constituted a small well 
 ordered town with its churches, hospitals, schools, and 
 infirmaries. In spite, however, of all the efforts of the 
 Empress this establishment was a financial failure, and 
 in 1860 its various works and factories were all closed 
 
 269 - 
 
INSTITUTIONS OF THE EMPRESS MARY. 
 
 with the exception of the mill for manufacturing playing 
 cards. We need only mention a number of other 
 institutions under the patronage of the Empress, such 
 as homes for widows and extensive hospitals and 
 infirmaries. 
 
 With the increase of the number of these establish- 
 ments, and the expansion ot their activity the Empress 
 became convinced of the necessity of changing the 
 organization of the central management in conformity 
 with the requirements of the time. The personal compo- 
 sition of the Council of Guardians underwent reorga- 
 nization, and the members were called upon to look 
 after separate establishments as well as take part in the 
 work of general control. At the same time the Empress 
 concentrating in herself all power of final decision, 
 made the president of the Council her assistant and the 
 council itself a consultative institution from which all 
 matters had to be sent up for the Empress's confirmation. 
 
 On the 24 th October, 1828, the Empress Maria 
 Fedorovna was no more. According to the just appre- 
 ciation of her contemporaries* the apostleship of charity 
 was never in worthier hands, and a grateful posterity 
 will place the name of the Empress Maria in the first 
 rank of those chosen ones of the earth, who, without 
 actually holding the reins of government, have never- 
 theless had the most lasting and essentially useful 
 influence on the fortunes of the State. 
 
 3. The reign of the Emperor Nicholas I. By Imperial 
 ukas of the 26 th October, 1828, all the institutions for- 
 
 * Comte Ouvarof. A la memoire de 1'Imperatrice Marie>. 
 270 
 
INSTITUTIONS OF THE EMPRESS MARY. 
 
 merly under the direction of the late Empress, were 
 named in perpetuation of Her Majesty's memory, the In- 
 stitutions of the Empress Mary, and placed under the 
 direct and special protection of their Imperial Majesties. 
 In conformity with the wishes of the late Empress, 
 as expressed in Her last will and testament, and in or- 
 der that the organization of control over Her Institu- 
 tions after Her death should remain unchanged, the 
 Emperor Nicholas Pavlovitch ordered all matters which 
 would have been submitted to the late Empress to be 
 laid before himself; but everything concerning moral and 
 educational matters began in 1831 to be first brought 
 to the notice of the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. 
 For the purpose of concentrating the business of these 
 institutions a IV Section was formed in His IMPERIAL 
 MAJESTY'S Chancery. The chief concern of the Emperor, 
 who always took great interest in the Institutions of 
 the Empress Mary, was to increase their number in the 
 provinces; and consequently, between the years 1829 
 and 1845 Institutes for girls of good families were 
 opened in Odessa, Kazan, Kief, Bielostock, Tiflis, War- 
 saw, Astrakhan, Kertch, Nijni-Novgorod, Novotcherkask, 
 Tamboff, Orenburg, Saratof, Poltava and Irkootsk. But 
 the period of the thirties)) was an important one in 
 the history of this department. The cholera epidemic 
 at that time necessitated the establishment of a large 
 number of special homes for orphans, which were sub- 
 sequently, for the most part, transformed into orphan 
 Institutes. Such were the Nicholas Orphan Institutes in 
 Moscow and St. Petersburg, and the Alexandra Orphan 
 
 271 
 
INSTITUTION'S OF THE EMPRESS MARY. 
 
 House in Moscow, for children of officials, officers and 
 of the clergy; and at the end of the reign in 1853 the 
 authority of the Department of the Institutions of the 
 Empress Mary was further extended over 175 more 
 institutions, which had been under the patronage of 
 the Empresses Elizaveta Alexievna (\vife of the Emperor 
 Alexander I) and Alexandra Feodorovna. Among these 
 were institutes (the Patriotic and Elizabeth Institutes 
 in St. Petersburg, and the Elizabeth Institutes in Mos- 
 cow, Poltava and TambofF), and also the schools 
 ot the Imperial Patriotic, and other societies. In the 
 last year of the reign of the Emperor Nicholas I the 
 Department had under its direction 236 institutions, 
 in which 9,534 boys and girls were being brought 
 up and educated, 37,609 were under medical care for 
 sickness and disease, and 60,898 children were being 
 nursed and taken care of; while the capital of the De- 
 partment had reached the respectable figure of 70 
 million roubles. 
 
 Of the legislative measures especially important was 
 the reorganization carried out in the internal arrangements 
 of girl schools. The continual increase of these estab- 
 lishments and the need of uniformity in the progress 
 of public education resulted in 1855 in the publication 
 of general statutes for institutions of female educa- 
 tion under the Department of the Empress Mary. 
 These new statutes united all regulations previously 
 in force for separate institutions, which had been is- 
 sued at various times under the influence of different 
 views on female education. Special attention was 
 
 272 
 
INSTITUTIONS OF THE EMPRESS MARY. 
 
 given to the supervision of educational plans and 
 regulations of physical development by specialists, while 
 the rules concerning moral training were applied in 
 furtherance of the aim indicated by the Emperor Ni- 
 cholas Pavlovitch; namely, to prepare girls for a strict 
 and conscientious fulfilment of the duties awaiting them; 
 so that in due time they might become good wives and 
 useful mothers of families. These statutes, with few 
 modifications, are to a great extent in force at the pre- 
 sent day. 
 
 4. The reign of the Emperor Alexander II. The reign 
 of the Emperor Alexander II like that of his prede- 
 cessor, was also one of progress in the activity of the 
 Department. The number of nursing, educational, and 
 benevolent, institutions amounted to 459; the number 
 of children under education 20,000, under treatment 
 in hospitals about 62,000, with more than 80,000 child- 
 ren under the care of foundling hospitals and asy- 
 lums. Among the separate institutions established during 
 these years mention must be made of the children's 
 hospital of Prince Oldenburg, which recently celebrated 
 its 25 years existence, and which is a model institution 
 of its kind, where all the latest improvements in hygiene 
 medicine, and science are put into practice. 
 
 But most of the newly opened institutions were of 
 quite a new type, namely gymnasium day schools for 
 girls. Down to that time female education in Russia was 
 strictly based upon the principle of separating the scho- 
 lars from their families and society. The application of 
 this system of education during nearly a century, howe- 
 
 18 
 
INSTITUTIONS OF THE EMPRESS MARY. 
 
 ver (1764 1857), proved it to be defective in many im- 
 portant respects, and led to the necessity of doing away 
 with the extraordinary seclusion of the Institutes by 
 permitting the girls to visit their homes once or twice 
 a week, and in some Institutes even day scholars were 
 admitted, while on the other hand schools had to be 
 established in which girls of all classes could receive 
 education for moderate payment without being separated 
 altogether from their families. The first school of this 
 kind was opened in St. Petersburg on the 19 th April, 
 1858; applications soon began to come in from all parts 
 for permission to open these gymnasiums for girls. The 
 demand was so great that the Department of Institutions 
 of the Empress Mary was only able to take under its 
 care those gymnasiums which could support themselves, 
 the rest being placed under the control of the Ministry 
 of National Education. General improvement in the treat- 
 ment of the children which was called for by the me- 
 dical report of 1859, was effected in all the institutions 
 of the Department; and in particular a system of super- 
 vision was established over children taken from the 
 foundling hospitals to be brought up in peasant families. 
 This consisted of appointing guardians among the wives 
 of local land owners, who also looked after the village 
 schools established for the benefit of these foundlings. 
 Besides village schools, the Department also opened 
 seminaries and schools for preparing teachers, nurses, 
 female medical assistants and female teachers. 
 
 5. The reign of the Emperor Alexander III; administra- 
 tion of the Empress Maria Feodorovna. In 1881 the 
 
 - 274. - 
 
INSTITUTIONS OF THE EMPRESS MARY. 
 
 Department of the Institutions of the Empress Mary 
 came under the protection of the Empress Maria Feodo- 
 rovna. 
 
 At the beginning of the eighties)) middle class 
 education for girls was sufficiently well supported by 
 the female institutes and gymnasiums; but general elemen- 
 tary education for the mass of Russian women was then 
 quite unorganized. The absence of girl schools with a 
 full elementary course of instruction between the lower 
 schools and the middle class establishments was the 
 principal cause that induced so many parents of the 
 lower orders of the town population to send their 
 daughters to gymnasiums although the studies in those 
 establishments were far too severe for the majority of 
 such girls, both as regards their family position, and 
 want of preparation, being far too advanced, protracted, 
 and expensive. Only a very few, therefore, complete the 
 full course of studies. In order to supply this important 
 want a project was formed in 1882 at the instigation 
 of the Empress for the establishment of a special type 
 of school for girls of all ranks who needed proper ele- 
 mentary education with the view either of helping in the 
 work of their parents on leaving school, entering profes- 
 sional schools, or learning some craft or trade. The first 
 school of this type, called Mary-schools, was opened in 
 St. Petersburg, in November 1882, and was at once filled 
 with pupils; while applications for admission continued 
 to be so numerous that in the following year it was 
 thought advisable to establish a second school of this kind 
 in St. Petersburg, and in 1884 one at Vyshny Volotchock. 
 
INSTITUTIONS OF THE EMPRESS MARY. 
 
 The spread of professional female education in Rus- 
 sia also engaged the attention of the August Patroness 
 of the Department. For this purpose it was deemed 
 advisable to reorganize the school of the Demidof house 
 in St. Petersburg into an educational establishment on the 
 plan of the Honorary Guardian Count Bobrinsky, with 
 a very complete course of needlework, various trades, 
 and book-keeping. (At the Chicago Exhibition a first prize 
 was awarded to this school for its superior needlework). 
 At the same time attention was turned towards helping 
 the girls to make a start in life as soon as they left 
 school. To this end special pedagogical classes were added 
 to all the Institutes of St. Petersburg according to the 
 ideas of the Empress, in order to prepare the girls of 
 these Institutes in the capital and the provinces for the 
 work of governesses and teachers. 
 
 The care of orphans, as we have seen, was one of 
 the principal objects of concern in the two preceding 
 reigns. But there are a number of children bereft of either 
 father or mother, and who have a claim upon the De- 
 partment by reason of the services of their parents. These 
 half orphans, however, could not be taken into the or- 
 phan institutes, because all vacancies were filled by com- 
 plete orphans deprived of both parents. It was therefore 
 considered necessary to establish a special institution for 
 these half orphans on the plan of the Nicholas Orphan 
 Institute, (which however is only for girls destitute of 
 both parents), but for some time the Department was 
 unable to provide the necessary means. In this difficulty 
 the late Emperor Alexander III came forward and gene- 
 
 276 
 
INSTITUTIONS OF THE EMPRESS MARY. 
 
 rously gave 100,000 roubles, and 152,000 roubles more 
 annually, for the establishment of such an institute in 
 honour of the marriage of His daughter the Grand 
 Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna. This Institute was located in 
 the former Nicholas palace and opened for 350 half orphans, 
 daughters of officers in the military and civil service. 
 
 The internal arrangements of these institutes, espe- 
 cially the food and health of the inmates, were also 
 the object of unremitting attention. Credit was increased 
 for the purchase of provisions, and additional sums were 
 allotted for the nourishment of girls of feeble health 
 who thus received milk, wine, and better fare. 
 
 For the purpose of physical development, it was 
 considered necessary to introduce into all the Institutes 
 a course of medical gymnastics, based on the latest 
 scientific principles, and to increase the hours of recre- 
 ation for walking in the open air. 
 
 Having noticed the failure of attempts to cure chronic 
 ailments by ordinary medical treatment, it was also con- 
 sidered necessary to establish a summer colony as a 
 sanatorium for these female institutes of the Department. 
 
 The first of these was established in 1885 at Li- 
 petsk in the government of TambofT, a place well known 
 for its ferruginous springs and salubrious climate. In 
 the following year another sanatory station was estab- 
 lished at Hapsal on the Esthonian coast, where the girls 
 could benefit by sea bathing and mud baths; and recently 
 20 vacancies for weak chested girls have been gratui- 
 tously placed at the disposal of the Department in the 
 Imperial Sanatorium of Halila in Finland. 
 
 - 277 - 
 
INSTITUTIONS OF THE EMPRESS MARY. 
 
 The work of the Department has been equally be- 
 neficial during the last 14 years in establishing and de- 
 veloping public charity in Russia. In 1883 to the de- 
 partment of the Institutions ot the Empress Mary was 
 added the Guardianship of the Empress Maria Alexan- 
 drovna over the blind, which had been started in 1881 
 by State Secretary Grote, and which is intended for the 
 blind throughout the Empire, without distinction of age, 
 calling, religion, or nationality. Its chief aim is to es- 
 tablish, develop and maintain institutions for bringing 
 up and educating blind children and for teaching blind 
 adults some kind of productive labour. 
 
 All the schools of the Guardianship have elementary 
 courses of study, but the main object is to teach the children 
 suitable trades, so that they may be able to earn a crust 
 of bread for themselves on leaving the institutions. The 
 means of the Society is drawn chiefly from voluntary 
 contributions. With the blessing of the Holy Synod 
 collections are made in all churches of the Empire 
 during the services in the so-called week of the blind, 
 and these amount each time to about 85,000 roubles. 
 Besides this, in June, 1888, the Emperor Alexander III 
 gave the Guardianship a million roubles which had been 
 allotted for benevolent purposes by the late Emperor, 
 Alexander II, in perpetuation of His August Consort the 
 Empress. 
 
 In 1891 new regulations were established for the 
 admission of children into the Imperial Foundling Ho- 
 spitals of St. Petersburg and Moscow. This had to be 
 done on account of overcrowding and considerable mor- 
 
 273 
 
INSTITUTIONS OF THE EMPRESS MARY. 
 
 tality among the children in consequence. The right of 
 free admission also was continually abused. Instead of 
 illegitimates, large numbers of other children were taken 
 in. The new rules limited the right of admission ex- 
 clusively to deserted children and the entry of children 
 of lawful marriages was thus made as difficult as pos- 
 sible. The favourable results of these rules became 
 immediately apparent. The rate of mortality declined, 
 and the number of infants brought to the establishments 
 greatly diminished. At the Foundling Hospital in 
 Moscow the decrease was l /a of the former numbers. 
 Therefore the essential aim of these Foundling Hospitals 
 in preserving the lives of children of unfortunate birth, 
 has been in a great measure attained. At the same time, 
 however, the complete exclusion of legitimate children 
 was liable to have very serious consequences for the 
 latter, especially in cases of extreme poverty; and there- 
 fore a benevolent Society was started in Moscow at the 
 end of 1891 on the initiative of the Grand Duchess 
 Elizaveta Feodorovna, wife of the Imperial Governor 
 General of Moscow, for the purpose of nursing and 
 bringing up the legitimate children of poverty stricken 
 parents. On the iy th January, 1892, this Society was 
 named after the grand Duchess Elizabeth. As far as its 
 means will permit, this Society establishes asylums for 
 taking care of infants, or gives the latter out to 
 nurse in other benevolent institutions, or with private 
 persons. 
 
 II. Present state of the Institutions. At present all the 
 institutions of the Empress Mary may be divided into 
 
INSTITUTIONS OF THE EMPRESS MARY. 
 
 two groups: to the one belong educational establish- 
 ments, to the other, benevolent institutions. 
 
 The first group is composed principally of female 
 educational establishments. These are: 
 
 a) 30 Institutes, (10 in St. Petersburg, 4 in Moscow, 
 and 1 6 in the provinces), consisting of a seven years' 
 course and additional pedagogical classes. The programme 
 corresponds with that of the gymnasiums. In the current 
 year of 1896 the number of pupils amounted to 7,897. 
 
 b) 30 Gymnasiums, (10 in St. Petersburg and its 
 suburbs, 7 in Moscow and 15 in the provinces) with a 
 total of 11,400 pupils. Attached to the St. Petersburg 
 gymnasiums are the Female Pedagogical Courses, under 
 the august patronage of H. I. H. the Grandduke Con- 
 stantine Gonstantinovitch. 
 
 c) 3 Mary schools, (2 in St. Petersburg and i in 
 Vyshny-Volotchock),* with 259 pupils and the Anatole 
 Demidoff Home with a foundation of 250 pupils. 
 
 Male education, as appears from the preceding 
 sketch, never formed a special subject of the Department, 
 hence its male educational establishments, though various 
 are very few, namely: 
 
 1. The Imperial Alexander Lyceum, with 210 pu- 
 pils; a higher educational establishment for the sons of 
 noblemen and higher State officials, with a course of 
 administration. 
 
 2. The Gatchina Nicholaiefsky Orphans' Institute,. 
 
 * The Mary school in the town of Tobolsk belongs, as 
 regards its course, to the group of female gymnasiums, and accor- 
 dingly appears under b). Besides this, 7 Mary schools are under 
 the control of the Ministry of Education. 
 
 280 
 
INSTITUTIONS OF THE EMPRESS MARY. 
 
 with 660 pupils. A middle educational establishment 
 with a classic and modern (real) division. 
 
 3. The Commercial Schools in St. Petersburg and 
 Moscow. 
 
 Among the benevolent institutions, the first place 
 must be ascribed to the Foundlings' Houses in Moscow 
 and St. Petersburg, with 30,000 nurslings in each. Next 
 come the Department of Childrens' Asylums, with 177 
 establishments, consisting of 146 infants' schools, n baby- 
 homes, 2 hospitals, 2 lying-in houses, I alms-house, 
 i children's library (in Moscow), and a school for pre- 
 paring infant-school superintendents. The number of 
 poor children cared for, brought up., and educated, in 
 all these establishments amounts to 15,000. The de- 
 partment possesses 6,000,000 roubles capital and the 
 property is estimated as 4.000,000 roubles. 
 
 Then come 13 hospitals, 8 of which are in St. Pe- 
 tersburg and 5 in Moscow, and 3 lying-in Institutes, with 
 a total of 1 804 permanent beds, whereas the number of 
 consulting patients has often reached 410,000 per annum. 
 
 Benevolent institutions, in the strict sense of the 
 word, are represented by widows' homes, asylums, and 
 alms-houses, 12 in number, with 2,700 beds. 
 
 Finally, under the supervision of the Department 
 of the Empress Mary are 9 benevolent societies, with 
 117 establishments, schools, alms-houses, medical estab- 
 lishments, and asylums of their own. Deserving espe- 
 cial notice amongst these are: the Imperial Patriotic 
 Society in St. Petersburg, with its 17 schools; the Eli- 
 zavetinsky Society in Moscow, of which mention has 
 
 281 
 
INSTITUTIONS OF THE EMPRESS MARY. 
 
 already been made; the Society of the Empress Maria 
 Alexandrovna for the care of the blind, which has 25 
 schools infant-schools, and alms-houses; the Moscow 
 Society for aiding the poor, with 36 establishments, etc. 
 
 The Department of the Institutions of the Empress 
 Mary though so extensive, costs the Government com- 
 paratively very little in all 2,500,000 roubles paid 
 instead of the income, which the Department formerly 
 received from its credit operations. The reason of this 
 lies firstly in the fact of the Central Management of 
 the Department (exclusive of the separate institutions) 
 possessing 45,500,000 roubles own capital, bringing 
 in 2 million roubles interest, and secondly, in the 
 large profits derived from the playing-cards monopoly 
 (2 mil. roubles per annum), and the theatre and public 
 entertainment tickets tax (i mil. roubles a year), both of 
 which sources of revenue having been set aside for this 
 object. The expenditure of the Department is not limited, 
 however, to the above enumerated means, as a still 
 greater part is covered by various separate institutions, 
 though no exact account of these funds exists. 
 
 At the head of all the above institutions stand, as 
 before, the Council of Guardians, and the Director-in- 
 Chief of H. I. M.'s Special Chancery for the Affairs of 
 the Institutions of the Empress Mary. 
 
 The Council of Guardians is a higher State insti- 
 tution for all legislative matters connected with the In- 
 stitutions of the Empress Mary, their most important 
 economical and financial affairs, and their proper organi- 
 zation. It has its headquarters in St. Petersburg, where 
 
 ~ 282 - 
 
POLICE OF SECURITY. 
 
 all the affairs of the St. Petersburg and provincial insti- 
 tutions of the Empress Mary are managed, and an office 
 in Moscow for the institutions of that town. 
 
 The members of the Coucil, called Honorary Guar- 
 dians, are generally at the same time chiefs of separate 
 institutions of the Department. 
 
 The higher executive and sometimes, regulating 
 power belongs to the Director-in- Chief, who is vested 
 with the rights of a Minister. The Chancery is a 
 strictly administrative institution for carrying out the 
 determinations of the Council of Guardians and the or- 
 ders of the Director-in-Chief. 
 
 The local management of the separate institutions 
 of the Empress Mary is either entrusted to one person 
 (hospitals), or to a Board (Institutes), or finally, to one 
 person, but with a Board to assist him (Orphans' estab- 
 lishments). 
 
 V. POLICE OF SECURITY. 
 
 The preceding chapters were devoted by us to a 
 sketch of the measures undertaken by State and public 
 institutions with a view to the development of the 
 material and spiritual forces of the Empire. The same 
 object is served by the measures taken by the police 
 of security, which protect the population from various 
 evils, and thus indirectly contribute to its economical 
 and moral prosperity. Such are the measures in connexion 
 with public charity, public alimentation, the improvement 
 of sanitary conditions, etc. Without dwelling upon them 
 in detail, we must yet give in the present chapter a 
 
 283 
 
PUBLIC CHARITY. 
 
 brief account of the position of some of these questions 
 in Russia. 
 
 1. Public Charity. 
 
 According to the just remark of the historian 
 Kliuchevsky, Charity in ancient Russian society was not 
 so much an auxiliary means to social organization, as 
 a necessary condition of personal moral progress: it was 
 more necessary to the benevolent than to the indigent. 
 Mendicity was accounted in ancient Russia not as an 
 economical burden upon the people, not as an ulcer 
 upon the body of public order, but as one of the chief 
 means for the moral education of the people, and no 
 methods of sociological investigation make it possible 
 to calculate, what amount of good was poured into 
 humane relations by this daily, thousand-handed alms- 
 giving, to what on extent it accustomed people to love 
 man and disaccustomed the poor to hate the rich. 
 
 Of course, under those conditions, there could not 
 yet be any question of a perfectly definite organization 
 of public charity. On the other hand, however, in all 
 probability, the care of the indigent members of each 
 community and parish was the duty of this community 
 or parish. Further, the intermediary between the bene- 
 factors and the poor was the Church; into her hands 
 flowed immense wealth, which she again distributed 
 with lavish hand to the population suffering from want; 
 in years of famine, it often happened that the monas- 
 teries fed the whole district round about. In connexion 
 with some of the monasteries there were even orga- 
 nized charitable institutions, such as hostelries for recei- 
 
 284 
 
PUBLIC CHARITY. 
 
 ving strangers, almshouses, and hospitals. The material 
 defect of the arrangements described consisted mainly 
 in the circumstance that neither the Government, nor the 
 Church, nor the donors had means for distinguishing 
 really poor people from fraudulent and professional beggars. 
 
 The first experiment in this respect was made by 
 Ivan the Terrible. At the Hundred- chapters Council in 
 1551, to which we have already referred, a resolution 
 was carried to separate the real poor, sick and decrepit, 
 to ascribe them to various towns and to organize alms- 
 houses for them, for men and women apart, under the 
 management of the priests and special trustees. 
 
 The successors of Ivan the Terrible continued to 
 devote large sums to the work of charity. But it was 
 only in 1670, under the tsar Alexey Mikhailovitch that 
 the control of the whole matter of the care of the 
 poor was concentrated in one organ the Asylums 
 Building Board. Moreover, at the end of the 17 th cen- 
 tury, the Government became ever more a'nd more 
 convinced that the struggle with mendicity and want 
 was a problem for the State to -solve. 
 
 Peter the Great with still greater decision expressed 
 the view of the necessity of separating those really in 
 want from those who made a trade of it, of the im- 
 portance of the State regulation of charity, without 
 however removing the clergy from participation in 
 the work, upon whom it was incumbent from the 
 earliest times. The reformer, seeing the whole of the 
 injury arising from badly directed charity, forbad the 
 giving of alms under the threat of a heavy fine, and 
 
 285 
 
PUBLIC CHARITY. 
 
 prosecuted with severe measures those who engaged in 
 begging as a trade. As far, however, as concerns the 
 decrepit and sick, a decree was issued ordaining the 
 establishment of almshouses in all the governments; in 
 the same institutions it was likewise proposed to place 
 illegitimate children. It was farther ordered that veterans 
 and wounded and crippled soldiers should be placed in 
 the monasteries with everything found them. Finally, 
 not long before the death of Peter the Great, in 1724, 
 an ukas was published for the taking of a census of 
 all the poor; but apparently this ukas was not carried 
 into effect. 
 
 The Empress Catherine II who was, in this matter 
 as in many others, the continuator of Peter I, took 
 active measures for the further elaboration of his plans. 
 In her reign, they were crowned by the common 
 organization of the whole of public charity, contained 
 in the Institution of Governments of 1775. 
 
 In each government was founded a Board of Public 
 Charity, consisting of representatives of the various 
 classes and of the administration under the presidency 
 of the governor. Under the management of the board 
 were to be: i) National schools, in which the poor 
 might have the benefit of free instruction; 2) Orpha- 
 nages; 3) Almshouses for the aged and indigent; 
 4) Houses for receiving free poor lunatics; 5) Work- 
 houses for furnishing work to persons seeking it; 
 6) Houses of detention for the reforming of the vicious 
 and lazy; 7) Hospitals, and 8) Houses to serve as 
 asylums for incurables. The establishment of the charity 
 
PUBLIC CHARITY. 
 
 boards did not hinder private beneficence; Catherine 
 the Great was well aware that in such a matter as the 
 assistance of the poor, the activity of the Government 
 alone, even if organized in the best possible manner, was 
 not sufficient. 
 
 But a particularly wide development was assumed 
 by the activity of private individuals and private societies 
 during the reign of the Emperor Alexander I. Thus 
 were founded: the Imperial Philanthropic Society, the 
 Alexander Committee for the wounded, Spiritual Trustee 
 Societies, etc. 
 
 All these institutions, equally with the boards, had 
 for their object the realization of the most important 
 task of public charity, the determination of true poverty 
 really deserving of succour. Notwithstanding all this, 
 the scattered efforts of the separate organs were appar- 
 ently unequal to the task. In the capitals, where the 
 greatest number of poor were collected, their distribution 
 among the various institutions was especially difficult. 
 Therefore, in 1835, the Government adopted a new 
 measure to struggle with pauperism: a committee was 
 founded for the classification and surveillance of the 
 poor; a similar committee was founded in Moscow in 1838. 
 
 Such in its general features, was the organization 
 of the administration of public charity until the reforms 
 in local government under the Emperor Alexander II. 
 The 55 boards had in all under their control only 769 
 institutions, among which were 524 hospitals; there 
 further existed 17 private benevolent societies. Pauperism 
 under such conditions could not fail to continue, and of 
 
 287 
 
PUBLIC CHARITY. 
 
 course the church and the monasteries, as in ancient 
 times, remained the principal centres of charity. 
 
 When, in 1864, the Zemstvos were introduced, the 
 duties of the boards of charity, among other local neces- 
 sities, were imposed upon them; in the towns, on the 
 other hand, these cares were entrusted to the urban 
 public institutions, while in the 20 governments where 
 there are no zemstvos, the boards are still in force. For 
 1 6 of these governments there are statistical data which 
 show that the chief efforts of the boards are directed to 
 the organization of medical aid. There are in all 39 in- 
 stitutions of a charitable character in the 16 govern- 
 ments under the control of the boards; in 1891 the 
 persons living in these institutions amounted to 1,596. 
 This activity, it is evident, is insufficient and is com- 
 pleted by the efforts of private persons and towns and 
 class societies. The latter administer, in the 16 govern- 
 ments, 102 institutions with 2,755 persons in receipt of 
 charity, while private individuals manage 676 institutions 
 providing for 56,038 inmates. Still more extensive is 
 the activity of the zemstvos and town institutions in 
 the zemstvo governments. The means for the support 
 of charitable institutions are afforded the zemstvos and 
 towns by the landed estates belonging to them, the 
 offerings of private individual and local taxes. On an 
 average, the purposes of public charity in the proper 
 sense of the word, i. e. not counting expenditure on 
 medical aid, absorb about 5 per cent of the zemstvos' 
 budget (2,380,000 roubles) or, together with the expen- 
 diture on medical aid, 14,550,000 roubles. The expen- 
 
PUBLIC CHARITY. 
 
 diture of the towns upon all these objects amounted in 
 1893, throughout the Empire to about 8,300,000 roubles. 
 
 The boards of public charity, properly speaking, 
 have to do with two categories of the poor: on the 
 one hand, with the decrepit and indigent who cannot 
 themselves earn a living, on the other, with children 
 for whom chanty alone is not sufficient. In the zemstvo 
 governments, charitable activity is far from being limited 
 to these two kinds of benevolent assistance. Here the 
 persons in receipt of aid are beginning to be divided 
 into groups, for which special charitable institutions are 
 arising, such as establishments for incurables, people's 
 ordinaries, asylums, etc. 
 
 In respect of the care and education of children, 
 the boards were acquainted only with orphanages and 
 foundling hospitals, schools, stipends for scholars, and 
 subsidies to educational institutions. In the zemstvo 
 governments, the state of children left without oversight 
 by their parents who are compelled to abandon them 
 for their work during the day, has led to the founda- 
 tion of free creches, day homes, orphan asylums, etc. 
 For children of a larger growth, such refuges are com- 
 bined with schools and trade classes. A third kind of 
 institution has for its object the prevention of impove- 
 rishment, but is, however, as yet little developed. Here 
 belong many and various kinds of aid to emigrants, 
 workmen leaving their homes for temporary spells of 
 work, and the organization of bureaux and enquiry of- 
 fices for the regulation of the movement of workmen, 
 and for obtaining work for them. 
 
 19 
 
PUBLIC CHARITY. 
 
 The institutions, in the 28 zemstvo governments, 
 about which there exists information, are as follows: 
 
 Institutions. Inmates. 
 
 Supported by zemstvos 176 11,479 
 Supported by towns and 
 
 class organizations. 497 314,576 
 
 Private 417 746,091 
 
 Total 1,090 1,072,146 
 
 In all the 44 governments, on the other hand (28 
 zemstvo and 16 non-zemstvo), the institutions dispensing 
 public charity and the persons in receipt of relief were 
 
 in 1891 as follows: 
 
 Institutions. Inmates. 
 
 In government towns . 495 349,077 
 
 district towns. . . 1,274 781,li6 (including ru- 
 
 _. _ ._ ral inhabitants). 
 settlements .... 138 2,342 
 
 The figures quoted show to demonstration how 
 inadequately even now the work of charity is organized 
 in the rural districts. The law imposes upon the peasant 
 societies, among other burdens on the mir, the relief 
 of the aged, decrepit and crippled, who are without re- 
 lations, or whose relations are not in a position to sup- 
 port them, as also the maintenance of orphans without 
 either parent. But the law is silent as to wherein this 
 care should consist. As far as, finally, concerns private 
 charitable societies, their number is very great in Russia 
 and they often possess considerable capital. 
 
 Besides the institutions enumerated, in the mana- 
 gement of the Ministry of the Interior, a considerable 
 number of charitable establishments are under the im- 
 
 - 290 - 
 
PUBLIC CHARITY. 
 
 mediate patronage of Their Imperial Majesties and of 
 members of the Imperial House. Part of such insti- 
 tutions is concentrated in the department of the In- 
 stitutions of the Empress Mary. A separate, indepen- 
 dent department is formed by the Imperial Philanthropic 
 Society under the presidency of the Metropolitan of 
 Petersburg. The activity of this Society is very exten- 
 sive: in 1892, in its various establishments relief was 
 given to more than 178,000 persons. Furthermore at 
 various times, when occasion demanded it, for exam- 
 ple, for the distribution of assistance to the indigent 
 families of soldiers after the war of 1877 1878 and in 
 consequence of the failure of the crops in 1891, there 
 were founded different kinds of governmental, district and 
 cantonal boards of guardians which resulted in affording 
 most tangible help to the population. Finally, a per- 
 fectly distinct, although in the highest degree expedient, 
 organization of charitable aid is presented by the Red 
 Cross Society, placed under the August protection of 
 Her MAJESTY the Empress Maria Feodorovna. Its chief 
 object, in fact, is the nursing of wounded and sick 
 soldiers in time of war. In the various governments, this 
 Society possesses its local directorates, but in case of 
 need it forms district committees and cantonal cura- 
 tor ships. Thus, in 1891, during the time of the famine, 
 the local institutions represented as it were cadres, which 
 in proportion as want became more intense rapidly 
 expanded into a whole network of curatorships com- 
 prehending all the districts. We shall not again here 
 refer to the numerous institutions belonging to various 
 
 - 291 - 19 * 
 
PUBLIC CHARITY. 
 
 departments, such as the spiritual department, that of 
 war, the navy, etc. 
 
 Quite lately, during the reign of His MAJESTY the 
 Emperor Nicholas Alexandrovitch, an order was issued 
 which made-good an essential defect in the Russian le- 
 gislation upon the subject of public charity. Until then, 
 of all the charitable institutions, the least extension had 
 been obtained by workhouses, equally indispensable as 
 they are in both their forms. The two forms in ques- 
 tion are: houses of industry for affording work to per- 
 sons who cannot find it themselves, and who voluntarily 
 come to seek it, and workhouses with compulsory la- 
 bour for the reception of those who have no desire to 
 work but are engaged in mendicancy as a profession. 
 The necessity of institutions of this kind was clearly 
 recognized already by Peter the Great and Catherine II. 
 But the workhouses founded by them continued to exist 
 but a short time, and until the present time the ques- 
 tion of the organization of houses with compulsory la- 
 bour has not yet received in our country a satisfactory 
 solution. As far, however, as concerns, workhouses, it 
 was owing to the initiative of father John Serghief of 
 Cronstadt that in 1881 was opened the first such house 
 in Cronstadt; further, in 1886, two houses were founded 
 in Petersburg; and, from that time forward, their 
 number has so increased that quite recently there were 
 reckoned to be 45 workhouses in various towns. The 
 initiative taken by society received on the i September, 
 1895, August sanction and a definite organization. Under 
 the high patronage and presidency of Her Majesty the 
 
 292 
 
PUBLIC ALIMENTATION. 
 
 Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was founded the Curator- 
 ship of Industrial Homes and Workhouses, consisting 
 of a committee and an unlimited number of members 
 of various categories. The principal object of the 
 curatorship is to maintain and found industrial homes, 
 and with their assistance to afford support to the 
 homeless, to those recently discharged from the hos- 
 pitals but who have not yet found w^ork, to discharged 
 prisoners and, in general, to all who are fallen into 
 extreme want. Since the foundation of the Committee, 
 not less than ten new houses have arisen. 
 
 2. Public Alimentation. 
 
 In the feudal period of Russian history the prin- 
 ces confined their attention solely to assisting those sec- 
 tions of the population who suffered from want of food. 
 Corn was brought from parts of the country where 
 there had been good harvests, as well as from abroad; 
 the famine stricken people were removed to more flou- 
 rishing districts; the stores of wheat held by corn dea- 
 lers were resorted to, and the export of corn from dis- 
 tressed districts was forbidden. 
 
 The Moscow rulers did not stop at these measures. 
 With a better organized administration it became pos- 
 sible to fix a price (tax) for articles of food and 
 establish Government stores at which bread was sold 
 at reduced prices and distributed gratis among the des- 
 titute, widows, and orphans. Under the rule of the 
 Tsar Boris Feodorovitch Godoonoff, during the famine 
 of 1 60 1, pecuniary assistance was also given uncondi- 
 
 293 - 
 
PUBLIC ALIMENTATION. 
 
 tionally to the sufferers: and to this period must be 
 referred the first attempts at organizing public relief work. 
 
 The necessity of taking timely measures of precaution 
 in the matter of public alimentation was the idea of 
 Peter I, but it was only realized under Catherine II, 
 who, not only endeavoured to discover precautionary 
 measures in the event of a failure of crops, but also did 
 everything possible to alleviate the simple needs of the 
 peasantry. 
 
 The first decree, in point of time, of the Empress 
 Catherine II on this subject was the Ukas of 20 Au- 
 gust, 1764, written in Her Majesty's own hand. This 
 law directed the establishment of granaries in all towns . 
 In the following year another decree ordered them to 
 be introduced into villages belonging to Crown depart- 
 ments, and eventually among the peasants of the private 
 landowners and the State Domains. In conformity with 
 these orders the reserve of wheat amounted in 1804 to 
 931,416 tchetverts. Besides the organization of the system 
 of public granaries under the Empress Catherine another 
 very important step was taken. Having strong belief in 
 the opinion that the supply of wheat is the best means 
 of preventing not only insufficiency, but also clearness*, 
 Catherine II proclaimed free trade in wheat. 
 
 Finally, owing to the difficulties of accumulating 
 reserves of wheat in poor localities which have to get 
 it from other districts, it was decided in the twenties* 
 of the present century to form an alimentary capital. 
 
 Thus matters remained until 1861 when the peasants 
 received their freedom. The emancipation of course 
 
 294 
 
PUBLIC ALIMENTATION. 
 
 could not fail to have an effect upon the organization 
 of alimentary assistance, as the landowners were thereby 
 relieved of the obligation to provide for their peasants 
 in times of bad harvests. It was necessary therefore 
 to lay this duty upon some organ of administration, 
 and by the law of 1864 the newly created zemstvo 
 was selected for the purpose. Since that time no im- 
 portant changes have been made in our legislation 
 regarding public alimentation. 
 
 By existing statutes the means of assuring sufficient 
 corn for food and seed remain the same as before, na- 
 mely: 1) Wheat stored in public granaries and 2) ali- 
 mentary funds. 
 
 The construction and maintenance of granaries are 
 duties imposed upon the peasant communes. The full 
 quantity of corn in each granary is calculated at the 
 rate of i l /2 tchetwerts for each male person according 
 to the latest census, that is to say, one tchetwert of rye 
 or wheat, and l /z tchetwert of oats or barley. From 
 each peasant l /z a tchetwerik of rye or wheat and 
 2 garnets of oats or barley are collected each year 
 until the full quantity is obtained.* 
 
 The pecuniary means to the same end are: i) ali- 
 mentation funds of communes and classes; 2) alimen- 
 tation funds of the provinces, and 3) a general fund of 
 the same character for the whole Empire. 
 
 Loans of corn from the granaries or of money 
 
 * i tchetwert 2,099 hectolitres = 5,6567 bushels. 
 
 i tchetwerik =: '/s tchetwert =8 garnets (quarts) = o,2238 
 hectolitres ~ o,7j4r, bushels. 
 
 295 
 
PUBLIC ALIMENTATION. 
 
 from the alimentary funds are granted by the village 
 communities subject to the consent of the zemstvo autho- 
 rities of the district. No interest is charged on these 
 loans, which have to be paid back out of the next 
 harvest, although postponement of repayment may be 
 allowed for one or 2 years. The expenditure of the 
 provincial fund is managed by the authorities of the 
 provincial and district zemstvos. Loans from the general 
 fund of the Empire are made up to 50,000 roubles per 
 government on the authority of the Minister of Interior 
 and above that amount by decision of the Imperial power. 
 
 At the beginning of 1891 the alimentation funds in 
 hand and loaned amounted to 78.500,000 roubles; in 
 grain stores to the value of 220,000,000 roubles. 
 
 In 1891 and 1892, however, a severe failure of crops 
 afflicted a considerable number of the most fertile govern- 
 ments of the Empire. 
 
 In this difficult state of affairs the Emperor Alexan- 
 der III called upon all organs of the Government and 
 all public institutions to take part in combating the 
 evil consequences of the national misfortune. The suffering 
 populations had to be provided with food, and then with 
 seed corn for sowing their fields. The exhaustion by 
 that time of the alimentary reserves rendered it neces- 
 sary for the Government to give assistance, which it 
 did at once to an unprecedented extent. The sum of 
 146,500,000 roubles \vas assigned to reinforce the ali- 
 mentary fund of the Empire which on the I st July 1891, 
 amounted to 7,000,000 roubles. The Ministry of the 
 Interior thus had at its disposal altogether 153,500,000 
 
 296 
 
PUBLIC ALIMENTATION. 
 
 roubles, by the help of which loans were advanced, and 
 public relief work was organized on a large scale mostly 
 in road construction and timber felling. 
 
 Loans and grants were made not only in money 
 but also in bread which was prepared by the zemstvos, 
 while the Ministry of the Interior sent its representatives 
 into the districts, where the crops had been good, to 
 purchase corn at first hand without the expense of 
 intermediate factors. At the same time the Ministry of 
 Communications sent officials over the railways to acce- 
 lerate the transport of corn at those places where it 
 had accumulated and been delayed. 
 
 An account of all the measures and instructions 
 of both these Ministries was presented to the Commit- 
 tee of Ministers once every two weeks to be laid before 
 the Emperor. 
 
 The distribution of help to the extent of many 
 millions of roubles among the famished population rai- 
 sed the question as to how these loans should be paid 
 back without too great a strain upon the borrowers. 
 In order to avoid evil consequences the Emperor Alexan- 
 der III agreed to a fresh sacrifice for the exchequer by 
 allowing those who received loans of corn in 1891 1892 
 to make the return in money or in kind at the rate of 
 pood per pood of wheat borrowed. Finally the present 
 reigning Emperor Nicholas II on the occasion of his 
 marriage, 14 November. 1894. ordered one half of the 
 alimentary debt of 1891 1892 still outstanding to be 
 cancelled, amounting altogether to 40 million roubles. 
 
 All institutions, classes and private persons readily 
 
 297 
 
PUBLIC ALIMENTATION. 
 
 supported the Government in rendering assistance. The 
 reports of governors testify to the abundant contributions 
 of every kind which came in from all parts. Local 
 committees of benevolence and guardianship were formed, 
 and these opened free eating rooms, tea houses, bakeries, 
 and asylums for children. 
 
 The late Emperor who followed with deep concern 
 the multiform appearances of public assistance to the 
 sufferers, was good enough to secure proper guidance 
 and unity of operation for these magnanimous efforts of 
 private charity in accordance with the importance of 
 the matter. Accordingly, by an Imperial Rescript, 17 
 November, 1891, a special Committee for aiding the 
 sufferers from famine was established under the August 
 presidency of His Imperial Highness the Grand Duke 
 Cesarevitch, the present reigning Emperor. 
 
 During something more than 12 months, ending the 
 5 May, 1893, this Committee collected 4,438,632 roubles 
 and received 8,650,013 roubles from the proceeds of two 
 lotteries. These sums were spent in giving loans for 
 food and seed; for the purchase and feeding of cattle 
 and horses; in developing domestic industries, chiefly the 
 work of women, in establishing public relief work, 
 reinstating those burnt out of house and home, and 
 in providing medical aid against the cholera. 
 
 The difficulties with which the Government had to 
 contend in 1891 and 1892 showed certain defects in the 
 organization of public alimentation. 
 
 And all these evidences received by way of experience 
 have served as valuable material for drawing up a pro- 
 
 298 
 
PUBLIC HEALTH. 
 
 ject of new statutes of public alimentation now in course 
 of preparation. 
 
 3. Public Health. 
 
 In Russia, on the average for 9 years (1883 1891), 
 the annual birthrate was 47.2 per mille, while the 
 deathrate was 32.7; hence, the natural increase of the 
 population amounted to 14.5 per mille. Only in 1892, 
 owing to the diminution in the number of marriages 
 during the famine year of 1891 and the development 
 of epidemics of spotted typhus and cholera in 1892, the 
 augmentation contracted to 5 per mille. 
 
 If we leave out of account this last year as being 
 exceptional in character, it appears that, in respect of 
 the increase in the population, Russia occupies a posi- 
 tion superior to that of any other State in Europe, 
 where this increase fluctuates from 3 per mille in Ire- 
 land to 13 per mille in Prussia, while in France, in the 
 year 1892, the population even fell off by l /z per mille. 
 This result proceeds from the considerably greater birth- 
 rate in Russia: in our country on an average there are 
 47 births per thousand inhabitants, while, in the countries 
 of Western Europe, there are 22 in France and 36.3 
 in Prussia and Italy. The excess of births is so great 
 that it covers with an abundant margin the mortality, 
 which in Russia is also greater than in the West, na- 
 mely 33 per mille, as against other countries where it 
 varies from 18 in Norway to 29 in Austria. 
 
 As far as concerns diseases, it appears that in 1892, 
 among a population of 119,288,804, there were regis- 
 tered 26,741,036 persons suffering from various illnesses 
 
 299 - 
 
PUBLIC HEALTH. 
 
 or 22.5 per cent of the whole; of whom less than 3 
 per cent died. 
 
 The explanation of the excess of the mortality per 
 thousand inhabitants as compared with other countries 
 must be sought alike in the general sanitary conditions 
 and in the defective organization of medical aid. 
 
 Information as to sanitary conditions with a pre- 
 tention to more or less completeness exists only in re- 
 gard to the towns. But, as is well known, not more 
 than one- eight of the population of Russia resides in 
 the tow r ns. These data shew that out of 660 towns 
 investigated only 10 per cent enjoy water good in 
 appearance and taste, while in 285 of the remainder the* 
 water is considered to be quite unsatisfactory. Water 
 works have been laid down in 91 towns, but 25 among 
 them furnish unsatisfactory water, while in 8 there is 
 not enough water even for the more thickly populated 
 parts of the town. For the purity of the air, it is neces- 
 sary to remove outside the towns the accumulations of 
 sewage within them. The best results are furnished 
 by the system of canalization which is applied most 
 generally in Western Europe. In Russia, this system was 
 first introduced in Nijny-Novgorod, and now sewage 
 works exist in Odessa, Warsaw and Yalta. In the 
 other towns, the extremely unsatisfactory system of cess- 
 pools is in vogue, and even they exist in the majority of 
 houses only in 278 towns. Public slaughterhouses have 
 been built in only 73 towns, while in the rest there exist 
 only private slaughterhouses very badly kept, or they 
 are even entirely wanting, the cattle being killed in the 
 
 300 
 
PUBLIC HEALTH. 
 
 yards of the houses and the offal being thrown into 
 the streets or into the kitchen gardens. It will thus be 
 seen that there is still a great deal to be done in 
 order to render our towns more healthy. 
 
 On the other hand, in regard to the character of 
 construction and the disposition of the buildings, out- 
 towns undoubtedly enjoy great advantages compared 
 with those of Western Europe. As the type 1 of the 
 Russian town we should take Moscow, where until the 
 present day it is only in the centre of the town that 
 houses of three storeys and more are to be met with; 
 buildings here alternate with large courtyards, gardens, 
 and boulvards. Only Petersburg, Warsaw, Riga, and 
 Odessa possess the character of the centres of popula- 
 tion in Western Europe, with their five- and six-storeyed 
 edifices. 
 
 Passing now to the measures taken to counteract 
 and diminish disease and mortality, we shall not dwell 
 on those of a preventive character; they are in Russia 
 more or less of the same kind as in other countries. 
 
 As to what concerns the solicitude of the State 
 authority in regard to the treatment of disease, this is 
 already apparent in Russia from the reign of Boris 
 Godoonoff (1598 1605) with the foundation in Moscow 
 of the Board of Apothecaries. At the same time foreign 
 physicians were invited into Russia and Russians were 
 sent abroad to study medicine. During the reign of 
 Michail Feodorovitch, there were already physicians and 
 their assistants attached to the regiments, but there did 
 not yet exist a Russian medical school. It was only 
 
 - 301 
 
PUBLIC HEALTH. 
 
 Peter I at last who founded the first Government military 
 hospital and, in connexion with it, a school of surgery. 
 On the i July, 1895, the medical men in Russia 
 numbered in all 16,300. Half reside in the large centres 
 and governmental towns, one-fifth in the district towns, 
 and the remainder in the districts themselves. In other 
 words, in our towns there is one doctor to 1,500 in- 
 habitants, and in the districts one to about 20,000. 
 
 The lack of doctors is made good to a certain 
 extent by feldshers (both men and women) (24,400), 
 and mid wives (8,000). 
 
 There is an equal want in Russia, regard being had 
 to the area and population of the country, of various 
 kinds of institutions for the treatment of disease. In 
 1892, the hospitals under the control of the civil 
 departments amounted to 3,969, and there were not 
 less than 3,000 dispensing chemists' shops. Among these, 
 the general hospitals, intended for the treatment of all 
 kinds of diseases, contained 62,453 beds; while the spe- 
 cial institutions asylums, lying-in hospitals, etc. con- 
 tained 11,790 beds. Furthermore, in the hospitals for 
 special classes of the population, such as prison, factory, 
 school, and railway hospitals, there were 21,924 beds. 
 
 Our general hospitals have on an average one bed 
 to i ,600 inhabitants, the figures for the European coun- 
 tries being: 
 
 Austria 700 
 
 England 600 
 
 France 500 
 
 Prussia 400 
 
 302 
 
INSURANCE. 
 
 In these countries, however, medical aid outside the 
 hospitals is considerably more developed than in Russia. 
 
 In connexion with medical organization is that of 
 the veterinary department. In Russia, in 1892, there were 
 registered about 843,000 cases of disease of various 
 kinds in animals, which amounts approximately to one 
 case per 200 head; and 162,000 among them died, or 
 one per mille. Veterinary practice in 1892 included 
 2,647 veterinary surgeons. 
 
 The medical institutions of the Empire in 1892 ne- 
 cessitated an expenditure of 31,250,000 roubles, i. e. 
 somewhat more than 25 kopeks per inhabitant. 
 
 4. Insurance 
 
 In Russia, the development of insurance operations 
 began at the end of the last century, but the attempts 
 to organize it made at that time were of no practical 
 importance. On the other hand, the uninterrupted ex- 
 pansion of trade and industry and the formation of large 
 town centres evoked an urgent need for the organiza- 
 tion of fire insurance. At the same time, two views 
 were expressed upon the participation of the State in 
 insurance operations: some recognized the national im- 
 portance of insurance and therefore desired that it 
 should be concentrated in the hands of the Government, 
 others, on the contrary, regarded it as a purely com- 
 mercial enterprise. The latter opinion prevailed, and 
 Russian capitalists were invited to proceed to the foun- 
 dation of an insurance company. This actually arose in 
 1827 under the title of the First Russian Society for Fire 
 Insurance, with the exclusive right of insurance in the 
 
 303 
 
INSURANCE. 
 
 governments of Petersburg, Moscow, in Odessa, and the 
 three Baltic provinces for a term of twenty years. The 
 extraordinary success of this undertaking encouraged the 
 foundation of new fire insurance companies. Meanwhile, 
 companies began to arise even without special privile- 
 ges, as well as for carrying on other insurance opera- 
 tions. All these companies, however, were of impor- 
 tance exclusively for the town population, and the insu- 
 rance premiums collected by them were moreover ex- 
 tremely high. Therefore it was that in 1864, in each 
 government, there was instituted compulsory insurance 
 for the rural population upon principles of mutuality, the 
 management of the business being imposed upon the 
 local organs of self-government. Still earlier, with a 
 view to oppose the stock insurance companies in their 
 efforts to exploit their clients, viz. in 1861, Government 
 sanction was given to the general principles for mutual 
 voluntary town insurance societies. There are 79 such 
 societies. As for compulsory mutual fire insurance, 
 this measure is now obligatory for all peasant buildings. 
 The institution of a higher and lower limit for the 
 insured amount in the case of various kinds of struc- 
 tures and the establishment of the rate of insurance 
 premiums for each government are left to the govern- 
 mental zemstvo board; while, in governments without 
 zemstvos, the tariff is fixed by law. The insurance 
 premium is levied at the rate of i per cent on wooden, 
 and T /2 per cent on stone, buildings. The privileged classes 
 are not exempted from this insurance, but participate in 
 it voluntarily. 
 
 304 
 
INSURANCE. 
 
 In all the mutual institutions taken together, the 
 property insured in 1893 was f tne value of 2,625,000,000 
 roubles, and the insurers pay annually 23,740,000 roubles 
 insurance premium. A more considerable development has 
 been attained by the stock fire insurance companies, who 
 have on their books property to the value of 5,648,000,000 
 roubles, while the total annual insurance premium rea- 
 ches 35,655,000 roubles. 
 
 We will here but mention in passing the nine 
 companies for freight insurance by sea and land, the 
 nine life assurance companies, and the attempts by 
 zemstvos and societies to insure against the loss of 
 cattle from plague and the destruction of crops by 
 hail. The great importance of insurance as a means 
 for the protection of the national wealth from natural 
 disasters and unforeseen losses stimulated the Govern- 
 ment to found a special organ for the superintendence 
 of insurance in Russia. With this object in view, in 
 the year 1894, was instituted the Insurance Committee, 
 attached to the Economical Department of the Ministry 
 of the Interior, composed of representatives of the Mi- 
 nistries of the Interior and of Finance. 
 
 Measures of precaution against fires, causing devas- 
 tation to the extent of more than seventy million roub- 
 les annually, have an importance not less than that 
 which attaches to fire insurance itself. In Russia the 
 organization of the first fire brigade belongs to the time 
 of the reign of the Emperor Paul I; until then the fire- 
 service was a personal charge upon the inhabitants. The 
 first brigade was recruited from soldiers who were unfit 
 
 305 20 
 
MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR. 
 
 for service in the ranks, and was maintained at the cost 
 of the town. 
 
 At the present time, the maintenance of fire bri- 
 gades is incumbent upon the town public authori- 
 ties, who expend upon this object annually more than 
 3,700,000 roubles. 
 
 In some places fire brigades are formed for extin- 
 guishing fires, the members of which are volunteers. 
 Besides this, there are fire brigades supported by the 
 contributions of private persons. The total number of 
 fire brigades in Russia and Finland is 3,019, the force 
 serving in the brigades exceeds 84,000 men, and they 
 have at their disposal 19,000 horses, 10,000 fire-hoses 
 and 35,000 water-casks. The number of rural fire bri- 
 gades in the above total is most considerable of all, viz. 
 2,026, but, as compared with the population, it is still 
 very small, and therefore it is laid down as a general 
 rule that, in case of a fire, the peasants are bound to ap- 
 pear with the appliances which are registered as being 
 stored in the different yards. 
 
 With a view to the prevention of conflagrations, 
 it is ordered that the houses in the villages and ham- 
 lets should be built in nests of not more than eight 
 together and latterly the custom has become more and 
 more widely adopted of planting trees between the 
 buildings, as the most effectual means of preventing the 
 spread of fires. 
 
 Without touching upon the other branches of acti- 
 vity of the Ministry of the Interior in relation to the' 
 
MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR. 
 
 maintenance of public order and security, we will say 
 in conclusion a few words upon the organization of 
 this Ministry. 
 
 According to its first institution in 1802, it was 
 allotted the very extensive task of caring for the uni- 
 versal welfare of the people, the peace, quiet and good 
 order of the whole Empire . In harmony with this, its 
 statute was also very complex. 
 
 In 1 8 io, at the time of the new distribution of 
 affairs among the Ministries, the Ministry of the Interior 
 was referred, as we already mentioned in volume I, to 
 a section of the State Economy. It was charged with 
 the care of agriculture, industry, colonies, emigration, 
 trade, posts, public buildings, etc. The care for public 
 safety was concentrated in a special Ministry of Police. 
 But in 1819, the Ministry of Police was united in almost 
 its whole extent to the Ministry of the Interior. Since 
 that time the competence of the latter has been changed 
 several times. Before all, the care of the national and 
 public economy went to the Ministries of Finance and 
 State Domains; while in 1826, for the superior police, 
 was founded the Third Section of His Imperial Majesty's 
 Chancery. But, on the other hand, to the Ministry of 
 the Interior were attributed: the department of spiritual 
 affairs for foreign confessions, the censure, the building 
 department, posts and telegraphs; and, finally, in 1880, 
 with the abolition of the Third Section, the affairs be- 
 longing to the superior police. 
 
 At the present time, the Ministry of the Interior 
 has the following establishment: 
 
 307 *>* 
 
MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR. 
 
 1. The Minister and his two Assistants. 
 
 2. The Council and Chancery of the Minister, with 
 the usual organization. 
 
 3. The Medical and Statistical Councils. 
 
 4. a) The Technical and Building Committee together 
 with the Higher Building School, b) The Veterinary 
 Committee, and c) The Central Statistical Committee. 
 
 5. Two principal Offices, corresponding to depart- 
 ments but with a somewhat wider competence, viz.: a) 
 For Press Affairs, with a special Council, and b) For Post 
 and Telegraphs with a Technical Committee attached. 
 
 6. Five Departments: a) The Department of Police, 
 managing the executive and State police; for the latter 
 object, the Minister of the Interior has under his orders, 
 as Chief, the Corps of Gendarmes; this Corps is under 
 the immediate management of a special Assistant of the 
 Minister, with the title of Assistant to the Chief of Gen- 
 darmes, b) The Economical Department, managing public 
 poor relief, public alimentation, zemstvo and town econo- 
 my, and insurance (Insurance Committee), c) The Depart- 
 ment of Spiritual Affairs for Foreign Confessions, d) The 
 Medical Department, e) The Department of General Affairs. 
 
 7. The Zemsky Section (to all intents a special 
 department), for the control of the rural chiefs, gemsky 
 natchalnilis and in general, of the organs administering 
 the affairs of the peasants, as also of matters concerning 
 the liability to military service. 
 
 The local institutions of the Ministry of the Inte- 
 rior we do not here touch upon, seeing that a special 
 chapter, the last of the book, is devoted to them. 
 
 308 
 
JUSTICE. 
 
 VI. JUSTICE. 
 
 One of the most important reforms of the reign 
 of the Emperor Alexander II was a total reorganization 
 of the administration of justice. At present the prin- 
 ciples of justice and legal procedure, laid down in the 
 Judicial Statutes of November 20 th , 1864, have been 
 applied in almost the entire Empire, such remote out- 
 lying regions alone excepted, in which the old judicial 
 rules still obtain. Passing over the administration of 
 justice and the order of procedure in the former ante- 
 reform courts of law, we will therefore begin by a 
 survey of the chief principles of the administration of 
 justice and the organi/ation and proceedings of courts 
 of law in the regions in which the Judicial Statutes of 
 1864 are applied with the additions and alterations in- 
 troduced by subsequent legislation. 
 
 The following persons and institutions are invested 
 in these regions with judicial authority: justices of the 
 peace, rural chiefs (zemsky natchalnilcs), urban justices, 
 district members of the circuit courts, district sessions, 
 circuit courts, courts of appeal, and the Ruling Senate. 
 
 The lowest judicial instance is the Justice of the 
 peace, who is either district or honorary. Under his 
 jurisdiction in criminal cases come all offences incurring 
 fines not exceeding 300 roubles, and imprisonment not 
 extending over a period of 18 months; in cases of civil 
 offences - - actions for sums not exceeding 500 roubles. 
 
 There are district justices of the peace at present 
 
 309 - 
 
JUSTICE. 
 
 only on the borders of the State: in the West and 
 Baltic provinces, in Poland, in the Caucasus, in the 
 provinces of Archangel, in Siberia, etc. The} 7 are appoin- 
 ted to their posts by the Government. Besides these there 
 are also district justices of the peace in certain of the 
 more important towns, such as, St. Petersburg, Moscow, 
 Odessa. These are elected by the town councils. In the 
 majority of the governments of European Russia, by the 
 law of July 12, 1889, the duties of justices of the peace 
 \vere transferred to urban justices and district members 
 of the circuit courts, and the same law endowed them 
 and the rural chiefs (zemsky natchalnilcs), of whom 
 we shall have to speak later on, with the competency 
 of justices of the peace in cases arising without the pre- 
 cincts of town. 
 
 The next law instance with regard to justices of 
 the peace is the Sessions of justices of the peace, and 
 with regard to urban courts and rural chiefs District 
 sessions, an appeal against the resolutions of which can 
 be made to the governmental courts and finally, with 
 regard to the district members of the circuit court the 
 next law instance is represented by the Circuit Court. 
 This is an instance of the first degree and examines all 
 matters exceeding the competency of justices of the 
 peace; its resolutions in substance may be appealed 
 against to the Court of Appeal (Soodebndia Palalita), of 
 which there are n in the following towns: St. Pe- 
 tersburg, Moscow, Vilna, Kief, Warsaw, Odessa, Kharkof, 
 Kazan, Saratof, Tiflis, and Irkootsk. If the resolution be a 
 verdict on capital offences pronounced by a jury, an 
 
 310 
 
JUSTICE. 
 
 appeal against it can be made to the Ruling Senate, 
 though not in substance, but only in order of cassation, 
 i. e. through the court having neglected law regulations 
 obligatory to it. Should the Senate admit the existence 
 of such a transgression, the case is allowed a new 
 hearing in another court. In a similar manner of cas- 
 sation the Senate pronounces its resolutions on com- 
 plaints lodged against the decisions of the Courts of 
 Appeal (Soodebnaia Palahta) and Sessions of Justices 
 of the peace. The Senate thus constitutes the highest 
 law instance in the Empire and terminates a long hierar- 
 chy of numerous institutions, engaged in administering 
 justice. 
 
 Attached to the circuit courts and Departments of 
 Cassation of the Senate, besides special chanceries, are 
 i) The persons of the procuror-control; they are the 
 guardians of legality and the official organs of prosecu- 
 tion. 2) Examining magistrates, whose duties it is to 
 perform preliminary investigation in capital crimes. 3) 
 Other magistrates for executive functions. 4) Councillors 
 chosen by litigants for the defence of the accused in 
 capital crimes and for managing civil cases; and 5) 
 Notaries for certifying and drawing up all manner of 
 written acts. 
 
 The administration of justice in the institutions of 
 law formed according to the Statutes of 1864 is pene- 
 trated with principles hitherto quite unknown to Rus- 
 sian justice. 
 
 The chief principles upon which the reform of the 
 Emperor Alexander II is based, are in substance uni- 
 
 311 - 
 
JUSTICE. 
 
 versally admitted and represent the best security that 
 was ever found in the civilized world, that the truth 
 in court will be discovered and the exact law applied. 
 These principles are: i) verbal or direct proceedings, 
 by which means the court is enabled to form its 
 decision during a special investigation performed in its 
 presence and consisting of verbal examination of the 
 witnesses, the litigants, and the accused. 2) Publicity, 
 whereby the public is permitted to assist at the pro- 
 ceedings and to publish in the press what takes place 
 in court and how justice is administered. 3) The prin- 
 ciple of controversy, which gives the investigation the 
 character of a contention between the two opposite 
 sides, each endeavouring by all the legal means in its 
 power to prove the justice of its view, and to convince 
 the judges of it, thus enabling the truth to become 
 fully elucidated. In civil courts this controversy is car- 
 ried on between the plaintiff and the respondent or 
 their counsels, and in the criminal court, between the 
 representatives for the prosecution and either the 
 respondent or his counsel. 4) The permanence or irre- 
 movability of the judges, securing to them independence 
 from extraneous pressure or- influence. 5) The require- 
 ment of a certain standard, moral, educational, and 
 practical -to enable a person to become a member of 
 the law profession. 6) Though conducted by officials 
 appointed by the Government, the proceedings in certain 
 cases necessitate the presence of a social element, viz, 
 the jury, assistors, witnesses. 7) The proceedings must 
 be conducted according to the weight of the proofs, yet 
 
 312 
 
JUSTICE 
 
 not with a preconceived formal theory, but upon a 
 rational and, at the same time, free conviction of con- 
 science. 8) The State must be represented in court by its 
 special agent the Procurer protector of legality and 
 organ of public prosecution. 9) The person of each 
 citizen or resident must enjoy before the court a posi- 
 tion which would completely protect its legal rights. 
 
 Independently of, and on a line with, all the above 
 enumerated law authorities that administer justice in the 
 general order of proceedings in Russia stand a whole 
 line of other courts, under the jurisdiction of which 
 come either cases of specially defined categories or 
 persons belonging to a certain class; such are ecclesias- 
 tical courts, military courts, commercial courts, stanitsa 
 courts (Cossack settlements are called stanitsa') and peasant 
 courts. The lattter bear the name of volostny courts 
 and examine the less important capital and civil cases, 
 occurring among the peasants, within the limits of the 
 volost i. e. a commune embraceing a population of 
 3002000 males. 
 
 The order of proceedings in law institutions the 
 power of which is either confined to a certain category 
 of cases or extends only to separate class groups, must 
 naturally be organized on special principle and differs 
 materially from the order of proceedings adhered to in 
 the general judicial institutions. 
 
 The general direction of the judicial institutions is 
 imposed upon the Ministry of Justice. To it belongs 
 the control of the procurers and the appointment, ot 
 
 313 - 
 
JUSTICE. 
 
 all persons in the department. At the same time the 
 Minister of Justice retains the duties of Procurer Gene- 
 ral as regards the Senate. The A4inistry itself is under 
 the administration of the Minister and his two col- 
 leagues, and comprises the following establishments: 
 
 1) A Board of Consultation for the examination 
 of cases brought from the Senate before the Minister 
 of Justice as General- Procurer. 
 
 2) Two Departments. 
 
 3) The Office of Surveys and the Surveying Institute. 
 
 4) Imperial Law- School. 
 
 5) Moscow Archives of the Ministry of Justice. 
 
 6) The Council on Prison Affairs and the Chief 
 Prisons Office. A special inspection exists in the govern- 
 ments for the management of prison affairs. 
 
 The Chief Prisons' Office has under its control in 
 all 883 places of confinement, which contain 116,000 
 prisoners. Besides the Government organs having the 
 care of the prisons, there exists a Prisons' Society upon 
 which is imposed the duty of seeing to the material 
 good order of the prisons and to the reforming of the 
 inmates from a moral point of view. It is divided into 
 men's and ladies' committees. Besides this, special 
 societies in Petersburg, Moscow, Kishinef and Odessa 
 are engaged in looking after the welfare of discharged 
 prisoners. 
 
 . The foundation of reformatories for infant criminals 
 is left to specially organized societies and bureaux, which 
 themselves manage these institutions. Establishments of 
 this kind number twenty-one. 
 
 314 
 
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND SELF-GOVERNMENT. 
 
 VII. LOCAL GOVERNMENT and SELF- 
 GOVERNMENT. 
 
 1. Historical Sketch. In Russia before the time of 
 Peter the Great, the fundamental division of the Coun- 
 try was the district, composed of the town the resi- 
 dence of the voevoda and of the volosts and stans, 
 subordinated to it. 
 
 The voevoda was the local representative of the 
 central government. To him together with his associates 
 were entrusted nearly all the affairs of local government. 
 However this may have been, there yet existed side by 
 side with him a whole series of elective offices. At 
 their head stood the elder of the whole district, who 
 maintained relations with the Government on behalf of 
 the borough and district inhabitants; next to him were 
 the zemstvo elders and the sworn men, who had the 
 management of the affairs of the mir. Further, for 
 customs and tavern dues, were appointed, from among 
 the wealthy inhabitants, trustworthy officers under the 
 name of heads of customs and taverns; while cases 
 of robbery, thieving and murder were entrusted to 
 special sheriffs called agoobny starostas. 
 
 Upon Peter the Great ascending the throne, new 
 problems of State were disclosed, demanding the extra- 
 ordinary exertion of the national forces. This could, 
 however, be attained only by a radical alteration in the 
 organization of local government. In this respect, accor- 
 ding to the just conclusion of Professor Gradovsky, 
 Peter I, in the first place, laid the foundation for the 
 
 - 315 - 
 
LOCAL GOVERNMENT. HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 regular and uniform division of the country, replacing 
 the chaotic units of the former period; in the second 
 place, he attempted by means of general instructions 
 to define the limits of the jurisdiction of local govern- 
 ment; in the third place, he created the conditions of 
 the local civil service; and in the fourth, he made the 
 first essay to separate the judicial from the administrative 
 function. 
 
 Until then, as we know, the voevodas maintained 
 direct communications with Moscow, where were situated 
 the boards which administered, not only a certain kind 
 of affairs, but also separate portions of the State. Peter 
 the Great abolished these local boards, divided the- 
 country into eleven vast governments, and transferred 
 their administration, in the person of the governors, to 
 the spot. Each government was divided into provinces 
 (47 in all), and in these provinces was preserved the 
 former office of voevoda. Although, further, upon the 
 voevodas were imposed all the affairs of provincial 
 administration, nevertheless, in respect of all that pro- 
 perly concerned finance, were instituted the independent 
 offices of camerirs and treasurers, while in the districts, 
 into which the provinces were subdivided, were appointed 
 zemstvo commissaries for various departments of the 
 administration, elected from among the local nobility 
 and compelled to render an account to their electors, 
 but subordinated to the governors and voevodas. As far 
 as concerns the towns, according to the regulation is- 
 sued to the Chief Magistracy in 1721, they were made 
 perfectly independent of the voevodas and governors 
 
 316 
 
LOCAL GOVERNMENT. HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 and subordinated to the Chief Magistracy. In its turn, 
 in each town, was established a magistracy, to whom 
 belonged the judicial, economical, financial and police 
 authority. 
 
 Moreover, already in the reigns of the immediate 
 successors of Peter the Great, this independence of the 
 towns was abolished, and, in general, the whole of 
 local government returned to the state of things which 
 obtained in the period before Peter. 
 
 At the same time, however, the ancient disorders 
 reappeared. It is to be observed, further, that certain 
 changes took place in the region of society. Formerly, 
 the nobility, bound to personal service, was exclusively 
 engaged in the public service and, furthermore, consti- 
 tuted a class belonging to the State in general and 
 without any intimate connexion with any particular lo- 
 cality. After Peter's time, on the contrary, the burden 
 of service considerably diminished and even no longer 
 existed; land ceased to be the reward of service, the 
 landed estate became a patrimony, and there began to 
 be formed, as a matter of fact, in the various localities 
 communities of noblemen having their own local inte- 
 rests, on a like footing with, the taxpaying classes and 
 the towns. 
 
 It is necessary to keep this circumstance in view, 
 if we wish to understand the governmental administra- 
 tion as created by Catherine II. 
 
 The first act of the reform was the publication, in 
 1775, of the Institution of Governments. The principal 
 defects, which this Institution had in view to correct, 
 
 317 
 
LOCAL GOVERNMENT. HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 were: the excessive extent of the governments, the 
 insufficiency of administrative organs, and the confusion 
 in them of all kinds of business and, as a consequence, 
 delay and negligence. The new law r established two 
 territorial units: the government or lieutenancy with a 
 population of from 300,000 to 400,000 souls, and the 
 district or rayon of 20,000 to 30,000 souls. 
 
 The total number of governments was at first 40, 
 later 51, but, for the most part, two governments were 
 united under the control of one governor-general. The 
 latter was the chief local authority: to him were en- 
 trusted the duties of political superintendence and the 
 right of taking special measures for the removal of 
 abuses. But the judical authority did not form one of 
 his powers. In each government there was a viceregal 
 of governmental regency composed of the governor 
 and two councillors. Its duty was to administer the 
 government according to the laws, to publish the laws, 
 Imperial edicts and other Government orders, as well 
 as to see to their proper carrying out. Although the 
 governmental regency was a collegiate institution, yet 
 the chief actor in it was the governor. The councillors 
 had but a consultative voice. 
 
 Under the authority of the governmental regency 
 were placed all the inferior institutions of the govern- 
 ment. They were divided into judicial and admini- 
 strative. To the judicial belonged the courts for civil 
 and criminal cases with a series of crown courts, i. e. 
 with members appointed by the Government, and a 
 court of conscience composed of a judge and six mem- 
 
 318 
 
LOCAL GOVERNMENT. HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 bers, chosen from the nobility, townsmen and rural 
 population, two from each, without counting several 
 courts of an appellational character, lower than the 
 courts for civil and criminal cases, but higher than the 
 district judicial institutions. 
 
 The administrative institutions of the government 
 consisted of two bodies: the crown court for matters 
 concerning the financial administration and the board for 
 public charity, of which we spoke already in the corres- 
 ponding section of this boo!:. 
 
 The districts possessed three institutions: 
 
 1) The district court for the nobility with purely 
 judicial functions, attached to which was the curatorship 
 of the nobility; it consisted of a judge and of assessors 
 selected by the nobility. 
 
 2) The inferior zemstvo court, in which indeed 
 was concentrated the immediate administration of the 
 district; it \vas composed of the zemstvo police captain 
 and two assessors chosen by the nobility. 
 
 3) The court of first instance for the peasants. 
 
 Besides this, the crown court possessed in the di- 
 strict its own organ under the name of the district trea- 
 sury, and in the district were also several officials, 
 such as the surveyor, the doctor, etc. 
 
 This organization of the judicial and administrative 
 institutions was supplemented by the establishment of 
 the procurer's inspection. The office of procurer was 
 founded in connexion with the colleges already during 
 the reign of Peter the Great, and when the colleges 
 were transferred under Catherine II to the various loca- 
 
 - 319 
 
LOCAL GOVERNMENT. HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 lities under the name of courts, the procurers went 
 with them to the governments. The procurers had 
 their place in the governmental regency and in the courts, 
 and were charged with the examination of all the cases. 
 Whenever they detected any illegal or irregular act, 
 they were obliged to report the same to the authorities 
 above them, up to the Procurer General of the Senate 
 inclusive. 
 
 Such being the position occupied by the represen- 
 tatives of the nobility in the governmental institutions, 
 the local nobility itself could not avoid receiving a 
 special organization, and indeed, this organization was 
 granted the nobility by the decree of 1785. But we 
 shall refer below to the organization thus conferred upon 
 the institutions of the nobility, for it has suffered but 
 little change since the times of Catherine II. 
 
 As far as concerns the town communities, their 
 rights were defined in the same year, 1785, in a simi- 
 lar manner to the regulations contained in the charter 
 of the nobility. They assembled every three years for 
 the election of the town officials and of the assessors 
 of the various governmental institutions. 
 
 The town administration was entrusted exclusively 
 with matters concerning the finances and organization 
 of the town. Questions of police were left to the crown 
 prefects and policem asters, with the assistance of the 
 so called boards of good order composed of members 
 elected by the town community, while the judicial au- 
 thority remained with the magistracies. 
 
 The organization of the governmental institutions, 
 
 320 
 
LOCAL GOVERNMENT. HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 created by Catherine II, has been preserved in the foun- 
 dation also of the present organization of local govern- 
 ment. Nevertheless, already during the three following 
 reigns, of the Emperors Paul I, Alexander I, and Nicho- 
 las I, several fairly important alterations were imported 
 into this organization. With the foundation of the Mi- 
 nistries in the beginning of the 19 th century, the admi- 
 nistration was concentrated in these institutions, while 
 the governmental organs assumed a subordinate posi- 
 tion to them. Under these conditions, the office of 
 governor-general could not but lose its former impor- 
 tance; from being a normal governmental institution, it 
 becomes an extraordinary institution confined only to 
 certain localities. The governors, on the other hand, 
 become the immediate chiefs of the governments, sub- 
 ordinated to the central institutions and in particular to 
 the Ministry of the Interior. 
 
 In the 1 8 th century questions of local government 
 turned mainly upon three subjects: i) Crown administra- 
 tion, 2) The administration of justice, and 3) The Po- 
 lice. But that which at the present time constitutes the 
 principal subject of local government local economy 
 and organization remained in an embryonic state. In 
 the 19 th century, on the contrary, it is precisely upon 
 these questions that the attention of the Government 
 is mainly concentrated. The first subject was the mode 
 of levying the local zemstvo burdens, by means of 
 which the various requirements of local government and 
 organization were satisfied. In 1805 was issued the 
 preliminary Statute concerning them, replaced in 1851 
 
 321 - 21 
 
LOCAL GOVERNMENT. HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 by the Statute on Zemstvo Taxation. In virtue of this 
 statute, the drawing up of the estimate for local expendi- 
 ture and the distribution of the taxes were imposed upon 
 special administrative institutions, with the participation 
 only of representatives from the nobility and the town 
 community. But these institutions themselves in reality 
 decided nothing: both the estimate and the assessment 
 were subject to be confirmed by the central authority. 
 The execution of the estimates, i. e. the expenditure of 
 the sums, assigned to each separate object, was taken 
 from the committee and concentrated in the hands of 
 the proper Government authorities. As far as concerns 
 the control of the expenditure of the sums assigned, 
 although this was imposed upon the meeting of the 
 deputies of the nobility yet it concerned only certain 
 questions and had the character of remarks which might 
 be left by the governor without any consequences. 
 
 In the districts for the administration of the natural 
 burdens there were established billeting and road com- 
 missions, but, as a matter of fact, the executive power 
 was concentrated in the hands of the police the com- 
 missaries of rural police (stanovoy pristaf) appointed by 
 the administration, who since 1837 managed the subdi- 
 visions of the district called stan. 
 
 For matters concerning buildings and national ali- 
 mentation, there were established special commissions 
 with a like composition. 
 
 In this way, the institutions which had cognizance 
 of questions of finance and organization were, for the 
 most part, consultative organs, while the decisive power 
 
 322 
 
LOCAL ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 entirely belonged to the personal organs of the admini- 
 stration or to the central institutions. 
 
 In the region of peasant administration, the first 
 attempts at organization began already in the reign of 
 Paul I and received in 1837 a definite shape with the 
 foundation of the Ministry of State Domains, albeit only 
 in respect of the State serfs under its jurisdiction. For 
 them was created a perfectly isolated administration un- 
 der the control of the special courts of the State domains 
 introduced at that time into the sphere of governmental 
 institutions. The elective administration itself of the 
 volosts and village communities was organized like that 
 row existing, and therefore we shall not here speak 
 specially about it. 
 
 The short historical sketch we have given shows 
 that the Government, which assumed from the com- 
 mencement of the 19 th century the carrying into effect 
 of the important tasks of public order, directed all the 
 details of local administration. 
 
 But, upon the liberation of the peasantry from 
 serfdom, the tasks of administration became so compli- 
 cated that it was difficult to do without the direct 
 participation of the public in local affairs. On the other 
 hand, at that time the local public also was already 
 far better prepared than before for the functions that 
 .awaited it. 
 
 Under these conditions, was created the new orga- 
 nization of local administration and selfgovernment, 
 initiated by the reforms of the Emperor Alexander II. 
 
 2. Local administration. In consequence of the 
 
 323 21- 
 
LOCAL ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 vastness of the Empire, distinction is made between the 
 large constituent parts of it, forming separate regions 
 and governed upon different bases. Such divisions recog- 
 nized by the law are: i) European Russia proper, 
 wherein operate the governmental institutions of Cathe- 
 rine II, with their subsequent amendments. 2) The 
 Grandduchy of Finland. 3) The governments of the 
 Kingdom of Poland. 4) The Caucasus. 5) The Steppe 
 Region. 6) Toorkistan; 7) Transcaspian Territory and 
 8) Siberia. On account of the limits of our task, we 
 shall not, however, speak separately of the organization 
 of the administration in each of these parts of the 
 Empire, with the exception of the Grandduchy of Fin- 
 land, which presents more substantial differences. 
 
 The normal division of the country is the govern- 
 ment, or the territory equivalent to it, principally 
 occurring in the eastern borderlands. In Russia, with 
 the exception of Finland, there are in all 70 govern- 
 ments and 1 8 territories. Further, four towns Peters- 
 burg, Odessa, Sevastopol, and Kerch-Yenikale, are ex- 
 cepted from the governments and constitute so-called 
 prefectures, while the towns of Cronstadt and Nikolaef 
 and the Island of Sakhalin bear the name of military 
 governorships. There are thus in all 95 administrative 
 units. The governments and territories in respect of 
 administration are combined into larger units Gover- 
 norships General; such are the governorships general 
 of Warsaw, consisting of the ten governments of the 
 former Kingdom of Poland, of Vilno and of Kief. 
 Further, here are also to be reckoned the governorships 
 
 324 
 
LOCAL ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 general of Irkootsk, of the Amoor, of the Steppe, and 
 of Toorkistan. The government of Moscow is also 
 placed under a special governor general. The region 
 of the Caucasus, subdivided into 7 governments and 4 
 territories, also possesses the character of a governorship 
 general. 
 
 At the head of the governoship general stands the 
 governor general (in the Caucasus called the chief of 
 the civil administration), appointed by the direct choice 
 .and as a consequence of the personal confidence of His 
 Majesty the Emperor; at the head of the government 
 is the governor, appointed by an Imperial ukas. The 
 governor general is the local guardian of order in all 
 its departments, superintending all institutions and sup- 
 pressing all that is contrary to the laws, security or the 
 general welfare, or what is not in accordance with the 
 views of the supreme Government, which have come to 
 his knowledge, as a person invested with the complete 
 confidence of the Emperor. The governor, as the repre- 
 sentative of the Government authority in the govern- 
 ment, also superintends the whole administration, and 
 presents annually a report to His Majesty the Emperor 
 and himself promulgates obligatory regulations with a 
 view to the more successful execution of the laws. In 
 consequence of this, the whole administration and all 
 the officials of the government are subordinated to him. 
 
 As the organ of the Ministry of the Interior, the 
 governor has cognizance of all the local affairs of this 
 Ministry, assisted therein by his chancery and govern- 
 mental regency. The law calls the governmental regency 
 
 325 
 
LOCAL ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 the highest place in the government, administering it 
 according to the laws in the name of His IMPERIAL 
 MAJESTY. It is constituted of the vice-governor, two 
 councillors, the governmental medical inspector, the 
 engineer, architect, surveyor, prisons inspector, and 
 assessor: but other representatives of the local admini- 
 stration and selfgovernment may be invited. 
 
 The competence of the governmental regency com- 
 prises properly all matters within the cognizance of the 
 governor himself. But some of these matters are decided 
 in collegio*; such are the so-called judicial cases, as 
 the prosecution of officials, moot points of law, etc. In 
 administrative matters, the regency has a consultative 
 voice, while matters of less importance are decided by the 
 governor alone, the vice-governors, or the councillors of 
 the regency. 
 
 In immediate subordination to the governor and to 
 the governmental regency, are placed the district and 
 town police. At the head of the district police administ- 
 ration stands the police captain, appointed by the 
 governor, to whom again are subordinated the commis- 
 saries of rural police and the inferior police officials: 
 sergeants, centurions, and decurions. The police of the 
 governmental and some of the larger towns are sub- 
 ordinated, not to the police captain, but to special 
 policemasters. The importance of the police in our 
 local administration is very great. By law 7 the police 
 captains and policemasters are the immediate organs on 
 the spot of the representative of the superior Govern- 
 ment authority in the government, i. e. of the governor 
 
 326 
 
LOCAL ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 Therefore they are bound to look carefully to the per- 
 formance, by all and every one in the district, of their 
 duty as loyal subjects; they are further the guardians of 
 local order and of the public peace. 
 
 In the second place, the police is the organ of the 
 whole administration in general, seeing that no one 
 except it, not excluding even the organs of selfgovern- 
 ment, may take measures of a compulsory character. 
 
 Thirdly and finally, upon the police is imposed 
 the carrying into effect, not only of the prescriptions 
 of the governmental authorities, but of the demands of 
 other departments, especially of the judicial, and coope- 
 ration with all in the fulfilment of their duties. 
 
 In those governments, where the zemstvo institu- 
 tions have not been introduced (in European Russia 
 alone there are fourteen such), there continue to exist 
 governmental executive committees and charitable boards. 
 Of the latter we have already spoken. The executive 
 committees, on the other hand draw up estimates and 
 assessments of the local burdens for three years, which 
 are then examined by the State Council. 
 
 The governmental administration is finally completed 
 by a whole series of courts and committees, established 
 for various purposes, for the most part under the 
 presidency of the governor himself, and composed of 
 representatives of the various departments and institu- 
 tions; such are the courts for military and factory 
 affairs, and for the liquor trafic. the committees for 
 the preservation of forests, of prisons, of statistics etc. 
 
 327 
 
ZEMSTVO INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 3. Zemstvo institutions. These institutions were intro- 
 duced in our country by the Emperor Alexander II 
 immediately after the liberation of the serfs, in 1864, 
 and now exist in 34 governments of European Russia. 
 In the sixties, no one discerned in selfgovernment a 
 special form of organization of local administration, but 
 as it were the waiving by the State of the control 
 of the economical affairs of the government and 
 district which were foreign to it. In consequence of 
 this, the zemstvo institutions were regarded as individual 
 public units, not bound to the Government institutions 
 in one organic whole. 
 
 In practice, however, the impossibility of isolation 
 was soon discovered, which led to the promulgation in 
 1890 of the new Statute of Zemstvo Institutions. This 
 statute united the functions of the zemstvo and of the 
 local administration, and at the same time assigned a 
 due place in zemstvo affairs to the most intelligent 
 element in the public, the nobility. 
 
 In other respects, the principles of the statute of 
 1864 were preserved. Zemstvo institutions are divided 
 into district and governmental. Both in the district and 
 in the government, there is an administrative organ 
 the zemstvo assembly, and an executive organ the 
 zemstvo board. The district assembly is composed of 
 district members elected for three years directly by the 
 zemstvo electors; the governmental assembly is composed 
 of governmental members, elected by the district as- 
 semblies out of their own body. The presidency in 
 both one and the other belongs to the marshals of the 
 
 nobility. 
 
 328 - 
 
ZEMSTVO INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 The right to be an elector belongs exclusively to 
 persons, physical and juridical, possessing during not less 
 than one year, by right of ownership or as life-estate, 
 land of a definite amount for each district or other real 
 estate valued at not less than 15,000 roubles. The 
 -electors are grouped in two elective assemblies: in the 
 first participate hereditary and personal nobles, in the 
 second, all the rest except the peasants. Small landed 
 proprietors send representatives to the electoral body. 
 The election of members from the village communities 
 is left to the volost meetings; the representatives elected 
 from the peasants are further subject to be confirmed by 
 the governor. 
 
 To each district there is a definite number of mem- 
 bers from each electoral body and from the village com- 
 munities, the proportions being 57 per cent of nobles, 
 about 30 per cent of peasants, and 13 per cent of the 
 other classes. The presidents and members of the boards 
 are elected by the assembly lor three years from both 
 members and persons generally, who have the right 
 of voting in the electoral bodies. Both are subject to 
 the confirmation of the governor, and on entering upon 
 office enjoy the rights of government service *). In conse- 
 quence of this, there are applied to them also all the 
 -disciplinary penalties established for officials. The go- 
 vernor further possesses the right to carry out a revision 
 both of the zemstvo boards and of all the institutions 
 subordinated to the zemstvo. 
 
 *) The presidents of the governmental boards are confirmed 
 by the Minister of the Interior. 
 
 329 
 
ZEMSTVO INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 Of the functions of the zemstvo institutions we 
 have no cause to say more, after that which was said 
 in the preceding sections about their activity. We will 
 merely mention that the zemstvos, alike governmental 
 and district, enjoy the right of exacting taxes from the 
 population to cover their expenses and burdens. At the 
 same time, the governmental assembly is allowed to 
 issue orders obligatory upon the inhabitants of the 
 government in regard to a whole series of questions 
 affecting the public welfare, such as measures against 
 fires, the protection of the public health, etc. 
 
 On the other hand, however, in regard to many 
 subjects, the orders of the assemblies are carried into 
 execution not otherwise than after their confirmation 
 by the governor or even by the Minister. The governor 
 is given the right of examining all zemstvo orders 
 without exception, not only from the point of view of 
 legality and of the advantages and necessities of the 
 State in general, but from the point of view also of 
 the interests of the local inhabitants, and of stopping 
 those orders which, in his opinon, manifestly infringe 
 the interests of the latter. 
 
 In matters of this kind, however, the governor 
 does nut act alone. Under his presidency is founded a 
 governmental court upon zemstvo and town affairs, 
 composed of representatives of the administration, nobi- 
 lity, zemstvo, and town, which has the superinten- 
 dence of the course of zemstvo administration. Here, 
 then, are referred the orders of the zemstvos, which 
 have not received the confirmation of, or have been 
 
 330 
 
TOWN PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 suspended by, the governor. If they are suspended by 
 the court, on account of their illegality, the zemstvo 
 may appeal against the decision to the Senate; the 
 resolutions, on the other hand, of the district assemblies, 
 infringing the general interests of the State or local 
 interests, are sent on by the court to the governmental 
 assembly; while similar orders of the governmental 
 assembly are presented to the Minister of the Interior, 
 who applies for their abolition either to the Committee 
 of Ministers or to the State Council, according to the 
 character of the question. 
 
 4-. Town public institutions. The organization of 
 town selfgovernment, introduced in 1870 instead of the 
 charter granted in 1785 and amended by the law of 
 1892. is constituted in general upon the same bases as 
 the zemstvo selfgovernment. The elective right belongs 
 here, however, not only to persons possessing in the 
 course of the year real estate of a definite value, but 
 also to persons, societies and associations, who support 
 a commercial or industrial undertaking in the town, in 
 the capitals, on a first guild certificate and, in the other 
 towns, on a first or second guild. 
 
 All the electors constitute one body summoned 
 every four years, which however, in case of its being 
 especially numerous, may be divided into parts accor- 
 ding to locality. For each town, in correspondence with 
 the number of electors, there is fixed a definite number 
 of members, ranging from 20 to 160. 
 
 The mayor presides in both the town council and 
 the town board. In the capitals, the mayors are appointed 
 
 331 
 
TOWN PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 by the Emperor on the presentation of the Minister of 
 the Interior, while the town council elects two candi- 
 dates. In the other towns, the mayors are chosen by 
 the town council, but both they and the members of 
 the board must be confirmed by the governor or the 
 Minister of the Interior. Finally, in small towns, the 
 whole board is replaced by the sole authority of the 
 mayor and his assistant. For the immediate control of 
 the different branches of economy and administration, 
 the town council may, with the authorization of the 
 governor, elect special executive commissions. 
 
 The sphere of activity of the town public admini- 
 stration embraces the management of the capital and 
 property of the town, the care for its external organi- 
 zation, for the supply of provisions, for the health of 
 the inhabitants, etc. While enjoying the right of peti- 
 tioning in the local interest, the town administration 
 may issue orders obligatory for the inhabitants, and levy 
 upon them taxes for the needs of the town on the 
 value of the real estate, on trade certificates, etc. 
 
 The acts of the town public administration, like 
 those of the zernstvo, are subjected to the inspection of the 
 governor in the same manner as the zemstvo institutions. 
 
 The organization set forth of the town administra- 
 tion is replaced in the small town populations by a 
 simplified system, where, instead of the council, there 
 meets a body of representatives with due powers, (12 
 to 15 in number), elected by the local householders, 
 the mayor and the board being replaced by the elder 
 and his assistants. 
 
 332 
 
INSTITUTIONS OF THE NOBILITY. 
 
 5. Institutions of the Nobility. The community of the 
 nobility is constituted of the hereditary nobles of the 
 government; all of them may be present in the assembly 
 of the nobles which usually meets every three years, 
 but the right of voting is enjoyed only by those who 
 have real estate in the government, and besides this have 
 attained rank or gained an order, have completed the 
 course of an intermediate educational establishment or 
 served not less than three years in local elective offices. 
 Finally, the right of personal participation in the elec- 
 tions of the nobles is enjoyed by those who, over and 
 above this, own property in land to the extent giving 
 the right to elect zemstvo members, or other real estate 
 of not less than 15,000 roubles in value; moreover, the 
 nobles with small estates also participate in the elections r 
 though not personally but through representatives. 
 
 The elections form the chief business of the go- 
 vernmental assemblies. By election are filled the offices 
 of governmental and district marshals of nobility, the 
 deputies of the assembly of the nobles, and the secre- 
 tary and members of the nobles' curatorship. 
 
 Hereditary nobles are eligible, although they have 
 no property qualification and accordingly do not enjoy 
 the right of voting in the assembly. 
 
 To the post of government marshals are elected 
 two candidates to be presented through the Minister of 
 the Interior for the approval of the Emperor. To each 
 of the other posts one person is elected, whose confir- 
 mation rests with the governor. 
 
 After the elections, most important of all is the 
 
 333 
 
INSTITUTIONS OF THE NOBILITY. 
 
 right allowed the nobility of petitioning the central Go- 
 vernment and even the Emperor, but only in respect 
 of subjects under the immediate cognizance of the 
 nobility. 
 
 Finally, the contributions of the nobility are col- 
 lected either for objects of general common advantage 
 or for private needs. The first are obligatory upon all, 
 if they are accepted unanimously by the assembly, or 
 sanctioned by the Emperor the second are binding only 
 upon those who have agreed to them. 
 
 The executive organs of the nobility are: i) The 
 Assembly of Deputies, consisting of the governmental 
 marshal of nobility and of the deputies from the districts; 
 it keeps the genealogical book. 2) The Curatorship of 
 the Nobility, and 5) The Marshals of the Nobility. 
 
 At the present time, the Marshal of Nobility is one 
 of the most important offices in the local government. 
 Being merely noble official personages, they at the same 
 time preside in the zemstvo assemblies, in recruiting 
 courts, at district congresses of zemsky nachalniks and 
 in school councils. In the course of the two past reigns, 
 there has been gradually imposed upon them the care 
 for the material, intellectual, and moral welfare of the 
 whole population. In this way, if at the present time 
 the nobility does not elect to various institutions its 
 own representatives, as was the case in ante-reform times, 
 yet, in the person of its marshals, in the person of the 
 zemsky nachalniks (also appointed for the most part 
 from the local nobles), as well as in the constitution of 
 the zemstvo assemblies, it is invested with a whole 
 
 334 
 
PEASANT INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 series of duties in regard to local government, fully 
 corresponding to its importance, as the class which 
 always in our history was in the service of the 
 Sovereign. 
 
 6. Peasant institutions. We saw in the historical 
 sketch that the first foundations of the corporative or- 
 ganization of the rural population were laid already be- 
 fore the year 1861. But this organization could only obtain 
 a general importance after the liberation of the serfs. 
 
 The corporative arrangement of the rural class 
 is expressed in the organization of village communities 
 and volosts, but these institutions are called upon to 
 superintend not merely class affairs alone, but also mat- 
 ters of a general police character, although the latter 
 concern persons principally of the same rural class. 
 
 The village community is constituted of the rural 
 inhabitants of one settlement, or if the latter are former 
 serfs, of those who are settled on the land of one land- 
 owner. The volost, on the other hand, is composed of 
 one or several settlements, with a population of from 
 300 to 2,000 males. The volosts are usually grouped 
 according to parishes; where the volost consists of one 
 settlement, the volost institutions coincide with those of 
 the village. 
 
 The village administration is composed of the village 
 meeting and the elder. The meeting, according to the 
 general rule, is formed of all the householders belonging 
 to the community; participation in the meeting is gene- 
 rally not limited by either sex or age, neither does it 
 even require a property qualification. 
 
 335 
 
PEASANT INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 The powers of the meeting include: i) the election 
 of village office-bearers, 2) the removal of harmful or 
 vicious members, 3) the appointment of guardians, the 
 division of family property, 4) land affairs, 5) consul- 
 tations about the needs of the community, of every kind,. 
 6) the fixing of the taxes of the community, the assess- 
 ment of crown and zemstvo taxes and burdens, and 
 measures for the prevention and exaction of arrears. 
 
 The executive organ of the meeting is the village 
 elder, who, however, has also independent police duties 
 as regards the supervision of persons of the taxpaying 
 classes, resident in the community but not belonging to 
 it. As an aid to the elder, the community may appoint 
 tax collectors, inspectors of stores and schools, forest 
 guards, etc. 
 
 The volost organization is far more complex. Be- 
 sides the Meeting and the elder, there is here, further, 
 the Volost Board and the Court. The volost meeting is 
 constituted of elected representatives, one to each ten 
 householders. It has jurisdiction throughout the whole 
 volost in the same matters which belong to the village 
 meetings, with a few exceptions only. 
 
 The executor of the decisions of the meeting is the 
 volost elder and the collegiate institution assisting him 
 the volost board, which is formed of all the village 
 elders, the assistants of the volost elder and the taxcollec- 
 tors. The expedition of the business of the board is im- 
 posed upon the volost clerk, who is either elected or hired. 
 
 The volost court, finally, is formed of persons of 
 unstained character not younger than thirty-five. Each 
 
 336 
 
PEASANT INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 community elects one candidate for the post of judge 
 and not less than eight to the volost, from whom the 
 zemsky nachalnik appoints four judges for three years, 
 and four as candidates. 
 
 With the abolition of serfdom and the organization 
 of peasant selfgovernment, it was considered necessary 
 to establish special organs for the superintendence of the 
 latter. Originally, with this view, were established 
 arbiters of the peace. They were selected by the go- 
 vernors, in consultation with the marshals of the nobility, 
 mainly from the local landowners. Their final confir- 
 mation belongs to the Senate. Out of the arbiters, 
 under the presidency of the district marshal of nobility, 
 were constituted the district sessions, and, in the govern- 
 ments governmental courts for peasant affairs under the 
 presidency of the governor. In 1874 and the following 
 years, the arbiters of the peace and their sessions were 
 replaced by courts for peasant affairs and their perma- 
 nent members, appointed by the Minister of the Interior 
 from two candidates elected by the zemstvo from among 
 the landed nobility. 
 
 In this way, however, the number of organs for 
 the supervision of peasant selfgovernment was consider- 
 ably diminished: instead of several arbiters of the peace, 
 there was now one permanent member to each district. 
 This circumstance was not long in making itself felt in 
 various kinds of disorders in country life. The need 
 was felt for a strong authority near to the people, 
 which should combine the guardianship of the rural 
 inhabitants with care for the interests of the peasants, 
 
 - 337 22 
 
PEASANT INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 and with duties in regard to the preservation of public 
 order and decency, and of the security and rights of 
 private persons in the country localities. With this 
 object, on the 12 July, 1889, ensued the abolition of 
 peasant courts and justices of the peace, with the replace- 
 ment of both one and the other by zemsky nachalniks, 
 and in the towns, as regards the judicial part, by urban 
 justices. The distinguishing feature of the zemsky nachal- 
 niks is the union in their person of the administrative 
 and judicial power. Of their judicial functions we have 
 already spoken in the section on justice. We shall there- 
 fore touch upon the conditions of the appointment of 
 the zemsky nachalniks and upon their administrative 
 duties. They are appointed, upon the governor's pre- 
 sentation, by the Minister of the Interior from among 
 the local hereditary nobles. There is a fixed qualification 
 in regard to both property and education: those who 
 have received an intermediate education must own land, 
 giving the right to participate in the zemstvo or nobles 
 elections, or real estate of not less value than 1 5,000 
 roubles; while, for those who have completed the course 
 in a higher educational establishment, it is sufficient that 
 they have kept their own residence. In case of the 
 impossibility of finding suitable candidates the Minister 
 of the Interior is allowed to depart from these limi- 
 tations. The list of candidates is drawn up by the 
 governor in agreement with the marshals of nobility. 
 
 Of the zemsky nachalniks is formed, in the district, 
 under the presidency of the district marshal of nobility, 
 the district sessions; it has two courts a Judicial, 
 
 338 
 
PEASANT INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 composed of zemsky nachalniks, urban justices, honorary 
 justices of the peace and the district member of the 
 circuit court, and an Administrative, composed of zemsky 
 nachalniks, the police captain and the president of the 
 zemstvo board. 
 
 Here are received the complaints against the con- 
 duct of the zemsky nachalniks, and here too they present 
 their reports. Next, for the supervision of the zemsky 
 nachalniks, there is established the Governmental Court 
 under the presidency of the governor, composed of the 
 governmental marshal of nobility, the vice-governor, 
 the procurer, two members from the nobility and others. 
 
 The administrative functions of the zemsky nachal- 
 niks, on the whole, are the same as were those of the 
 former arbiters of the peace, concerning principally the 
 organization of the peasants on the land, and their eco- 
 nomical and moral welfare, with a slightly increased 
 control over the peasant selfgovernment. Thus, the zem- 
 sky nachalnik has the right to examine all the resolu- 
 tions of the village and volost meetings; he may stop 
 the execution of those which are illegal or inexpedient, 
 presenting them for the consideration of the district ses- 
 sion. In regard to more important cases, the decisions 
 of the meetings are sent up to be confirmed by the 
 district sessions or the government court. Next, the 
 zemsky nachalnik has discretionary power in regard to 
 the removal of volost and village clerks, while he may 
 inflict fines on all the other office-bearers, bringing the 
 question of their removal before the district session. The 
 right of punishment belongs to the zemsky nachalnik 
 
 339 22* 
 
THE GRANDDUCHY OF FINLAND. 
 
 in regard also to all the peasants generally, in case of 
 their not carrying out his legal demands. 
 
 7. The local institutions of the Grandduchy of Finland. 
 
 In conclusion, we must say a word about the local in- 
 stitutions of Finland, as wholly differing from the gene- 
 ral organization of the administration in the Empire. 
 
 Here, first of all, there are the organs of the supe- 
 rior administration. The highest legislative institution is 
 the diet of Finland. It consists of four estates: i) the 
 knights and nobility, 2) the clergy, 3) the burgesses,, 
 and 4) the peasants. The diet is summoned by the So- 
 vereign every five years or more often at the August 
 discretion. The presidents (talmen) and assistant pre- 
 sidents of the estates are appointed by the Sovereign. 
 
 Until 1886, the right of initiative in legislative ques- 
 tions belonged only to the Emperor, but now it belongs 
 to the Diet. In each diet, commissions are formed for 
 the preliminary examination of questions. Further, each 
 estate meets separately, although consultations together 
 are allowed, after \\hich, however, the estates vote se- 
 parately. 
 
 The highest administrative and judicial institution 
 of Finland is the Imperial Senate of Finland. It consists, 
 under the presidency of the Governor-General, of a ge- 
 neral assembly and two departments an economical 
 and a judicial. The senators are appointed by the Em- 
 peror for three years. Attached to the Senate are nine 
 boards, having the management of different parts of the 
 administration, and their chiefs are appointed by the 
 
 340 
 
THE GRANDDUCHY OF FINLAND. 
 
 Sovereign from among the senators. There are further 
 the procurer and his assistant. 
 
 The central organ for the administration of Finland 
 is the Secretary of State for the affairs of the Grand- 
 duchy, in St. Petersburg, and on the spot the represen- 
 tative of the Sovereign in the Duchy, the Governor-Ge- 
 neral of Finland. 
 
 Such are the superior institutions. As to the subordi- 
 nate organs, the administration of the eight governments 
 is entrusted to the governors and governmental regencies. 
 The governments are divided into districts, under the 
 control of kronfogts, and circuits, administered by ((lens- 
 men , while the smallest division is the town and village 
 commune. 
 
RACES INHABITING the RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 
 
 
 Number, 
 
 Territory. 
 
 1) Abkhasians. 
 
 (year). 
 
 
 Orthodox, Mohametans, 
 
 
 
 and heathens. 
 
 60,000 
 
 Kootaiss government. 
 
 
 (1886) 
 
 
 2) Aboogatch. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 100 
 
 Yenissey government, Minoossinsk 
 
 
 (1659) 
 
 circuit. 
 
 3) Agrjanians. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. . 
 
 107 
 
 Town of Astrakhan. 
 
 
 (1857) 
 
 
 4) Aissors. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 2,272 
 
 Kars territory; governments of 
 
 
 (1891) 
 
 Tiflis and Erivan. 
 
 5) Ajarians. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 59,516 
 
 Kootaiss gov., Batoom and Artvin 
 
 
 (1886) 
 
 districts. 
 
 6) Aleutians (Unangu- 
 
 
 
 nians). Orthodox and 
 
 
 
 heathens. 
 
 1,913 
 
 Behring and Medny islands. 
 
 
 (1871) 
 
 
 7) Arabs. 
 
 
 
 
 no exact 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 informa- 
 
 Samarcand territory. 
 
 
 tion. 
 
 
 8) Armenians. 
 
 
 
 Gregorians and Roman- 
 Catholics. 
 
 954,612 
 
 Cis- and Trans-caucasia; territory 
 
 
 (1891) 
 
 of Don Cossacks; governments of 
 
 
 
 Astrakhan, Taurida, Bessarabia, 
 
 9) Amauts (Albanians). 
 
 
 Kherson, and both capitals. 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 1000 
 
 Government of Bessarabia. 
 
 
 (1861) 
 
 
 10) Avars. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 96,000 
 
 Daghestan territory. 
 
 
 (1885) 
 
 
 11) Baicats. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 200 
 
 Yenissey governm., circuit of Mi- 
 
 
 (1859) 
 
 noossinsk. 
 
 12) Balcars. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 3,000 
 
 Terek territory. 
 
 
 (1875) 
 
II 
 
 
 Number, 
 
 Territory. 
 
 13) Bashkirs. 
 
 (year). 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 600,000 
 
 Governments of Orenburg, Oofa, 
 
 
 (1887) 
 
 Samara, Viatka, and Perm. 
 
 14) Belteers. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox, partly hea- 
 
 
 
 thens. 
 
 3,100 
 
 Yenissey government, circuit of 
 
 
 (1893) 
 
 Minoossinsk. 
 
 15) Bessermians. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 10,820 
 
 Government of Viatka, Glasof 
 
 
 (1891) 
 
 district. 
 
 16) BielorOOSSy, (White- 
 
 
 
 Russians), Orthodox, and 
 Roman-Catholics. 
 
 5,000,000 
 
 Principally governments of Minsk 
 and Grodno, (except the extreme 
 
 
 (1886) 
 
 southern part of the latter); a 
 
 
 
 small area of the government of 
 
 
 
 Soovalky; government of Vilna 
 
 
 
 (except its north-western corner); 
 
 
 
 Mogilef; western part of govern- 
 
 
 
 ment of Smolensk, and a small 
 
 
 
 part of Tchernigof government. 
 
 17) Birars. 
 
 
 
 Heathens. 
 
 2,000 
 
 Amoor territory. 
 
 
 (1883) 
 
 
 18) Bobyls. 
 
 
 
 Heathens, Mohametans, 
 
 no exact 
 
 
 and Christians. 
 
 informa- 
 
 South part of Perm government. 
 
 
 tion. 
 
 
 19) Bokharans. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 9,000 
 
 Governments of Tobolsk and 
 
 
 (1880) 
 
 Tomsk. 
 
 20) Booriats. 
 
 
 
 Lamaites, heathens, and 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 270,000 
 
 Irkootsk government and Trans- 
 
 
 (1891) 
 
 baikal territory. 
 
 21) Bulgarians. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 80,000 
 
 Governments of Kherson, Taurida, 
 
 
 (1870) 
 
 and Bessarabia; Transcaucasia. 
 
 22) Cadjars. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 5,000 
 
 Governments of Elizavetpol and 
 
 
 (1873) 
 
 Erivan. 
 
 23) Caibals. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 8,500 
 
 Yenissey government. Minoossinsk 
 
 
 (1892) 
 
 circuit. 
 
Ill 
 
 
 Number, 
 
 Territory. 
 
 24) Calmucks. 
 
 (year). 
 
 
 Buddhists, Christians, 
 
 
 Governments of Astrakhan and 
 
 and heathens. 
 
 200,000 
 
 Stavropol; Don-Cossacks', Ural, 
 
 
 (1891) 
 
 and Semirechensk territories and 
 
 
 
 Bisk circuit of Tomsk government. 
 
 25) Camasins. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 400 
 
 Yenissey gov., Can circuit. 
 
 
 (1893) 
 
 
 26) Camtchadalians. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 3,849 
 
 Sea-coast territory, Peter and Paul 
 
 
 (1892) 
 
 circuit. 
 
 27) Caracalpacks. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 250 
 
 Governments of Astrakhan and 
 
 
 (1851) 
 
 Orenburg: Amoo-Daria region and 
 
 
 
 Fergan territory. 
 
 28) Carachaievtsy. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 25,000 
 
 Koobain territory. 
 
 
 (1891) 
 
 
 29) Caragasses. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox and heathens. 
 
 400 
 
 Yenissey gov., Minoossinsk circuit. 
 
 
 (1893) 
 
 
 30) Caraims. 
 
 
 
 Jewish sect. 
 
 10,000 
 (1893) 
 
 Crimean peninsula; governments 
 of Vilna, Voluin, and Kovno. 
 
 31) Cara-Kirgheze. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans and hea- 
 
 
 
 thens. 
 
 300,000 
 
 Semiretchinsk; Fergan and Sur- 
 
 
 (1890) 
 
 Daria territories. 
 
 32) Carapapakhs. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 24,000 
 
 Kars territory. 
 
 
 (1892) 
 
 
 33) Carelians. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox and Lutherans. 
 
 300,000 
 
 (1875) 
 
 South ofFinland and north-western 
 governments of Russia, principally 
 those of Tver, Novgorod, and 
 
 
 
 Olonets. 
 
 34) Casakhs. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 1,100 
 
 Elizavetpol government. 
 
 
 (1893) 
 
 
 35) Casi-Coomucks. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 24,000 
 
 Daghestan territory. 
 
 
 (1891) 
 
 
 36) Catchints. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 12,000 
 
 Yenissey gov., Minoossinsk circuit. 
 
 
 (1890) 
 
 
IV 
 
 
 Number, 
 
 Territory. 
 
 37) Chinese. 
 
 (year). 
 
 
 Buddhists. 
 
 12,000 
 
 Sea-coast and Amoor territories. 
 
 
 (1894) 
 
 
 38) Coomucks. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 108,800 
 
 Daghestan and Terek territories. 
 
 
 (1891) 
 
 
 39) Coords. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 84,500 
 
 Governments of Erivan, Elizavet- 
 
 
 (1891) 
 
 pol, and Tim's, and Kars territory. 
 
 40) Coorils. 
 
 
 
 Heathens. 
 
 2,000 
 
 Kamtchatka and Island of Sakhalin. 
 
 
 (1860) 
 
 
 41) Coorish-Kenighe. 
 
 
 
 Evangelic-Lutherans. 
 
 405 
 
 Govern, of Courland, ( between 
 
 
 (1863) 
 
 Goldingen and Gasenpot). 
 
 42) Coreans. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox and heathens. 
 
 16,200 
 
 Sea-coast and Amoor territories. 
 
 
 (1893) 
 
 
 43) Coriaks. 
 
 
 
 Heathens. 
 
 3,811 
 
 Sea-coast territory, Gijiginsk and 
 
 
 (1892) 
 
 Peter and Paul circuits. 
 
 44) Crevings. 
 
 
 
 Evangelic-Lutherans. 
 
 300 
 
 Northern districts of governments 
 
 
 (1851) 
 
 of Livonia and Courland. 
 
 45) Cuerings. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 55,000 
 
 Daghestan territory. 
 
 
 (1891) 
 
 
 46) Czecks. 
 
 
 
 Czeck-Hussites,and part- 
 
 
 
 ly Orthodox. 
 
 24,000 
 
 Governments of Voluin and Black- 
 
 
 (1890) 
 
 Sea circuit in the Caucasus. 
 
 47) Darghinians. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 54,300 
 
 Daghestan territory, Darghin cir- 
 
 
 (1891) 
 
 cuit. 
 
 48) Daurs. 
 
 
 
 Buddhists. 
 
 14,000 
 
 Amoor territory. 
 
 
 (1892) 
 
 
 49) Dunganians. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 11,562 
 
 Semieretchinsk territory, Issuk- 
 
 
 (1892) 
 
 Kool and Tockmack districts. 
 
 50) Esthonians. 
 
 
 
 Evangelic-Lutherans and 
 Orthodox. 
 
 656,000 
 
 The entire gov. of Esthonia; 4 
 districts of the gov. of Livonia; 
 
 (1880) 
 
 Gdoff district of St. Petersburg 
 
 
 gov., and Pskoff district of Pskoff, 
 
 1 
 
 gov.; also partially gov. of Vitebsk^ 
 

 Number, 
 
 Territory. 
 
 51) Finns. 
 
 (year). 
 
 
 Evangelic-Lutherans. 
 
 2,000,000 
 
 Grandduchy of Finland and partly 
 
 
 (1890) 
 
 governments of St. Petersburg, 
 
 
 
 Olonets, and Archangel. 
 
 52) Germans. 
 
 
 
 Evangelic-Lutherans,Re- 
 
 
 Governments of Esthonia, Livonia, 
 
 formed Church, Roman- 
 
 
 and Courland, principally; likewise 
 
 Catholics and sect of 
 
 
 all the other governments, espe- 
 
 Mennonites. 
 
 1,760,000 
 
 cially the southern and south- 
 
 
 (1885) 
 
 western. 
 
 53) Ghiliaks. 
 
 
 
 Heathens. 
 
 7,000 
 
 Sea-coast territory and island of 
 
 
 (1890) 
 
 Sakhalin. 
 
 54) Golds. 
 
 
 
 Heathens. 
 
 5,000 
 
 Along the rivers Amoor, Sungari, 
 
 
 (1885) 
 
 Usuri and around lake Khanka. 
 
 55) Goorians. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 76,000 
 
 Kootaiss gov., Osoorghet district. 
 
 
 (1885) 
 
 
 56) Greeks. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 60,000 
 
 Southern governments of European 
 
 
 (1889) 
 
 Russia, and both capitals. 
 
 57) Groosins. 
 
 
 
 (Georgians). Orthodox. 
 
 408,000 
 
 Transcaucasia. 
 
 
 (1885) 
 
 
 58) Hindus. 
 
 
 
 Buddhists. 
 
 860 
 
 Toorkistan. 
 
 
 (1876) 
 
 
 59) Hollanders. * 
 
 
 
 Roman-Catholics. 
 
 2,000 
 
 Gov. of Grodno, Brest district. 
 
 
 (1850) 
 
 
 60) lessids. 
 
 
 
 Heathens. 
 
 15,500 
 
 Erivan gov., and Kars territory. 
 
 
 (1886) 
 
 
 61) Ijora. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 2,000 
 
 St. Petersburg gov. 
 
 
 (1860) 
 
 
 62) Imeritians. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 423,000 
 
 Governments of Kootaiss and 
 
 
 (1886) 
 
 Tiflis. 
 
 63) Inghiloisians. 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 9,000 
 
 Zakatail circuit. 
 
 
 (1886) 
 
 
 * Descendants of Dutch emigrants to Lithuania in ij" 1 century. 
 
VI 
 
 
 Number, 
 
 Territory. 
 
 64) Ingoosh. 
 
 (year). 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 28,000 
 
 Terek territory, Soonja district. 
 
 
 (1891) 
 
 
 65) Jews. 
 
 
 
 Hebrews. 
 
 5,007,000 
 (1884) 
 
 Principally 9 western governments, 
 kingdom of Poland, and southern, 
 
 
 
 and Little-Russia governments. 
 
 66) Khevsoors. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox and heathens. 
 
 6,560 
 
 Northern pars of Telavsk district, 
 
 
 (1886) 
 
 Tiflis gov., (about the sources of 
 
 
 
 the rivers Aragva and Arguin). 
 
 67) Kille. 
 
 
 
 Heathens. 
 
 1,000 
 
 Sea-coast territory. 
 
 
 (1883) 
 
 
 68) Kirgheze-Kaisaks. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 3,290,000 
 
 Orenburg and Astrakhan govern- 
 
 
 (1890) 
 
 ments; Akmolinsk, Sur-Daria, Sa- 
 
 
 
 markand, Transcaspian, Ural, Toor- 
 
 
 
 gai, Semipalatinsk and Semiret- 
 
 
 
 chinsk territories. 
 
 69) Kizils. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 6,000 
 
 Yenissey gov., Minoossinsk and 
 
 
 (1893) 
 
 Achinsk circuits. 
 
 70) Lakhamoolts. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 300 
 
 Kootaiss government. 
 
 
 (1864) 
 
 
 71) Lamoots. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 2,502 
 
 Yakootsk and Sea-coast territories. 
 
 
 (1892) 
 
 
 72) Lesghins. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 597,000 
 
 Daghestan territory; government 
 
 
 (1886) 
 
 of Baku and Elizavetpol, and Za- 
 
 73) Letts. 
 
 
 katiiil circuit. 
 
 Evangelic-Lutherans and 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 1,050,000 
 
 Almost the entire gov. of Cour- 
 
 74) Lithuanians. 
 
 (1873) 
 
 land, partially governments of Li- 
 vonia, Vitebsk, and Kovno. 
 
 Roman - Catholics and 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 2,500,000 
 
 Governments of Kovno, Grodno 
 
 75) Livonians. 
 
 (1873) 
 
 and Vilna; partially Kingdom of 
 Poland and gov. of Tchernigof. 
 
 Evangelic-Lutherans. 
 
 2,400 
 
 North of Courland gov.; basin of 
 
 
 (1883) 
 
 river Salis; gov. of Livonia. 
 
VII 
 
 76) Lopars. 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 77) Malorossy, (Little 
 Russians). Orthodox. 
 
 78) Manegrians. 
 Heathens. 
 
 79) Mangoons. 
 Heathens. 
 
 80) Mantchoorians. 
 
 Buddhists. 
 
 81) Mestcheriaks. 
 
 Orthodox (3 5,000). Mo 
 hametans (125,000). 
 
 82) Mingrelians. 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 83) Moldavians. 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 84) Mordva. 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 85) Navroosovtsy. 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 Number, 
 (year). 
 
 3,380 
 (1859) 
 
 17,110,000 
 
 (1886) 
 
 1,000 
 (1883) 
 
 1,000 
 
 (1883) 
 
 14,000 
 
 (with the 
 Daurs) 
 
 (1891) 
 
 160,000 
 (1886) 
 
 214,000 
 
 (1891) 
 
 653,000 
 (1859) 
 
 775,000 
 (1866) 
 
 5,420 
 (1859) 
 
 Territory. 
 
 Government of Arkhangel, Kem 
 district; north of grandduchy of 
 Finland. 
 
 I-st region: governments of Kief r 
 Poltava and Tchernigof (these form 
 the heart of Little Russia), govern- 
 ments of Kharkof, Podolia, Voluin, 
 Koorsk, Voronej, the Novorossia 
 governments (Ekaterinoslaf, Kher- 
 son governments and the steppe 
 part of gov. of Taurida) where the 
 inhabitants are for the most part 
 Little Russians. 2-nd region: gov. of 
 Lublin and part of gov. of Siedlets, 
 government of Grodno and Minsk. 
 3-rd region: along the river Koo- 
 bain and the lower part of the 
 river Volga. 
 
 Amoor territory. 
 
 Sea-coast territory. 
 
 Amoor territory. 
 
 Governments of Orenburg, Pensa v 
 Saratof, Oofa, and Perm. 
 
 Gov. ot Kootaiss. 
 
 Southern governments Bessara- 
 bia, Podolia, Kherson, and Ekate- 
 rinoslaf. 
 
 Governments of Simbirsk, Penza, 
 Samara, Nijni-Novgorod, Saratof, 
 Orenburg,Oofa,Kazan,andTambofL 
 
 Koobain territory. 
 
VIII 
 
 
 Number, 
 
 Territory. 
 
 86) Neidals. 
 
 (year). 
 
 
 Heathens. 
 
 1,500 
 
 Sea-coast territory, along the river 
 
 
 (1883) 
 
 Amguin. 
 
 87) Nogaits. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 61,560 
 
 Eastern part of gov. of Stavropol 
 
 
 (1891) 
 
 and northern part of Terek terri- 
 
 
 
 tory. 
 
 88) Nookhoorts. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 1,150 
 
 Transcaspian territory, Krasno- 
 
 
 (1890) 
 
 vodsk district. 
 
 89) Crocks. 
 
 
 
 Heathens. 
 
 1,000 
 
 Northern part of Island of Sakhalin. 
 
 
 (1883) 
 
 
 90) Orotchonians. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 3,500 
 
 Yakootsk, Transbaikal, Amoor, and 
 
 
 (1892) 
 
 Sea-coast territories. 
 
 91) Ossetins. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox, partly Mo- 
 
 
 
 hametans. 
 
 164,490 
 
 Terek territory; governments of 
 
 
 (1886) 
 
 Tiflis and Kootaiss. 
 
 92) Ostiaks. * 
 
 
 
 Orthodox and heathens. 
 
 26,000 
 
 Governments of Tobolsk, Tomsk 
 
 
 (1880) 
 
 and Yenissey. 
 
 93 j Permiacs. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 90,000 
 
 Governments of Perm and Viatka. 
 
 
 (1885; 
 
 
 94) Persians. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 32,300 
 
 Terek and Daghestan territories, 
 
 
 (1889) 
 
 Transcaucasia, gov. of Astrakhan, 
 
 
 
 and Transcaspian territory. 
 
 95) Poles. 
 
 
 
 Roman-Catholics. 
 
 6,000,000 
 
 Chiefly the Vistula region; an enti- 
 
 
 (1886) 
 
 rely Polish population exists besides 
 
 
 
 only in the western part of Grodno. 
 
 
 
 There are also Polish landowners 
 
 
 
 in 9 western governments. 
 
 96) Pshaves. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 9,000 
 
 Tiflis gov., Tionet district. 
 
 
 (1885) 
 
 
 97) Sagaits. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox and heathens. 11,720 
 
 Yenissey gov., Minoossinsk circuit, 
 
 (1864) 
 
 and Tomsk gov., Kooznetsk cir- 
 
 
 
 cuit. 
 
IX 
 
 
 Number, 
 
 Territory. 
 
 98) Samagarts. 
 
 (year). 
 
 
 Heathens. 
 
 900 
 
 Sea-coast territory. 
 
 
 (1883) 
 
 
 99) Samoieds. 
 
 \ / 
 
 
 Chiefly Heathens. 
 
 22,000 
 
 Coast of Arctic Ocean, from river 
 
 
 (1859) 
 
 Mezen (Archangel gov.) to river 
 
 100) Sarts. 
 
 
 Khatanga (Yenissey gov.). 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 690,300 
 
 Sur-Daria, Samarkand, and Fergan 
 
 
 (1876) 
 
 territories. 
 
 101) Scotchmen. 
 
 
 
 Evangelic-Lutherans. 
 
 250 
 
 Piatigorsk section, Terek territory. 
 
 
 (1871) 
 
 
 102) Servians. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 8,000 Governments of Kherson and Eka- 
 
 
 (1879) terinoslaf. 
 
 103) Soyots. 
 
 
 
 Heathens. 
 
 1,000 
 
 Irkootsk gov., Irkootsk circuit. 
 
 
 (1890) 
 
 
 104) Svanets. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 14,035 
 
 Gov. of Kootiiiss. 
 
 
 (1891) 
 
 
 105) Swedes. 
 
 
 
 Evangelic-Lutherans. 
 
 256,000 
 (1886) 
 
 Grandduchy of Finland; gov. of 
 Esthonia, Reval and Hapsal dis- 
 
 
 tricts; gov. of Kherson, Kherson 
 
 
 
 district. A small number of Swedes 
 
 
 
 still exist in the gov. of To- 
 
 
 
 bolsk, descended from Swedish 
 
 
 
 prisoners exiled thither during the 
 
 
 
 war with Charles XII. 
 
 106) Swiss. 
 
 
 
 Reformed-Church. 
 
 1,500 
 
 Governments of Bessarabia, Sa- 
 
 
 (1876) 
 
 ratof, and Taurida. 
 
 107) Tabasaranians. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 14,460 
 
 Daghestan territory. 
 
 
 (1891) 
 
 
 108) Tadjiks. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 137,280 
 
 Toorkistan. 
 
 
 (1879) 
 
 
 109) Talishians. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 50,510 
 
 Baku gov., Lenkoran district. 
 
 
 (1886) 
 
 110) Tarantches. 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 51 097 Semiretchinsk territory. 
 
 
 (1892) 
 

 Number, 
 
 Territory. 
 
 Ill) Tatars. 
 
 (year). 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 2,500,000 
 
 All the eastern and south-eastern 
 
 
 (1866) 
 
 governments of European Russia; 
 
 
 
 gov. of Taurida; the Caucasus, 
 
 
 
 and western Siberia. 
 
 112) Tats. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 124,683 
 
 Governments of Baku and Eli- 
 
 
 (1886) 
 
 zavetpol, and Daghestan territory. 
 
 113) Tcheremisses. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox and heathens. 
 
 283,800 
 (1892) 
 
 Principally governments of Viatka 
 and Kazan. 
 
 114) Tcherkesses. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 161,960 
 
 Southern part of Koobain territory 
 
 
 (1891) 
 
 and western part of Terek territory. 
 
 11.5) Tchetchens. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 195,900 
 
 Caucasian mountains (almost ex- 
 
 
 (1891) 
 
 clusively in Terek territory). 
 
 116) Tchoodi. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 13,250 
 
 Gov. ofOlonets, Lodeinopolsk and 
 
 
 (1865) 
 
 Petrazavodsk districts; gov. of 
 
 
 Novgorod, Tikhvinsk, and Bielo- 
 
 
 
 zersk districts. 
 
 117) Tchooktchy. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 13,000 
 
 Yakootsk and Sea-coast territories. 
 
 
 (1893) 
 
 
 118) Tchoovans. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 143 
 
 Yakootsk territory, Koluim circuit. 
 
 
 (1393) 
 
 
 119) Tchoovash. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 540,000 
 
 Governments of Kazan, Simbirsk, 
 
 
 (1866) 
 
 Saratof, Viatka, Orenburg, and 
 
 
 
 Tobolsk. 
 
 120) Telengoots. 
 
 
 
 Buddhists. 
 
 18,470 
 
 Gov. of Tomsk. 
 
 
 (1859) 
 
 
 121) Teptiars. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox and Moha- 
 
 
 
 metans. 
 
 130,000 
 
 Governments of Orenburg, Oofa, 
 
 
 (1866) 
 
 Viatka and Perm. 
 
 122) Toobeens. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox and heathens. 
 
 920 
 
 Yenissey gov., Minoossinsk circuit. 
 
 
 (1875) 
 
 
XI 
 
 Number, 
 
 Territory. 
 
 123) Toongoosians. 
 
 (year). 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 43,000 
 
 Eastern Siberia, from the river 
 
 
 (1892) 
 
 Yenissey to the Sea of Okhotsk, 
 
 
 
 reaching in the north to the Arc- 
 
 
 
 tic Ocean and to the Chinese 
 
 124) Tooralinians. 
 
 
 frontier in the south. 
 
 Orthodox. 2.100 
 
 Between the rivers Tobol and 
 
 125) Tooshins. 875) 
 
 Irtush. 
 
 Heathens. 5,624 
 
 Gov. of Tiflis. 
 
 126) Trookhmenians. 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 19,000 
 
 Gov. of Stavropol. 
 
 
 (1892) 
 
 
 127) Tsakhoors. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 2,430 
 
 Daghestan territory. 
 
 
 (1875) 
 
 
 128) Tsigans, (Gipsies). 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 18,790 
 
 Principally gov. of Bessarabia. 
 
 
 in gov. of 
 
 Also in Central Asia, under various 
 
 
 Bessarabia 
 
 names Mazan, Djugi, Liuli. 
 
 
 (1868 j. 
 
 
 129) Turkomen. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 262.700 
 
 Transcaspian and Kars territories: 
 
 
 (1892) 
 
 Amoo-Daria region. 
 
 130) Turks. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 70,216 
 
 Kars territory, and Arivin circuit 
 
 
 (1892) 
 
 of Kootaiss gov. 
 
 131) Ubukhs. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 25,000 
 
 North-eastern coast of Black-Sea. 
 
 
 (1867) 
 
 Kooban territory. 
 
 132) Ukaghirs. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 436 
 
 Koluim and Verkhoiansk cir- 
 
 
 (1893) 
 
 cuits, gov. of Yenissey. 
 
 133) Uracks. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox and heathens. 343 | Toorookhan region go v. of Yenissey 
 
 (1877) 
 
 
 134) Uriankhainians. 
 
 
 Orthodox and heathens. 18,000 
 
 South-eastern part of Bisk cir- 
 
 
 (1865) 
 
 cuit, gov. of Tomsk; south-west- 
 
 
 
 ern part of Minoossinsk circuit. 
 
 
 
 Yenissey gov.; Baikal mountains. 
 
 135) Uroospeievtsy. 
 
 
 
 Mohametans. . 
 
 3,050 
 
 Upper part of river Baskon, Te- 
 
 
 (1875) 
 
 rek territory. 
 
XII 
 
 
 Number, 
 
 Territory. 
 
 136) Usbecks. 
 
 (year). 
 
 
 Mohametans. 
 
 182,120 
 
 Territories of Sur-Daria, Samar- 
 
 
 (1876) 
 
 kand, Fergan, Transcaspia; Amoo- 
 
 
 
 Daria region. 
 
 1 37)Velicoroossy,(Great- 
 
 
 
 Russians). Orthodox. 
 
 58,000,000 
 (1886) 
 
 46 governments of European Rus- 
 sia; Caucasus, Siberia, and Cen- 
 
 
 
 tral Asia. 
 
 138) Vodi. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 4,500 
 (1862) 
 
 St. Petersburg gov., Yamburg and 
 Oranienbaum districts. 
 
 139) Vogools. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 8,000 
 
 Tobolsk gov., Tobolsk and Toorinsk 
 
 
 (1880) 
 
 circuits; Perm gov., Verkhotoorsk 
 
 
 
 district. 
 
 140) Votiaks. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox and partly 
 
 
 
 heathens. 
 
 380,000 
 
 South-eastern part of gov. of 
 
 
 (1888) 
 
 Viatka, and certain districts in 
 
 
 
 governments of Kazan, Perm, Sa- 
 
 
 
 mara, and Oofa. 
 
 141) Yakoots. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox and heathens. 
 
 230,433 
 
 Yakootsk territory and Yenissey 
 
 
 (1893) 
 
 government. 
 
 142) Zurians. 
 
 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 120,000 
 
 Governments of Archangel and 
 
 
 (1865) 
 
 Vologda. 
 
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