still carried on in the governments of Moscow, Novgorod, Penza, and Poltava. But it no longer possesses the great importance that it once had.'

5. OTHER INDUSTRIES

Sugar refining has been carried on in Russia since 1719, when the first refinery was established in St. Petersburg, and the preparation of beet sugar was introduced into Russia at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the first manufactory being founded in 1802 with Government support in the shape of a considerable loan. Other factories followed, but for many years the methods employed were very unskilled and unproductive, and they were occupied as much with the distilling of spirit as the production of sugar. Between 1855 and 1880 great changes took place in the sugar industry, owing to improved technical methods and the entrance of more capital, and Russia began to take an important place among the sugar-producing countries of Europe. Until 1880 the production was not, however, sufficient to supply the internal demand, but since that time it has not only been able to do so, but also to export a considerable and increasing amount of sugar. Steady progress has been made in the technical processes, allowing the extraction of a larger quantity of sugar than before from beetroot. This varies, however, from year to year, as the condition of the beetroot and the amount of sugar contained vary in different harvests. The following figures show the development of the industry during the twenty-one years, 1881 to 1901:—

"La Russie à la Fin du 19me Siècle," pp. 447-75.

The amount for 1891 given here is the average for ten years.

Since 1895 the sugar industry has been subject to special Government regulations, which prescribe each year the amount of sugar which may be sent to the home markets, the amount to be kept as a reserve, and the amount which may be exported. The price of sugar within the country is also legally regulated every year according to the amount of the output. Wood industries of all kinds are largely carried on in Russia, but chiefly by peasant workers. There are over 1,300 saw-mills in Russia, situated chiefly near Archangel and in the Baltic Provinces. Cabinet and furniture

making employ about 10,000 men in over 300 factories, situated chiefly in St. Petersburg and Moscow. The employment of wood pulp for paper-making, as well as for cellulose articles, has recently given a great impetus to these branches of manufacture. The value of the manufactures of paper, cardboard, etc., in 1887 amounted to about 21,000,000 roubles, and had risen in 1897 to over 45,000,000 roubles. The preparation of leather has always been a prominent Russian industry, but this has also expanded considerably during recent years, the value of the production rising from 39,000,000 roubles in 1887 to 57,000,000 roubles in 1897. Glass and china manufacturing have made similar progress, both in the quantities produced and the technical skill employed. In many other industries new and improved processes have been introduced, and the output has largely increased during the last ten or twenty years.

The share of Russia in the fishing trade of the world is small, compared with that of other nations, because Russian fishing is confined to inland waters and to the Russian coast, which is of comparatively small extent. The climatic differences which characterise regions so distant as the Murman and the Black Seas, the Northern Dvina and the Volga, are reflected in the fishing trade, which also presents a great number of

1 "La Russie à la Fin du 19me man's Year-book," 1903, p. 1035. pp. 202-3, 323.

Siècle," pp. 300-306, 365-74. "States"Russia: its Industries and Trade,"

local variations. The expansion of the Russian race has taken place along the course of the great rivers; "in certain cases fishing traders were the first colonists, migrating ever further and further from the centre and moving on towards the mouths of the rivers. It was doubtless in this way that in early times the Russian fishermen found their way to the lower reaches of the Volga, at a date even earlier than that of its conquest by Ivan the Terrible. Although the Slavs are considered born fishermen, there is no doubt of the fact that Russian settlers, coming in contact with fishermen of other nations, acquired from them both the implements and the methods of catching fish."

The fish most important for purposes of commerce found in the northern waters of European Russia are the salmon, lamprey, eel, sturgeon, smelt, and whitebait. In the southern waters fish which migrate to rivers at certain seasons are of far more importance than ocean fish. The most valuable of these migratory fish is the sturgeon. Fish for sale at a distance is packed fresh in ice or is preserved, and this latter process is effected in a variety of ways. Small fish are sun-dried in the south, dried in stoves in the north; larger fish are cut up and salted or smoked. The preserving of fish in hermetically sealed tin boxes, first introduced about twenty-five years ago, has spread over a large area and continues to increase. The principal preserving factories are situated on the shores of the Baltic and Black Seas. The chief products are dried sturgeons' backs, isinglass, and caviare in different forms. During the year 1900 Russia exported of all kinds of fish and of caviare 244,100 cwt. to the value of £466,300, more than half the total value being represented by caviare. Salted and smoked fish is sent to Roumania (85 per cent.), to Austria-Hungary and Turkey. Red caviare goes to Turkey, Roumania, Greece, and Bulgaria, the other kinds to Germany, Turkey, Roumania, and Austria-Hungary.1

1 "Russia: its Industries and Trade," pp. 250-58. "Russie à la Fin du 19me Siècle," pp. 249-60.

6. RECENT INDUSTRIAL CRISIS

All branches of industry in Russia have recently suffered from depression of trade, especially those dealt with by Mr. Cooke in his report on the Mineral and Metallurgical Industries of Russia, from which I have quoted more than once. The statements made there are amply justified by the reports in the Russian press and official reports, including the Finance Minister's annual reports on the budget. The

Bourse Gazette of St. Petersburg in reviewing the year 1900 (in its issue of January 2nd, 1901) stated that "The rise of a whole series of waggon-building and metallurgical works was founded, not on the demands of the market, but on more or less speculative calculations. In the hope that Government orders would be always showered down, as from the horn of plenty, and that the prices for them would give enormous profits, works sprang up in numbers. The result was that, on the first reduction of prices for Government orders, the full incapacity of these hastily grown undertakings to exist by themselves was at once revealed.”

In the report on the budget for 1902, M. de Witte gave an account of the industrial crisis, which he attributed partly to the effects of a succession of bad harvests, and partly to the continued withdrawal of foreign capital caused by the South African War and the consequent stringency of the European money markets, but also in part to speculation and overproduction in Russia. His words are as follows:"During the last decade, industry made rapid and steady progress. This was caused by a consistent course of protectionism and by the increased demand on the part of the population and the Government. The abundance of money at home and the influx of foreign capital facilitated the foundation of new enterprises. Industry availed itself largely of this combination of such favourable circumstances, in order

to organise and develop its undertakings. The number of factories and works was greatly increased; new branches of industry sprang up, while existing enterprises extended their operations. In the eight years' period, 1892-1900, the output of pig-iron and coal increased two-and-a-half times, that of petroleum to twice the amount, the production of steel and iron increased at the same rate, while cotton goods rose one-and-a-half times. But this regular growth of production, which inevitably led to a gradual fall in the prices of commodities, in consequence of the development of competition, was accompanied by violent speculation, in spite of the repeated warnings of the Ministry of Finance that the consequence of such a course would be very lamentable. lamentable. In some branches of industry, the calculations of the further increase in the demand greatly exceeded the actual growth of requirements. In separate undertakings there were cases of irregularities permitted in their foundation, and of unbusiness-like ways of conducting affairs, sometimes even abuses. Ill-conceived, weakly organised or badly managed enterprises, in the natural course of affairs had gradually to succumb. The stringency in the money market hastened and intensified this process, and the embarrassments of the weaker undertakings could not but affect the position of those possessing more strength and vitality. Instead of being reduced gradually, prices fell rapidly and abruptly. The sharp change in prices and the embarrassments of certain undertakings have reacted most unfavourably on the pecuniary position of many private persons. These embarrassments likewise produce a sinister effect on the national economy, principally owing to their abruptness. But such an effect is merely temporary, while in its essence the lowering of prices on manufactures is advantageous to the mass of the population."

In his report on the budget for 1903, M. de Witte returned to this subject. "In the course of the year just completed no improvement has been seen