Russia in 1832. :H5 



are enveloped in obscurity : still we are not without land-marks to guide 

 us on our onward course. On Russian statistics there exist the excellent 

 works of Damage de Raymond, composed by order of Napoleon at the 

 period of the Russian invasion j the more recent labours of Hassel of 

 Weydemeyer, of Balbi, and of Schnitzler ; yet with the aid of these able 

 statisticians, and of data of our own, on the accuracy of which we can 

 rely, we fear that our estimates will be after all rather approximate than 

 accurate. The revenues of Russia may be enumerated under the follow- 

 ing heads : 



Francs. 



Capitation tax , 60,000,000 



The obrak, or tax paid by the Crown } ^ n 



peasants f 70,000,00 



Merchants' property tax 5,600,000 



Custom House duties 49,597,000 



Brandy monopoly 90,000,000 



Salt 8,000,000 



Mines 10,000,000 



Mint 8,000,000 



Stamp duty 7,000,000 



Miscellaneous taxes 6,000,000 



314,197,000, or. 12,568,000 sterling. 



We have rather under-rated here, than otherwise, the revenue of the 

 Russian empire. Several branches of the revenue, as we said before, 

 are unknown, and it is difficult to calculate the value of certain contri- 

 butions that are made in kind : we therefore, -without the fear of exag- 

 geration, may venture to estimate the annual nett revenue of Russia, 

 at 16,000,000 sterling. To the philosopher what a melancholy spec- 

 tacle does this statement present ; while a smile of derision will curl the 

 lip of the political economist, when he hears that the largest items of the 

 Russian budget of income of that empire, represented so formidable to 

 the liberties of the civilized world, is derived from the most demoralis- 

 ing source a monopoly of ardent spirits. In the year 1825 this tax, 

 according to the relation published by the minister of finance, General 

 Cancrin, amounted to 99,329,006 roubles ; and when we take into con- 

 sideration that the monopoly applies to only twenty-nine governments 

 of the empire, that moreover the nobles have the privilege of distilling 

 brandy for their own use, we come to the conclusion that were this tax 

 general in its operation, it would exceed in amount the aggregate sum 

 of any two other branches of the revenue. 



From the impossibility of gaining access in Russia to documents and 

 details that exist in the department of the treasury, and from there exist- 

 ing no state paper published by order of the government to assist us in 

 our researches, the various branches of the expenditure are involved in 

 still greater obscurity than even the sources of her revenue. In 1811 

 the expenditure of the year was estimated at 274 millions, a sum nearly 

 equal to the national revenue. The army alone, notwithstanding the 

 modicity of the pay, and the low price of provisions and forage, absorbs 

 more than half the revenue ; the navy, consisting of thirty-three ships 

 of the line, twenty-six frigates, and thirty sloops and brigs, twenty-four 

 millions ; the interest of the consolidated debt amounts to nearly fifty 

 millions ; the administration of the fifty-five governments, into which 

 the empire is divided, may be estimated at thirty millions ; the expense 



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