I,OANS GRANTED BY THE STATE BANK ON SECURITY OprGRAIN 87 



Value of Russian Grain Exported in the Years 1906-1911. 



In Thousands of Roubles (i) 



Wheat 



Rye 



Barley 



Oats 



Total (2) 



1906 

 1907 

 1908 

 1909 

 1910 

 1911 



205,686 



155.756 

 113,064 

 384336 

 405,198 



258,730 



48.903 

 44.827 

 25,999 

 34.130 

 29,867 



42,556 



100,548 



111,363 

 132,668 

 165,906 

 158,521 

 211,443 



51,471 

 112,678 



24,526 



61,763 

 63,698 



73,197 



472,873 

 431,192 

 380,302 

 750,094 

 747.952 

 735.171 



(i) The rouble = 2.67 frs. 



(2) Including other grains and various kinds of Meal. 



In view of these figures, it is easy to understand that a good organiz- 

 ation of the grain trade is of very great importance for the whole country. 

 Unhappily, the state of things is very far from being really satisfactory'-. Up 

 to recently it has been above all the dealers and brokers, far more than the 

 farmers, who have profited by the good harvests. By artifice and even by 

 unlawful means, they have forced the farmers, above all the small farmers, 

 to sell their grain at a loss. The unhappy economic situation of the peas- 

 ants made this possible, for they were obHged to sell immediately after 

 the harvest, when the conditions of the market were unfavourable. Con- 

 sider also the obstriictions on the railways and the delays in export by sea, 

 due to the speculators accumulating consignments of grain at certain seasons, 

 and finally the too frequent adulteration on the part of unscrupulous dealers. 



When the competition of Canadian and Argentine cereals made itself 

 felt every day to a greater degree on the world's markets, the situation was 

 more and more disadvantageous for the peasant. 



Economists and statesmen had long given the matter consideration and 

 the Government had long endeavoured to remedy so lamentable a con- 

 dition of things by instructing the State Bank to grant loans on the 

 security of grain. In 1910, it was further decided to establish an entire 

 system of elevators, a measure of which we shall shortly speak. 



§ 2. Loans granted by the state bank on security of grain. 



The State Bank was already authorized by the regulations of i860, 

 to lend on the security of grain, but the formalities to be gone through by 

 the borrowers, were so complicated that, practically, this form of credit 

 could have no development. 



It was only twenty years later, in 1885, that credit on the security of 

 grain really came into use. The branches of the Bank were then authorized 



