RUSSIAN STATESMEN- 1892-1894 33 



formerly been at Washington, and the head of the Asiatic 

 department, Count Kapnist. They were agreeable in man 

 ner; but it soon became clear that, regarding the question 

 of the Behring seal-fisheries, they were pursuing a policy 

 of their own, totally distinct from the interests of the em 

 pire. Peter the Great would have beheaded both of them. 

 The strongest man among the Czar s immediate advis 

 ers was understood to be the finance minister, De Witte. 

 There always seemed in him a certain sullen force. The 

 story usually told of his rise in the world is curious. It 

 is, in effect, that when the Emperor Alexander II and his 

 family were wrecked in their special train at Borki, many 

 of their attendants were killed ; and the world generally, 

 including the immediate survivors of the catastrophe, be 

 lieved for some time that it was the result of a nihilist 

 plot. There was, therefore, a general sweeping into 

 prison of subordinate railway officials; and among these 

 was De Witte, then in charge of a railway station. During 

 the examinations which ensued he showed himself so clear 

 headed and straightforward that he attracted attention, 

 was promoted, put into the finance ministry, and finally 

 advanced to the first place in it. His dealings with Rus 

 sian finances have since shown great capacity: he has 

 brought the empire out of the slough of depreciated cur 

 rency and placed it firmly on a gold basis, I came espe 

 cially to know him when he offered, through me, to the 

 United States a loan of gold to enable us to tide over our 

 difficulties with the currency question. He informed me 

 that Russia had in her treasury many millions of rubles 

 in American gold eagles, and that the Russian gold reserve 

 then in the treasury was about six hundred millions of 

 rubles. 



The only result was that I was instructed to convey the 

 thanks of the President to him, there being no law en 

 abling us to take advantage of his offer. What he wished 

 to do was to make a call loan, whereas our Washington 

 Government could obtain gold only by issuing bonds. 



I also met him in a very interesting way when I pre- 



II. 3 



