34 IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE-IX 



sented to him Eabbi Krauskopf of Philadelphia, who dis 

 cussed the question of allowing sundry Israelites who 

 were crowded into the western districts of the empire to 

 be transferred to some of the less congested districts, on 

 condition that funds for that purpose be furnished from 

 their coreligionists in America. De Witte s discussion of 

 the whole subject was liberal and statesmanlike. Unfortu 

 nately, there was, as I believe, a fundamental error in his 

 general theory, which is the old Russian idea at the bottom 

 of the autocracy namely, that the State should own 

 everything. More and more he went on extending gov 

 ernment ownership to the railways, until the whole direc 

 tion and management of them virtually centered in his 

 office. 



On this point he differed widely from his predecessor in 

 the finance ministry, Wischniegradsky. I had met the lat 

 ter years before, at the Paris Exposition, when he was at 

 the head of the great technical school in Moscow, and 

 found him instructive and interesting. Now I met him 

 after his retirement from the finance ministry. Calling 

 on him one day, I said: &quot;You will probably build your 

 trans-Siberian railway at a much less cost than we were 

 able to build our first trans-continental railway ; you will 

 do it directly, by government funds, and so will probably 

 not have to make so many rich men as we did. His an 

 swer impressed me strongly. He said: &quot;As to a govern 

 ment building a railway more cheaply than private in 

 dividuals, I decidedly doubt; but I would favor private 

 individuals building it, even if the cost were greater. I 

 like to see rich men made; they are what Russia most 

 needs at this moment. What can capitalists do with their 

 money? They can t eat it or drink it: they have to invest 

 it in other enterprises; and such enterprises, to be re 

 munerative, must meet the needs of the people. Capital 

 ists are far more likely to invest their money in useful 

 enterprises, and to manage these investments well, than 

 any finance minister can be, no matter how gifted.&quot; 



That he was right the history of Russia is showing more 



