666 



EUSSIA. 



of his department. Mr. Bunge, a professor in 

 the University of St. Vladimir, was appointed 

 Vice-Minister of Finance. He was regarded 

 as the superior in intellectual position and 

 attainments of any officer who had ever been 

 placed in this post, and was well known in 

 Europe as a scientific man and political econo- 

 mist. He had had much experience in finan- 

 cial management as Director of the Branch 

 Bank of Russia, at Kiev, and had spent much 

 of his life in aiding and fostering industries. 



The Czar, accompanied by General Melikoff, 

 went to Livalia in September for a few weeks' 

 sojourn. The railway was carefully guarded 

 along the whole line of his route by forty thou- 

 sand men, selected for that duty from among 

 the peasantry, the police, the soldiers, and the 

 gendarmes. Watchmen were stationed along 

 the line at distances of thirty paces from each 

 other ; bodies of infantry were posted at the 

 more important points ; every bridge was ex- 

 amined ; the carriages of the train were care- 

 fully inspected ; and the houses along the rail- 

 way were jealously searched. The journey was 

 made in safety. The Czarevitch and Czarevna 

 joined the Czar in October, for the purpose, it 

 was understood, of arranging for the future 

 position of the Princess Dolgorouki whom the 

 Czar was about to marry rnorganatically, and 

 her children. The Czar returned to St. Pe- 

 tersburg in December, General Melikoff hav- 

 ing been sent for to escort him. The railways 

 were guarded as before. Servant- trains were 

 arranged to run on parallel lines, and the train 

 which carried the Emperor was kept unknown. 

 The Czar arrived at St. Petersburg December 

 3d. On the 8th the festival of St. George 

 was celebrated at the Winter Palace by a din- 

 ner at which three thousand knights of the 

 order were present. The first toast was pro- 

 posed to the health of the German Emperor, 

 by the Czar, who recapitulated the military 

 services of the Emperor, and bore witness to 

 his unfailing friendship for Eussia and its 

 sovereign. The health of the Czar was pro- 

 posed by the Grand Duke Nicholas. 



According to the Russian official journal, 

 some very extensive operations in draining 

 marshes have been executed within a few 

 years. At the end of 1879 twenty million 

 acres of the Polessi6 marshes had been re- 

 claimed, with six hundred and thirty-two 

 miles of canals, the more important of which 

 were made by the state, the others by resident 

 proprietors. Half a million of the reclaimed 

 acres were already arable land, and were the 

 means of adding fourteen million rubles to 

 the national wealth. Great drainage-works 

 had also been carried out in the governments 

 of St. Petersburg, Olonetz, and Yaroslav, with 

 very satisfactory results. Preparatory works 

 have been set on foot on the shores of the Black 

 and Caspian Seas, in the provinces of Kherson 

 and Catherinoslav, for the drainage of the 

 marshes in those regions. The surveys cover 

 a surface of 12,500 acres, while it is intended 



that the works shall ultimately spread over a 

 surface of five million acres. It is also pro- 

 posed to explore parts of the provinces of 

 Voronezh, and Samara, with the object of ir- 

 rigating the steppes of the Calmuck nomads. 

 In this way it is hoped that the great barren 

 belt which disfigures and impoverishes south- 

 ern Russia may by degrees be brought under 

 cultivation. 



General Loris-Melikoff entered in April into 

 negotiations with a number of eminent and 

 influential Poles, among whom were Count 

 Wielopolski, Count Zamoyski, Count Ostrov- 

 ski, and Mr. Krasnevski, the author, with a 

 view of endeavoring to conciliate the Polish 

 nationality, and bring about an understanding 

 with it. The Polish negotiators demanded, as 

 the basis of any understanding, that their na- 

 tion should be placed in political and constitu- 

 tional relations absolutely on a par with the 

 Russians, and that the political disabilities un- 

 der which they now labored should be abol- 

 ished. General Melikoff advised the Polish 

 gentlemen to draw up a memorial explaining 

 what reforms they demanded, counseled them 

 concerning the nature of the demands which 

 would be most prudent, and engaged to lay 

 the memorial before the Minister of the Inte- 

 rior. 



The fiftieth anniversary of the Polish revo- 

 lution of 1830 was celebrated in various parts 

 of Europe, November 29th, by banquets, at 

 which patriotic speeches were delivered. The 

 " Golos," in an article on these celebrations, 

 said : " We may view the celebration with 

 calmness, Russia being so strong that she can 

 not be disquieted by any foreign manifesta- 

 tions. Polish society has made sufficient prog- 

 ress to understand the importance of its rela- 

 tions with Russia, especially on the eve of the 

 approaching administrative reforms." 



Forty-two thousand people had emigrated 

 from the province of Kars from the time of 

 the Russian occupation up to October 13, 1879. 

 The emigrants were said to have received half 

 a million rubles on account of expropriation, 

 which were contributed in nearly equal shares 

 by the Government for their land and by pri- 

 vate buyers of houses and property in Kars. 

 A correspondent of the "Cologne Gazette," 

 writing from Moscow in January, observed 

 that that part of Asia Minor comprising Ba- 

 toum, Kars, Olti, and Artwin which had been 

 acquired by Russia under the Treaty of Berlin, 

 was a district very rich in natural productions, 

 and capable of great development under an 

 efficient administration. Its agricultural pro- 

 ductiveness was not great, but it had an abun- 

 dance of wood and metals, and its climate and 

 soil were well suited for the cultivation of silk 

 and tobacco. The natives appeared reconciled 

 to the new state of things; they had ceased to 

 emigrate into Turkish territory, and hoards of 

 money which had hitherto been concealed had 

 made their appearance in the towns. Batoum, 

 thanks to its great advantages as a harbor, 



