EUSSIA. 



679 



The merchant navy, in 1865, consisted of 

 2,132 vessels. Of these, 607 were vessels for- 

 ocean service, and 1,525 coasting vessels. The 

 number of steamers was 84. 



The following table gives a survey of Russian 

 commerce from 1856 to 1866 (in rubles) : 



The official returns of the trade of Eussia with 

 European countries in 1867 show that the entire 

 value of the exports and imports of the empire 

 to and from those countries, including Finland, 

 amounted to 457,000,385 rubles (3s. 2d.), an 

 increase of 75,377,706 rubles over 1866. The 

 exports, 220,154,666 rubles, present an in- 

 crease of 19,105,195 rubles; and the imports, 

 236,845,719 rubles, an increase of 56,272,511 

 rubles. Ten years before, in 1857, the ex- 

 ports were only 157,700,000 rubles, and the 

 imports, 132,300,000 rubles. The precious 

 metals are subject to great fluctuations; the 

 exports of these amounted to 12,130,714 ru- 

 bles in 1867 a decrease of 13,696,039 rubles 

 as compared with 1866, and the imports reached 

 no less than 33,228,647 rubles an increase 

 of 30,856,055 rubles. The chief articles of 

 export to European countries were cereals, 

 93,978,052 rubles an increase of 20,000,000 

 rubles ; flax, 19,827,052 rubles ; flax-seed 

 (linseed), 18,360,342 rubles; tallow, 11,826,- 

 288 rubles; wood, various kinds, 10,650,753 

 rubles; raw wool, 9,613,615 rubles a de- 

 crease' of 6,000,000 rubles; hemp, 8,674,182 

 rubles. The principal imports from Europe 

 were raw cotton, 38,039,858 rubles ; un- 

 wrought metals, 21,520,081 rubles an in- 

 crease of nearly 13,000,000 rubles; machinery, 

 15,022,671 rubles an increase of nearly 5,- 

 000,000 rubles; metal wares, 14,709,268 ru- 

 bles an increase of 4,000,000 rubles ; tea, 14,- 

 345,575 rubles, an increase of 5,000,000 ru- 

 bles; colors, 11,030,861 rubles. Among the 

 other imports are wool above 8,000,000 ru- 

 bles, and woollen goods, 6,000,000, an increase 

 of 3,000,000 and 2,000,000 ; cotton goods, nearly 

 4,000,000 rubles, an increase of 1,000,000 ; spun 

 cotton, nearly 5,000,000 ; silk, 5,000,000, and 

 silk goods, 5,000,000, an increase of more than 

 2,000,000 in the former article, and nearly 

 2, 000, 000 in the latter; linen tissues, 3,500,000, 

 an increase of 1,000,000; agricultural imple- 

 ments, nearly 1,500,000, an increase of 800,000 

 rubles : drinks, 8,000,000, an increase of 1,000,- 

 000; fruit, 5,000,000; ladies' dresses, 500,000; 

 tulle and lace, 500,000 rubles. Among the ex- 

 ports may be observed cattle, 4,000,000, an in- 

 crease of 1,000,000; horses, 354,000; furs, 732,- 

 000; cloth, 363,000; rags, 353,000 rubles. Mr. 

 Eumbold, secretary of the British embassy, from 



whose report to the British Government these 

 facts are taken, remarks that the Eussian transit 

 trade, though showing a tendency to increase, is 

 insignificant ; but the development of the foreign 

 trade has been immense in the last ten years. 

 The value of the exports by the Baltic, in that 

 period, has increased 10,000,000, and reaches 

 85,000,000; the value of the exports by the 

 southern ports and the western land frontier 

 has nearly doubled, and become 81,000,000 

 and 34,500,000 ; and the imports have in- 

 creased nearly threefold by the land frontier, 

 and now reach 71,000,000, while they have 

 nearly doubled in the Baltic ports and ports of 

 the White Sea, and become nearly 135,000,000 

 and 789,000 rubles respectively. Great Brit- 

 ain, by a long way, heads the list of states im- 

 porting Eussian goods, taking 107,000,000 ru- 

 bles' worth in 1867, or nearly four times as 

 much as Prussia, the next largest customer of 

 the empire. France and Turkey follow, but 

 at a long distance. The imports from foreign 

 states show the largest share falling to Prussia 

 and Great Britain, 92,000,000 and 75,000,000 

 rubles respectively, these two holding by far 

 the highest rank in the list of countries export- 

 ing goods to Eussia. In 1867, 11,047 vessels, 

 measuring 1,385,738 tons, entered Eussian 

 ports, 5,667 of the vessels in ballast; 2,381 

 sailed under the British flag, 1,?41 under the 

 Eussian, 1,052 under the Italian, 1,134 Swedish 

 and Norwegian 11,090 vessels, of 1,400,552 

 tons, cleared out. The customs receipts in 1867 

 reached 37,000,000 rubles. 



On the 29th of February, an imperial decree 

 was published by which the Government Com- 

 mission for Internal Affairs in the kingdom of 

 Poland was abolished, and its administrative 

 jurisdiction handed over to the respective 

 authorities of the empire. The complete union 

 of the former kingdom of Poland with the 

 other portions of the empire is hereby effected. 

 The place of what was formerly the semi-in- 

 dependent kingdom of Poland has now been 

 taken by ten "governments" (provinces), 

 which are in every respect to be put on an 

 equal footing with the governments of Eussia 

 Proper. The rigorous measures of the Gov- 

 ernment for suppressing the Polish language, 

 and substituting in its place the Eussian, con- 

 tinued throughout the year. 



