624 



RUSSIA. 



RUSSIAN ORDNANCE. 



found that the number of soldiers' marriages 

 has considerably diminished since the intro- 

 duction, four years ago, of the present system 

 of short military service. In 1860, four soldiers 

 out of ten were married, whereas the propor- 

 tion now is four out of seventeen. 



The Government is endeavoring to increase 

 its military efficiency and power by improving 

 the railway communications between the va- 

 rious parts of the empire. There are, as yet, 

 no railways connecting the interior of Russia 

 with the Vistula, the Crimea, the Caucasus, or 

 Central Asia ; there is no safe and rapid means 

 of transferring troops from one point on the 

 frontier to another ; the communication be- 

 tween the provinces where the irregular cavalry 

 is recruited and the frontier is very defective ; 

 and the important positions on the coasts of 

 the Baltic and Black Sea are not connected by 

 lines of railway. The only line which is really 

 important from a strategical point of view is 

 that from Kharkov to Rostov, which enables 

 the Cossacks of the Don to be moved rapidly 

 and at short notice to the frontier. As against 

 Prussia, Russia has only a line running parallel 

 with her frontier and too far distant from it to 

 be of any military use, while Prussia has three 

 lines parallel to the northern frontier of Poland, 

 and two at right angles to it. 



Russia is steadily advancing in Asia, and is 

 already regarded by many of the neighboring 

 rulers of Central Asia as the arbiter in Asiatic 

 politics. Thus the Ameer of Bokhara applied 

 to her for assistance against Sheer Ali, of Af- 

 ghanistan, England's ally ; he accompanied his 

 request by the payment of a tribute, and sent 

 his son to St. Petersburg to secure his succes- 

 sion to the throne through the protection of 

 Russia. The administrative organization of 

 Russian Toorkistan is pushed on with great ac- 

 tivity. However, opposition, and even rebel- 

 lion, is not wanting in Asia. The Kirgheez re- 

 bellion spread in the spring of 1869 to the 

 country of the Don Cossacks, who seem to 

 have united with the Calmucks and the Kir- 

 gheez in their attempt to cast off the Russian 

 rule. Several thousands of these Cossacks 

 crossed the Volga above Sarepta, to join 

 other rebels in their attack on Uralsk, on the 

 river Ural, and the Russian garrisons on the 

 Orenburg frontier, together with those of Ka- 

 zan, Simbeersk, and Saratov, were ordered to 

 meet them. The insurgents acquired strength 

 enough to cut most of the means of communi- 

 cation between Russia Proper and Central 

 Asia, thus almost paralyzing the trade between 

 those countries. 



The importation of cotton and silk into Toor- 

 kistan ceased in March, in consequence of 

 the disturbed state of the frontier districts. 

 Two of the bitterest enemies of Russia, Sadyk 

 and Atamkoul, invaded the khanate of Khiva 

 at the head of an insurgent band. All the 

 post-roads were abandoned,- and the communi- 

 cations so interrupted, that the only way of 

 reaching Tashkend in safety was to make a 



detour by way of Siberia. Meanwhile the 

 Government was still considering the project 

 of a railway communication between Russia 

 and Central Asia. The trade committee of 

 the Ministry of Finance at St. Petersburg re- 

 ported in favor of the proposed line between, 

 the eastern shores of the Caspian and the 

 Amou-Daryan, and strongly recommended 

 that the works should be commenced as soon 

 as possible. The railway is to be connected 

 with Moscow by a line of steamers on the 

 Caspian and the Volga. Another plan, which 

 has many advocates, is, that the proposed rail- 

 way should start from Orenburg ; but the pro- 

 ject recommended by the committee is said 

 to find the most favor with the Government, 

 chiefly because it would facilitate the opening 

 of a new channel for Russian commerce with 

 China via Kashgar. Another committee, 

 composed of delegates from the departments 

 of the Interior, of Finance, of War, and of the 

 Navy, left St. Petersburg under the direction 

 of General Skolkoff, on a mission to the Amoor 

 district and the island of Saghalien, for the 

 purpose of investigating on the spot the capa- 

 bilities of those countries as regards coloniza- 

 tion and commercial enterprise. 



Russia is, meanwhile, colonizing her new 

 territories. Several Czech settlements have 

 been made in the Caucasus on the rivers 

 Dschub and Tuapse, and 3,500 Moravian fami- 

 lies were on their way to the same territory. 



The Russian empire contains within its 

 boundaries some of the finest lands in the 

 world, and has a population remarkable for 

 its homogeneity and number. With a territory 

 extending from Finland to the Pacific Ocean, 

 and from Archangel to Mount Ararat, it may 

 be truly said that Russia needs no more land. 

 The Caucasus gives her the command of both 

 Asia Minor and Central Asia. Satisfied with 

 this immense territory, the Government of 

 Russia has wisely abstained as much as pos- 

 sible from interfering in foreign politics for 

 many years past, and devoted all its energies 

 to the internal development of the country. 

 Russia's position, however, is a peculiar one. 

 She is both a European and an Asiatic power ; 

 not by detached possessions, as England, but 

 by a continuous and uninterrupted extent of 

 territory in both continents. 



Industry is progressing in Russia. The 

 Government issued a ukase for a universal ex- 

 hibition to be held at St. Petersburg in 1870, 

 to open on May 15th. Another ukase approved 

 the formation of a private company for con- 

 structing the projected railway line..from the 

 Caspian Sea to Lake Aral. 



A Mechanical School for Women has been 

 opened at Warsaw, under the immediate su- 

 perintendence of Government, its object being 

 to train the young women of the lower classes 

 in all the lighter kinds of handicraft which 

 may be pursued without injury to health. 



RUSSIAN" ORDNANCE. Some details are 

 given, in the Russian Artillery Journal, of the 



