RUSSIA 1131 



to that of 1 910, which was very nearly as good as tne abundant harvest of 1909 in 

 quantity, though not in quality, owing to unfavourable weather. There was a dearth 



in 1911 in 14 provinces and 3 territories, which necessitated the adoption 

 Agriculture, of measures of relief for the peasantry in the famine stricken districts, such 



as the sale of corn and seed at cost price, loans, reduction of railway 

 rates for transportation, and so forth. The harvest of 1912 was considered on the 

 whole to be good, but rather unusual meteorological conditions during the latter part 

 of the year probably marred the expected results. This was certainly the case with 

 the harvest of beetroot for sugar-making. There was even an alarm raised in the press 

 as to the possibility of a sugar famine and the advisability of importing foreign sugar. 



For the purpose of establishing more security in kind for advances made on corn by the 

 government, private banks and railway companies, it was decided in 1912 to erect 178 large 

 granaries at railway stations and wharves with an aggregate capacity of one million tons 



The employment of improved agricultural machinery and implements is spreading every 

 year. The total value of such machinery acquired in 1910 was estimated at about 9,200,000 

 as against 8,500,000 in 1909. 



The Russian grain export trade suffered considerably in 1911-12 from the temporary clos- 

 ing of the Dardanelles in consequence of the Turco-Italian and Balkan wars. 



The realisation of the great agrarian reforms under the ukaz of November 1906, which 

 emancipated the peasantry from the thraldom of .their communes, has been energetically 

 pursued. The number of peasant householders applying for personal tenure from the begin- 

 ning of this reorganisation of the land down till June 1911 was 2,160,867, while 1,531,620 

 had finally left their communes. Besides this, there was a growing tendency for whole com- 

 munes to have their land distributed into separate allotments and farms, thus enabling the 

 members to adopt individual tenure without direct application. By the law of June 14, 1910, 

 communes in which there has not been any general redistribution since the first allotment are 

 considered to have passed over to hereditary tenure. On January I, 1911 the number of 

 such communes amounted to 116,043, with 3,489,898 householders, representing allotments 

 aggregating about 77 million acres. 



The purchase price of State land sold to the peasants during 1907-10 was 28,096,973 

 roubles, most of which is to be paid off by instalments spread over 55^2 years. 



Russia's foreign trade is growing rapidly. Its total value, as reported from the British 

 Consulate in St. Petersburg, including the trade of the Caucasus and Finland, both exports 

 and imports (but exclusive of precious metals, for which it has been decided 

 Exports and henceforth not to publish any data), amounted in 1911 to 268,405,925 as com- 

 pared with 246,619,092 in 1910, showing an increase of 21,781,833, or 8.8%. 

 The exports in 1911 were officially estimated at 160,183,80933 compared with 146,032,505 

 in 1910, an increase of 14,151,304, or 9.4%, and imports at 108,222,116 as compared with 

 100,586,587 in 1910, an increase of 7,635,539, or 7.4%. Compared with the quinquennial 

 period of 1906-10, the exports in 191 1 increased by 33.2 %, the imports by 33.7 %, and duty 

 on imports by 20.1 %. The average excess value of exports over imports for the 5 years end- 

 ing 1910 was over 39 million sterling. Russia imported German goods in 1911 for a value of 

 50,459,155, so that Germany now monopolises nearly 50 % of the Russian import trade. The 

 United Kingdom came next with 16,283,070, or 15 % of the total imports, a small increase 

 over the previous year. There has been a remarkable growth in recent years of imports 

 from the United States. In 1911 Russia imported American goods valued at 10,668,045, 

 as compared with 7,798,937 in 1910 and 6,112,610 in 1909. In 1911 Great Britain took 

 Russian exports for 35,638,862 and Germany for 51,866,561. The principal items of the 

 Russian export trade are grain and grain products, which amounted altogether in 1911 to 

 over 13 million tons, the average for the quinquennial period of 1906-10 having been nearly 

 10 million tons. The following are the chief Russian exports taken by the United Kingdom 

 in 1911, with their respective values: cereals for 11,169,934; timber for 6,689,312; eggs 

 for 3,242,530; butter for 2,945,185; sugar for 2,843,068; flax for 1,979,788 and game 

 and other food products for 1,068,571. The total values of all these exports to all countries 

 in 1911 were: food stuffs 104,608,149; timber goods 14,982,963; eggs 8,544,656; butter 

 7,498,412; sugar 5,106,772; flax 6,757,777; poultry and game 1,532.063. 



Chambers of Commerce were introduced into Russia for the first time in the years 

 1910-11-12, beginning with the establishment of the Russo-British Chamber at St. Peters- 

 Chambers of burg, and these new Russian institutions already embrace the chief Latin and 

 commerce. Slavonic countries. 



Another Russian movement of British origin in these years was the emulation of General 

 Baden Powell's system of Boy Scouts; but owing to the peculiarities of Russian conditions 

 Bo Sco t t ' ie ? couts m R uss i a have become potieshniki, play soldiers, or boys playing at 

 " ' soldiers, and are organised and drilled accordingly. 



One of the last measures passed by the third Duma was for a comprehensive system of 

 Labour Insurance, which was introduced into the Lower House in June 1908. It applies 



