38 



Rt'SSIA 



the ttmttvot have devoted their attention to the ; 

 opening of new channels for national prosperity, j 

 by supplying the villages with agricultural machin- 

 ery, agricultural inspectors, ana so on, or by sup- 

 porting the domestic trades, and the productive 

 associations. Many zemstvot have gathered really 

 valuable statistical information by means of de- 

 tailed house-to-house inquiries. Unhappily their 

 rights were much curtailed in 1890. 



A similar form of self-government, similarly 

 hampered in ite actions, has been introduced in 

 the cities and towns ; the dtimas are composed in 

 like manner of representatives of the population, 

 and they elect their own executive officers. But, 

 except in the greater cities, the municipal institu- 

 tions have shown much less vitality than the 

 zeinstvos. 



Jiidicial System. This was entirely reformed in 

 1864. Trial 1>y jury was introduced, proceedings 

 in the law-courts were to be public, and corporal 

 punishment by law was abolished. The preliminary 

 inquiry was, however, maintained secret, as in 

 France, and the benefits of the new law have not 

 been extended over all Russia. Political affairs 

 and political offences are still in the hands of the 

 department of State Police in the ministry of the j 

 Interior. Certain political cases are brought from 

 time to time before a special department of the 

 senate, and heard with closed doors, but the greater 

 number are disposed of by the department men- 

 tioned, suspect persons being transported to 

 Siberia without bringing them to trial before a 

 court. The prisons of Russia are extremely over- 

 crowded, and on the whole in a very deplorable 

 condition. Every year from 15,000 to 20,000 

 offenders against the common law are transported 

 to Siberia, one-half in consequence of decisions of 

 the courts, and the remainder by order of the 

 administration (see SIBERIA). Capital punishment 

 for common-law offences was abolished about 1770 ; 

 murder is punished by hard labour in Siberia. But 

 death is still inflicted for political offences. 



Army and Navy. Since 1874 military service 

 has been rendered obligatory upon all able citizens 

 between twenty-one and forty-three, though the 

 duration of service is shortened in proportion to 

 the education of the conscript. But of the actual \ 

 total (860,000) liable for conscription every year j 

 little more than one-third (260,000) are selected for j 

 an effective four years' service with the colours ; the 

 remainder are inscribed either in the reserve troops 

 (Landwehr) or the militia. In time of peace the 

 army numbers nearly 814,000 men scattered all 

 over the empire; the war-footing is reckoned at 

 2,221,000, with 550,000 horses and 5100 guns. In 

 reality these last figures ought to be very greatly 

 reduced. Kussia might drag on a war for a long 

 time by levying new armies in succession ; but, 

 with the present organization, she could hardly 

 have a sufficiently numerous force to oppose success- 

 fully the shock of a rapid invasion. The navy, I 

 much improved of late, consists of 327 ships and 

 torpedo boats, manned by 27,100 sailors; of the 

 former 44 are ironclads. 



Education. When the serfs were liberated in 

 1861, and all the institutions of old Kussia were 

 being remodelled, a great movement for spreading 

 education among the illiterate peasants was started 

 by the richer and educated classes. Schools, Sun- 

 day-schools, and evening classes were opened in 

 great numbers ; methods of teaching were elabo- 

 rated ; and a rich literature of class-books and 

 books for popular reading was brought into exist- 

 ence. The universities were thrown open to 

 students, male and female. But the government 

 soon put a stop to the movement, and placed all 

 matters appertaining to education under the jealous 

 control of the ministry of Public Instruction. Later 



on, when the iem.it/ivj* were introduced, they sought 

 to promote education into the country districts by 

 opening various kinds of schools. All these efforts 

 were bitterly opposed by tin 1 ministry, which 

 directed its attention chiefly to spreading' classical 

 education among the privileged classes, whilst 

 elementary, scientific, and technical education \vi-n- 

 totally neglected. During the present reign the 

 ministry has begun to show special favour to the 

 parish schools, which are conducted by the clergy. 

 Schoolmasters of these schools are not required to 

 pass the regulation examinations, since they are 

 nominated by the bishops, as the clerical school- 

 masters were in France before the school reform of 

 1880. Some progress has undoubtedly been made 

 during the last thirty years in the education of 

 the masses ; but in 1888 only one-fifth of the army 

 recruits could read and write. At the present time 

 there are in the empire about 50,000 elementary 

 schools with 2 million pupils; nearly 1000 middle 

 schools (classical gymnasiums, Realschitlen, &c.) 

 with 140,000 boys and 80,000 girls ; and 31 higher 

 institutions, of which eight are universities, with 

 '20,000 male and 600 female students. 



The education of women stands better than in 

 many European countries, owing to the jiersistent 

 efforts of the Russian women themselves. They 

 managed to get by 1886 four university colleges 

 for ladies with 1442 students, one medical academy 

 with 500 students, and numerous intermediate 

 schools between the gymnasium and the university. 

 All these high schools, though maintained by 

 private subscription, were closed by Alexander 

 III. in 1886 ; but two colleges were reopened again 

 in 1890, and they now have about 500 lady 

 students. There are on the lists of the medical 

 department no less than 695 ladv doctors, of 

 whom nearly one-half are employed in the civil 

 service, chiefly by the zenulmx. 



Finance. The finances of Russia are in a pre- 

 carious state. Though the state revenue increased 

 from 58,700,000 in 1877 to 94,800,000 in 1890, 

 the interest and annuities on the public debt 

 increased during the same period from 11,400,000 

 to 26,600,000. The total of the public debt 

 amounted on January 1, 1890, to the sum of 

 552,524,000, or nearly 5 per inhabitant. The 

 peasantry are taxed so heavily that arrears accumu- 

 late every year, and attain formidable proportions 

 after every failure of the crops. 



Land-tenure. European Russia, exclusive of 

 Finland, covers nearly 1237 million acres ; 1019 

 millions of these have been registered, and it 

 appears that nearly one-fifth of that surface is unpro- 

 ductive and two-fifths are under forests. The re- 

 mainder is partly meadow or pasture-ground and 

 partly arable land, in. the proportion of two to 

 three. Two-fifths of the registered area lielongs to 

 the crown, one-third (317} million acres) is held by 

 the peasants' communes, representing an aggregate 

 of nearly 25,000,000 men, and one-fourth part (252 

 million acres) is held by 481, 400 private proprietors. 

 Most of the land that is private pro|>erty belongs 

 to the nobility (197 million acres, 115,000 land- 

 lords) and to 'merchants' (31} million acres, 

 70,630 owners), who in recent years have bought 

 large estates, especially in the steppe-region, chiefly 

 in order to rent land to the peasants. The estates 

 of the nobles are well cultivated only in west Russia. 



Agriculture. Agriculture is the chief occupation 

 of the people of Russia ; only in central Russia 

 (Moscow, Vladimir, Xijni ) dors industry take the 

 lead. The conditions of agriculture are obviously 

 very different in different parts of the country. A 

 line drawn across European Russia, from KirtT 

 to Nijni-Novgorod and Vyatka, will divide the 

 country into two parts, of which the south-eastern 

 has a surplus of wheat and rye and exports tlinii, 



