l6 FIELDS, FACTORIES AND WORKSHOPS. 



since 1870 that is, nine years before the general in- 

 crease of duties the proportion of manufactured goods 

 to the aggregate imports has been on a steady decrease. 

 Manufactured goods make now only one-fifth of the im- 

 ports ; and while the imports of Britain into Russia 

 were valued at 16,300,000 in 1872, they were only 

 6,884,500 in 1894.* Out of them, manufactured goods 

 were valued at a little more than 2,000,000 the re- 

 mainder being either articles of food or raw and half- 

 manufactured goods (metals, yarn and so on). In fact, 

 the imports of British home produce have declined in the 

 course of ten years from 8,800,000 to 5,000,000, so 

 as to reduce the value of British manufactured goods 

 imported into Russia to the following trifling items : 

 machinery, 2,006,600 ; cottons and cotton yarn, 

 395,570 ; woollens and woollen yarn, 287,900 ; and 

 so on. But the depreciation of British goods imported 

 into Russia is still more striking. Thus, in 1876 Russia 

 imported 8,000,000 cwts. of British metals, and then 

 paid 6,000,000 ; but in 1 884, although the same quan- 

 tity was imported, the amount paid was only 3,400,000. 

 And the same depreciation is seen for all imported goods, 

 although not always in the same proportion. 



It would be a gross error to imagine that the decline 

 of foreign imports is mainly due to high protective 

 duties. The decline of imports is much better explained 

 by the growth of home industries. The protective 

 duties have no doubt contributed (together with other 

 causes) towards attracting German and English manu- 

 facturers to Poland and Russia. Lodz the Manchester 

 of Poland is quite a German city, and the Russian 

 trade directories are full of English and German names. 

 English and German capitalists, English engineers and 

 foremen, have planted within Russia the improved cotton 

 manufactures of their mother countries ; they are busy 



* 7, 185, 185 in i8g5 



