716 



RUSSIA. 



a struggle inaugurated for the predominance of 

 Russian over Austrian influence in Servia, it 

 was intended that Macedonia and Old Servia 

 should throw off the Ottoman yoke, and East- 

 ern Roumelia declare her independence and 

 union with Bulgaria. This revolution was be- 

 ing carefully and assiduously prepared by the 

 Slav committees in Bulgaria, Roumelia, Mace- 

 donia, and Servia, when the national element 

 in Bulgaria and Roumelia anticipated the move- 

 ment and utilized the results of the laborious 

 intrigues of the Russian authorities to upset 

 all their plans and more effectually emancipate 

 Bulgaria from Russian domination. Russian 

 diplomacy was compelled either to approve 

 and support the anti-Russian revolution, or to 

 renounce the principle of the Treaty of San 

 Stefano, and run the risk of forfeiting the last 

 spark of Bulgarian gratitude (see TuKKEy). 



RUSSIA, an empire in eastern Europe. The 

 law-making, executive, and judicial authority 

 is concentrated in the hands of the Emperor, 

 who is also the spiritual head of the Church. 

 The government of the country is under the 

 direction of the Emperor's private Cabinet. 

 The Minister of the Imperial .Household is 

 Gen. Count Vorontzoff Dashkoff; the Minis- 

 ter of Foreign Affairs, Nicholas de Giers; the 

 Minister of War, Gen. Vannovski ; the Minister 

 of the Interior, Count Tolstoy; the Minister 

 of Public Instruction, M. Delianoff ; the Minis- 

 ter of Finance, M. Bunge ; the Minister of Do- 

 mains, M. Ostrovski. The Minister of the 

 Navy, which is under the command of the 

 Admiral-General, the Grand Duke Alexis, is 

 Vice -Admiral Chestakoff. The Minister of 

 Public Works is Vice-Admiral 0. Possiet, ap- 

 pointed in 1874. 



(For area and population, see "Annual Cy- 

 clopaedia" for 1884). 



Finances. The amount of gold in the treas- 

 ury on Jan. 1, 1885, was 92,815,732 rubles, 

 65,380,091 rubles more than the year before ; 

 the amount of silver 6,254,254 rubles, 52,203 

 rubles more. The net sum paid out to the 

 subsidized railroads in 1884 was 39,329,671 

 rubles. The total amount required for the 

 interest and sinking fund of the public debt 

 in 1884 was 204,971,245 rubles. 



Tariff Changes. The decrease in the imports 

 of manufactured and partly manufactured arti- 

 cles in 1884 is attributed to the recently aug- 

 mented tariff on iron and other articles. On 

 July 13, 1885, an increase in the customs du- 

 ties on a large number of articles went into 

 operation. The duty on silk has been doubled, 

 in order to encourage Russian sericulture. The 

 duties on food and animal produce, and on all 

 kinds of manufactures, are largely increased. 

 The increase in the tariff is 10 per cent, on 

 tin and manufactures thereof, gold, silver, 

 glass, paper, cotton manufactures, buttons, etc., 

 and 20 per cent, on all other articles, except- 

 ing wool, silk, cotton, yarn, iron and steel, 

 lead, brass, copper, sugar, tobacco, spirits and 

 wine, ores, gums, dyes, machinery, cutlery, 



agricultural machinery, rubber, railroad-cars 

 and various chemicals, articles of food, and 

 materials and plant. The duty on tea im- 

 ported overland is reduced; that on pig-iron 

 has been increased to 9 copecks a pood, and 

 is to be raised to 15 copecks within two years. 



The Na?y. The Baltic fleet in 1884 contained 

 33 ironclads, and the Black Sea fleet 7 iron- 

 clads. The most powerful vessel is the mast- 

 less turret-ship " Peter the Great," with 14-inch 

 armor. Three larger vessels, the "Catharine 

 II," "Tchesma," and "Sinope," with plates 15 

 to 16 inches thick, carrying six 12-inch and 

 seven 6-inch guns each, will be launched in 

 1886. Two other powerful armor-clad ves- 

 sels, the "Admiral Nakhimoff," with plates 

 from 8 to 10 inches thick and four 9-inch and 

 ten 6-inch guns, and the " Alexander II," with 

 14-inch plates and two 12-inch, four 9-inch, 

 and eight 6-inch guns, were launched in 1885. 

 The next most powerful vessels are 5 belted 

 cruisers. There are besides 4 turret-ships, 2 cir- 

 cular ironclads, and a number of monitors, 

 floating batteries, etc. The navy was manned 

 in 1884 by 24,512 sailors. (For army statis- 

 tics, see "Annual Cyclopaedia" for 1884.) 



Navigation. The number of vessels entered 

 at the Baltic ports in 1883 was 6,984; at the 

 ports of the Black Sea, 4,502; in the White 

 Sea, 712 ; in the Caspian, 962 ; total, 13,160, 

 of which 6,840 were laden and 6,320 in ballast. 

 The number of steamers included in the total 

 number was 7,889. The total number of ves- 

 sels cleared was 12,794, comprising 11,075 with 

 cargoes and 1,719 in ballast; the number of 

 steamers cleared was 7,775. The number of 

 coasters entered and cleared was 35,083, of 

 which 16,488 were steamers. The merchant 

 fleet in 1883 consisted of 2,139 sailing vessels, 

 of an aggregate burden of 467,740 tons, and 

 204 steamers of 157,696 tons. 



The St. Petersburg Sea-Canal. The ship-canal 

 connecting St. Petersburg with the Baltic was 

 formally opened on May 27, 1885. The canal 

 enables vessels drawing 18 feet to enter the 

 Neva, which was before inaccessible to vessels 

 of a deeper draught than 11 feet. The length 

 of the canal is 30 versts, or 19-89 miles, of 

 which 3^ versts are branches. The main chan- 

 nel is 22 feet deep, and the branches from II 

 to 20 feet. The channel is 50 fathoms wide at 

 the Cronstadt end, and 30 fathoms where k 

 enters the Neva. The excavation was begun in 

 1878. The quantity of silt removed from the 

 bed of the canal alone was 14,464,281 tons, 

 and the cost of excavation 10,265,400 rubles 

 At St. Petersburg one basin, with an area o 

 46,000 square fathoms, has been constructed, 

 capable of accommodating from 15 to 35 steam- 

 ers, besides the Patiloff basin, 13,000 square 

 fathoms, capable of holding 10 steamers. The 

 main harbor has not been excavated. 



Railroads. The total length of railroads ii 

 operation at the beginning of 1885 was 25,01 

 kilometres, not including the railroads of Fin- 

 land and the trans-Caspian line, 231 kilometres 



