RUSSIA. 



637 



imperial 10 rubles, the mint stamped it 15 rubles 

 and the half-imperial 7 rubles 50 copecks, and a 

 new 5-ruble coin of one third the size of an im- 

 perial was minted. A law was passed on Sept. 10, 

 1897, authorizing the Bank of Russia to issue paper 

 currency according as the needs of commerce are 

 indicated on the condition that a reserve in gold 

 must be held against half the total issue up to 

 600,000,000 rubles and covering the whole of it 

 beyond that amount. The treasury accumulated 

 gold before gold payments were ventured upon, 

 and from time to time since, receiving gold for 

 the foreign loans placed in Paris and elsewhere. 

 In 1898 the accumulations of gold in the treasury 

 and 'in the state bank amounted to 1,315,000,000 

 rubles, exceeding the entire note circulation by 

 316,000,000 rubles. Of the accumulated gold, 

 575,000,000 rubles, equal to 862,500,000 rubles in 

 paper, is held as a guarantee fund for the protec- 

 tion of the paper currency, which has been reduced 

 12-2,300,000 rubles since 1896. In January, 1900, 

 the amount of paper in circulation was 630.000,000 

 rubles, against 1,046,500,000 rubles in 1887; 

 amount of gold at the treasury and in the bank, 

 1,566,400,000 rubles in paper value; amount of 

 silver in circulation, 220,500,000 rubles ; guarantee 

 fund, 927,000,000 rubles. The old gold coinage, 

 minted between 1896 and 1897, amounted to 183,- 

 305,630 rubles. Since the weight of the imperial 

 was reduced a third the mints coined in the first 

 two years, 1897 and 1898, gold coins of the paper 

 value of 595,467,647 rubles, silver 900 fine of the 

 value of 105,618,391 rubles, and 4,800,006 rubles 

 of base coins; total, 705,885,244 rubles. The gold 

 at the bank and treasury in January, 1899, was 

 927,000,000 rubles; gold in circulation, 639,400,000 

 rubles; silver at the bank and treasury, 56,300,000 

 rubles; silver in circulation, 164,200,000 rubles; 

 paper at the bank and treasury, 112,700,000 ru- 

 bles; paper in circulation, 517.300,000 rubles. 



The Army. Out of 870,000 young men who 

 reported for service on reaching the age of twenty 

 in 1898 and passed the physical examination, 

 287,000 were taken into the active army and the 

 navy. Of the rest part were assigned to the re- 

 serve and part to the zapas, or secondary reserve. 

 In 1900 the annual contingent of recruits was 

 increased to 197,000. In the active army a soldier 

 in European Russia serves nominally five and really 

 four years, then thirteen years in the reserve and 

 five in the zapas; in the Caucasus, three years in 

 the active army and fifteen in the reserve; in 

 Asia, seven years in the active army and six in 

 the reserve. The opolchenie, or militia, has been 

 reorganized, and training is provided for those 

 who have not served in the army, and the first 

 division, composed of men who have been in the 

 army and others who are able-bodied, is intended 

 to supplement the reserves of the army in case of 

 war, while the second division, composed of men 

 who have served in the first and men freed from 

 army service for some infirmity or because they 

 are the support of families, can only be organized 

 as militia for national defense. The Cossacks of 

 the Don, Kuban, Terek, Astrakhan, Orenburg, 

 Ural, Siberia, Semiryetchensk, Transbaikal, Amur, 

 and Ussuri are bound to provide their own horses, 

 arms, and clothing in return for various privileges. 

 Besides those in active service, a second class must 

 si and ready with horses and arms and a third 

 class with arms. The Russian army is composed 

 of 29 army corps, including a corps of guards, 

 of grenadiers, 2 corps in the Caucasus, 2 

 Turkestan, and 2 cavalry corps. No statis- 

 tics of the strength of the Russian army are made 

 public. The approximate strength of the active 

 leld army is 27,400 officers and 1,269,000 men, 



composed of 19,300 officers and 984,000 men in the 

 infantry, 3,900 officers and 120,000 men in the cav- 

 alry, 3,000 officers and 100,000 men in the artillery, 

 800 officers and 40,000 men in the engineers, and 

 400 officers and 25,000 men in the train; strength 

 of the fortress troops, 4,000 officers and 262,000 

 men, composed of 2,500 officers and 170,000 men in 

 the infantry, 1,200 officers and 82,000 men in the 

 artillery, and 301 officers and 10,000 men in the 

 engineers; reserve of the active army, 14,300 offi- 

 cers and 789,000 men, composed of 10,700 officers 

 and 650,000 men in the infantry, 2,500 officers and 

 100,000 men in the cavalry, 900 officers and 30,000 

 men in the artillery, and 200 officers and 9,000 men 

 in the engineers; recruiting reserve, 5,900 officers 

 and 346,000 men, composed of 4,400 officers and 

 270,000 men in the infantry, 800 officers and 40,000 

 men in the cavalry, 600 officers and 30,000 men in 

 the artillery, and 100 officers and 6,000 men in the 

 engineers; militia, 10,400 officers and 740,000 men, 

 composed of 9,500 officers and 686,000 men in the 

 infantry, 350 officers and 22,000 men in the cav- 

 alry, 450 officers and 28,000 men in the artillery, 

 and 100 officers and 4,000 men in the engineers; 

 frontier guards, 1,000 officers and 34,000 men; 

 total war strength of the Russian army, 63,000 

 officers and 3,440,000 men. 



The Navy. The effective navy on Jan. 1, 1900, 

 consisted of 3 first-class battle ships in the Baltic, 

 with 2 building, and 2 in the Black Sea, where 

 1 was building; 10 of the second class in the 

 Baltic, and 4 more building, and 5 in the Black 

 Sea; 1 of the third class in the Baltic; 12 coast 

 guards in the Baltic and White Sea, and 1 under 

 construction; 10 armored cruisers in the Baltic, 

 with 2 building; 3 second-class cruisers, and 3 

 more building, in the Baltic; 1 third-class cruiser 

 in the Baltic, 1 in the Black Sea, and 3 unfin- 

 ished in the Baltic; and 30 gimboats in the Baltic 

 and White Sea, 2 more building, and 8 afloat in 

 the Black Sea. There are 12 destroyers and 12 

 more not yet complete, and 50 submarine boats 

 are projected, and some of them begun. Of tor- 

 pedo boats Russia has 39 of the first class and 6 

 not quite finished, 41 of the second class, and 101 

 of the third class. The inland w y ater communica- 

 tions permit these to be used either in the North 

 Sea or in the Euxine. The Oslyabia and Peresyvet, 

 launched in 1898, displacing 12,674 tons, battle 

 ships that serve also as cruisers, carrying 4 10-inch 

 guns in turrets, 10 6-inch quick-firing guns in case- 

 mated batteries and 1 in the bow, and 20 3-inch 

 quick firers, have Harvey steel armor, Belleville 

 boilers giving a speed of 18 knots, and coal bunk- 

 ers for a long cruise. The Pobieda is a sister ship. 

 The Retvisan, of 12,700 tons, armed with 4 12-inch 

 guns in turrets and 12 6-inch and 20 3-inch quick 

 firers, resembles the British Majestic, and the 

 Tsarevich is similar. The Borodino, Alexander III, 

 and Orel may be of either of these types. The 

 Kniaz Potemkin and Tavrichesky, of 12,480 tons, 

 are of the same size as the Tri Svititelia, and 

 combine the merits of that vessel, which is of the 

 British Trafalgar type, with those of the Poltava 

 class, which includ'es the Petropavlovsk and the 

 Sevastopol. The Poltava, of 10,960 tons, launched 

 in 1894, carries 4 12-inch guns in turrets, 8 6-inch 

 quick firers in 4 turrets on the upper deck, 4 other 

 6-inch, and 34 smaller quick-firing and machine 

 gtms. The same arrangement is followed in the 

 smaller Rostislav, of 8,880 tons, which has 10-inch 

 breechloaders and a smaller quick-firing armament, 

 with no guns mounted on the main deck. The 

 protected cruisers Diana. Pallada. Aurora, and 

 Bogatyr, launched in 1898 and 1899, carrying 8 

 6-inch, 20 3-inch, and smaller quick firers, and 

 steaming 20 knots with engines of 11,610 horse 



