640 



RUSSIA. 



reducing the fares for long journeys by 60 per 

 rent., increased receipts from passenger traffic by 

 18 per cent, in three years. In 1898 there were 

 70,877,400 passengers, 39 per cent, more than in 

 1894. The freight traffic increased from 69,848,000 

 tons in 1891 and 88^16,000 tons in 1894 to 97,- 

 170,726 tons in 1898. The gross income of the 

 Government from railroads increased from 301,- 

 709,000 rubles in 1892 to 457,550,000 rubles in 

 1892. The net receipts in 1896 were 176,733,000 

 rubles, compared with 107,677,000 rubles in 1892. 

 The capital cost to the state of its railroads up 

 to the end of 1898 was 2,744,923,577 rubles. The 

 expenses of the Government lines in 1898 were 

 157,366,602 rubles. The net receipts were 119,- 

 6(56.619 rubles. Deducting 110,635,698 rubles, in- 

 terest on the debt incurred for the purchase of 

 the railroads, the net profit of the Government 

 was 9,030,921 rubles. The railroads operated by 

 the subsidized companies had a length of 8,101 

 miles, including 516 miles leased from the Govern- 

 ment, and 2,465 miles were under construction in 

 l v '.>7. The capital cost of the companies' lines 

 \\MS 1,005,145,885 rubles; receipts in 1896 were 

 140.224,306 rubles, and expenses 81,851,251 rubles, 

 making the net receipts 58,973,055 rubles, from 

 which 41,668,695 rubles of interest on capital is 

 deducted to arrive at the net profits of the com- 

 panies, which were 17,304,360 rubles. The debt of 

 the companies to the state was reduced by addi- 

 tional transfers of railroads during 1897 from 

 819,170,204 rubles to 253,685,615 rubles on Jan. 1, 

 1898. The traffic of the Transcaspian Railroad 

 is not included in the reports of the Ministry of 

 Ways and Communications. It was built for 

 military transport primarily, and is managed by 

 the Ministry of War. The freight traffic increased 

 from 292,500 tons in 1896 to 390,100 tons in 1897, 

 the gross receipts from 5,449,030 rubles to 7,061,000 

 rubles. New lines will be built by the Govern- 

 ment connecting Poltava with Kieff, Nishni- 

 Xovgorod with Romanovo, Zemethina with Kus- 

 tarevka, and St. Petersburg with Kieff by way 

 of Vitebsk and Mohileff. An Asiatic line is pro- 

 jected to run from Orenburg to Tashkend. The 

 Manchurian Railroad, built to connect the trunk 

 line of the Siberian Railroad with Vladivostok 

 by a direct route across Manchuria from the Onon 

 station in Transbaikalia, was undertaken by a 

 company formed in 1896 under the auspices of the 

 Russian Government. By arrangement with the 

 Chinese Government a branch has been built from 

 the Manchurian Railroad at Bedune to Port Ar- 

 thur and Dalnii. The line to Vladivostok, how- 

 ever, has not been completed. Its length is esti- 

 mated at 1,273 miles, of which 945 miles are in 

 Chinese territory. Engineering difficulties must 

 be surmounted in the Sungari valley, though not 

 so great as on the longer route selected for the 

 main line through Russian territory from Sryat- 

 ensk to Pokrovskoye on the Amur. Including 

 the Transcaspian railroads there were nearly 37.000 

 mile* of railroads completed by the end of IS'.M), 

 the construction during the year having been 

 iilxmt 2,700 miles. The prosperity of Russian in- 

 dustry a jid commerce has been generally attrib- 

 uted to the bringing of the railroads under the 

 control of the state, which has extended the net- 

 work with a view to the general advancement of 

 the country and wrought great improvements in 

 the way of unifying tariffs and cheapening fares 

 and freights all over the empire. Recent acquisi- 

 tions have made the extent of the state-owned 

 network more than 22,000 mile? out of the 37.000, 

 whereas in 1889. out of 19,000 milesthen completed, 

 only 4,250 miles belonged to the Government. In 

 equipment, roadbeds, and speed, as well as in 



uniformity of charges and cheapness, there have 

 been great improvements. The new lines in course 

 of construction on Jan. 1, 1900, amounted to about 

 6,000 miles, while 1,500 miles were authorized but 

 not yet begun. On the Siberian line large sections 

 had to be rebuilt and relaid and new bridges to 

 be put up because the freight traffic was much 

 greater than had been anticipated. In the con- 

 struction of this line the estimates were not ex- 

 ceeded on any of the sections, and the work was 

 all done within the time calculated. In 1902 the 

 entire line is expected to be completed. In 1897 

 freight exceeded 490,000 tons, double the amount 

 anticipated. In that and the following year 200,000 

 arrived in addition to the ordinary passenger 

 traffic of 400,000. A new great Asiatic line is pro- 

 posed, to start at Andijan, the present terminus 

 of the Transcaspian Railroad, be carried from there 

 to Kashgar, in Chinese Turkestan, thence through 

 Yarkand to Khotan, near the Polu pass leading 

 into Tibet, then eastward to the headwaters of the 

 Cherchen Daria and Lob Nor, whence it would 

 pass through the Altyn mountains and over the 

 Tsaidam plateau to the head waters of the Hoang- 

 Ho, then down the valley of that river to Lan- 

 chow and on to Singan-Fu, and from that place 

 to some point on the Pekin-Hankow Railroad, 

 the total route being in the neighborhood of 2,000 

 miles. The line from Orenburg to Tashkend, on 

 which work was begun in 1900, will connect the 

 Transcaspian Railroad directly with the Russiar 

 system. A line of political importance is beinc 

 constructed from Alexandropol, in the souther 

 Caucasus, to Tabriz, in the Persian province < 

 Azerbijan, passing by Nakhitchevan, near the 

 Persian frontier, where there are extensive deposits 

 of coal, iron, copper, and other minerals. 



The state telegraph lines had a total length on 

 Jan. 1, 1898, of 90,383 miles, with 253,648 miles 

 of wire. There were 17,661,056 private telegrams 

 transmitted during 1897. The telephone lines had 

 25,906 miles of wire in 1897, and 89,509,831 con- 

 versations were held, an increase of over eightfold 

 since 1894. At the end of 1898 St. Petersburg and 

 Moscow were placed in telephonic communication. 



Finland. The grand duchy of Finland, ceded 

 to the Emperor of Russia on Sept. 17, 1809, by the 

 treaty of Fedrikshamn, retained by the grant of 

 Alexander I some of its constitutional libertie 

 Laws for Finland are prepared in the State Se 

 retariat of Finland, consisting of the State Seer 

 tary and four members nominated by the Em- 

 peror, two of them being proposed by the Senat 

 of Finland. The Senate at Helsingfors is non 

 inated by the Crown, and has charge of the |>- 

 office, railroads, canals, customhouses, public 

 health, and courts of law, being divided into tlu 

 Departments of Finance and Justice. The national 

 Parliament of Finland, in which the four estates 

 of the nobles, the clergy, the burghers, and the 

 peasants are represented, can discuss and amend 

 the projects of law, but the Czar, who bears the 

 title of Grand Duke of Finland, may veto its 

 action. No new taxation and no amendment of 

 the Constitution can be enacted without the con- 

 sent of the four estates in Parliament. Finland 

 has its own money and customs tariff. Of a popu- 

 lation of 2,592,864 in 1897, the number dwelling 

 in towns was 291.584; in the rural districts. -J.r'.ol.- 

 280; the number of males. 1,281,420; of female - 

 1,311.444. The number of Swedes was 35UOO: ot 

 Russians, 7,300: of Germans, 1,820; of Laps. i.Hid. 

 The Finns numbered 2,231,300. The value of im- 

 ports in 1898 was 237,000,000 marks, of \\liidi 

 81.000.000 marks came from Russia, 74 .<>()( >.()(>( 

 marks from Germany, 38,400.000 marks from Great 

 Britain, 15,600,000 marks from Sweden and Nor 



