RUSSIA. 



757 



rubles for new feeding lines and improvements; 

 41,832,000 rubles for the Ministry of Justice; 

 6,868,000 rubles for the Comptroller General's 

 office, including 3,309.000 rubles for the control of 

 railroads; and 1,601,000 rubles for the Government 

 studs. Of the extraordinary revenue for 1897 the 

 sum of 32,339,000 rubles came from state loans, 

 7,688,000 rubles from perpetual deposits in the 

 Bank of Russia, 238,000 rubles from debts paid 

 by railroads, 13,000 rubles from repayments, and 

 2,314,000 rubles from various sources. Of the ex- 

 traordinary disbursements 129,194,000 rubles were 

 for railroad building and rolling stock, 1,476,000 

 rubles for the purchase of railroads, and 64,279,- 

 000 rubles for the conversion and redemption of 

 state debt. The surplus of ordinary revenue over 

 expenditure for 1897 was 107,857,350 rubles, but 

 in the extraordinary budget there was a deficiency 

 of 167,105,377 rubles, giving a deficit of 59,248,- 

 027 rubles; but for the period of five years 

 ending with 1897 the accounts show a surplus in 

 the total receipts, ordinary and extraordinary, 

 over the total disbursements of 161,066,110 rubles. 

 The budget estimates for 1898 made the ordinary 

 revenue 1,364,458,217 rubles, and the extraordi- 

 nary revenue 3,300,000 rubles from deposits in 

 the bank and 106,291,709 rubles raised to meet 

 extraordinary expenditure, making the total re- 

 ceipts 1,474,049,923 rubles. The ordinary expendi- 

 ture for 1898 was estimated at 1,350,085,213 

 rubles, and the extraordinary expenditure at 123,- 

 964,710 rubles; total expenditure, 1,740,149,923 

 rubles, balancing the estimate of revenue. The 

 budget estimate of the ordinary revenue for 1899 

 is 1,469,128,203 rubles, of which 113,554,631 rubles 

 were set down to direct taxes, against 100,577,816 

 rubles in 1898; 667,182,457 rubles to indirect taxes, 

 against 623,679,874 rubles; 52,875,800 rubles to 

 state monopolies, against 48,529,100 rubles; 92,- 

 141,000 rubles to the sale of spirits by the Gov- 

 ernment, against 85,461,000 rubles; '396,307,398 

 rubles to Government railroads and domains, 

 against 370,127,108 rubles; 902,302 rubles to sales 

 of domains, against 593,339 rubles; 40,433,597 

 rubles to redemption of land by Crown peasants, 

 against 43,181,586 rubles; 37,260,403 rubles to re- 

 demption of land by liberated serfs, against 37,- 

 376,7 14 rubles ; 58,879,906 rubles to the repayment 

 of railroad and other loans, against 57,318,227 

 rubles; 5,643,596 rubles to miscellaneous receipts, 

 against 5,163,453 rubles; and 3,947,113 rubles from 

 war contributions, against 2,450,000 rubles. The 

 extraordinary revenue for 1899 was estimated at 

 4,000,000 rubles interest on perpetual deposits in 

 the bank and 98,604,443 rubles raised to meet 

 extraordinary expenditure, making the total re- 

 ceipts 1,571,732,646 rubles. The total expendi- 

 tures for 1899 were estimated at 1,462,659,233 

 rubles for ordinary and 109,073,413 rubles for ex- 

 traordinary purposes, together balancing the esti- 

 mate of revenue from all sources. The ordinary 

 expenditure for the public debt for 1899 is set 

 down as 228,549,279 rubles, against 220,376,536 

 rubles in 1898; for railroad obligations, 51,688,- 

 807 rubles, against 51,716,196 rubles; for higher 

 institutions of state, 2,880,621 rubles, against 

 2,612.842 rubles; for the Holy Synod, 21,199,144 

 rubles, against 20,374,941 rubles; for the Ministry 

 of the Imperial House, 12,637,506 rubles, against 

 12,597,492 rubles; for the Ministry of Foreign 

 Affairs, 5,314,556 rubles, against 4,802,176 rubles; 

 for the Ministry of War, 323,791,710 rubles, 

 against 288,808,664 rubles; for the Ministry of 

 Marine, 83,065,000 rubles, against 67,050.000 

 rubles; for the Ministry of Finance, 233,381,888 

 rubles, against 211.118,038 rubles; for the Min- 

 istry of Agriculture and State Domains, 36,980,- 



741 rubles, against 35,737,983 rubles; for the Min- 

 istry of the Interior, 82,145,703 rubles, against 

 80,175,211 rubles; for the Ministry of Public In- 

 struction, 28,761,171 rubles, against 26,440,843 

 rubles; for the Ministry of Ways and Communi- 

 cations, 288,074,712 rubles, against 264,677,232 

 rubles; for the Ministry of Justice, 44,944,651 

 rubles, against 42,733,274 rubles; for the state 

 control, 7,459,627 rubles, against 7,178,935 rubles; 

 for the state studs, 1,784,117 rubles, against 1,614,- 

 850 rubles; for unforeseen and war expenses, 20,- 

 000,000 rubles, against 12,000,000 rubles. 



The state debt on Jan. 1, 1898, amounted to 

 2,133,605,827 rubles of gold obligations and 3,141,- 

 472,152 rubles in paper, the total being 6,341,880,- 

 893 paper rubles, taking the gold ruble at the 

 fixed legal rate of 1.50 ruble in paper or silver, 

 established since 1894. The gold debt consists of 

 332,830,375 rubles at 3 per cent., 99,421,875 rubles 

 at 3i per cent., 1,501,787,625 rubles at 4 per cent., 

 109,707,500 rubles at 4J per cent., 26,517,860 rubles 

 at 5 per cent., and 63,340,592 rubles of 3- and 

 5-per-cent. treasury bonds. The currency debt 

 consists of 78,000,000 rubles borrowed at 3 per 

 cent., 104,331,000 rubles at 3.79 per cent., 113,120,- 

 874 rubles at 4 per cent., 248,180,000 rubles at 

 4i per cent., 152,060,000 rubles at 5 per cent., 35,- 

 712,565 rubles paying various rates, 2,131,487,389 

 rubles of 4-per-cent., 42,157,538 rubles of 5-per-cent., 

 and 38,488,362 rubles of 6-per-cent. treasury bonds, 

 22,934,404 rubles paying various rates, and 175,- 

 000,000 rubles of uncovered paper currency. There 

 was an increase during the year of 15,109,836 

 rubles of gold bonds of railroads assumed by the 

 Government, and an emission of 80,000,000 rubles 

 of internal currency bonds; on the other hand, 

 the paper currency was covered to the extent of 

 446,281,634 rubles. In the course of ten years 

 the state debt payable in gold had been increased 

 by 762,291,505 rubles, while the currency debt was 

 diminished by 65,500,832 rubles, and annuities 

 were diminished by 15,838,627 rubles reckoned in 

 paper. The net increase in the capital of the 

 debt for the period was 1,078,881,425 rubles in 

 currency valuation, but the annual interest charge 

 was increased only 3,500,000 rubles. The money 

 in the treasury at'the beginning of 1898 was 562,- 

 678,265 rubles. The payments for interest and 

 redemption of the debt in 1899, reduced to paper 

 valuation, were 60,045,559 rubles on external 

 loans, 6,597,397 rubles on external bonds, 34,591,- 

 956 rubles for internal loans, 94,984,450 rubles 

 for internal bonds, 20,737,028 rubles for obliga- 

 tions of state railroads, 51,688,807 rubles for obli- 

 gations of guaranteed railroads to be repaid by 

 them, and 1,592,889 rubles of payments of coupons 

 overdue and banking expenses; total, 270,238,086 

 rubles. The debts were offset to the extent of 

 2,403,644,873 rubles in currency by sums owed 

 to the Government, including 1,531,392,928 rubles 

 due from peasants for redemption of land, 91,- 

 518,196 rubles due from local treasuries, 83,105,- 

 961 rubles in gold from the nobles' land bank, 

 86,568,697 rubles in gold and 123,832,570 in paper 

 from railroads, 175,626,072 rubles in gold of mili- 

 tary contributions due from Turkey, 290,108 

 rubles in paper due from Khiva, and 6,086,346 

 rubles in gold and 129,490,458 in paper from other 

 debtors. The various funds for famine relief, pen- 

 sions, and military, agricultural, benevolent, sci- 

 entific, and other objects amounted on Jan. 1, 

 1898, to 314,994,844 rubles. 



The Army. About 275,000 young men who 

 reach the age of twenty every year are drawn for 

 service in the active army,-remaining with the colors 

 about four years of the legal period of five years. 

 Of the remaining 600,000 who are capable of bear- 



