606 



RUSSIA. 



paper rubles, exceeding the amount of paper 

 currency in circulation by 316,000,000 rubles and 

 exceeding by 452,500,000 paper rubles the legal 

 metallic reserve, which was 575,000,000 rubles in 

 gold, equivalent to 862,500,000 rubles in paper. 

 Since then 439,000,000 rubles of paper have been 

 withdrawn from circulation. The gold coinage, 

 including recoinage, from 1886 to 196 inclusive, 

 amounted to 183,305,630 gold rubles. In 1897 

 the new gold imperials were inscribed as of the 

 value of 15 rubles, instead of 10 rubles. In 1897 

 the coinage of gold rubles at the new ratio was 

 331,577,500 rubles; in 1898, 263,890,147 rubles; in 

 1899, 378,000,150 rubles; in 1900, 161,595,195 ru- 

 bles. There were coined in the four years. 148,- 

 152,000 rubles of silver rubles and 15,000,000 ru- 

 bles of subsidiary coins. By January, 1900, the 

 paper currency had been reduced to 630,000,000 

 rubles, at which figure it has since been main- 

 tained. In January, 1902, there were 1,525,000,- 

 000 rubles of gold in the vaults of the treasury 

 and the bank, which contained also 223,400,000 

 rubles of silver. The gold reserves covered the 

 paper currency nearly two and a half times, and 

 the sum of 830,100,000 rubles set aside as a guar- 

 antee fund was exceeded by 32 per cent, the entire 

 circulation. 



The Army. The number of young men who 

 annually reach the age of twenty-one and are 

 liable to military service is 870,000, of whom 308,- 

 500 were taken into the active army and the 

 navy in 1901 and the rest were enrolled in the 

 Opolchenie, or militia. The annual contingent in- 

 cludes the frontier customs guards, and in the 

 number given were 16,500 natives of the Cau- 

 casus, 1,000 Finns, and 7,000 volunteers. The 

 period of service in the active army is nominally 

 five years and really four years; after the five 

 years are over the discharged soldier belongs to 

 the Zapas for thirteen years, and then for five 

 years to the Opolchenie. In the Caucasus the 

 conscripts remain only three years with the col- 

 ors, but in Asia the period is seven years. Euro- 

 pean Russia, with Finland and the Caucasus, is 

 divided into 9 military circumscriptions and the 

 district of the Don Cossacks. There are 25 army 

 corps in the European army, including the corps 

 of guards, the grenadier corps, and 2 corps in 

 the Caucasus. Russia in Asia has the 3 military 

 circumscriptions of Turkestan, Siberia, and the 

 Amur. The effective of the Russian army com- 

 prises 1,068 battalions, 636 squadrons, 521 field- 

 batteries, 224 companies of fortress-artillery, and 

 164 companies of engineers in Europe and 109 

 battalions, 93 squadrons, 38 batteries, 22 com- 

 panies of fortress-artillery, and 31 companies of 

 engineers in Asia; total, 1,177 battalions, 729 

 squadrons, 559 field-batteries, 246 companies of 

 field-artillery, and 195 companies of engineers. 

 The corps of custom-house officers on the fron- 

 tiers is organized in 31 brigades, including 2 in 

 Turkestan, and numbers about 1,000 officers and 

 30,000 men. The numerical strength of the Rus- 

 sian army is estimated at over 40,000 officers and 

 900,000 men on the peace footing, exclusive of 

 the customs guards and marine troops. In case 

 of mobilization the field-army is approximately 

 estimated at 19,500 officers and 1,000,000 men in 

 the infantry, 3,800 officers and 120,000 men in the 

 cavalry, 3,500 officers and 119,000 men in the 

 artillery, 1,100 officers and 46,000 men in the en- 

 gineers, and 400 officers and 26,000 men in the 

 train; total, 28,300 officers and 1,311,000 men, 

 with 330,000 horses and 3,856 guns. The reserve 

 troops are estimated at 15,470 officers and 832,300 

 men of all arms, with 163.000 horses and 1,376 

 guns. The fortress troops are estimated at 2,600 



officers and 160,000 men in the infantry, 1,500" 

 officers and 80,000 men in the artillery, and 400 

 officers and 12,000 men in the engineers; total, 

 4,500 officers and 252,000 men, with 3,700 horses, 

 and 128 guns. The troops of replacement are 

 estimated at 6,640 officers and 373,700 men of all 

 arms, with 50,500 horses and 458 guns, the troops 

 of national defense at 10,500 officers and 740,000 

 men, and the frontier custom-house guards at 

 1,000 officers and 40,000 men, with 15,000 horses, 

 making the total war strength of the Russian 

 army 66,410 officers and 3,549,000 men, with .">('>-!.- 

 200 horses and 5,818 guns. The Russian army 

 was scandalized in March, 1902, by the discov- 

 ery that Lieut.-Col. Grimm of the general staff 

 in Warsaw, whose duty it was to furnish false 

 information to foreign governments, had been 

 bribed to furnish to German and Austrian staff- 

 officers for several years past the true plans of 

 frontier fortresses and plans of mobilization. He 

 was sentenced to penal servitude in Sakhalin 

 and all plans were changed, entailing a cost of 

 many millions. 



The Navy. The Baltic fleet in 1901 comprised 

 13 armor-clad battle-ships, 12 armored coast-de- 

 fense vessels, 18 first-class armored cruisers, & 

 smaller armored cruisers, 8 second-class cruisers, 

 4 torpedo-cruisers, 4 armored gun-vessels, 7 coast- 

 defense gunboats, 3 school-ships, 6 steam-yachts, 

 11 destroyers, 46 first-class torpedo-boats, 78 sec- 

 ond-class torpedo-boats, and 7 transports. There 

 were building 7 battle-ships, an armored coast- 

 defense vessel, 2 armored cruisers, and 16 destroy- 

 ers. Since the first Russian submarine boat was 

 built in 1901 as many as 50 have been ordered and 

 some of them are completed. Of destroyers, 13 

 were added to the 21 already launched by the 

 beginning of 1902. The first-class battle-ships 

 Borodino, Alexander III, and Orel, launched in 

 1901 and 1902, of 13,400 tons, have a complete 

 belt of armor, 11 inches at the thickest part,, 

 engines of 16,300 horse-power, to give a speed 

 of 18 knots, and an armament of 4 12-inch guns 

 coupled in fore and aft turrets, 12 6-inch quick- 

 firers in high turrets amidships, and 20 3-inch 

 and numerous smaller quick-firers. The engines, 

 of 10,600 horse-power, are designed to give a 

 speed of 17 knots. The Kniaz Potemkin is a 

 sister to the Tavrichesky, built in the Black Sea, 

 and another of this type is building in the Bal- 

 tic. The Retvisan, of 12,700 tons, has. 10-inch 

 armor like these, engines as powerful as on the 

 Borodino, and an armament of 4 12-inch guns 

 and 12 6-inch and 20 3-inch quick-firers. The 

 Tsarevich, Kniaz Suvaroff, and Slava, launched 

 in 1901, of 13,100 tons, having the same steam- 

 power and speed, carry 4 12-inch guns and 12 

 6-inch quick-firers in turrets above and below 

 these 20 3-inch quick-firers. The coast-defense 

 vessel Admiral Boutakoff, of 6,000 tons, is armed 

 with 6 8-inch quick-firers. The protected cm 

 Diana, Pallada, and Aurora, launched in 1899, of 

 6,500 tons, are 20-knot steamers, with engines of 

 10,610 horse-power, and are armed with 8 6-inch. 

 20 3-inch, and 8 small quick-firers. The Bog:i I vi- 

 and Ask old, built in Germany, the Waryair. 

 built in the United States, and the-Almaz and 

 Oleg, built in Russian yards, of 6,500 tons, have 

 engines of 20,000 horse-power, capable of steam- 

 ing 23 knots, and are armed with 12 6-inch, 12 

 3-inch, and 6 smaller quick-firers. The Novik, of 

 3,000 tons, built in Germany, is a 25-knot tor- 

 pedo-cruiser carrying 6 4.7-inch quick-firers. The 

 Boyarin, built in Denmark, is of the same class, 

 and several of these destroyer-destroyers are 

 being built in Russia. 



The Black Sea fleet in 1901 consisted of 8 bat- 



