INTRODUCTION. 



XI I 



The importance of Russia's foreign trade, which is very considerable, as far as 

 concerns the import of tea, cotton and machinery and the export of raw materials, 

 especially breadstuffs, timber, flax and in general all kinds of productions of aprricul- 

 tural industry, falls into the background in. respect to both importation and exporta- 

 tion, in comparison to the majority of goods produced by manufactories and mills, and 

 this principally for the reasons that the consumption of these goods develops in Russia 

 rather slowly and only in reference to goods of -home origin, while their production 

 in the majority of cases does not yet reach an amount sufficient to satisfy the growing 

 home demands and furnish a surplus to foreign consumers. That the consumption of 

 the above mentioned goods develops slowly is best proved by the fact that cotton 

 fabrics, sugar, petroleum products and coal began to increase from the period when 

 these goods began to be obtained within the country. Among those branches of 

 manufacturing industry which have been developed in Russia sufficiently long under 

 the influence of an existing home demand and protective duties, very many produc- 

 tions of manufactories and mills, after satisfying the home requirements, have already 

 begun to find an issue abroad, a fact which serves to demonstrate that there already 

 exist in Rtissla, albeit little developed, the conditions for a successful and most 

 profitable business for a number of manufacturing industries. In proof, are quoted the 



Number of trade certificates and licenses issued in 1890. 



Table 9. 



1890. 

 Regions. 



First 

 guild. 



Second guild. Retail trade. 



Certif- 

 icates. 



Licen- Certifi-j Licen-.Certifi.- Licen- 

 ses. I cates. ses. cates. ses. 



I I I 



coed 



A Sum of 



O CO I 



.i « and « . 



Sum of 

 2 and 4.; 



Moscow-Central . . 

 Baltic- Petersburg . 



Northern 



Eastern 



Siberia 



Central Asiatic . . 



Caucasus 



Southern 



South-western . . . 



Vistula 



North-western. . . 

 Little Russian . . . 

 Central Cherooziom. 



Total (without 

 Finland) in 

 thousands . . 



1. 



1,198 



1,150 



34 



273 



141 



48 



151 



512 



383 



389 



211 



132 



261 



2. 



3,524 



2,454 



197 



1,229 



590 



435 



858 



2,004 



1,302 



890 



580 



525| 



l,025l 



3. 



17,422 



13,504 



1,648 



10,556 



5,619 



1,681 



10,915 



14,320 



6,123 



6,809 



5,251 



6,485 



13,496 



25,306 



19,557 



2,633 



16,442 



7,498 



2,397 



16,305 



21,10-; 



9,366 



8 002 



7,463 



9,640 



19,490 



4.9! 15.6 



113.8 



165.2 



337.6 



219.0 



77.5 245.7 



10. 



29 



22 



3 



IS 



8 



3 



17 



23 



11 



9 



8 



10 



21 



477 



182 



