98 



MANUFACTURES OF RUSSIA. 



If the village leather industry be also taken into account, the total consump- 

 tion Avould be as follows: 



Yearly consumption of manufactured goods . 

 Yearly consumption of the village product 



46,000,000 roubles 

 . . . 58,000,000 » 



Total . 104,000,000 » 



. . . 0.87 



Consumption per capita 



The following figures represent the present condition of the village leather 

 industry. 



The producion of each workman amounts to nearly 400 roubles. The total 

 yearly output of the whole leather trade, therefore, amounts to 104 million roubles. 

 and the total number of men employed in it is about 173,523. 



These figures prove that this trade is one of the most important in Eussia 

 and that the village production exceeds that of the factories by 38 per cent, and is 

 therefore of such importance that it requires to be dealt with separately. 



The village leather industry. 



This occupation is one of the most important in Eussia, as its production is 

 very large, and the trade widely spread among the inhabitants. Statistics show that 

 tanning is practiced as a village industry in 44 governments, or 160 districts, occu- 

 pying about 9,500 households or about 21,000 men, and that the annual production 

 amounts to 12,000,000 roubles or about 28 per cent of that of the factories. The pro- 

 duction of wrought leather is spread over 40 governments, or 150 districts, and 

 occupies 85,000 men, the annual production being about 26.000,000 roubles. The 

 large manufactories do not compete to any great extent in this branch of trade, 

 consisting principally of boots and shoes, shamois goods, harness and other kinds of 

 wrought leather. A large number of men are also employed in tanning sheepskins 

 used for clothing in the villages ; this business is carried on in 33 governments, and 

 137 districts, the number of men engaged in it being about 40,000 ; the value of the yearly 

 production is estimated at 20,000,000 roubles, or about 10 times that of the manufac- 

 tories. These last figures are probably too small as the number of village furriers 

 most likely would be larger, as many are not registered in the hope of evading the 

 tax levied upon them. It cannot be stated at what preciss date the village tanning 

 business originated, but there is no doubt that it existed in this form long before 



