26 ♦> MANUFACTURES OF RUSSIA. 



The largest imimrt occuiTed in 1876, at the very time when preparations were 

 being: made to remove the excise from kerosene and when the exploitation and treat- 

 ment of the Bakn naphtha began to rise rapidly. However, there is no doubt that 

 the importation of foreign naphtha products gave the first impulse to the development 

 and growth of the home naplitha production ; and in this the part played by the 

 customs duties was exceedingly important, in as much as they helped the pioneers of 

 the home production to compete with the foreign exporters. The dimensions of 

 the customs duties per poud net upon various naphtha goods are" given in the follow- 

 ins: table. 



The increase of the import duty upon kerosene in 1887 corresponds ta 

 the placing of excise upon the oil consumed in the Empire. 



The high customs duties during 1868 to 1878 undoubtedly had an important 

 protective influence upon the development of the home production, and subsequently, 

 when the industry had gained sufficient strength to render the customs protection 

 unnecessary, they were retained as a protection against the importation of naphtha 

 goods to the frontier towns situated at a distance from the Caucasus, and also as a 

 defence over the large excise revenue from the kerosene of home production. 



The customs duties upon Eussian naphtha goods clearly demonstrate the impulse 

 which high dues may give to the development of an internal and universal product- 

 ion, if only they answer to the internal store of raw material, and to the conditions, 

 of the country: and the Eussian tariff of 1891 is firmly established upon that 

 principle. They prove in the second place that high customs duties upon such a 

 class of goods as naphtha, do not in any way prevent the prices from falling, as. 

 in Russia when the duty upon kerosene is equal to 20 kopecks gold, or oO kopecks 

 paper, the price of kerosene on the spot of production is equal to 7 to 20 kopecks, 

 without excise, which is less than the customs duty. It is often said that with 

 protective duties, the price of goods inside the country is always equal to the duty 

 and the cost of production, that is, that the duty goes to the advantage of the producer. 

 The instance in question distinctly contradicts this supposition, although only 25 

 years have passed since the rise of the naphtlia industry in Russia. 



After the customs duties, the most important factor in the development of the 

 Eussian naphtha industry, is the excise upon the illuminating oil of home production. 

 It has already been said that the excise upon the capacity of the stills, to the 

 extent of about 15 kopecks per poud, was only in force from 1873 to 1877. After 

 its removal the industry made rapid advances, the consumption of kerosene began. 



