232 SIBERIA. 



tlic sottlemcnt of Lislvonich .ind tli«.' iJoyaisk \>\rr, a distance of 10 versts, is V' kopeck per 

 poud-veist; and imni Listvcnicli t» tlir- ukmiiIi of An^'ara, a distance of 700 versts, there is a 

 reduction (tf 40 pci' cent frrim lliis poud-verst chargi-. 



"When first started, the Amour Steamboat Company was hardly piepared to execute 

 the obligations it liail taken upon itself; not possessing capital, it was obliged to have 

 recourse to foreign loans, and tlie percentages on the sinkintr luml of the debt swallowed u|» 

 a considerable jtortion oi the revenue, so that, notwithstandiuf/ repeated assistance from the 

 (loverninent in the shape of loans, the company was unable to keep its steamers in proper 

 repair. In (Muisequence al' this, when the contract expired in JB92 there was a question of 

 entrusting the steam service on the Amour basin to other parties. An offer was made by 

 Messrs. Sibiriakov and Shevelev who were willing to umlertake the business on more ad- 

 vantageous terms than the Amour Steamboat Company. In making a new contract it was 

 expedient to stipulate that the old steamers should be replaced by new ones. In consequence 

 however of the delay in concluding the contract, the new promoters were unable to change 

 the old steamers at once and tliercfore the Government allowed the business to remain two 

 years longer in the liands <<i' the Amour Company, especially as they agreed to the same 

 terms as the new contractors. The principal conditions were as follows: the contractors 

 undertake to keep up a regular steam service on the Amour, Ussuri, Shilka river and lake 

 Khanka for the space of 15 years with a Government subsidy in the form of a payment of 

 1 rouble 50 kopecks per verst for every verst actually made on these waters during the 

 firsts 10 years, with a reduction of 5 per cent per annum for the succeeding 5 years, this 

 mileage not to exceed 183,532 roubles per annum during the first 10 years. Besides this the 

 Government does not hind itself to provide cargoes or to make extra payments for them. 



Next year, therefore in 1894, the new steamers of Sibiriakov and Shevelev will make 

 their appearance on the waters of the Amour basin; their contract expires in 1908. At present 

 the Government is examining the request of these contractors to turn the Amour Steamboat 

 enterprise into a joint-stock company with a capital of one million roubles. 



The organization of regular and constant steam service between the coast stations of 

 the far distant Russian domains on the shores of the Pacific has always engi'ossed the atten- 

 tion of the Government as it would provide a convenient and cheap sea route for the local 

 population. In the complete absence of roads in that region, steamboat communication 

 acquires particular importance as being the only means of intercourse between the above 

 mentioned points. The efforts made in this direction would also excercise a beneficial result 

 upon Russian commercial intercourse with Corea, Japan and China and benefit the econom- 

 ical position of the country. Whilst up to 1880 the existing means of transport were not 

 only insufficient to secure regular communication for the inhabitants but did not even suffice 

 for the wants of the administrative establishments for the transport of Government stores and 

 passengers. For these reasons the Government has repeatedly taken measures for facilitating 

 sea communication between the Pacific ports of Siberia on the one hand, and between these 

 ports and the principal ports of Japan and China on the other, but regular communication 

 has been effected only since 1881, when the matter was undertaken by Mr. Shevelev. This 

 gentleman bound himself to keep up a time service between Vladivostok and Xicolaevsk and 



