54 SIBERIA 



recruited by immigrants, who are drawn almost ex- 

 clusively from the peasant class. The quantity of 

 butter exported to-day is about double that of wheat, 

 and, from the point of view of international trade, the 

 dairy industry may well be said to hold the first place. 



In view of the foregoing it will be sufficiently 

 obvious that the construction of the Great Siberian 

 railway had for its object the welfare of the Russian 

 nation at large, and that the development of Siberia 

 is the contemplated and necessary result. The value 

 of the line from' a military standpoint is a matter 

 of altogether secondary importance, although real 

 enough in itself. We may point to a parallel in the 

 case of the control by Great Britain of the Suez 

 Canal, a route which, however important it may be 

 in time of war, has proved of enormous value for 

 purposes of peaceful intercourse and trade. 



The part which the railway plays in assisting 

 emigrants from European Russia to Siberia has 

 already been referred to. The Government has 

 prottltilgated a series of laws exceedingly favourable 

 to iffimigration. Land surveyors and qualified agents 

 have been appointed, whose duties consist in assisting 

 the local authorities to distribute the immigrants 

 throughout the country, care being taken to appor- 

 tion to each immigrant unit an allotment as similar 

 as possible in quality and kind to that which he has 

 left behind him in European Russia, each male immi- 

 grant to Siberia being allowed 4o| acres of land in 

 perpetuity, and free of all taxes for the first three 

 years of tenure. On the expiration of this period, how- 

 ever, a nominal tax is imposed. Emigrants to Siberia 

 are, further, exempt from" the obligation to serve in 

 the Army during the first three years of settlement- 

 no trifling advantage in a country where conscription 

 is strictly enforced. 



The Government has already spent some £72,000 



