The Sun.
London, England, 1865-06-13 00:00:00

,N EWS PAPER
\I-1-4
possibility of Russia drawing an increased supply.
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- 4'',,.,..,.7 s. ' ~.0: Punjab. These speculations, it ma,ciow b h
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But, incidentally, this part of the Report
interesting information of the old routes of com-
merce in those regions. The question is whether
British enterprise could not make greater use of
these routes, and by manufacturing articles specially
suited to the habits or tastes of the people, compete
successfully with the goods brought from Russia,
which are bad in quality, and necessarily dear. The
native traders, who now cross these plains and
mountain ranges, would willingly become the agents
of such a traffic. It has even been proposed to
establish an annual fair at Peshawar, at the extre-
mity of our Indian frontier, for the interchange of
commodities. Is there any fair, in any corner of
the world, Manchester could not supply, if it made
the attempt ? We strongly recommend the subject,
and the concluding page's of Mr. Lumley's Report,
to the attention of those commercial interests the
most nearly concerned.

PRICE 4d.
STAMPED sd.

reasons for the encouragement of manufactories in various
parts of the country. Some portions of this vast empire are
much less favoured as regards soil and climate than others.
There are Governments which contain from 3 to 17 acres
of arable land per head of the population, while in other
parts of Russia there is scarcely ono acre per head of land
suited to cultivation. It is natural enough that in districts
where the soil fails the population should emigrate to seek
more fertile land or the means of employing its hands in
manufactories, and this happens even in some parts of
Russia where the land is most fertile, but where, from want
of roads or water communication, there are no means of, or
great difficulty in, disposing of the agricultural produce ;
while the landed proprietors, instead of laying out their
capital in improvements on the land which would only
give them a small return after considerable delay, seized
with avidity the chance of getting 10 per cent. or 12 per
cent. for their money by placing it in a cotton mill or calico
manufactory. But there is another cause which stimulates
manufactories in Russia, and that is the severity of the
climate. In some of the northern districts field labour is
only possible during from 130 to 150 days in the course of
the year, and it may be imagined what a loss Russia would
sustain, if out of 65,000,000 of her European population,
50,000,000 remained unoccupied during six or eight months
of the winter, where all agricultural labour is at a standstill."

ELECTION INTELLIGTENCE•

----o

ANGLESEA.

It was stated some months ago that the return of
the Hon. W. 0. Stanley, M.P., of Penrhos, Holy-
head, for the Anglesea boroughs would be opposed.
As yet, however, no candidate has come in the
field.

As the !severity of the climate so limits the annual
season of out-door labour some employment for
the Russian peasant during the rest of the year must
be found. Thus the 1:0,500 manufacturers of Riissia
employ 200,000 of the class. But it does not be-
come so exclusively- manufacturing as in other
countries. "It is the peasants who work in the
mule ; the peasant& who carry on the chief part of
the commerce for, thn,interior. The peasants, in
short do everything."
" This peculiarity of the climate has made manufacturing
industry a national want in many parts of Russia ; it is this
that developed manufactures in the villages long before
they were established in the towns. There are villages, for
instance, in Russia in which all the peasants have been for
generations either weavers, tanners, shoemakers, lock-
smiths, cutlers, &c. The advantage of such village industry
is evident, for by this natural union of agricUlture and
manufacture agriculture is not deprived of its hands, and
the peasant is not removed from his family. It has none of
the evils of manufacturing industry carried on in a large
scale in great towns and cities ; there is no agglomeration
of the labouring classes, no indigent poor, or what is termed
the Frolotariat class."

But there is another side of the question, which
has also to be explained :

" Although, as has been shown, there are certain incen-
tives to the establishment of manufactories in Russia, the
disadvantages and obstacles to the progress of Russia as a
manufacturing country are more numerous and important ;
among these may be mentioned want of capital, a high rate
of interest, and the circumstance that spinners are com-
pelled to sell their yarn for bills of long date, from 12 to 18
months which with the high rate of discount weighs more
heavily on the price of cotton twist than all the other in-
conveniences put together. To these must be added the
great distances and difficulties of transport and communi-
cation, the expense of mechanical, chemical, and other
agents for manufactures; the high price of iron, of tools,
and of every description of mechanism ; the increasing ex-
- penso of fuel, wood as well as coal, and the fact that inmany
cases the manufacturing establishments have been under-
taken by amateurs, noblemen of large property but without
the necessary knowledge, who have been obliged to employ
agents, highly paid, but in some cases not to be depended on.
This latter inconvenience, however, has been less felt since
the cotton and other factories have been taken up by com-
panies who have employed English overseers. A consider-
able loss is also occasioned by the circumstance that many
mills are obliged to cease work during the seasons of field
labour, an interruption which the millmasters can only
prevent by an increase of wages. In consequence of the
number of holidays, 15 or 17 is the minimumkept in the fac-
tories besides Sundays, the working year consists of only
294 days. Russia is also at a greater distance than other
cotton-spinning countries from the centre of trans-Atlantic
commerce. The navigation is of short duration in all the
northern ports of Russia, and nearly all the manufacturing
districts are far removed from the southern ports, conse-
quently Russian spinners have but little time to provide
themselves with the necessary stocks, and they are obliged
to do this on so large a scale that a much greater amount of
capital is required for advances than in other countries ;
add to this the risk of loss from a sudden fall in prices,
which may occur at a time when Russian spinners cannot
avail thomselves of it. These are some of the natural and
unavoidable disadvantages arising from the employment of
a foreign raw material, brought from a groat distance, and
obtained indirectly from an intermediate source."

Notwithstanding these disadvantages cotton mills
have been profitable speculations in Russia. During
the last 24 years they have paid dividends of about
11+ per cent. on the original shares. Many of the
Englishmen employed in these mills have no incon-
siderable share in the profits of the business.
The description of the routine of a working day
in a Russian mill is interesting. The peasant work-
man is docile, and up to a certain point easily taught.
But beyond that point he never goes. His worst
qualities are drunkenness and an incorrigible love of
thieving. The discipline of a Russian factory is
therefore in some respects somewhat military.
Coming to work in the morning in a state of intoxi-
cation, nothing unusual, entails the loss of the day
and the wages of it, about 3s. English ; and all the
hands, male and female, are searched on leaving the
mill. This is a necessity, for the habit of pilfering is
so common among the lower classes, " that the
Russian peasant will carry off anything he can lay
his hands on, if it be not too hot or too heavy." The
following is a description of a scene in a factory that
has a peculiarly Russian and picturesque effect :
"Occasionally a deputation of the girls of a mill will
apply for permission to give the rooms an extra wash, as
they propose to ask the ' pope' to come and bless their
labour; such a request for extra cleanliness is, of course,
always complied with. Next day, when the mill looks its
best, and the engines and machines have received an extra
polish, the priest arrives and goes through the rooms,
chanting and sprinkling with holy water the looms, the
spindles, and every portion of the building. On one of these
occasions the manager asked the priest if he could not exer-
cise some wholesome influence over his flock so as to check
the habits of lying and pilfering to which they are so much
addicted. What can I do?' answered the priest ; you
cannot grow flowers on clay.' "

Here is another scene equally national :

" On Saturday the mill closes at noon, and remains closed
till Monday morning. In some factories the workpeople
are paid once a week, but in general they receive their
wages o nce or twice a month ; the former is by far the best
plan, as the workman has less temptation to squander his
earnings in drinking. As it is, few sober workmen aro to be
found on Saturday evening; nor is this to be wondered at
when brandy is so cheap. The bottle of gin which in
England would cost 35., is here replaced by a bottle of much
stronger votki at 30 copecks, or less than Is. ; a large wine-
glass of this liquor costs 3 copecks, about 1.d., and for 9
copecks, about 3d., a man can buy two gill glasses of strong
corn brandy, quite enough to make even a Russian peasant
drunk, if taken at once. It is on these half-holy and fete
days that the thoughtless, light-hearted, and good-natured
character of the Russian mujik' is seen ; some of the work-
men will be singing in groups, others incessantly embracing
each other, for the Russian peasant, who is never quarrel-
some in his cups, becomes both musical and affectionate
when intoxicated. Here the father of a family may be
seen reeling home, playing on the ' balalaika' (the rudest
form of guitar that ever was invented), attended by his wife
and children, in whose eyes his drunkenness is no shame,
the drunk, it may be, leading the drunk ; or one who is
helplessly inebriated being tenderly carried home by his
more sober comrades. Unfortunately, the beneficial measure
adopted two years ago of abolishing the nefarious system of
brandy-farming, while it has substituted a wholesome liquor
for the poisonous liquor formerly sold as brandy has ren-
dered it so cheap that the poor peasant cannot withstand the
temptation of purchasing it. Drunkenness, it cannot be
doubted, is greatly on the increase among the lower classes
wherever it is not checked by their interests; and the
supply of liquor would appear to be fully equal to the de-
mand, if one may so judge by seeing for every cart con-
taining merchandise of any kind four or five carts convey-
ing casks of brandy in every direction. Some improve-
ment in this respect may, however, be shortly expected, as
the result of the late measures adopted by the Minister of
Finance, according to which the Excise duty on brandy is
to be raised 25 ner cent., and the sum to be paid for licenses
to sell brandy, will be nearly doubled."
To sum up the account of the advantages Russia
derives from her cotton manufactories, the result
appears to be that a portion of the peasant class
finds employment, that the shareholders make a
profit on their investments, and that the nation
loses 17,000,000 silver roubles every year, to keep
up the system. But the last few years have not
been profitable to the proprietors. Many mills have
been stopped, others work on at a loss because
stoppage would be ruin. One firm is mentioned
which does nothing, at a cost of 50,000 roubles
a year. The mills are like sinking ships, but they
prefer to go down inch by inch.
The Report examines at considerable length the