The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1886-06-11
RUSSIA'S FINANCES.
ARlCH MINERAL COUNTRY WITHOUT
PRIVATE ENTERPRISE.

a1s--Southern Siberia's Prosperity and
Fertility of soiI-The CossacIS.
had this morning long and pleasant
conversation with Col de Gessler, an ex-
member of the staff of the Grand Duke
Vladimir, in the Russian army. Col. de
Gessler has occupied an official position in
the military forces Of the Russian govern
ment for many years, and is intimately
acquainted with their resources, their
quality, and their power.
"Just what" asked in the course of
our conversation, "is the condition OF imam
cial affairs in Russia" IL.
"There seems to be an utter drainage of
gold from the country. Our ruble, worth
nominally something like so cents of your
money now sells for AZ cents This, of
course, applies to the paper equivalent
which is in circulation throughout Russia.
Coins of all kinds are very scarce, and pa
per money is about the only thing one
sees. There was time, directly after the
last war, when the banks would give no
gold at all, no matter what kind of an Or
der was presented to them. They were
willing enough to comply with the de-
mands made upon them, but they had no
gold whatever to do it with. We have
rich mineral country, but there is no in
centlve to private enterprise in mining,
While we all know what such work is
likely to amount tofwhen it is done by the
government. Let me give you an exam
pie of the way these things are managed
A man buys a piece of land in the mineral
country, and undertakes to locate mine
on it. He digs down and down, until he
reaches the vein of metal
up to this point he has been allowed to
go ahead upon his own responsibility, but
the minute he touches gold or silver he is
compelled to report to the governor of
that province, and the representative of
the car comes in and takes possession,
paying a certain amount in cash for the
property. Thus the discoverer does not
receive enough of benefit from his work to
attract very many gold-diggers to the
mines. Some of the frauds that are prac-
ticed on the government are interesting
The methods of digging gold are very
primitive, and the fashion is to cut great
cash in the mountain side instead of sink
ing shafts or tunneling.
NEW METHOD OF MINING.
"a number of years ago the government
sent young engineer to adopt more prac-
ticable means of digging out the precious
metals. He went, and reported that he
was about to put new scheme into prac-
tice. The soldiers in Siberia can not do
military duty to any extent in the winter,
and they are allowed to work as laborers
in that period, keeping for themselves
whatever they may earn. This young en-
gineer engaged thousands of them and set
them to work, making an excavation
which covered more than square mile at
the surface. Year after year this work
was carried on, the excavation growing
smaller and smaller toward the bottom,
the sides slanting so as to keep the earth
from falling in. By the time the rock was
reached there was not much space for the
proposed operations, and the whole thing
was abandoned as a failure. In the inter-
val, by paying his laborers l ruble day
per head, and drawing three or four times
that amount from the government, the en-
gineer had accumulated fortune of about
100000 rubles. The affair has never been
investigated Siberia is not altogether the
country it is represented to be- Only in the
north is the climate severe.
Southern Siberia is one of the most
fertile and prosperous regions in existence
1t is to this part of the world that most
political prisoners are exiled The govern
ment gives each of them fixed number of
Va
farming implements. The only restriction
placed upon them is that they shall not 90
outside given circle, and there is a suf-
fieient force to see that they obey this be-
hest. The vast majority of them settle
down to a quiet, peaceful, and prosperous
life, and never want to come back again,
even after their terms of exile are fin
ished. There are many enormously rich
people in this portion of Siberia. The
merchants make vast fortunes, financial
easiness is prevalent, and there is just as
much luxury in that country as there is in
any other part OF the orld. 1t is to north
ern Siberia, where tho copper mines are
situated, that the worst criminals, such as
murderers and thieves of the yilest degree,
are sent. To condemn a man to work in
the copper mines is as good as reading his
death sentence, for he seldom survives q
year of labor there
THE CossACK AN INDEPENDENT SOLDIER
'What," / asked, sis the difference be-
tween your CossRck and the ordinary
soldier in your arlny?"
1.-The Cossack, !" responded Col de Gessler,
"is an Independent soldier can only liken
him to the militia in your country, and
even there find points of marked dissim-
ilarity He owns his horse, his uniform,
his small arms, and all his other accoutre-
ments excepting his rifle. That alone be-
long to the government When he begins
in the service of tie czar he must remain
in that service whenever it is demanded
of him to the end of his life. His only ad-
vantage is that in time of peace he is
to carry on any pursuit which he may
care to embark. The Cossack country is
always thriving and pleasant The Cos
sacks, indeed, regard themselves as the
original Russians, tracing their ancestry
back to little Russia, and they speak of
all the other inhabitants OF the great
country as being with them. but not of
them 1t is difficult to tell what will be
the future of Russia. There is great
change working i'm the country, and there
seems no way out of the nations financial
difficulties. 1t looks indeed, as though
absolute bankruptcy were impending"
Some of Col. de Gessler's anecdotes of
life in the latter campaigns of his career
were interesting. He told, for instance,
how, at the fall of Plevna, Osman Pasha
sent his sword to Skobelef, and that upon
the meeting of the commanders or the
hostile force, the grand duke personally
took the weapon, and, with his
own hand, hung it again about
the waist of Osman, while the
troops on both sides cheered them
selves hoarse, and in their ardor wildly
embraced each other, Skobeleff is still
sincerely mourned in the Russian army.
He was the most dashing and impetuous
Of all the cars chief officers, and he was
held in great reverence by the men in his
command. Among other things he was
"a tremendous d.inker, and it was his
steady habit to consume dozen bottles
of champagne in the course of days
fighting He world hold the bottle in his
left hand, knock the top of it off with
his sword and drink the entire contents at
a draught. York Cor Boston
Herald s ass
The Fox-Hunting Season in England.
The fox-hnnting season in England
closes in a niournful strain of disappoint- !
ment. Not only has the season been duh /
from sporting point of view, but some of
the staunchest supporters have felt that /
they could not afford to continue the
sport. Farmers have been unusually de-
termmed to preserve their rights, and have
warned hunters off the field by such eyi-
dent signs as cloSe,i gates, wire fences and
notices e shif.ag(s TriblIra &s