, 1886-05-22
RUSSIA'S FINANCES.
ARlcH MINERAL COUNTRY WITHOUT
PRIVATE ENTERPRISE.

A yomi. co,ernm.ut Engin-cr'- No,ei
Method of Reaching the Precious M't-
aIs-Sorih.rn sibeiin'- Prosperity aud
IertIit, OF soiI-The CosSach.
! had this morning a long aud pleasant
conversation with Col. de GesSler, an eN-
member of the stan Of the Grand Duke
Vladimir, in the Russian army. Col. de
Gessler has occupied mn oiilcinl position IN
the military forces OF the Russian govern
ment Tor many years, mud "a intimal 'lN
acquainted with their resources, Their
quality, nSl their power.
Just What, / asked in the course Of
our convcrsIt.o on, ais the condition OF Imam
cial atiairs ia RussiaY'
There So, ms TO lie an utter Drainage OF
gold from tie country. Onr Duble, worth
%noininnlly something like - cents of your
money. now sells for a cents. This, OF
course apple, 10 the paper equivalent
which u in circulation throughout Rissln.
CoiAs Of MI kinds arc very scarce, and pa
per money is about the only thing one
sees. There was atimc. directly after the
last war, wien the banks would give no
gold at ali, no matter what kim of an or
der was presented to them. They We're
willing enough TO comply with the de
mands maac upOn them, but they had no
gold Whatever 10 do IL with. We have a
rich mineral country, but there is no in
ccntivc to private enterprise In mining,
while we all know what such work IS
likely to amount to when it is done by the
government. Lot me give you an exam
pie OF the way these things are managed.
y man buys a piece Of land in the mineral
country, and undertakes to locate a mine
on 1t. He digs down and down, until be
reaches the vein of metal.
"Up to this point bo has been allowed to
20 ahead upon his own responsibility. but
the minute he touches gold or silver he IS
compelled to report 10 the governor, of
that province, and the representative of
the cznr comes in and takes possession,
paying a certain amount in cash for the
property. Thus the d~.scoverer does not
receive enough of benefit from his work to
attract very many gold-diggers to tho
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 II great
cash IN the mountain side instead of sink
Ing shafts or tunnellng,
NEW METHOD OF MINING.
"a number Of years ago the government
cent n young engineer to adopt more prac-
ticahle means Of digging out the precious
bA-AhA'f IO Ntllt uuu ItDbTltl lINl nt
was about to pus a new scheme into prac-
ticc. TIL soldiers in Siberia can not do
military duty to any extent in the winter.
and they Hrc allowed to work as laborers
in that period. keeping for themselves
whatever they may earn. This young en-
gincer engaged thousands OF them and set
them to work, making an excavation
which covered more than n square mile Mt
the suffice. Year after year this work
was carried on. the excavation growing
smaller aud smaller toward the bottom.
the sides s~lunting so rs to keep the earth
from falling in. By the time the rock was
reached there was not much space for the
proposed operations, md the whole thing
was abandoned as II failure. In the inter
val. by paying his Lborers l rublo n day
per head. and drawing three or -four times
that amount from the government, the en-
gincer had accumulated a fortune Of about
s.OOj,OV0 rublcs. The affair has never been
Investigated. Siberia is not altogether the
country it is represented to DO. Only in the
north il the climate severe.
southern Siberia is one Of the most
fertile and prosperous regions in existence.
1t IL to this part Of the world that most
political prisoners are exiled. TIL govern
mcnt gives each Of them u fixed nnmbcrof
acrcs OF land. Il house. cattle, horses, and
farming implements The only restriction
placed upon them IS that they shall not 90
outside a given circle, and there is n suf-
1ic'cnt force 10 see tint they obey his be
hest. The vast majority OF them settle
down To II quiet. pencei1l, aud prosperous
lie, and never want 10 come back again,
even after their terms of exile are flu
ished, There are many enormously rich
peonle in Ills norton ~ Siber;, mo
merchants make vast fortunes financial
cnsin.ss i. nreyulent and there is inst no
much Inxurv in tbnt country as tbcre !. in
any ntber n,rt If tho world /, rto rnr,h
ern siberia where the conner rirss ,ro
sitnnt,d tb.t thn worst criu,in,I. s,,,h 'as
murdcrcrs and thieye, of rho vilest d.pree
nre -.nt IN c,ndomu n mnr Ia vet IN
I'm ronner MINIS Il ~ rnn1 M r.,dfn, ria
death sentence. for no seldom survives n
yenr az lohor thcre
1uF coss,cK AZ -ixnrprxnrxr snrn,rp
What I nsked. 4s the diner.nrc he.
tween your Cnssnck md tha n.Ii,,,v
soldier in vour nrmv,r
.Thc coss,ck r.snondaa C,l ia g.s.lo,.
"is nm in-depcndent snIdicr Tcon onlv lion
him to The nilitio in your ro,,ntrv nrd
even there nnd noiuts Of markell dlssin,,
I1nritv lilo own his horse hts ,,nifor,n
nis mall rms ,nI oi his n,har ocanutra
morts .vrenfing his rig. MI lnna La
io,g To III. rovernm,nt When bo haains
in tbc s~ercice of tbe ear he mnst ron,ain
IN nm scrvica yybnrcvcr 4, IL d.m,n,IaI
NJ him Ia tho cnd Mn. u6e UE onI, nd,
vnntnge i, tb,t in time of neoce ba Ia
ia curry nm ,nv nursuit wbi.h In NM
core Ia ON hork 1rhc coesnck country i.
always thriving and nleosnnt IN Cos-
eacts indeed rngori ,h.1usclvos ne no
original Rnssinns i,ncing tbef. .ncestrv