The daily herald. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1886-1887, 1886-10-11
RUSSIA'S FINANCES,
A RICH MINERAL COUNTRY WITHOUT
PRIVATE ENTERPRISE.

A Young Government Engineers Novel
Method of Reaching the Precious Met
als-southern siberia's Prosperity and
Fertility OF soi1-The Cossack.
l had this morning q 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, us the condition Of finan-
cial affairs in Russian"
"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 IRE 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 q
rich mineral country, but there is no in
centive to private enterprise in mining,
while we all know what such work is
likely to amount to when it is done by the
government. Let me give you an exam
pie OF the way these things are managed.
A man buys piece Of land in the mineral
country, and undertakes to locate mine
on 1t. 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 certain amount in cash for the
property. Thus the dscoverer 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 a 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 failure. In the inter
val, by paying his laborers ruble day
per head, and drawing three or four times
that amount from the government, the en-
gineer had accumulated fortune of about
5000 900 rubles. The affair has never been
investigated Siberia is not altogether the
country 1t 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
acres OF land, house, cattle, horses, and
farming implements. The only restriction
placed upon them is that they shall not go
outside given circle, and there is a suf-
ficient force to see that they obey this be-
hast Tho 81 81
down to quiet, peaceful, and prosperous
life, and never want to come back again,
even after their terms of exile are fin
tshed. 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 world. 1t is to north
ern Siberia, where the copper mines are
situated, that the worst criminals, such as
murderers and thieves of the vilest degree,
are sent. To condemn 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, "is the difference be-
tween your Cossack and the ordinary
soldier in your armys"
"The Cossack, responded Col. de Gessler,
sis 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 the car he must remain
in that service whenever 1t 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 IL difficult to tell what will be
the future of Russia There is great
change working in 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 Gesslers 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 Skobeleff, and that upon