The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1904-05-14
Chicago Chronicle
The czar Of Russia is nersonn1

! T HE Car of Russia is personals
! the richest monarch in Europe anC
consequently in the whole world
lie has palaces by the dozen, estate.
almost without number, and mines
that bring him in fabulous sums Of
| money every year Theoretically
/ everything in the empire belongs tC
! MN, although as q matter of fact
private ownership is recognized among
| the MuscoYites as we'll as elsewhere
! 1t was announced from St. Petersburg
recently that the ear had given zoe.
VOoVOO rubles (about $100.O00,OG0) from
MS private treasury to RusSia's war
tuna. Probably this is the largest
single gift ever made by an individual
donor to any cause.
But the ear can well afford it, He
IS unquestiOnably the richest man on
earth. Even Mr.. RockefeIIer's many
millions would look small by compari-
son with his multitudinous sources of
wealth and the vast treasures boarded
Tor him by his ancestors, for the Rom
anoffs were always a saving race.
No living man can tell the full ex-
tent of his wealth, not even Baron
Friederichs, the comptroller of the i'm
Derial household
The value of the emperor's private
fortune and it's Importance in relation
to the affairs of the empire may be
gagged in some degree by the fact
that the baron, his private treasurer,
- counted among the greatest officers
OF state and is a member of the prin-
cipal deliberative and consultative
councils, such as the committee of
ministers and the council of state,
which help the car to direct the
course of Russian policy.
The official revenue of Nicholas IL
his salary so to speaks nearly $40
100000 per annum. 1t is difficult to
arrive at it exactly. for it is paid
in various ways and under many
heads. and the sum total fluctuates
from year to year. But $10000,000 may
be taken as a fair average.
1t is only small part of his wealth,
however, and the expense of main
tanning his royal state more than ac-
counts for this vast sum. If he de-
pended upon his official salary he
would find it hard to make both ends
meet. His expenditures are almost in
credible. 1t is estimated that the mag
nificent state ball which was given
Just as the war with Japan broke out
cost between 1000, 600 and 100000 ru-
bies. The cars gifts to the orthodox
age from 100000 to 5000. 900 rubIes.
and orthodox Russians sometimes COM
iahl-confidentiaily. of course-that he
IS stingy in that respect in comparison
With his predecessors. On the other
land. the church turns over large reve-
lues to him. estimated to exceed the
which ii receives
with the sole exception Of the Shah
IL Persia, the car owns a greater for
une in diamonds and precious stones
nan any man in the world. The ia
nous Orloff diamond is only the great
.st star in an immense constellation.
/ was given to a previous car by a
5ount Orloff, one of whose descendants |
vas the famous Count Orloff who de-
'oted his life to improving the breed |
II russian horses and created the OR |
olI morse, now used almost exclusive |
by the Russian cavalry.
When Nicholas II was crowned a few
ears ago the emir of Bokhara and the I
nan OF khiva, his two principal vas
al princes. We'd with one another in /
lak1ng him the richest gifts within
heir power. The khan gave him
rlceless rope of pearls which is said
be the finest in the world. besides
lamonds, emeralds and rubies galore.
lis presents are estimated to have
cen worth. at the lowest computation.
100000. but they were unique and no
rice could really be put upon them. His
val, the emir. was not far behind
i'm, and the hetman of the Don Cos
scks, Prince SviatopOlsk Mirskf II.
anne forward with some handsome /
as did all the leading
obles and princes of the empire, to
" nothing of foreign potentates.
is nn IrYn
the matter of ''windfalls" His loyal
lbjects are consistently leaving him
rye sums of money by will, which are
Vt always accepted Delicate diploma 1
is required to induce the car to ac-
pit legacy. AS a rule a wealthy !
1ssian who desires to leave money to ,
m communicates with Baron Friede- Z
chs or some other official of the i'm I
rial household before he makes his
ii and obtains the gracious consent of +
$ majesty to his design. Even when !
is has been done and the man dies !
reful investigation is made before I
money is accepted, with the object 7
finding out whether anybody who
d moral claim on the testator will Q
fer by his disposition of his wealth. h
so the car orders that the money i
diverted to the proper channels.
These legacies, when accepted, are y
yer used by the car for his private o
He regards them as a
lst fund and they have been so re-
rded by most of his ancestors. This
nd is drawn upon for charitable and
igious purposes. Five millions of ru-
IS were given from it to relieve the
irving peasants during the last ter
lie famine in Bessarabia But il is
confined TO Russian objects alone.
e ear made liberal donations from n
10 the last Indian famine relief fund -
d in aid of the negro peasants of
rtinique who suffered by the erup- ~
rs of Mont PeIee q
ONE of the legacies reach immense
MS. merchant named Stephanoff,
o died at Mini gorOd last year D
the car 100000 rubles c'to be
'lied to any object which his ma az
~ may be graciously pleased to con- "
er for the good of holy Russia'0. A -
scow banker named Nicolas Nichol- =
itch Ukhtansky left 100000 rubles
or three years ago to his monarch.
olutely free of any limitation or pro 21
on. And these amounts might be
alleled in many other cases Hard da