The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-07-07
RUSSIA Is BROKE
PARLIAMENT GETS IDEA or ITS
 CONDITION.
Not Enough Money Available To Meet Famine Appropriatfon While Cxar
 h Living In Greatest

NOt tfuOW8m mOMGJ AtMAkA04E EV nkEGt Famine Appropriafion While Czsr ts Living In Greatest
 Luxury.
 St. Petersburg. July 6.-The debate until Monday to permit the consider ation of the ministry's bill appropriat- Ing $25,000.000 for famine relief which developed the sensation of the day. crats have finally found a lever with which they hope to force the govern ment to surrender control of the purse strings, the vital object with which they have been aiming from the be-
 Professor Hertzenstein, chairman of the committee which reported the bill. revealed the fact that M. Kokovsofr. the finance minister. who appeared be- fore the committee made no effort to conceal the desperate financial straits committee that the condition of the treasury was much worse than believed and even tmpeached the figures given in this years budget made by M Shi. the the real @ state of of affairs. He said the government was living far beyond it's means and agreed that it must re- trench. but he explained that could not be accomplished this year.
 Therefore 1. was necessary to make a fresh loan to cover the famine re- lief Professor Hetrzenstein said this was exactly where the committee took issue with the ministry. Parliament. ne added. was in favor of a famine re- lief measure and would give more mon ey if necessary. but 1t would never agree to a new loan for which In real Ity there was no necessity.
 The budget was filled with extrav- agant items and money could be found by revising the budget. This method the committee proposed should be cou- pied with the provision that the right to make such revision belonged to Par lament and not to the ministry: M. Kokovsoff. who was present. replied to Professor Hertxenatetn.
 The Finance Minister said he saw the trap which had been set for him but he refused to enter 1t. and declared he regretted that what had been said 10 the committee had been detailed to the House. Furthermore the Minister de- nied that he had proposed fresh lonn.
 He said only that beyond the $7.500.- ate immediately. the Treasury had no funds available. and that the sum must be taken temporarily from money as- signed in the budget for other pur- poses M. Mokovsof added that he had informed the committee and he re- peated it to the House, that 1t was in- possible to scale the budget as 1t did not even include items coming over from last year which 1t was necessary to meet and which the recent loan did not provide for.
 New sources of revenue to meet the full famine appropriations must be IOQHut OuJ Il WdS HOt lH6 pIONlJlCS of the Parliament to specify the means by which the sum should be raised. That fell to the Government Finance Committed Parliament could only specify what was needed and tho Com mittee and the Minister of Finance would undertake to raise the money.
 When M. Kokovsoff left the tribune the members of the left followed him with cries of resign; ''go to Sak- halin" etc, but the centre did not join in the demonstrations.
 M. Rodtcheff and other members of the committee Insisted that the bodget must be scaled and insfnuated that the entire purport of what M. Kokovsof had said before the house distorted their remarks. This afternoon be- fore the committee M Kokovusosf had asserted that the amount the budget assigned for the liquidation of the war expenses, $2O2.5O0,000 was mere guess. But as the government wanted to contract a big loan the budget figures were perhaps exaggerated.
 The real cause of the financial straits of the government. M. Rodtchef said twas It's persistence In its present po- liticai policy" The St0,000,0 900 appro- priated In the budget for rebuilding the oil industry of the Caucasus was the sum which the country was paying for the building policy of Prince Galatzin. former governor general of the cau.. casus Now, unless the government did something to. stay the course. of the revolution in the country, the State and Nation would be bankrupted.