Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-21
|RUss|A's FINANCES
The Feature Of Her Economic
History.
POPULATION GROW POORER
And the Government Grows Richer,
With Funds From the People.
COMPLAINT OF THE PEASANTS
Against the Weight Of Duties Proves
the Falsely Directed Protsc-
tive System.
COMPLAINT OF THE PEASANTS

| tive System.
Maxim Gorky. the Russian author. who
| arrived in America few days ago. Is ex-
| pected to throw q great deal Of light upon
the Russian situation during his sojourn
In this country. Gorky is the one man
| who can tell of Russia and its people with
| out fear OF making misstatements. He IL
self-sure in his conservatism. and a man
| OF experience. The gradual economic de-
| cline OF the peasantry forms a very char
| acteristtc feature Of the economic history
| Of Russia. which history is a feature Of
the condition Of that nation.
| Maxim Gorky," said diplomat today,
'in continuing his talks on Russia, will
| at the first opportunity tell Americans Of
Russia in relation to her peasants, If his
plans are carried out made. But with
out desiring to anticipate him. I believe
| that few words on the same subject may
| be of help.
"As the impoverishment OF the rural pop
| ulation Of the empire goes hand-in-hand
| with the growth Of manufactures and the
rapid increase IN the financial resources
[ Of the government. something paradoxical
| is found. The population grows poorer.
| and the government enriches its treasury
with the surplus of the funds collected
| from the people, in which it shares with
the representatives of It's favorite branches
of industry.
I'm ten years. from 1893 to 1903. the gov
eminent treasury received from popular
| taxation 1900, 100000 rubles more than Its
estimate called for. This surplus was
realized. not from profits. but from the
property of the population, which has be-
come quite accustomed to semi-starvation.
Tempted by the possibility of dispensing
with the esta blished form of the budget.
through its unlimited and free resources,
an c{a1 art of the government
disregarded the most elementary rules or
wise financial policy. which prescribes,
first of all. that the resources OF the pop
ulatfon must be spared rather than its
| economic condition made unbearaDie III
| order to enrich the government treasury.
The Improbable Drain.
"rhe high protective duties and excuses
with which the necessary articles Tor use
/ and consumption are taxed impose upon
the country a heavy drain. which Is I'M
profitable even for the government. Obsta-
| cles to the Importation OF coal and other
| staples make production unproportionaiiy
dearer. They hinder the deye e the eo Ul
| that very industry about winch the gov
! eminent Is anxious.
| ''The falsely directed protective system;
| checking imports. also limits exports ana
| leads to a steady and general blocking OF
| the freedom of commerce Russian internal
| trade stands out now on the same low lever
| where 1t stood twenty years ago, In spite OF
| erection OF a WnOle net u ucW iodoos
The excessive customs duties enrich single
| nroducers at the expense of the whole popu-
| iation, but decidedly obstruct the develop
ment of industry in the country; AS q re-
| suit the whole population, especially the
rural portion, feels upon its back the weight
4 Of the artificial industrial protection
| Everywhere among the peasantry COM
plants are raised constantly against the IN
| tolerable weight of payments and duties.
| against the dfsproportionate impost or In
| direct taxes laid on articles of primary Inn
| portance to the masses, and the consequent
| derangement of the economic conditions OF
the peasants. In the government or Tula,
| for example, the outstanding debts In rura!
| societies increased from 3 per cent to IA
per cent: the number of horseleSs farms
| from IS per cent to 35 per cent. and large
| per cent of male adults are compelled to
| seek outside work in order to cover up the
| chronic deficits. And similar conditions pre-
| vail in other provinces.
almost all rural economic committees
| point to the Injurious influence of protection
on agricultural industry. All the benefits
| accrue to the manufacturing Industries.
whereas all the weight of the tax lies on the
rural economy.
"The majority of the reform committees.
| appointed to formulate their propositions.
| declared that 1t Is necessary, first, to dis
continue the one-sided protective policy
| with regard to manufacturing enterprises;
| second, to tighten the burden on the peas
antry, and. third. to introduce gradually an
income tax.
by taking off a. part of the intolerable
| burden from the peasantry and putting it
| on the weather. classes Of manufacturers
| and capitalists. a well-regulated develop
| ment of the social economy could be made
| possible 1t would prepare the soil for fu-
| ture enterprises of which, under the given
conditions 1t is even useless to think. To-
| gether with the financial equality there
| must go also judicial. 1t Is impossible to
| leave the peasantry in the position of
| pariahs. deprived of the right of freedom
| Of movement and of personal inviolability.
A Fundamental Change.
1.-The whole rural administration must be
| changed fundamentally. Many of the COM
| mittees maintain that the present rural ad
nlinistration is entirely unsatisfactory.
While 1t lays on the peasantry the whole
| burden and care of the communal and gov
eminent requirements 1t furnishes them, in
eompensat ton, neither the material means
| nor the corresponding personal strength
| and due competence in the management of
| affairs.
1.-THE rural municipal administration, de-
| prived of it's power and authority. has not
| the possibility of either providing due as
| sistance and protection to its citizens or
| managing the communal affairs. The rural
| administration ought to transform It's man
agement to correspond with that Of the
| city and district administrations.
THE committee suggest, for the peasan-
| try. a number of departures from the gen.
| eraf laws. and from the enactments of the
civil and criminal legislatures.
Almost all the committees reject capital
punishment which has an injurious and
demoralizng effect. the more terrible as
the dishonor of the one punished falls upon
| the whole family. AT the same time COM
mittees insist upon raising the Intellectual
and moral standard of the peasantry by
means of education.
Similar demands" concluded the dlplo-
| mat. were made twenty years ago by the
state secretary, Mr.. Khakhanov, for the
committee appointed by the emperor. But
the results OF his labor were buried In the
ministerial bureau, and now the same ideas
have cropped up in the report of every
| committee on rural industry since 1884.
May be that Gorky will throw additional
light on this question It Is interesting to
all the world. because Russia's future Is a
matter that concerns every great power,
and her instability might bring compIica-
TONS