The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1915-09-30
RICH IN RESOURCES
Russia Faces Indefinite Future Of
Warfare Undismayed.
The Most Powerful Country Of the
Future" Was Just Finding Itself
When War Broke Out
Wealth Untouched.

Washington, d. C.-With the great.
est wholesale destruction of treas
ure in all history taking place. with
war-wrought economic losses piling IN
In such stupendous aggregates as no
panic ever caused, the question as to
now long each of the belligerents can
stand the fearful strain upon its re-
sources is becoming as important and
fully as interesting as are any of
those more stirring questions grow.
ing out OF the purely military phase of
the world-war. In bulletin lust is.
sued, the National Geographic society
sketches the pre-war economic condi-
tion OF Russia, which, having expend-
ed $500. 100000, having lost hundreds
OF millions of dollars in foreign trade,
and cities and provinces worth hun.
dreds of millions more. is facing an
indefinite future of warfare undis.
mayed, confident. The bulletin reads
Commercial and industrial re~olu-
tion were stirring in Russia before the
war; the work of opening its magnii-
cent domain was being rapidly carried
forward; plans for developing its al.
most unlimited resources were in
process of confident organization:
modern cities were springing up like
mushrooms in rich Siberia; textile,
metal and other industries we're lay
ing firm foundations. and foreign trade
had been brought up to about 1900.
100000. What has been called the
most powerful country in the future
was finding itself, and was preparing
to enter upon the centuries of expan-
sion that it will need to exhaust the
possibilities of its boundless natural
wealth.
About two and one-half times
larger than the United States. with
an area of S,650.000 square miles and
a population of l70.000.00O, which is
increasing at the rate of 100000 a
year. Russia's natural resources re-
semble those of this country, and are
proportionate. II has nearly 800, ,0O0,.
900 acres OF forest-compared with
the 544,400,000 acres of the United
States-much Of which. even now. 's
carefully administered, and which. one
day, will be the worlds first source OF
timber. It has 250,000.000 acres of
land under cultivation, while this
country has a cultivated area OF
about twice as great; but Russia can
expand her farm lands twenty fold and
still leave virgin land to the future.
1t can become the granary and the
stock farm of the world.
Scarcely two score years have
passed since Russia began with seri.
GUS purpose the task of her internal
development. Progress, during the
first thirty years of this period was
hesitant In the last decade. however,
II has doubled its foreign trade, OF
which 56 per cent is exports: still
this foreign commerce is less than half
that OF the United States. But Rus
sia before the war had scarcely be.
gun to gather steam for the prose,
cution of her tasks. There remain
hundreds OF millions of acres OF fat
lands to be brought under the plow;
tens of thousands of factory plants to
build; rich mines to be opened; great
railway and canal systems 20 be
built; millions Of home-bullders to be
moved into Siberia, the silver East
of the czar's empire. and many mil
lions of illiterates to be educated tc
a higher standard of life and efii
cheney.
Russia is q vast storehouse OF raw
materials. and must for many year
remain a purchaser Of machinery anC
manufactured goods In increasing
quantities. Yet the mills OF Russii
consume $l30,O0O,OO0 worth of raw cot
ton annually. and Russian iron ant
steel rails have already found thei
way into competition in the market
OF the world. Germany bought NOR
from Russia than any other thre
countries. and sold to the Russian
about half of all their imports. Thes
two empires did tremendous. thriv
ing business with one another befor
tne war. and great stream OF GeI
man capital flowed into the mort har-