Elmore County Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1910-1915, 1915-09-04
RICH IN RESOURCES
Russia Faces Indefinite Future OF
Warfare Undismayed.
1.-THE Most Powerful Country of the
Future" Was Just Finding Itself
When War Broke out
Wealth Untouched.


est wholesale destruction of treas
ure in all history taking place, with
war-wrought economic losses piling UP
in such stupendous aggregates as nc
panic ever caused. the question as to
how 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 just is
sued, the National Geographic society
sketches the pre-war economic condi.
ton 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 ar
indefinite future of warfare undis.
mayed, confident. The bulletin reads
Commercial and industrial rev0lu
ton were stirring in Russia before the
war; the work of opening its magniti
cent domain was being rapidly carrief
forward; plans for developing it's al
most unlimited resources were il
process of confident organization
modern cities were springing up lik
mushrooms in rich Siberia; textile
metal and other industries were lay
ing firm foundations, and foreign trade
had been brought up to about $1,500,
100000. What has been called TIL
most powerful country in the future
was finding itself, and was preparin
to enter upon the centuries Of expan
sion that 1t will need to exhaust Tho
possibilities of its boundless naturaT
wealth.
About two and one-half times
larger than the United States, witt
an area of 8,650,000 square miles and
population of 10000, 600, which is
increasing at the rate OF 100000 q
year Russia's natural resources re
semble those of this country, and arc
proportionate. 1t has nearly 100000,
900 acres of forest-compared with
the 544,400,000 acres of the United
States-much of which, even now, is
carefully administered, and which, one
day, will be the worlds first source Of
timber. 1t has 250,000,000 acres OF
land under cultivation, while this
country has a cultivated area OF
about twice as great; but Russia cal
expand her farm lands twenty-fold an6
still leave virgin land to the future
1t can become the granary and thl
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,
it has doubled its foreign trade, Or
which Sc per cent is exports; still
this foreign commerce is less than half
that of the Uuited States. But Rus.
STA 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 CT thousands Ct factory plants to
build; rich mines to be opened; great
railway and canal systems tc "
built; millions Of home-builders to be-
moved into Siberia, the silver East
Of the cars empire, and many mil
lions Of illiterates to be educated to
a higher standard of life and eff.
cheney.
Russia is vast storehouse of raw
materials, and must for many years
remain a purchaser Of machinery and
manufactured goods in increasing
Quantities. Yet the mills of Russia
consume $130,C00,j00 worth Of raw cot
ton annually, and Russian iron anu
steel rails have already found their
way into competition in the markets
of the world Germany bought more
from Russia than any other three
countries, and sold t. the Russians
about half Of all their iraports These
two empires did a tremendous, thriv-
ing business with one another before
the war, and a great stream of Ger
man capital flowed into the northern
empire fer investment. England, Hol-
land, Austria-Hungary and Italy, in
the order named followed Germany
in business with the Russians. Ger
man trade promotion was thoroughly
organized throughout the land, ard
in Riga, Petrograd and Moscow names
of thousands of German firms. could
be seen.
Russia, as are but few other great
nations, is self-sustaining III the mat
ter Of raw materials; but the Musco-
vite empire is dependent upon The
'actories IF other lands for every step
that it may take in the upward scale
it is even dependent upon foreign
manufactures to maintain standards in
is wide-sweeping territory as high as
hey are today. There is fabulous
giches awaiting transmutaticn by Rus
sian industry, but Russian industry
las hardly passed the birth
"Frsked' Muncie Cop.
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