The Washington herald., 1915-10-17

church lands. In the Middle Ages the
pository of all the learning of the land.
but its bankers and usurers also, and
the wealth amassed in the course of
centuries was enormous. The Russian
church is not poor now, but the bulk
of its vast possessions passed to the
house of ROmanoff century ago. The
imperial domains comprise 21.32S,00O
acres. an area larger than all Ireland.
About two-thrds Of this area is forest
out of which good revenue is made:
the timber exported from Archangel is
known all over the world. while the es-
tate of Belovezh. that magnificent forest
here are still preserved herds of the
aurochs. annually provides for sale
1900. 900 cubic feet OF timber: another
estate in the Vologda province produces
200 900 of the largest timber trees an
uualIy for the imperial sawmills there.
The other third of the area comprised
in the imperial domains. something
larger than all Wales, is highly cult
vatod land. Mineral wealth is worked
in hundred spots: $500 -four mills,
thousand fisheries. not for sport but as
an article of trade. a hundred wharves
on various rivers, and $50 trading con-
Germs Of various kinds. are among the
minor undertakings belonging to the i'm
pcrial domains. The clear profit derived
from these various sources is over SlO.-
100000 per annum.
The third and largest source of the
cars income are the cabinet proper
ties" 115 5.OOO,0 900 acres, situated mostly
in Siberia and including the wealthiest
gold and silver Mines, These properties,
the personal possession of Nicholas H.
are about the size of Russia's ally.
France. and are OF untold value. The
ore deposits have hardly been scratched,
hut enough is taken out every year TO
bring the czar's income up to tho tidy
figure of 5000, ,O0O.0 a year.
There is a considerable distinction be
tween the imperial domains and the cahi-
not properties Both belong to Nicholas.
tho former as head of the ruling house
OF RomanOffS. the second as the per-
sonal possession of the reigning mon
arch And thereby hangs tale-a
series of tales. in fact
The Romanoffs acquired their wealth
in the days of Catherine the Great and
her son Paul. Catherine enriched the
house by conquest, her son by the simple
expedient of confscating the vast landed
properties of the Russian church. Paul
went so far as to parcel out for all time
the incomes from the property ac-
ouired" by his great mother and him.
self Thus every Romanof from birth
is assured of many acres of land and
enormous incomes. SO it hardly seems
necessary for the state treasury to pay
out $500, 900 annually for the needs
of the imperial house. The reignfng en-
press. for instance. has an allowance Of
100000 a year, the dowager empress
the same. Every child born to the czar
receives from birth to the age of twenty
one nearly $4,000 a year. while the
heir to the throne receives annually. in
addition to maintenance OF palace, $5O.-
600. Daughters receive dowry OK
1000. 900 rubles. or $500,ooo' wnen
they marry.
But these sums are regarded as mere
spending money. They would not pay
the interest on the returns from the i'm
perial domains and private properties of
the Romanoff family. They barely keep
the Romanoffs supplied with cigarettes.
OF the cSar's many estates scattered