Walck-Neu-Schwanenburg-Stochmannshof, 130 miles; Tsarskoie-SeloDno, 144 miles; Novo-Sokolniki-Vitebsk, 91 miles. In Asiatic Russia: Manchuria Frontier-Kharbin, 579 miles; Kharbin-Sea Shore Province, 346 miles; Kharbin-Port Arthur, Newchwang, 634 miles; OrenburgAktubinsk, 169 miles; Turkestan—Tashkent, 164 miles; Chiyli-Turkestan, 97 miles.

The chief lines in construction in 1903 are: Bologoïe-Polotsk, 293 miles; Vologda-Viatka, 398 miles; Dolgintsevo-Volnovakha and embranchements, 394 miles; a line round the Lake Baikal, 161 miles (open in 1904); Aktubinsk-Baskara, 455 miles (open in 1904); Baskara-Chiyli, 97 miles (open in 1904); Polotsk-Siedlce, 415 miles; Obukhovo-Vologda, 365 miles.

The rolling stock on January 1, 1902, was: 13,429 steam engines, 15,132 passengers' carriages, and 313,633 goods carriages. About 400 engines and 15,000 carriages can be built every year by Russian works. The number of men employed on the Russian railways was 615,384 in 1901, receiving an aggregate of 202,075,471 roubles of wages.

The cost of construction of all the Russian railways, without Finland, is estimated at 5,149,399,000 roubles, or 99,000 roubles per verst (railways of Asiatic Russia, 437,235,000 roubles, or 56,000 roubles per verst).

The gross receipts of the railways, excepting those of Finland, amounted in 1901 to 596,802,000 roubles (599, 469,014 in 1902, 644,093,386 in 1903); European Russia, 556,186,000; (561,009,867 in 1902, 603,272,757 in 1903); Asiatic Russia, 40,616,000; (38,459,147 in 1902, 40,820,629 in 1903), the expenditure being 416,087,000 roubles (European Russia, 370,674,000; Asiatic Russia, 45,413,000). The income in 1901 was 180,715,000 roubles (European Russia, net receipts, 185,512,000; Asiatic Russia, loss, 4,797,000). The activity of the railways of Asiatic Russia (Transcaspian, Transsiberian, and Ussurian, is seen from the following table :—

III. POSTS, TELEGRAPHS, AND TELEPHONES.

The following are the postal statistics for the last five years:-
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS.

The length of telegraph lines on January 1, 1903, was 94,573 miles; that of wire, 218, 590 miles; there were 5,879 telegraphic apparatus.

The total number of telegrams carried in 1902 was 111,847,881 (with railway telegrams).

The length of telephone lines in 1902 attained 58,766 miles (wire); the number of apparatus, 45,232. There is a telephonic communication between St. Petersburg and Moscow (December 1898).

Money and Credit.

From 1886-96 (eleven years) the gold minted at St. Petersburg amounted (including recoinage) to the value of 183,305,630 roubles gold. In 1897 began the coinage of gold pieces worth not 10 but 15 silver or credit roubles. The coinage of gold and silver at St. Petersburg, Paris, and Brussels, and of bronze for Russia at Birmingham in the last five years, was to the following nominal value in credit roubles :

The amount of gold, silver in money and ingots and paper money in circulation are thus given by the Minister of Finances in millions of roubles :

Silver at %

:

Gold

Paper currency

During the year 1895, the Ministry of Finance, in order to put an end to the continual fluctuations in the value of the paper rouble, offered facilities for all payments to the Treasury and railways being made in gold, at a certain ratio between gold and paper currency to be determined from time

to time by the Ministry. By the laws of May and November, 1895, the ratio was established at 1r. 48c. in paper money for 1r. in gold, the golden 'imperial' coin of 10r. thus being taken for 15r. 24c. in paper money, and the new 10r. gold coin (law of December 29, 1885) at 14r. 80c. in paper money. For the year 1896, the value of the old and the new 'imperial' was established (in December, 1895) at, respectively, 15r. 45c. for the old, and at 15r. for the new coin-the ratio between gold and paper being thus 15 paper roubles for 10 roubles in gold. This ratio has been confirmed for the year 1897, and it was proposed to maintain it further on, and to impose upon the State's bank the duty of accepting paper money at the above ratio in exchange for gold. And finally, in view of the proposed permanent introduction of the above regular ratio between gold and paper currency, it was ordered, by an Imperial decree, dated January 3 (15), 1897, while leaving the gold money of the same contents of pure gold, weight, and dimensions as before, to mark upon it on the 'imperials' 15 roubles (instead of 10), and on the ‘halfimperials' 7r. 50c. (instead of 5 roubles). In 1897 (Nov. 26), a new gold money of the value of 5 paper roubles, i.e., equal in value to of the 'imperial' was introduced.

A regular value of the pay er currency having thus been introduced, a law was passed on August 29, 1897, to the effect that paper currency may be issued by the State's Bank, when necessity occurs, but on the following conditions: If the amount of paper currency does not exceed 600,000,000 roubles, it must be guaranteed by half that sum; while every issue above 600,000,000 roubles must be guaranteed to the full amount in gold deposited at the bank. In the memoir which accompanies the budget estimates for 1905, the Minister of Finances shows that the amount of gold accumulated at the Treasury and the State's bank attained 1,239,000,000 roubles, that is, exceeded the amount of paper money in circulation by 411,100,000 roubles. A considerable part of this amount of gold—that is, 527,900,000 roubles-was considered as a guarantee fund for the paper currency. The growth of the guarantee fund is represented as follows:

In consequence of the just-mentioned law of August 29, 1897, the form of the balance of the State's bank was altered on September 1, 1897. The paper currency will now appear in the passive of the bank,

while the guarantee fund in gold and the liabilities of the State Treasury to cover the paper currency, will appear in active of the bank.

1. The Bank of Russia acts in a double capacity-of State Bank and of commercial bank. It has 113 branches. The situation of the bank on February 5 (N.S.), 1905, was as follows (in 1,000 of roubles) :

2. The Savings Banks.-On January 1 (January 14), 1904, the number of savings banks (State, municipal, and postal) was 6,424, the depositors numbered 4,838,000, and the deposits amounted to 1,021,600,000 roubles.

3. State Banks for mortgage loans to the nobility.-Total of sums due to the bank on January 1, 1903, 713,686,300 roubles. Loans granted in 1902, 87,997,700 roubles, as against 83,976,000 roubles granted in 1901.

4. Land Bank for the purchase of land by the peasants. -Up to January 1, 1903, the bank had made 46,654 loans to village communities, associations, and separate individuals (6,056 in 1902). They bought 17,741,400 acres, valued at 457,133,725 roubles, of which 355,111,076 roubles were lent by the bank, and 102,022,649 paid by the buyers. During the year 1902, 1,878,714 acres were bought with the aid of the bank for a total value of 64,310,147 roubles out of which 55,737,824 roubles were lent by the bank. Since 1896 the Peasants' Land Bank is authorised to lend money to peasants. For the last 7 years 1,137 loans (276 in 1902) amonnted to 5,139,383 roubles (1,408,780 roubles in 1902).

5. Mortgage Banks.—On January 1, 1903, there were in European Russia, Poland, and Caucasus, 47 mortgage banks, including both those for the nobility and for the peasantry. The extent of their operations is shown in the following statement:

The number of shareholders' commercial houses (shareholders' Banks of Commercial Credit) was 40 in 1904, and their aggregate assets and liabilities balanced at 1,811,986,000 roubles on January 1, 1904.

Money, Weights, and Measures.

MONEY.

The legal unit of money is the silver Rouble of 100 Kopecks. It is of the value of 2s. 1'6d., but in official calculations 9:46 roubles are taken as equal to the pound sterling. Exact equivalents: 1,000,000 roubles £105,735 7s.

=

The

Gold coins are the imperial and half imperial of 15 and 7.5 roubles. half-imperial weighs 6'544041 grammes 916 fine, and contains, therefore, 5-994341 grammes of fine gold. The imperial weighs 12.902 grammes 900 fine, and consequently contains 11 6118 grammes of fine gold.

New gold coins are coined, bearing the inscription of 10 roubles, and 5 roubles = £1 1s. 3d. and 10s. 6d.

The silver rouble weighs 20 7315 grammes 86806 fine, or (in the new coinage) 19 9957 grammes 900 fine, and consequently contains 17.994 grammes of fine silver. Besides the silver rouble, credit notes (100, 25, 10,

5, 3, and 1 rouble) are legal tender.

Diplomatic and Consular Representatives.

1. OF RUSSIA IN GREAT BRITAIN.

Ambassador.-His Excellency Count Benckendorff, appointed January 16th, 1903.

Councillor of Embassy.-S. Sazonoff.

First Secretary.-S. Poklevski-Koziell.

Second Secretaries.—Prince Sviatopolk-Mirsky, and M. M. Sevastopoulo. Military Attaché. -Major-General Yermoloff.

Naval Attaché. -Captain Bostroem.

Assistant Naval Attaché.-Captain Plançon.
Financial Attaché.-M. M. Rutkowski.

Consul-General.-Baron Ungern-Sternberg.

Russia has consuls at Belfast, Dover, Hull, Liverpool, Newcastle, and Plymouth; vice-consuls at Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff and Newport, Chatham and Sheerness, Cowes, Dover, Dublin, Dundee, Exeter, Falmouth, Glasgow, Gloucester, Goole, Grimsby, Guernsey and Jersey, Harwich, Kings Lynn, Leeds, Leith, Lerwick, Londonderry, Lowestoft, Manchester, Milford, Peterhead, Portland, Portsmouth, Queenstown and Cork, Ramsgate, Rochester, Southampton, Sunderland, Swansea and Llanelly, and Yarmouth.