THE CRISIS IN RUSSIA.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11689, 16 September 1903, Page 6

THE CRISIS IN RUSSIA.

The removal of M. de Witte, lately Russian Minister of Finance, from office, is followed to-day by the new* that Russia is withdrawing her deposits, to the extent of 103.000,000 roubles, from European banks. Speculation is naturally rife as to the cause of botli of these events, and receives a fresh fillip from the further rumour that Count Lamsdorff, the Foreign ilinister, is sending in an enforced resignation. Whether, as is suggested, these tilings betoken a determination for war on the part of Russia, we cannot say. One thing is certain, that M. de Witte is the ablest Finance Minister Russia lias ever had, and that lus counsel has always been on the side of prudence and peace. In May last he felt it Ills duty to give an earnest warning as to the financial dangers threatening the Russian Empire. He pointed out that in the decade 1893-1906 the total ordinary and extraordinary expenditure had doubled. Whilst in the former year it barely exceeded 1,000,000,000 roubles, in the latter it amounted to over 2,000,000,000 roubles. The surplus for 1903 had been secured only by retaining certain indirect taxes, wliich had been imposed in 1900 as a mere provisional measure to meet emergencies arising out of political complications in the Far East. Had these been remitted there would be a deficit in this year’s estimates of 23,000,000 roubles. To meet the growing expenditure, moreover,

new forms of taxation had been devised. Private railways hud been bought up by the State, and the sale of liquor had been nationalised. Further, within the last fifteen years new taxes on rents, petroleum, matches, and sugar had been introduced; taxes on alcohol, wine, beer, tobacco, and imported articles of populir consumption, such as tea and cotton, had been increased; the stiimp duty had been increased; the taxation of trade and industry had been reorganised and largely increased; and, in tine, the Finance Minister was obliged to warn the Council of State that the taxation of the people, both direct and indirect, had already reached the extreme limit of intensity. Additional impositions were out of the question, and it was imperative that the existing scale should be speedily reduced. Whilst profoundly convinced .that to develop her economic power and compete in some measure with her competitors Russia must, for some years to come, develop railways of an economic character, the Finance Minister strongly deprecated the enforced construction of merely strategic and political railways, to which he mainly ascribed the present situation. These strategic railways constituted an intolerable drain upon the resources of the Russian Empire. Not only did they not pay interest on capital but. they did not even cover their working expenses. Between 1893 and 1903 no less than 61,500,000 roubles liad been granted for betterment of purely strategic railways, and the deficit in the exploitation of such lines, which this year totals 51,000,000 roubles, is estimated to amount in 1905 to the enormous sum of 84,500,000 roubles. The ordinary expenditure had in the decade under review increased by the alarming amount of per cent. In consequence M. de Witte was obliged to counsel a reduction of taxation, and to point out that however commendable in itself increased expenditure for the defence of the Empire, for the maintenance of law and order at home, for the improvement of tire condition of the peasantry, for the better adminis-’ tration of justice, or for the promotion of agriculture might be, it could not be allowed to exceed the resources of a state which has not yet reached the necessary development of economic prosperity, and he was certain that, at a critical hour for the Treasury, his Majesty the Emperor would not fail to assert his autocratic authority in order to maintain the financial equilibrium of the Budget and to compel the different departments of the State to adjust their claims to the resources of the country.

The disappearance of M. de Witte from the Treasury is attributed to -waning influence, and it is ssaid that his successor, M. Yon Plehve, is eclipsing him. The change does not, at the first blush, favour the prospects of peace. The situation in the Near East hua become exceedingly acute and menacing. It is hard to believe that, in the state of her finances, Russia is at all willing to engage in expensive, and, possibly, far-reaehing warlike operations, but, in matters appertaining to polities in the Near East jt is always rash to prophesy. That the present situation is far from reassuring is apparent to all, and further developments will be awaited with keen anxiety.