SERGIUS DE WITTE;

Otago Witness, Issue 2369, 27 July 1899, Page 61

SERGIUS DE WITTE ;

THE. CZAR'S FINANCE MINISTER. • , (Pall Mall Gazette.) The character of M. de Witte, the Russian "Finance Minister to whom in a great measure the Anglo-Russian agreement owes its being, has for years past beeD the subject of much lively controversy not only in St. Petersburg, but in Paris; Vienna, and Berlin. In certain circles in St. Petersburg (in Paris, too) the mere mention of his name is a sure signal for an outburst of indignant wrath. . . . But if M. de Witte has bitter enemies, he has also warm friends. Although certain influential mem-__ bers of the Imperial -family, together with' the army and the whole reactionary Panslavist tribe, are against him, the Intelligentia to a man are on his side/ and so are the money-making classes. Even in that part of the world there are, in this our day, Progressives among the great nobles and high officials too — the Grand Duke Constantine is at then: head — and they all swear by M. de Witte, holding that if Russia is to be saved, he is the man to save her. Their admiration for him is unbounded : not only is he a financier such as there is no other ir all Europe, but he is a statesman of the first rank, they maintain — a reformer by instinct, one with a perfect genius for making crooked paths straight. Were he given a free hand in the management of affairs, they say, Russia would be completely transformed in a very short space of time. . . A story that is curiously characteristic of M. de Witte is told in connection with the publication of M. de Cyon's "M. Witte et les Finances Russes," a book which threatened at one time to cause great excitement • in Paris. M. de Cyon, K.atkof's great friend and ally in former days, is, perhaps, the most vindictive of the Russian Minister's many vindictive enemies ; and his book is one long, ""fierce attack on him and his policy. What gives importance to the work, and renders it the more dangerous, is that it is a direct appeal to France to refuse to lend money to Russia so long as M. de Witte is Finance Minister. M. Cyon tells the French nation roundly that de Witte has deceived them again and again, that he has deliberately played on their love of Russia to extort money from 'them, . betraying them to Germany the while — favouring Germany at the expense of France. It chanced that just when the book was on the point of appearing (in January, 1895) a Presidential crisis occurred in France, whereupon M. de Cyon gave orders that the publication should be stopped, not wishing, as he said, to add to the embarrassment of the ' French Government by bringing the Franco-Russian alliance into discredit. At the same time he sent confidentially copies of the book to four members of the Russian State Council, in the hope, as he somewhat naively confesses, that one of them might fall into the hands of the Czar. Instead of that, one fell into the hands of M. de Witte, who straightway sent word to its author that if he did not publish his bock in Paris, and at once, he, de Witte, M r ould publish it for him in St. Petersburg ; aye, and would distribute copies of it gratis all round. He sent, tocv an announcement of his intention to the Figaro, and the result was that the book was hopelessly discredited before ever it was published. Sergius Witte — the right to the "de" was acquired in quite recent days — is a, selfmade man. He started life without either wealth or influential friends to help him on his way. He was born in 1849, and belongs by birth to the lower middle class, his father, who was of German origin, holding some minor office under Government. He spent some years as a student at the Odessa University, though without, as it seems, d"'stiuguishinc himsell there in any special degree. When he left Odessa he obtained a post in the State Railway Department, where he speedily won the favour of his superiors by doing their work for them, and much better than they could do it themselves. Promotion followed promo tion, and in every office he held he gave proof of his marvellous skill as an organiser. He was once installed as stationma-ste* in quite an unimportant town, and before many months had elapsed he had transformed his station into a model for the whole Empire. Then came the Turkish war,-*&d that gave him his great chance in life, for his chiefs in the railway department lost their heads completely under the strain of transporting troops to the front, and the result would have been disaster had he not come to their help. But come to their help he did, and very effectually, for long before war was declared he had, it seems, without saying a word to anyone, quietly done what his superiors ought to have done — that is, worked out the details of various schemes for the transport of an army against Turkey. This proof of forethought on his part created quite a sensation in official circles, where -people are not accustomed to subordinates looking ahead or doing anything else on their own initiative. He worked night and day- while the war lasted ; and when it came to an end he had already made a reputation for himself, and was on the highway to fortune. M. de Witte's work as Finance Minister — his commercial treaties with Germany and Austria, his endless schemes for the development of the Empire, and, above all, the spirit monopoly by wliich he has secured for the State a fruitful source of revenue — is too well known to call for comment here. In judging of it we ought in fairnesi to take into account the difficulties against which, he has had, and still has, to contend ; the fact that he has had to fight tooth and nail for every- reform he has effected, and against overwhelming odds as often as not. M. Pobiedonostzev, Prince Imeretinsky, and General Vannowsky have taken the lead in opposing his projects and in attacking him personally, even in the Council Chamber, amidst scenes of unparalleled violence. They denounce him as a Socialist, nay, a Communist and revolutionary, because he insists that Russia must cease lagging behind in the race. Katkof's old followers join in the cry, of course, for tney cannot forgive him for having convinced not only the Czar, but a fair section of his subjects, that Russia through, sheer necessity must live in

peace with her neighbours, as, for the time being, she has not the means wherewith to wage war. They pass half their days plotting and intriguing against him, trying -to excite suspicion against him in the mind of the Czar. -So far, however, they have failed completely. M. de Witte is' more powerful than ever in Russia to-day. Were it otherwise the Anglo-Russian Agreement would never have been signed.