RUSSIA'S VAST RESOURCES.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 310, 1 October 1915, Page 5

RUSSIA'S VAST RESOURCES.

<•— ■ In an ; article in the iNovoe Vremya under the title "We Must Conquer," the well-known Russian publicist, M. Men+JL shikoff. writes: In the course of"our . mobilisation we have made IPa series o + \ important discoveries as to the capacity of our industries. For instance ,we "have discovered that many of our spirit distilleries can manufacture benzol and toluel materials so important for our army, without, any drastic alteration in their existing plant. Thus our vodka distilleries, which -were'faced wiiih the prospect of niin ■on account of the abolition of drink, ■have now found a. useful work to do. Large soap factories are in a position to manufacture lubricating materials for our artillery. The practical labuvatories of our high technical schools can make many mendicants. The sam« may be said of smaller works and tac tories. In the Kieff province alone, the local mobilisation committee discovered about a thousand works and ship? -which can cast and turn out shells. "We have been so long under the German spell that we have come to think that there are no industrial facilities in Russia; but it was 3U fieie •.t feus to look into our own house to fir.d that it is full of riches. Mr Mamontoff, a man who ought to know our industries as well as any man, says tfhat we -|ar e capable of producing enough shells | §|o" s now down Germany if we will only make full use of all our industrial resources. M. Menshikoff mentions that whilst the needs of the coui' r y a;« so . great, many of our larger works are working'very slowly, and discharging many of their hands. "The reason for this," he says, "may be guessed when one knows that such large engineering works as Kolomensky Sornowsky,' and Wicsunsky are in German hands. The majority of the shares of ..i.e tw> latter works are in the hand-; of a Cor uaii subject, Herr Lessing, wio : : 5 v^d.rector of the Berlin Deuts'ih3 Bank, tad lives in Berlin. - -The • same Lessing, through his nominees, controls a large number of the shares of the Kolomensky works, and quite recently acquried, again through nominees, a large engin. eering works in- Shturoff, valued at 5,000,000 nobles. Tt is evident that the Germans lave carried out a large and far-seeing plan of capturing a number \ of our erpineering works to preven f | "them helping the army. These works 1 must now be taken over and controlled Jj by ib., ? armament committees. The manufacturers have shown practical patriotism by subecribimmediately, ten million roubles for the erection of a new armament works, and have decided to devote the whole iPI the profits to the needs of the army."