best customer. The amount of England's annual importation of
the above products (including grain) exceeds $112,000,000.

RUSSIA'S MINERAL WEALTH

In MINERALS Russia is enormously wealthy, but the mining lands are not
diffused throughout the empire but confined to definite areas. Nor can
they be said to be energetically worked. The great gold-fields of the
Ural mountains would not pay expenses as worked at present were they
not supplied with convict labour. Owing to the heavy import duty which
is imposed on pig-iron nearly all the iron now needed for the IRON
manufactures of the empire is obtained at home, but this amounts to
only 46 pounds per inhabitant, as against 810 pounds per inhabitant
used in Britain. COAL is very abundant, especially in the valley of
the Donetz, but fire-wood is so plentiful for domestic purposes, and
water power so plentiful for heavy manufactures, that the amount of
coal mined in all Russia is only one twelfth that mined in Germany,
and only one twenty-fourth that mined in Britain. Over 2,250,000 tons
of coal are imported despite very heavy protective duties. There is
one mineral product, however, in which Russia excels all other
European countries. This is PETROLEUM. The oil-springs on the Caspian
Sea produce an annual yield of crude petroleum of an average value of
$15,000,000. The value of the petroleum and petroleum products
exported in 1896 was over $22,000,000.

RUSSIA'S TRADE AND MANUFACTURES

Despite Russia's resources in farm products and in minerals, yet,
owing to the ignorance and degradation of her people, she is a poor
country, and her exports are always more than her imports. Her total
wealth per inhabitant is only $305, as against $780 per inhabitant
for Germany, $1260 for France, and $1510 for Great Britain and
Ireland. Her total foreign trade is only $5 per inhabitant, whereas
the foreign trade of her neighbour, Germany, is $35 per inhabitant.
Her total internal trade is only $50 per inhabitant, whereas even in
Greece the internal trade is $65 per inhabitant, while in Germany it
is $130 per inhabitant, and in the United States $215 per inhabitant.
The reason of all this is the lack of energy and industry in the
people. Their earnings per inhabitant average only 12 cents a day.
Another reason is the lack of modern labour-saving devices. Comparing
inhabitant with inhabitant, Russia has only one sixth of the steam
power which Germany has. One half of all the manufactures of