RUSSIA

601 report by French specialists on the subject of the coal situation in Russia in 1920 presented the following points: Between 1916 and 1920 there was a falling off of 687,565,000 pounds or 77 per cent and the extraction in 1920 was about 10 per cent less than that of 1919. This involved also a very heavy falling off in the average individual production. The condition of the mines was not so bad as might have been supposed. The machinery seemed to be intact and although some pits had been flooded the Moscow government had succeeded in draining them. In short, the Soviet government while keeping the instruments of production, seemed unable to overcome the difficulties caused by shortage of labor and of technical skill. See INTERNATIONAL COÖPERATIVE ALLIANCE.

COMMERCE. In 1917 the trade of the United States with Russia totalled $438,323,202. In the calendar year, 1920, the imports from the United States into Russia in Europe were valued at $15,446,832, and the exports to the United States from Russia in Europe, $13,280,886; and the exports from Russia in Asia to the United States $10,655,196. The figures for the calender year 1919 were as follows: Exports from Russia in Europe to the United States $30,259,745; imports to Russia in Europe from the United States $2,953,480; imports from the United States to Russia in Asia, $52,176,440; exports from Russia in Asia to the United States $10,655,196. The trade with Great Britain was as follows for 1918 and 1919 in thousands of pounds sterling:

A writer for an official organ of the government toward the close of the year criticized the policy pursued in regard to foreign trade especially for the lack of a well-conceived plan of operation. When the frontiers were at length partially opened to trade, he said, the foreign trade department of the government was wholly unprepared. He instanced as showing the lack of efficient provision for real needs, the importation of large quantities of children's toy shovels at a time when Russia was suffering for the lack of technical equipment, etc., and he concluding that under existing conditions and in view of the scarcity in all fields of industrial and personal consumption, it would be necessary even to export what Russia needed for its own consumption, merely in order to buy in exchange that which was needed more,

RUSSIA

FINANCE. The budget estimate of 1919 was as follows: Revenue 48,000,000,000 rubles; expenditure 230,000,000,000 rubles. The cost of the war according to Russian estimates published at the beginning of 1920 was 50,599,275,699 rubles. French authorities made the following report in 1920 in regard to the Russian debt: At the time when the regular government at Moscow had disappeared the Russian debt exceeded 44,000,000,000 rubles or 117,000,000,000 francs of which 11,520,000,000 rubles (30,640,000,000 francs) was foreign debt and 4,175,000,000 was held by investors who had subscribed for loans before the war. Of the total, France had supplied about 4,300,000,000 of which 1,300,000,000 had been advanced by the state. The French credit in Russia in 1920 accordingly, amounted to about 13,540,000,000 francs, of which about 10,000,000,000 were loaned by private citizens. This situation explained in part why public opinion in France was so disturbed about Bolshevism in Russia.

There was no faith in the intention or the ability of the Soviet government to respect these obligations. In France, however, it was pointed out by certain writers that this was not the debt exclusively of the Soviet government but should be proportionately borne by the states that had formed part of Russia when the debt. was incurred, and in certain quarters the French government was criticized for not having made this clear at the time when it recognized the states of Poland, Lithuania, Esthonia, and Latvia.

THE BALTIC PROVINCES. The so-called Baltic Provinces of Esthonia, Livonia and Courland are bounded on the west by the Baltic Sea, on the south by the governments of Kovno, and Vitebsk, on the east by the River Peipus and the governments of Petrograd and Pskov, and on the north by the Gulf of Finland; in 1920 they were all within the limit of the two republics of Esthonia and Latvia. (See articles under these heads). The following information in regard to both was derived from a special report under the United States Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Dec. 30, 1920, which supplied from Russian sources diverse material heretofore not accessible in English.

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ESTHONIA. In addition to the former Russian government in Esthonia and the northern part of Livonia, Esthonia claimed the islands of Moon Sound and certain districts in the Pskov and Petrograd government. The interests are largely agricultural though to a less extent than those of Latvia as the region is not so rich in soil or in forests and is not so well supplied with communications. In 1919 it was necessary to import grain and a normal crop was not expected in 1920. The principal crops with their product in metric tons in 1919 were: ley, 104,000; oats, 113,500; potatoes, 550,000; rye, 127,000; wheat, 12,000. Flax, a monopoly of the government, had declined greatly since 1917. Live stock had also been reduced. The figures for 1920 were as follows: Cattle, 404,237; goats, 1,235,932; sheep, 421,103; pigs, 245,991; and horses, 164,601. In 1920 there was reported a dearth in every kind of vegetable with the exception of potatoes. Manufacturing establishments were suffering for lack of fuel and skilled workmen. The budget for 1920 was as follows: Ordinary expenses, 979,450,000 marks; total income 1,071,500,000 marks. Figures for extraordinary expenditures were unavailable.

The chief sources of revenue were the tax on matches, cigarettes, tobacco, and yeast; monopoly of spirits and alcohol: railroads and postal service. The military expenditures in 1919 were by far the heaviest, war expenditures amounting to over five-sevenths of the total. The country had been obliged to meet its obligations by constantly issuing paper money. Little aid for the war expenses was secured by means of loans. The deficit in 1919 was 1,500,000,000 marks which rendered the mark practically valueless and a further deficit of between 2,000,000,000 and 2,500,000,000 was indicated by the 1920 budget. Down to 1919, Esthonia had received the following foreign loans: From Finland, 20,000,000 Finnish marks, against future delivery of flax, of which the greater portion had been delivered; England, £300,000 in seed and food stuffs; United States, $12,500,000 in foodstuffs and raw materials. Transport facilities as reported in 1920 fell far below the requirements of the country. The country is capable of exporting: Wood, flax, potatoes, alcohol, paper, and cloth. The imports needed include: Raw materials, agricultural machinery, fodder and fertilizers.

LATVIA. In addition to the government of Courland and the southern part of the government of Livonia, the Latvian republic claimed three districts of Vitebsk and regions in the governments of Grodno and Pskov and in East Prussia. The basis of economical life is agriculture and forestry, both of which have received the special attention of the government. The largest estates belong almost exclusively to the Baltic nobles, but the estates of southern Livonia were confiscated in the spring of 1919 and placed under the direction of economic committees. The same thing was done in Courland. Many landowners declared their willingness to sell such parts of their estates as could be taken care of by the purchasers during a period of six years. In the districts claimed by Latvia in Vitebsk, the average estates were mostly in the hands of small landowners.

Crops for the main part of the country, that is to say excluding the Vitebsk districts, in 1919, along with the area planted in hectares were as follows: Oats, 189,311; rye, 115,950; barley, 69,851; potatoes, 24,899; flax, 13,123; wheat, 12,525. The following table shows the value of exports and imports according to the countries during the last half of 1919:

tea, etc. These measures, it was hoped, would provide for the ordinary expenses of the government.

DEFENSE. The Soviet government by decree of Feb. 1, 1918 established the workers' and peasants' army of volunteers which was joined either voluntarily or under compulsion by officers of the old army and which steadily improved in organization and discipline in the course of the conflicts with internal and foreign enemies of the Bolshevists. By January 31, 1920 when the Russian forces were in control of almost all European Russia and as far east as Lake Baikal in Siberia their field strength was estimated about 600,000 men with a reserve force including administrative services amounted to an additional 700,000. The forces were divided into 13 armies of which 5 were at that time on the eastern front, for the most part in Siberia; 5 on the southern front; and 3 on the northern and western fronts. Forces of about 60,000, chiefly composed of Austrian war prisoners, were distributed in the Near East, along the Prussian frontier, and in the neighborhood of Bokhara and Taskhurd. During the revolution the Baltic fleet fell into the hands of the Bolshevists. A part of the Black Sea fleet offered resistance to the Bolshevist government on account of the dissatisfaction with the terms of the treaty of Brest-Litovsk and some smaller vessels and one battleship were lost. In June, 1918 the vessels returned to Sebastopol. The Baltic fleet was attacked in August, 1919 by officers of the British fleet and a number of smaller vessels and 2 battleships were destroyed. No figures showing the exact strength of the fleet were available and the details pertaining to the period before the revolution will be found in preceding YEAR BOOKS.

GOVERNMENT The Russian republic is a Federal, Socialist community government under the constitution published July 19, 1918, which was adopted by the fifth All-Russian Soviet Congress. The main features in the constitution are as follows: All central and local authority vested in Soviets of workers, soldiers, and peasant delegates; all private property abolished and become the common possession of the people; state ownership of mines, factories and all other means of production and transport; universal obligation to labor; freedom of conscience, opinion, the press, and meeting; compulsory and universal military service, with the reservation that the defense of the revolution by arms is incumbent only upon the laboring classes. In respect to powers whether executive or judicial the centre and source is the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, consisting of representatives from the town Soviets on the basis of one delegate for 25,000 electors and from provisional congresses of Soviets on the basis of one delegate for 125,000 inhabitants. This congress elects an AllRussian Central Executive Committee of not more than 200 members which serves as the supreme executive, legislative, and administrative body and which constitutes the so-called "Council of People's Commissioners," consisting of 18 members, for departments of foreign affairs, war, navy, interior, justice, labor, social relief, finance, etc. The three chief commissioners in 1919 and 1920 were: President of the Council, M. Lenin (Vladimir Ilitch UlianovLenin); Military Affairs and Navy, M. Leo Trotsky; Foreign Affairs, M. Tchitcherin.