The merchants of Odessa are in fear of a great
diminution in• their corn trade. They say that America is beating them in the English market, and their supply of wheat to England is gradu- ally sinking—the reduction in 1875 ha‘ing been ten per cent.—and still going on, while the American sale has risen from £15,200,004 in 1871 to £29,000,000 in 1874. The difference between the two exporting countries is most serious, as the value of corn ex- ported from Russia is equal to the value of all her other exports, and the Russian failure is attributed partly to the want of means of communication, which are incessantly improved in America, and partly to the Russian system of allowing the communes to hold land, instead of individuals. This, it is said, destroys in- dustry, as the lazier members of the commune live upon their neighbours. As the communes always held land in common, the root of the mischief is probably the want of roads, but it may be aggravated by the state of the paper currency which begins- to fluctuate till bargaining to a profit is very nearly impossible, This currency is a standing difficulty of the Russian Government,. and will have one day to be dealt with very sharply.
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