It is simply impossible to obtain an accurate account of
the position of the Russian Treasury. It is stated, however, on good authority, that the French and German financiers are becoming alarmed by its incessant demands, and by the possibility that the Notables may insist on a new financial policy. The prices asked for accommodation are already exorbitant. A letter from M. Rouvier warning the Minister of Finance of apprehensions in Paris is said to have been one of the arguments which extorted the Rescript from the Czar, and it seems certain that the great French houses recently asked for a loan have succeeded in cutting it down, from £32,000,000 to £20,000,000, and that the French investors are becoming slack in subscribing. On the other hand, the Government makes every effort to accumulate gold so as not only to pay but to reassure its bondholders, and there is little doubt that for much of the daily expenditure of the State paper will suffice, as it did in 1855. The worst sign of the hour for Russia is the reluctance of the Treasury to provide cash in good time for the wages of its own servants. From city after city come up complaints—true, exaggerated, or false—that everybody, including sometimes soldiers, is kept waiting. Russia, however, is still far from the position of France during the Revolution, when for many months the very generals were dependent on requisition, and the rulers, even under the Directory, could hardly scrape money together for the most peremptory demands.
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