Russia of To - Day. From the German of Baron E. von
der Briiggen by M. Sandwith. (Digby, Long, and Co. 6s.)—" Every year," says our author, "there is an extension of the Empire amounting to 86,000 German square miles." As a German square mile enormously exceeds the English measure, this means several Great Britains annually ; but the book is full of big figures, and it is very difficult for a reader to keep an account of where he is. If we turn to the chapters on " Poverty and Famine " and " Finance," we are confronted with numbers and sums that stagger us. In one province where the normal harvest is represented by the figure 60, the actual crops for the decade 1883-92 were about 40, and things have not improved since. Huge remissions of taxes have been made, and large sums spent in keeping the people alive; yet the Budgets seem to show surpluses, which, however, do not prevent the almost annual loan to make both ends meet. The financial statistics are simply amazing. One is inclined to think that we are being conducted over a new and more topsy-turvy Laputa. We cannot help wishing, without meaning any disrespect to the translator, that some expert guide had been at hand.
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