TENGOBOESKI'S PRODUCTIVE FORCES OF RUSSIA..

CONCLUSIONS as to the "productive forces" of a country will differ according to the meaning put upon the term. It may signify the

gross annual produce actually raised in the country, out of which the means of reproduction have to be supplied, as well as the support of the people and the luxurious expenditure of the rich, the taxation held to be necessary for governmental or local purposes, and the surplus to be added to the capital of the community. Or it may describe the surplus available, or at least remaining, after the means of reproduction and the sub- sistence of the community are provided for, in the manner below which custom and opinion will not induce them willingly to live. Or, in -a still looser sense, it may mean the gross produce that might be raised under more effective systems of industry. If we use the word " force " in its strict meaning, and not in that of capacity or capability, the term is properly limited to the avail- able surplus remaining after the national requirements are sup- plied. The produce of a country which is consumed in repro- duction or the actual support of its inhabitants is hardly en- titled to the appellation of " forces "; since, unless in the ease of an actual emigration, like that of the barbarians from the third to the eleventh century, the force at the disposal of a coun- try is only that surplus power which remains after its absolute existence is provided for. It is in the first sense, that of gross produce, that Tengoborski uses the term "productive forces," occa- sionally combined with the still wider sense of capacity to pro- duce.

The author is a statist of considerable merit. Informed, inge- nious, painstaking, he is also possessed of considerable knowl of political economy, which he applies sensibly and without

pedantry of system or of science. So far as a judgment can be formed from one-half of a whole, since the first volume only is befcu:e us, the work is less meritorious than its author, and scarcely, we think, equal to its Continental reputation. There is a tendency— natural, however, to statists—to over-pursue the subjects till the mind becomes confused with a nauleplicity of figures : parts

of the work are rather like a set of "sums, than an exposition of the geographical conditions and the natural capabilities of the

Russian empire, as well as of the manner in which those capabilities

are turned to account. The greatest objection to the book is its doubtful accuracy. Some of the inaccuracy avowedly arises from insufficient data. In an empire so extensive—with officials so corrupt, and in many cases among the subordinates so ignorant— with a people so dispersed, so uneducated, and so suspicious—it is

not possible that correct returns should exist respecting almost anything whose nature is variable, especially of agricultural stock and production, which last even in this country have scarcely been attempted. The most part of the seeming inaccuracies arises, we

fear, from the position of the author, which has forced him to give in to the systematic deception that is charged upon the Rus-

sian employes as a necessity of their existence. His own affirma-

tion respecting facts may be accepted ; but he seems to draw upon less scrupulous or at least more favourable statiste. Ins

own approximate estimates founded on computation have an ex- aggerated appearance. For instance, he rates the total produce of the cereals in the Russian dominions at 260,000,000 tchetwerts ; and in France, Austria, and Prussia, at 233,000,000; giving a balance of 21,000,000 in favour of Russia. He estimates the population of Russia at sixty-eight millions. The popu- lations of France, Austria, and Prussia, are ninety millions. To conceive that the serfs of Russia can raise twenty mil- lion quarters more than the cultivators of France, Austria, and Prussia, is a startling conclusion. Again, the estimated proclaim in corn of England alone is twenty-nine million quarters ; being at the rate of rather more than one and a half quarters per head of the population. According to Tengoborski, the produce of Russian agriculture is at the rate of nearly three quarters per head ; a con- clusion more startling than the other. The argument that so many

more labourers are proportionately engaged in agriculture in Rus- sia than in England i of little weight, because the small oom- parative number of agrioulturists is the test of agricultural ex- cellence; and we are speaking not of absolute but proportional production. If any allowance is made for this circumstance, there • Commentaries on the Productive Forces of Russia. By hi. L. TengoborskL, Privy Councillor and Member of the Council of the BUSIIIIII Empire. In two vo- lumes. Vol. I. Published by Longman and Co. is to be deducted from the Russian side the extensive regions where from the nature or the soil or climate corn cannot be grown at all, or' where from the nothade habits 'of the people it is scarcely attempted. Tbuir system of agriculture, which always has one-third 'of the arable land in fallow, is also to be borne in mind; as well as the ig- nerance and obstinacy of the cultivators. Although these general facts tell against Tengoborski's arithmetical calculations based on the Government statisties, he describes them very fairly in his pic- tures of the people and their agriculture. The following sketch may be adduced as an example not only of the writer's fairness, but of the clearness, closeness, and comprehensiveness of his obser- vations.

" It is well known that, with the exception of the Baltic provinces, (where aericulture is in an advanced condition,) and of the region of the Steppes, (Where a mode of culture is required suitable to their peculiarities of soil and climate,) the old three-field system of husbandry, or Dreifelderwirthschak aa it is termed by the Germans, is usually followed throughout Russia. But it is generally agreed that this mode of culture is open to many objections : by exhausting the soil it requires large supplies of manure, whilst at the same trim, by excluding the culture of artificial fodder, it is unfavourable to cattle- raring, and thus cuts off the source from which manure is to be obtained : theiceding of cattle upon straw and hay alone produces very mediocre fat- tening, and gives rise moreover to frequent cattle epidemic : it is alleged ant he extirpation of forests, so injurious in its consequences, is inherent ip this system ; and that under it the destruction of weeds, which so greatly contribute to the exhaustion of the soil, becomes impossible. It is also to this system of husbandry that some agriculturists, both native and foreign, attribute the great irregularities in the product of our harvests, and their frequent failures,—an opinion to which we cannot give an unqualified assent. The main causes of these inequalities and failures are re- ferable to the geographical position of the country, and the confi- guration of its soil ; in some districts, also' to local atmospheric in- fluences, of which a more careful culture might perhaps moderate though it could not entirely remove the effects. Russia being one of the vastest plains of Eairope, frequently swept by the East wind and the North wind, the effects of dronght or of superabundant moisture are there felt with a generality un- known in countries where the atmospheric influences vary from one district re another,—wbere shady valleys, sheltered from parching winds, suffer less from the absence of rain,—where the hills and elevated plateaus are ress sub- ject to inundations, and, bytheir natural drainage, are sooner freed from any excess of humidity which might prove injurious to vegetation. It is cape- dolly the frequent droughts that constitute one of the severest scourges of oarngriculture; and the most scientific system of culture could noedestroy their pernicious influences. It would certainly be very desirable to see our agriculturists entering on the path of improvement, especially in districts where improvements are facilitated by local circumstances : but it must not be 'disguised that the three-shift _system, defective as it undoubtedly is, is wovertherless the one most appropriate on the whole to our present position, and that it will long remain predominant in those governments at least which have much land to till and few hands to till it. This system, re- quiting as it does less care and less capital than a more scientific one, is too deeply-rooted both in the habits of our people and in the condition of our rural economy, to be capable of undergoing a rapid and general reform. Im- provement can be but slow and gradual, and must be the result of successive imitations of isolated examples. There are even districts, as, for instance, the greater portion of the Southern Steppes, in which, as we have already Observed, it is the opinion of experienced agriculturists who have studied the sail and climate dunng a long series of years, that a rational system is im- possible, because the land is incapable of bearing more than one sort of crop.

"Independently of the obstinate perseveranCe in the old routine dis- played by our cultivators, even in districts where a better mode of culture is iudicated by local circumstances, and of their almost invincible preju- dices on the score of innovations, there are many other circumstances which

help to retard the progress of our agriculture. •

"In consequence of the disproportion which exists in a great part of the empire between the number of the population and the extent of the soil, we find eurselves, as respects the relative values of land and labour, in a totally different "position from any other country. Elsewhere, the land is usually more valuable than the labour ; with us, the labour is usually more valuable than the land. In valuations of real estate, it is not the extent of produc- tive soil, but the number of peasants, that serves as the basis of calculation. The fertility of the soil enters, no doubt, into the estimate; it is this which renders the peasant in one government more valuable than the peasant in another ; but it is always a secondary, never the primary element of the price. As a natural consequence of this state of things, it becomes much Less an object to derive the greatest possible advantage from the land, to maintain or increase its fertility, than to turn to the most profitable account the bands which the owner has at his disposal."

It is superfluous to remark how the losses by war and the con- tinual demand for fresh serf-recruits must act upon the " pro- ductive forces" of the country, as well as upon the property of its landowners, under such a state of the population.

- The doubt which is felt as to the reliable character of the sta- tistics, in what relates to the cereal produce, extends likewise to the number of horses, cattle, and sheep, and in a lesser degree to the forests, as well as minor sources of production, though any broad test is not so readily applied. The actual statistics on these matters seem exaggerated, and the calculations based upon the facts partially or locally obtained, appear, to say the least, very sanguine. The tabular divisions of the land into arable, mea- dow, and pasture, is probably loose, not only in the statistics themselves, but that much falls under these heads in Russia which in other countries would figure as waste. The more fixed geogra- phical features do not appear obnoxious to this charge. They ex- hibit a striking account of the broad physical characteristics and natural capabilities of this vast empire. The entire subjects— geography; land in its natural or artificial condition of waste,

st, pasture, meadow, arable, and so forth, the mass of the peo- ple, ancl the cultivated productions, are tabulated in various modes and ramifications, with frequent illustrations drawn from other countries. Perhaps, as we have already intimated, this is rather too elaborately done, with too much of ringing the changes. The present volume consists of two parts; one of which is termed by the author "physical and material productive forces," and the second "intellectual productive forces. In other words, the first part is chiefly statistical, consisting in the main of tables and

their ,expoisiticin. With the exception --of -some- brief remarks eu mannfactures, the second division relates to the same subjects as the first division ; that is, agricultural products and the industrial occupations directly connected with them. Statistics here are' oc- casionally interspersed, but the largest part is of the nature of com- mentary. Those who wish an exposition of the productive re- sources of Russia, and of the natural or social causes which retard their development, will find this an instructive and interesting series of papers. The physical characteristics of the country, the character of the agriculture and the agriculturists, with the man- ner in which they reciprocally react -upon each other, are freely exhibited, and the scale seems very fairly held between theory and practice; that is, what is faulty in practice is distinctly admitted, while that which is founded in the nature of things is as distinctly pointed out. In the course of the disquisition, peculiarities of Russian society or abuses in the 'Russian system are indicated; as, for instance, this picture of the difficulties of creditors.

"Another cause which has been, and to some extent rightly, assigned for the backward state of our agriculture, is the want of capital for the neces- sary improvements, and the absence of credit upon real as well as upon per- sonal security. The error is on the side of those only who attribute to this cause a too general and too exclusive influence. The system of real secu- rity, properly so called, exists with us only in the kingdom of Poland and in the Baltic provinces. The only real security which the legislation of the empire recognizes is that of the lender's taking into his actual possession in pawn the land of the party to whom he advances money on loan ; a sort of security which the Russian law terms zakladnyia. But a credit of this de- scription is not favourable to the progress of agriculture, and those who have recourse to it are rather spendthrifts and runied landowners than prudent men desirous of improving their estates. Personal eredit is also in a loose state with us; the rate of interest on loans amongst individuals is very high; to give from ten to twelve per cent is nothing unusual even for very solvent borrowers. Where credit is so costly, improvements to be paid for with borrowed money will not be undertaken. This precarious state of per- sonal credit is attributable to two main causes; on the one hand, to want of economy, a taste for luxury and ostentation, and a too general inclination to live beyond one's means, which diminishes the confidence of lenders ; and, on the other hand, to the mechanism of our judicial system and forms of process. In the recovery of a simple debt, duly constituted and vouched by legal documents, the creditor is exposed to long and vexatious delays if he happen to have a litigious and unscrupulous debtor : happily, however, these two causes are gradually wearing out ; the taste for dissipation is di- minishing, and economy and good management prevail amongst the pro- prietors to a much greater extent now than formerly ; at the same time, improvements are continually being introduced into the administration of justice."

The great exports of Russia are hemp and flax and corn, es- pecially wheat. Timber and tallow rank next in value : the export of wool was considerable, but it has fallen off as Australian wool has increased. It will fall still lower, unless some great change take place in the management of the flocks and the methods of preparing the fleece for the foreign market.

"M proprietors continue to direct their attention, as they have, done hitherto, rather to increasing the numbers of their flocks than to the im- provement of theirbreeds, and if the wool trade in the interior be allowed to remain upon its present unsatisfactory footing, we may indeed safely predict that our foreign wool trade will fall off more and more. It is notorious that the washing and assorting of the wool—operations of great importance—are, with a few laudable exceptions, performed amongst us with such consum- mate slovenliness as to be elsewhere unparalleled; and what is more such is the ignorance and absurdity of some flock-masters, that they speculate on the increment of weight from dirt, and wash their sheep in muddy water, in expectation that the fleece will thus bring in more money ; the fact being, that the price offered by the merchant, who is quite alive to the trick, is in consequence so small that the advantage redounds. to him and not to the farmer. In sorting the wool, there is no separation made of the different parts of a fleece : sometimes the wool of dead animals is thrown in along with that shorn from the living one ; and for ordinary wools the product of different breeds is mixed up together. This negligence is detrimental not only to the sale of our wools abroad, but also to the fabric of our home-ma- nufactured cloths, especially in regard to their dye. Their great want, next to equality and softness of texture, is pureness of dye. The latter defect is most manifest in light and lively colours ; the shades being unequal and al- ways presenting small spots, which is owing to the circumstance that ill- assorted wools do not equally absorb the colour. The fault disappears to a certain extent in black or very dark shades, which are more mordant in the packing and transporting of the wool, the negligence exhibited is as great as in every other department, and forma a striking contrast with the care bestowed upon these processes in foreign countries: the wool is often found to contain a mixture of heterogeneous trash, such as waste of straw and hay, fragments of torn bags, grain-husks 8re. : it is packed in coarse bags of bad quality, which are easily torn ; and as the packing is bad and the bales are.exposed to the weather during transport, nothing is easier than for humidity to penetrate."

If the statistics could be trusted, the actual productive resources of Russia are greater than might have been supposed. The foreign exports, compared with these resources, are very small indeed. M. Tengoborski considers that Russia can only export at the utmost nine million quarters of cereals ; the average annual export- ation of hemp and flax from 1847 to 1850 did not reach seven and a half millions of poods* : tallow, timber, hides and wool, are the only remaining commodities of much account; and their value, in proportion to the population, extent, and alleged pro- duction of the empire, is not great. In some degree exportation must always be comparatively small from natural causes. The future of Russia is, as our author observes, rather agricultural than commercial or manufacturing ; and agricultural produce is in the main too bulky for exportation, unless in the neighbourhood of navigable waters or railroads. To a great extent nature opposes an obstacle to such advantages. In many places there are no waters that are navigable or that might be made so; the country is too poor to allow of railroads being made. Trees in the South of Rus- sia and communications everywhere are the great want of the peo- ple either for home or foreign trade ; and such is the present state of things, that plantations (when practicable) and communications

• The poet is 46 pounds.

can only be made by Government. This fact is a sufficient test of the paternal character and intentions of the late Emperor. More absolute than any Czar except Peter, and with the power of apply- ing the means at his disposal in any direction he pleased, he de- cided to expend them in military objects, rather than for the de- velopment of the resources of Russia. This in his case was deliberate choice. Some states are compelled by their position and a regard to their safety to keep up armaments disproportioned to their means or material interests. Such was not the case with Russia. Neither Turkey, Persia, nor any other nation, was meditating an invasion of Russia. Such is the peculiarity of her situation, that, ex- cept perhaps from Germany, no invasion could succeed even if left to itself. A small available force would have sufficed the Emperor for all purposes of defence : but he chose to Waste annually vast sums in maintaining myriads of soldiers, collecting enormous quantities of material and ammunition, and building fortresses like Sebastopol. Some rulers have the excuse that they cannot help themselves—their subjects impel them to war; and this is possibly the position of Alexander the Second. But, till the sti- mulants of his own applying began to operate, Nicholas was abso- lute for peace or for war, for good or for evil. The sums that he deliberately and of malice aforethought sank for unnecessary mili- tary Purposes, would have carried railways through those parts of his dominions where population was sufficiently dense to justify the outlay—would have improved the water communications throughout the empire—would have clothed the Steppes with plantations where a sufficient depth of soil or the absence of saline particles renders planting feasible—and would have opened up in- terior communications where they were required. Yet there are persons who tell us this Emperor was a friend of peace ; and, what is stranger still, who, condemning all war in itself, assail their own country for accepting war, while they rack their ingenuity or exercise their confidence To put forward excuses for the man who began the war by removing his neighbour's landmarks.