tion was put down in a few weeks, and the peasantry were appeased by promises. The plan of distributing crown lands among them was taken into consideration. When no effective practical measures were taken to relieve the distress, new outbreaks occurred sporadically during the summer and autumn. An attempt on the life of the King, although without serious political significance, was a sequel of the peasant uprising. In the evening of May 7 a former police-officer named Preda Fontanaro fired two shots at the palace, one of which entered the window next to the room where the King was. The perpetrator of the murderous attempt, a dissipated man, was clothed in the dress of the peasantry, and, when questioned as to his motive, said that he desired to avenge the many peasants who had been shot by the military during the disturbances. The total area of Roumania is about 30,000,000 acres, of which 5,000,000 acres are forest. The emancipated serfs received something over 3,250,000 acres, and the free communes, which always existed in the mountainous part of the country, possess an equal amount. The remaining 18,500,000 acres are divided between the state, which has confiscated the extensive possessions of the monasteries, charitable corporations, and the landed nobility. Some of the boyars own 25,000 acres. Yet as a rule the large estates range from 1,250 to 4,000 acres, and the small ones from 125 to 625 acres. General Election. The ministry, refusing the demand of the Radicals for speedy elections on the ground of the excited state of the country, did not dissolve the Chamber and order new elections till September 20. The old Conservative or Boyar party profited by the delay and put forth its whole strength, while attempts to reunite the party of Demeter Bratiano with the Liberals who had adhered to his brother came to naught. The Old Conservatives were victorious in the elections, returning a clear majority that was able to dictate the policy of the Junimist ministry, or to overturn it at any time. The ministry was reconstituted on November 24, after the election of Lascar Catargio to the presidency of the Chamber. Rosetti remained Minister President, but without a portfolio, while the Conservative Prince Stirbey, son of a former hospodar of Wallachia, succeeded him as Minister of the Interior, giving up the portfolio of Public Works to Marghiloman, who gave place in the Ministry of Justice to a new member of the Cabinet, Vernesca, the possessor of great wealth, and one of the leaders of the Conservative party. Gen. Barossi, who owned no party ties, was succeeded in the Ministry of War by a Conservative, Gen. Mano. The portfolio of Agriculture, Commerce, and Domains, which was held ad interim by Carp, was intrusted to Alexander Lahovary, one of the bitterest of the assailants of Bratiano's Cabinet and the leader of a movement to protest against the crown domains, which were declared to be a robbery of state property. With others of his family, he has taken the lead in the pro-Russian and anti-dynastic opposition within the Conservative party. The results of the general election were the return of 51 Conservatives, 39 Junimists, 31 Independent Liberals, 5 partisans of Joan Bratiano, 4 Socialists, and 42 Ministerialists. Ex-Premier Bratiano lost his seat. The success of the Boyar party compelled the Government to abandon its project of dividing a part of the public domains among the landless peasantry in lots of from four to eight acres. The Conservatives, under threats of a dissolution, agreed to allow the ministry to proceed with its bills for establishing a national bank and a gold currency, and making the higher judiciary irremovable except for cause, and promised not to oppose the foreign policy of the Cabinet. The compromise ministry, nevertheless, could not stand, and on December 31 the Parliament was dissolved, and new elections were appointed for Feb. 4, 1889. ROUTLEDGE, GEORGE, an English publisher, born in Brampton, Cumberland, Sept. 23, 1812; died in London, Dec. 13, 1888. He served as an apprentice to Charles Thurnam, in Carlisle, in 1827-'33, and then entered the employ of Baldwin and Cradock, at a salary of £60 a year. At first his special duty was to collect books from other publishers for the country booksellers for whom that house was agent, and later he was given charge of the bindery. In September, 1836, he began business on his own account in Ryder's Court, Leicester Square, as a retail bookseller and purchaser of books at sales, supplying new books as they were ordered. His first book, "The Beauties of Gilsland Spa (1836), proved a failure, as it depended upon local sale entirely. In November, 1837, he was given charge of the documents in the Tithe Office, where he remained for four years, be ning with a salary of £80 a year. Meanile he continued his publishing-house, also ng some stationery business, which proved fitable and increased his capital for other tures. He removed to Soho Square in 1843, 1 began the publication of Barnes's "Notes the Old and New Testaments," in twentye volumes. In 1848 he began the "Railway orary," with "The Pilot," by J. Fenimore oper, and the series is still continued, now mbering upward of a thousand volumes. It ludes the "Colleen Bawn," of which 30,000 pies were sold, and "The Romance of War," which more than 100,000 copies have been ld. Another series, called the "Popular brary," comprising travels, biography, and iscellaneous works, was begun about the same me. In 1852 he removed to Farringdon creet, and there published an edition of "Une Tom's Cabin," of which over 500,000 copies ere sold, also a companion volume, called The White Slave," of which 100,000 copies ere sold. Of Miss Warner's "Wide, Wide World" and " Queechy" enormous editions were disposed of. These editions of American ooks were all "pirated," no compensation beng given to the authors. In 1853 Mr. Routedge entered into an engagement with Sir Edward Bulwer, to pay him a sum of £20,000 for term of ten years, to republish nineteen of is novels in the "Railway Library." Ultinately he paid this author in all £40,000 for is works. Mr. Routledge came to New York n 1854, and established an agency. Later, he was the first to publish an edition of Oliver Wendell Holmes's poems in England, and in 1855 issued Longfellow's poetical works, illus. trated by John Gilbert, whose drawings were engraved by Dalziel Brothers. In 1857 he began the publication of Shakespeare's works in monthly parts, illustrated by Gilbert. This edition was edited by Howard Staunton, and the outlay, exclusive of printing and binding, was £10,000. Another important work issued by him was the Rev. J. G. Wood's "Natural History," for which the plant cost £16,000. In 1868 he issued Longfellow's "New England Tragedy," and later his translation of Dante. He began in 1883 the "Universal Library," edited by Henry Morley, comprising standard works of the best old authors. In all, Mr. Routledge published more than 5,000 volumes during the fifty years that he was in business, an average of two a week. He retired from business in 1887, and at that time a public dinner was given him. Mr. Routledge was a justice of the peace in Carlisle, and deputy lieutenant of Cumberland County. RUSSIA, an empire in Northeastern Europe. The supreme legislative, executive, and judicial authority resides in the Emperor, who is as sisted by the Council of the Empire, which examines every project of law; the Senate, which promulgates every new law and is the high court of justice for the empire; the Holy Synod, which superintends ecclesiastical affairs and decides religious questions; and the Committee of Ministers. The reigning Emperor is Alexander III, born Feb. 26, 1845, who succeeded to the throne at his father's death by assassination, March 13, 1881. The heir-apparent is the Grand Duke Nicholas, born May 18, 1868, eldest son of the Czar and of the Czarina Maria Dagmar, a daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark. The Czar's Cabinet of Ministers is composed as follows: Minister of the Imperial Household, Gen. Count Vorontzoff-Dashkoff; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nicholas Carlovich de Giers; Minister of War, Gen. Vannofsky; Minister of Marine, Vice-Admiral Shestakoff; Minister of the Interior, Count Tolstoi; Minister of Public Instruction, M. Delyanoff; Minister of Finance. M. Vyshnegradsky; Minister of Justice, M. Manasein; Minister of Domains, M. Ostrofsky; Minister of Public Works and Railroads, Admiral Possiet; Comptroller-General of the Treasury, M. Solsky. The Grand Dukes Michael and Constantine are also members of the Committee of Ministers, the President of which is M. Bunge, ex-Minister of Finance. Area and Population.-The area of the geographical divisions of the Russian Empire, in square miles, and their population in 1885 are given in the following table: The population of Russia in Europe and Poland together is 89,685,480, consisting of 44,524,239 males and 45,161,250 females. The population of the Caucasus consists of 3,876,868 males and 3,407,679 females; that of Siberia of 2,146,411 males and 2,002,879 females; that of Central Asia into 2,448,085 males and 2,207,563 females. The following cities in European Russia contained more than 100,000 inhabitants in 1885: St. Petersburg, 861,303; Moscow, 753,469; Warsaw, 454,298; Odessa, 240,000; Riga, 175,332; Kharkov, 171,416; Kiev, 165,561; Kasan, 139,915; Saratov, 122,829; Kishinev, 120,074; Lodz, 113,413; Vilna, 102,845. The largest cities of Russia in Asia are Tashkend, with 121,410 inhabitants, and Tiflis, the capital of the Caucasus, with a population of 89,551. The population of St. Petersburg on June 27, 1888, was 842,883, of which number 488.990 were males. This shows a falling off of 85,133 as compared with 1881, and even this does not measure the entire decline, because the former census was taken in the winter, and does not include workmen from the provinces engaged in building, who figure for 41,696 in the returns for 1888. Finances. The financial account for 1887 makes the total ordinary receipts 829,661,000 rubles, and the extraordinary receipts 144,543,000 rubles. Of the ordinary receipts 41,102,000 rubles were derived from the land and forest taxes, 28,862,000 rubles from patents, 11,677,000 rubles from the income-tax, 257,624,000 rubles from the tax on drink, 24, 093,000 rubles from the tobacco-tax, 23,162,000 rubles from the sugar-duty, 107,425,000 rubles from customs duties, 18,242,000 rubles from stamps, 10,282,000 rubles from registration fees, 24,417,000 rubles from various indirect imposts, 29,397,000 rubles from the postoffice, telegraphs, and royalties, 51,298,000 rubles from railroads, forests, and mines, 88,957,000 rubles from payments for land redemption, and 108,727,000 rubles from other sources. The total expenditures for ordinary purposes in 1887 amounted to 835,850,000 rubles, and the extraordinary expenditures to 95,093,000 rubles. Of the ordinary expenditures, 280,908,000 rubles were for the public debt, 210,953,000 rubles for military purposes, 109,067,000 rubles for financial administration, 40,359,000 rubles for the navy, 72,576,000 rubles for the Interier Department, 25,834,000 rubles for highways, 20,684,000 rubles for public instruction, 20,443,000 rubles for the judiciary, 22, 350,000 rubles for domains, 10,999,000 rubles for the Holy Synod, and 10,560,000 rubles for the court. The gold value of the paper ruble in the spring of 1888 fell to 45 per cent. below par, a lower point than it had yet reached. Only 20 per cent. of the depreciation is due to inflation, the remaining 25 per cent. being accounted for by the fall in silver. The exchange market for the ruble is in Berlin, where Russian currency has become an object of speculative manipulation, which interferes seriously with the foreign trade of Russia, and has lately caused distrust of the paper ruble in Russia, although it has hitherto passed freely from hand to hand amid all fluctuations. The exchange rates are raised or lowered on the Berlin Bourse by corners and false rumors in connection with enormous speculative dealings in the Russian internal loans. The metallic ruble in March was worth 1.80 paper ruble, against 1.67 in 1887, and 1.50 in 1886. The Government in 1881, and again in 1887, decreed the redemption of all paper currency not guaranteed by a metallic reserve, and has repeatedly declared its intention to recall and destroy the 266,000,000 rubles of paper money that were issued during the Turkish war. In February, 1888, the new Minister of Finance presented a project for establishing a metallic standard. On July 20 the minister was empowered by an imperial ukase to issue 15,000,000 rubles of additional paper currency against deposits of gold, merely as a temporary measure to facilitate the large export movement of grain. Another issue of credit-notes of the same amount was decreed in October. The internal debt, payable in paper rubles, amounted on Jan. 1, 1888, to 3,104,899,764 rubles. In addition, the Government owed at that date 391,505,969 metallic rubles, 66,068,000 Dutch florins, £122,271,720, and 552,081,000 francs. There were in circulation 780,032,238 rubles of paper money, of which 211,472,495 rubles were protected by a reserve. A new loan contracted in 1887 yielded 81,068,000 rubles, of which 45,093,000 rubles were applied to the construction of railroads and harbors. A 4-per-cent gold loan of 500,000,000 franes for the conversion of old 5-per-cent. debts was offered in Paris on December 10, and found subscribers for six times the required sum. The Army. The peace strength of the Russian army in the beginning of 1887 was 659,274 men. The war effective of the regular army is about 1,689,000 combatants, including 36,600 officers, with 3,776 guns and 204,390 horses. The Cossack troops, a great part of which have been incorporated in the regular army, have a peace strength of 47,150 men, and a war strength of 140,033 men, inclusive of 3,644 officers. The irregular forces, comprising Tartars, Georgians, and Turkomans, number 5,769 men, of whom 1,420 are infantry and 4,349 cavalry. The opoltchenie or militia, which is about equal in numbers to the rest of the armed forces, brings up the total military strength of the empire to nearly 4,000,000 men. In accordance with an imperial ukase published on July 13, the recruit of the army for 1888 was 250,000 men, an increase of 15,000 over the previous year. A second law fixes the duration of military service at eighteen years, of which five are spent in the active army, and the remainder in the two classes of the Landwehr, the second of which can only be called into active service by a proclamation of the Czar. Although the legal period of service in the active army is shortened by a year, the actual term of service with the colors will probably be a year longer than under the old law, when the men were furloughed on the average two years out of the six. The entire period of military service is made three years longer, increasing the strength of the regular army on the war footing by 750,000 men nominally, and in reality by not less than 400,000. In the latter part of 1887 the movement of Russian troops toward the western frontiers and unprecedented activity in building barracks, fortifications, and military railroads created alarm in Austria and Germany, and necessitated the strengthening of the frontier garrisons in Prussia and Galicia. The Russian Government explained the dislocation of troops as the execution of a plan that had been in existence for a long time, and while Prince Bismarck accepted this assurance with equanimity, M. Tisza declared in the Hungarian Chamber in January, 1888, that measures would be taken by the Austro-Hungarian Government for contingencies that might imperil the security of the frontiers. The Russian forces on the west ern frontier at that time numbered 123,275 men, with 24,198 horses and 274 field-cannon. In March re-enforcements of about 100,000 men arrived. Works were begun at Libau which will transform it by 1890 into a military port, with a harbor formed by two breakwaters. There were 96 barracks erected along the frontier of Austria and Germany, and about 100,000 cavalry were held in readiness to cross the frontier at a moment's notice Two branch lines of the Ivangorod-Dabrova Railroad running to the Austrian and Prussian frontiers were opened in the spring. At Rovno, Ivangorod, and other places in the western districts new fortifications were constructed. The Navy.-Russia in 1888 had 32 iron-clads, 39 armed steamers, 59 other steamers, 8 sailingvessels, and 95 torpedo-boats in the Baltic Sea; 7 iron-clads, 27 armed steamers, 59 unarmed steamers, and 16 torpedo-boats in the Black Sea; 12 armed and 4 unarmed steamers in the Caspian Sea; 6 steamers in the Lake of Aral; and 8 armed steamers, 13 unarmed steamers, and 6 torpedo-boats on the Pacific coast. The most powerful vessels are the "Tchesma" and "Catherine II," which were launched in the Black Sea in 1886, and the "Sinope," which was launched in June, 1887, each of which has a displacement of 10,180 tons, and carries six 12-inch and seven 6-inch guns. The armor at the water-line is 16 inches thick. The guns are mounted in a casemated, pear-shaped redoubt. The "Alexander II " and the "Nicholas I," 2 barbette cruisers of 8,440 tons, have 14 inches of armor above the belt, and are armed with two 12-inch, four 9-inch, and eight 6-inch guns. These vessels-the latter of which was launched on the Neva in October, 1888-are of the same type as the English "Imperieuse," but heavier and more powerfully armed. The "Pamiat Azoff," which was launched in the Baltic on June 1, 1888, is an iron-clad frigate of 6,000 tons displacement, carrying 14 heavy long-range guns, 15 machineguns, and 3 torpedo-guns. Commerce. The values in rubles of the imports and exports of merchandise in 1886 and the shares of the different countries in the foreign commerce of Russia are exhibited in the following table: Imports. The imports by way of the Baltic ports in 1886 were of the value of 152,400,000 rubles; the exports, 144,500,000 rubles. The value of the imports from European countries brought by railroad was 150,400,000 rubles, and that of the exports by way of the land frontiers was 114,100,000 rubles. The imports at the ports of the Black Sea were valued at 78.800,000 rubles, and the exports at 172,300,000 rubles. The imports passing by way of the White Sea were 1,300,000 rubles in value, and the exports 5,600,000 rubles. The imports from Finland amounted to 9,900,000 rubles, and the exports to Finland to 16,600,000 rubles. The imports across the Asiatic frontiers amounted to 45,400,000 rubles, and the exports to 35,400,000 rubles. The imports of alimentary products in 1887 across the European frontiers were valued at 50,397,000 rubles; exports, 350,640,000 rubles; imports of materials, raw or partly manufactured, 224,404,000 rubles; exports, 193,262,000 rubles; imports of live animals, 498,000 rubles; exports, 11,991,000 rubles; imports of manufactured articles, 57,940,000 rubles; exports, 12,627,000 rubles; total merchandise imports in 1887, 333,239,000 rubles; total exports, 568,520,000 rubles. The overland exports to China in 1887 consisted of 2,353,502 rubles worth of Russian merchandise, 251,914 rubles worth of other European products, 2,924,085 rubles of the precious metals, and 309,860 rubles of paper currency. The principal articles of Russian produce were grain, hogs, sugar, cotton goods, Russia leather, sheepskins, and furs. During the same year China exported to Russia 26,456,557 rubles worth of merchandise, in which total the single article tea stands for 24,097,679 rubles. Agriculture. The grain belt in European Russia stretches from the government of Tchernigoff, on the middle Dnieper, to the Ural mountains. North of it is the zone containing the industrial cities, between which and the tundras of the Arctic Circle the great forests extend from Poland and the western governments northeastward to the Ural. In the southern part of the wheat belt is the "black-earth" country, a vast plain extending from Krementchug on the Dnieper to the other side of the Volga. Herds of horses and sheep cover the steppes farther south. The productive land in Russia amounts to 70-4 per cent. of the entire surface, 20.4 per cent. being occupied by 80,292.000 farms and gardens, 11.9 per cent. by pastures, and 38.1 per cent. by forests. The number of persons employed in agriculture in Russia, exclusive of Poland, is about 48,000,000. economical condition of this population has in some respects become worse since the emancipation of the peasants from serfdom. The in9,103,000 sufficiency of the land transferred to the peas5,878,000 ants, their drunkenness, which has been actual85,077,000 ly fostered by the Government in order to swell the revenue from excise duties, and their indo438,206,000 | 488,484,000 lence, which is a consequence of the commu Exports. 135,354,000 119,210,000 110,071,000 143,934,000 12,274,000 16,996,000 8,998,000 16,901,000 30,016,000 25,316,000 7,781,000 21,947,000 8,884,000 18,190,000 Turkey China.. 26,774,000 Sweden and Norway. 5,682,000 Persia.. 10,256,000 Greece. 845,000 1,175,000 2,461,000 Denmark Roumania.. Other countries.. Total.. 48,888,000 4.014,000 The Dutch. The number of coasting-vessels entered was 37,656, of which 14,708 were steamers. The merchant navy in 1886 numbered 2,157 sailing-vessels of 469,098 tons, and 218 steamers of 108,295 tons. The Russian marine in the Caspian is rapidly increasing, 10 new iron steamboats having been finished in 1888, making a total of 70 steamers, besides many sailing-vessels. The Government has granted an annual subsidy of 111,000 rubles to a new line of steamers between the Russian Pacific ports and the ports of Corea, Japan, and China, which in time of war will be at the disposal of the Government. nistic mir system, have reduced the whole class Turkish, 776 Danish, 639 Austrian, and 185 to poverty and debt. The nobility, owing to . their lavish way of living and their ignorance of practical affairs, are in still worse case. Russians say that there is hardly an estate outside of the "black-earth" region that is not mortgaged for its full value. More blighting even than the vices of the people is the corruption of the officials, who embezzle the funds that are raised for public improvements and draw blackmail from every private enterprise. The graincrop in 1886 was poor, and in 1887, though the harvest was abundant, prices were very low. Protective duties in Germany and other countries have seriously injured the export trade in Russian cereals. In 1888 the reported yield of autumn wheat, excluding Poland, was 11,445,000 quarters, being 39 per cent. above the average; of spring wheat, 18,480,000 quarters, or 3 per cent. better than the average; of rye, 85,400,000 quarters, 9 per cent. more than a normal crop; of oats, 63,160,000 quarters, exceeding the average by 4 per cent.; of barley, 16,284,000 quarters, which was 6 per cent. above the average. Count Tolstoi in 1888 proposed a bill prohibiting peasant proprietors from selling their land. The peasants have in recent years purchased largely of the nobles, whose land was unremunerative in their own hands. The transfers have been facilitated by the Peasants' Credit Bank, established under Government patronage, which during 1887 made 5,000 loans, 4,300 of them to mirs or rural associa tions containing in all 590,000 members. The sum of the loans was 50,000,000 rubles, with which 3,400,000 acres were bought. More recently the Government has founded a Nobles' Bank to prevent the lands of the hereditary proprietors from passing into the hands of commercial men and usurers. The question of constructing grain-elevators was considered in 1888 by a special commission, which recommended building with Government means elevators at the export ports and on the lines of railroad with capacity for 600,000,000 kilogrammes, the amortization of the required capital of 20,000,000 rubles being provided for by an export tax of half a copeck per pood, yielding 1,500,000 rubles on a minimum export of 300,000,000 poods. This improvement will tend to place it out of the power of traders to control and dictate prices as they do, paying sometimes only half as much for one farmer's grain as for that of his astuter neighbor. Railroads. The railroad network completed at the beginning of 1888 had a total length of 26,964 kilometres, or 16,745 miles, exclusive of the railroads of Finland and the Transcaspian line of 660 miles. The amount invested in railroads at the end of 1885 was 2,800,000,000 rubles, and the net revenue they produced was 87,400,000 rubles. The Transcaspian Railroad to Samarcand was opened with public ceremonies on May 27, the anniversary of the Czar's coronation. When Gen. Skobeleff took command of the Transcaspian territory in 1880 it was with the condition that Kysil Arvat should be connected with the Caspian Sea by a narrow-gauge railroad. After the conquest of Merv the railroad, on which camels were used instead of locomotives, was extended to the Akhal-Tekke oasis. Gradually the plan expanded, and the tramway was converted into a broad-gauge steam-railway, and carried across the newly acquired Turkoman districts into the Turanian khanates on the other side of the Oxus. The ukase authorizing this railroad was issued on May 20, 1885, and within three years the line was built to Samarcand which is destined to play an important part in the commercial development of Central Asia, as well as in furthering the political and strategical plans of Russia by enabling the Government to store reserves and supplies at Merv, Sarakhs, Penjdeh, Chardjui, and Kerki, and in a short space of time to concentrate an army of 100,000 men on the Asiatic frontier. The railroad is expected to give Russian manufacturers a great advantage over their English and French competitors in the markets of Central Asia, and to lead to a large development of the material resources of the Russian dominions in that part of the world, especially of the cotton-cultNavigation. There were 5,373 vessels entered ure in Turkistan, Ferghana, and Samarcand. and 5,329 cleared at the ports of the Baltic dur- The cost of the line, which has a total length ing 1886; 647 entered and 625 cleared at Arch- of about 1,000 miles, was $43,000,000 rubles. angel, on the White Sea; 4,483 entered and The embankments and stations are nearly all, 4,481 cleared in the ports of the Black Sea and however, of a temporary character, and must the Sea of Azov; and 1,087 entered and 1,005 be replaced by permanent works at a cost of cleared at the ports of the Caspian Sea. Of many more millions. The Transcaspian line the 11,590 vessels entered at all ports, 7,204 connects all the trade-routes converging in the were steamers; and of 11,440 cleared, 7, 122 were Black Sea with Central Asia, and will be joined steamers. Of the total number, 2,485 were with the Indian system if English fears will Russian vessels, 2,828 English, 1,439 German, allow. A new railroad from the Vladikavkas 1,397 Swedish and Norwegian, 757 Greek, 637 line through the Kuban valley to Novoroskoi, |