IS SIBERIA TO BE A UNITED STATES?

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 256, 4 December 1909, Page 4

IS SIBERIA TO BE A UNITED STATES?

THE GREAT POSSIBILITIES OF A COUNTRY LARGER THAN liLuOi'K.

As we read of the long line of prisoners exiled for life to Siberia we think of it as the land of the doomed; but there is another side. The land itself is enormously 1 rich ill possibilities, and

here are those who see in it another Jnited States for prosperity. Attention is drawn to the industrial and commercial resources of Siberia by Mr. Henry G. Read, M.lnst.M.E., in the September issue of C'assier's Magazine. Siberia offers a great market to the manufacturers of Europe and America. Mr. Read says:—

: SIBERIA'S TREMENDOUS "It may bo impressed on those who are seeking an outlet for their energy and capital that Siberia has a tremendous future and a great present worth; I but that here, as elsewhere, it is only those who put experience into their undertaking! in tlio country who win succeed, and for those who arc prepared j to do this there need be no fear for the I future. , "The influx of immigrants to Siberia is now at the rate of oOO,UOO yearly, I and as this feature continues to show an increase it will doubtless' 'become necessary to construct more new railways. j "It is probable that in no other por- ! tion of the world, not excepting the. », United States and Canada, is there to II be found a railway so favorably situated 3 1 with respect to navigable rivers. Inus ' everything is available for the develop- | ment of tho great natural resources ot i ». this immense section of the world's' sur-1 I face, and all that is necessary is the

commercial energy and capital to render it a source of new wealth. "In spite of the fact that during the past two hundred years there have been numerous scientific and exploring expedi- | tions to various parts of Siberia, the country was almost unknown to everyI one except those engaged in the administrative work of government; and jCven new, after the completion of the | Trans-Siberian railway, there are tliouI sands of square miles in various districts

about which little is known. SIBERIA'S NEW RAILWAYS. I "At the present time a number of new, railway projects are under consideration.! 'JLII us, the double-tracking of the main trunk line has been determlincd, and J work upoa this has practically been | commenced. It has also been decided to construct a line to join the mam trunk line along the left bank of the Amur, this running from a junction just cas'l of Chita to Khabarovsk, and tho survey is now in progress. "This railway will give a second route to the port of Vladivostok, and, although its commercial value does not appear to be as great as some others which arc projected in Central and Western Siberia, yet, from a strategical point of view, it is of the first importance to Russia in connection with the maintenance of her hold on Eastern Siberia and its ports. This connection | being secured, and the main trunk line of the Siberian railway double-tracked, Russia will be at liberty to throw her energy into tile construction of new branch lines to link important outlying towns with the main-line railway. "It is difficult to estimate the influence of the Siberian railway upon the country from an economic point ol view. It is certain however, that it has been the cause oi ah immense inliux of population to all the trading centres and settlements."

*»' Mr. lleatt gives a list of nearly "17,000 i. undertakings, which make a yearly hi turnover of a little less than £3,000,001), employing about 46,000 hands, giving a production per man per year ot about IUUO roubles, or about £O3 per year ' l ' (less than 500 dollars). -s aiBEiUA LARGER THAN it "in Siberia wo have what is praetie■e ally a new coiyitry, larger than ail l -1 Europe put together, and one-thirtceitii cjof the entire land-surface of the carm, | watered everywhere by immense rivers, '* and crossed through its centre by a | trunk lino of railway, with mineral e riches untold, with large and thriving towns at intervals from one end to the <l otuer, many of them with populations' 11 ci more than 10u,wj0, and with an im- .» migration ui more than 300,000 souls a " year. It is a land with a soil of won* •' derful fertility, exporting millions ot 'j poods of agricultural produce annuaiiy 'l.—an agriculture which is increasing »*' rapidly every year, i-, JIUDEKN li WANTED, u "Many oE the works in the Ural dis- '•' trict belong to tne Russian Government, Wjbut, in tipite of the advantages of their •' position with respect to supplies of an | the necessary raw materials', with plenty | of cheap labor and freedom from JinanI cial anxieties, tiicsc establishments, in * many instances, do not pay their way. • ll such works were operated upon modt- ern business methods they would be capable of iudelinite extension, and might well supply all the trado requiremeats of Siberia, to the exclusion of all II iron and steel products/ now imported from Russia and from abroad.

"The results of many of these works have been so unsatisfactory that the Russian Government has decided to hand certain of them over to .private com'panics. Although the conditions upon | which this is to be done have not yet been made public, there is no doubt thai I there is here an opportunity for foreign i j capitalists, who, if they would gjD to work in the right manlier, might soon turn these important works to a very dill'crent account and make them pay very handsomely. GOLD MINING IMDUSTXiI.

"deferring to the gold-mining industry in Siberia, a line of work assumed to be largely speculative throughout the ■ entire world, there are but few of the - claims which are being worked on up-to-i date methods, although some of the i placers are employing the latest designs ' of gold dredges. In many instances, t however, the most primitive and waste-, s ful methods arc employed, the coarse i gold only being won, while sometimes as much as 50 'per cent, of all the gold ■ contained in the washed ore or sand is ' lost. Many causes doubtless contribute 11 to this state of affairs, some of ,j)oeal and climatic; but the principal I reason, doubtles's, is the people living in I Si. Petersburg or Moscow, who probably , give bin little attention to the detailed I operation "i their properties, and are I disinclined lu spend any money in iuiI proveiueuts. LAM .TAUK AM) t'UAIAIK. "The chief draw back, of eourse, is the language; but, with ordinary intelligence and business acuteness, that is overcome in far less time than must people would imagine, and in any ease it hinders business very little provided tlie methods of working are right, Hie language is largely phonetic, and is much less difficult to learn than Jlindustanee or Chinese. "The climate of Siberia should prove very little drawback. The winters are colder than English winters, hut it is a dry eold, not felt as in countries ulcere the moist atmosphere, standing a littie above zero, penetrates to the bone. "For the greater part of the winter the sky is' unclouded and sunny, and tlie air 110 colder than in Canada or many parts of the United States. The occasional severe snowstorms, with wind, seldom last for more than a day or two, and then all is calm for weeks together. 1 The air is bracing and invigorating, while fne summers are hot, and there is often much dust."