EX-CZAR'S FORTUNE AND DOMAINS.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 June 1917, Page 9

EX-CZAR'S FORTUNE AND DOMAINS.

ESTATES CO TO THE STATE. A Times telegram states that Mr. jTitoff, the commissary appointed by the Provisional Government to take charge of the affairs of the ex-Tsar and his family, lias applied for a grant to cover their immediate expenses. According to a rough estimate, it appears that Nicholas H. owns not more than ,£300,000 in cash and securities. His wife's fortune amounts ,;to about £IIO,OOO. Young Alexis isjmuejh wealthier, as his allowance has been accumulating. Ho possesses about £500,000, The fortunes of his sisters are estimated as follows:—Olga £530,000, Tatiana. £400,000, Marie £370,000, Anastasia £330,000. A Daily Telegraph message from Pctrograd states: By a stroke of the pen' the Provisional Government have transferred tq the Russian people a territory larger than Germany, and probably richer than Germany in natural resources. The decree issued recently declared the Domain lands 'hitherto belonging to the Imperial family the property of the State. These lands include the immense Altai and Nerchinsk regions in Siberia, which since the 13th century have been the personal property of tie Russian Emperors, and, while enriching the dynasty, did not increase, as they should have done, the resources of the nation The Altai and Nerchinsk are rich in lietab, bub until recently little attention was paid to their exploitation. Enterprise has been stimulated by the exigencies of the war, and of late years there lias been an increase in the output of &old, iron, zinc, lead, and otlier metals. In the Altai rogion lies the wealthy coal districts of Kuznetsk, which bids fair to rival and even surpass iu productiveness the Dcnetz basin, in the south of Russia. The Altai region includes moreover, thousands of acres of fertile black soil. The addition of all this territory to the resources of the State is particularly timely, in view of the colossal expenditure incurred through the w'ar.