Page:The Russian Review Volume 1.djvu/267

Rh

Cotton, the King of the American South, is a very important industrial entity in Russia, and the problem of its production or importation looms very large as one of the pressing matters of the day. It is an article of prime necessity in the national economy of the country, and constitutes the most important of Russia's imports.

Over 400,000 tons of cotton are required annually to supply the needs of the Russian cotton mills, and this is about one-tenth of the world's total crop. The cotton goods industry is a tremendous factor in the industrial life of the country, the number of cotton mills being over one thousand. They employ about five hundred thousand persons, and the annual output is valued at one billion roubles. The number of looms operated exceeds two hundred thousand, while the number of spindles used is over nine millions.

When we consider that cotton is used also for other purposes, the importance of the cotton industry for Russia becomes quite apparent. But, while the need of cotton is growing very fast and is reaching enormous proportions, the raising of cotton is not able to keep pace with the industrial demand. Despite the fact that there exists a very high import duty on cotton, equal to almost fifty per cent of its value, Russia still imports about one-half of the cotton that she needs. Fully seventy-five per cent of the amount imported, i. e., over one hundred and fifty thousand tons, come from the United States.

The problem of raising cotton in Russia in sufficient amounts to supply the home market has received a great deal of attention and study in the course of the past fifteen years. Considerable data have been collected concerning the possibilities