gmertca, , ?|emp, an& JUapoleon - Vote Hemp

Hemf, Flax, and Iron: The Russian Viewraised enough hemp and flax and cattle, cut down enoughtrees, and scraped enough iron from the rocks of the Urals topay for its keep.The balance of trade was enormously in favor of Russia.Between 1793 and 1803, the balance in favor of Russia averagedabout 400,000 pounds a year. 21 The chief source of thisfavorable balance was Russia's chief customer, Great Britain. 22Great Britain, whose need for naval stores was insatiable,usually took from one-half to two-thirds of the whole export ofSt. Petersburg and this was probably true of the other RussianBaltic and Whit e Sea ports, also. Mor e often than not, Britaindid not come to trade but simply to buy. In 1802, for instance,of the 971 British ships which came to Russia, 642 came inballast. Of the 932 British ships that cleared Russian ports thatyear, only thirty-nine left unladen. 23 An d Britain, standing herusual mercantilist policy on its head, mad e u p in hard cashthe vast difference in value between what she brought andwhat she took away. It was this specie from Britain, to a verygreat extent, that kept the Russian noble in comparative luxury.Britain's crucial need for naval stores and Russia's sybariticneed for gold would always bring them together despite allpolitical differences, like lust drawing together two sensualistsdespite disparate backgrounds and mutual dislike.1. Peter I. Lyashchenko, History of the National Economy of Russiato the 1917 Revolution (New York: Macmillan Co., 1949), p. 421.2. H . E . Ronimois, Russia's Foreign Trade and the Baltic Sea (London:Boreas Publishing Co., Ltd., 1946), p. 11; Oddy, European Commerce,pp. 70, 80; Mavor, Economic History of Russia, I, 532; Warden, The37