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Collected Works of V. I. Lenin - Vol. 3 - From Marx to Mao

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482<br />

V. I. LENIN<br />

believes every figure in print. The fact is that for the<br />

majority <strong>of</strong> excise-paying trades the only source <strong>of</strong> information<br />

is the Military Statistical Abstract, which, as we<br />

know, tremendously exaggerates the <strong>to</strong>tals in the<br />

fac<strong>to</strong>ry statistics. Unfortunately, however, we have little<br />

material with which <strong>to</strong> verify the data in the Abstract.<br />

In distilling, the Military Statistical Abstract counted<br />

in 1866 a <strong>to</strong>tal <strong>of</strong> 3,836 distilleries with 52,660 workers<br />

(in 1890—1,620, with 26,102 workers), but the number <strong>of</strong><br />

distilleries does not coincide with the data <strong>of</strong> the Ministry<br />

<strong>of</strong> Finance, which in 1865-66 calculated 2,947 operating distilleries<br />

and in 1866-67—3,386.* Judging by this, the<br />

number <strong>of</strong> workers is exaggerated by some 5,000 <strong>to</strong> 9,000. In<br />

vodka distilling, the Military Statistical Abstract computes<br />

4,841 distilleries, with 8,326 workers (1890: 242 distilleries<br />

with 5,266 workers); <strong>of</strong> these Bessarabia Gubernia has<br />

3,207 distilleries with 6,873 workers. The absurdity <strong>of</strong><br />

these figures is glaring. In fact, we learn from material<br />

published by the Ministry <strong>of</strong> Finance** that the actual<br />

number <strong>of</strong> vodka distilleries in Bessarabia Gubernia was 10<br />

or 12, and in the whole <strong>of</strong> European Russia 1,157. The number<br />

<strong>of</strong> workers was consequently exaggerated by a minimum<br />

<strong>of</strong> 6 thousand. The cause <strong>of</strong> this exaggeration is, evidently,<br />

that the Bessarabian “statisticians” included vineyard owners<br />

among the owners <strong>of</strong> distilleries (see below on <strong>to</strong>baccomaking).<br />

In beer- and mead-brewing, the Military Statistical<br />

Abstract counts 2,374 breweries, with 6,825 workers (1890—<br />

918 breweries, with 8,364 workers), whereas The Ministry<br />

<strong>of</strong> Finance Yearbook estimates a <strong>to</strong>tal <strong>of</strong> 2,087 breweries in<br />

European Russia for 1866. The number <strong>of</strong> workers is exaggerated<br />

here <strong>to</strong>o.*** In the beet-sugar and sugar-refining<br />

trades, the Military Statistical Abstract exaggerates the<br />

number <strong>of</strong> workers by 11 thousand, counting 92,126 per-<br />

* The Ministry <strong>of</strong> Finance Yearbook, I, pp. 76 and 82. The<br />

<strong>to</strong>tal number <strong>of</strong> distilleries (including those not in operation) was<br />

4,737 and 4,646 respectively.<br />

** Yearbook, I, p. 104.<br />

*** E.g., in Simbirsk Gubernia, the Military Statistical Abstract<br />

computes 218 distilleries (!) with 299 workers and an output <strong>to</strong>talling<br />

21,600 rubles. (According <strong>to</strong> the Yearbook there were 7 distilleries in<br />

the gubernia.) Very likely, these were small domestic or peasant<br />

establishments.

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