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

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

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THE DEVELOPMENT OF CAPITALISM IN RUSSIA<br />

483<br />

sons, as against 80,919 according <strong>to</strong> the data <strong>of</strong> The Ministry<br />

<strong>of</strong> Finance Yearbook (1890—77,875 workers). In<br />

<strong>to</strong>bacco-making, the Military Statistical Abstract gives<br />

5,327 fac<strong>to</strong>ries, with 26,116 workers (1890—281 fac<strong>to</strong>ries,<br />

with 26,720 workers); <strong>of</strong> these, 4,993 fac<strong>to</strong>ries with<br />

20,038 workers are in Bessarabia Gubernia. Actually, the<br />

number <strong>of</strong> <strong>to</strong>bacco fac<strong>to</strong>ries in Russia in 1866 was 343, and<br />

in Bessarabia Gubernia 13.* The number <strong>of</strong> workers has<br />

been exaggerated by about 20 thousand, and even the compilers<br />

<strong>of</strong> the Military Statistical Abstract themselves<br />

indicated that “the fac<strong>to</strong>ries shown in Bessarabia Gubernia<br />

. . . are nothing but <strong>to</strong>bacco plantations” (p. 414). Mr. N. —on<br />

evidently thought it superfluous <strong>to</strong> glance at the text <strong>of</strong><br />

the statistical publication he uses; that is why he failed<br />

<strong>to</strong> notice the error, and discoursed with a highly serious<br />

air about a “slight increase in the number <strong>of</strong> workers in<br />

the . . . <strong>to</strong>bacco fac<strong>to</strong>ries” (article cited, p. 104)!! Mr. N. —on<br />

simply takes the <strong>to</strong>tal number <strong>of</strong> workers in the excisepaying<br />

trades from the Military Statistical Abstract and<br />

the Direc<strong>to</strong>ry for 1890 (186,053 and 144,332) and calculates<br />

the percentage <strong>of</strong> decrease. . . . “In a period <strong>of</strong> 25 years there<br />

has been a considerable drop in the number <strong>of</strong> workers<br />

employed. It has diminished by 22.4%. . . . “Here” (i.e., in the<br />

excise-paying trades) “we see no signs <strong>of</strong> an increase, the<br />

plain fact being that the number <strong>of</strong> workers has simply<br />

declined by a quarter <strong>of</strong> its previous magnitude” (ibid.).<br />

Indeed, what could be “simpler”! Take the first figure you<br />

lay your hands on, and calculate a percentage! As for the<br />

trifling circumstance that the figure given in the<br />

Military Statistical Abstract exaggerates the number <strong>of</strong><br />

workers by some forty thousand, that can be ignored.<br />

7) C o n c l u s i o n s<br />

The criticism <strong>of</strong> our fac<strong>to</strong>ry statistics given in the last<br />

two sections leads us <strong>to</strong> the following main conclusions:<br />

* The Ministry <strong>of</strong> Finance Yearbook, p. 61. Cf. Survey <strong>of</strong> Manufac<strong>to</strong>ry<br />

Industry (<strong>Vol</strong>. II, St. Petersburg, 1863), which gives detailed<br />

information for 1861: 534 fac<strong>to</strong>ries, with 6,937 workers; and in Bessarabia<br />

Gubernia, 31 fac<strong>to</strong>ries, with 73 workers. The number <strong>of</strong> <strong>to</strong>bacco<br />

fac<strong>to</strong>ries fluctuates greatly from year <strong>to</strong> year.

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