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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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554<br />

V. I. LENIN<br />

The amount <strong>of</strong> freight carried on inland waterways in<br />

European Russia in 1881 was 899.7 million poods; in 1893—<br />

1,181.5 million poods; in 1896—1,553 million poods. The<br />

value <strong>of</strong> these freights was 186.5 million rubles; 257.2 million<br />

rubles; 290 million rubles.<br />

Russia’s merchant marine in 1868 consisted <strong>of</strong> 51 steamers<br />

with a capacity <strong>of</strong> 14,300 lasts, 160 and <strong>of</strong> 700 sailing<br />

ships with a capacity <strong>of</strong> 41,800 lasts; and in 1896 <strong>of</strong> 522<br />

steamers with a capacity <strong>of</strong> 161,600 lasts.*<br />

The development <strong>of</strong> mercantile shipping at all ports on<br />

the outer seas was as follows: during the five years 1856-<br />

1860 the number <strong>of</strong> homeward plus outward bound vessels<br />

averaged 18,901, with a <strong>to</strong>tal capacity <strong>of</strong> 3,783,000 <strong>to</strong>ns;<br />

for the period 1886-1890 it averaged 23,201 vessels (#23%)<br />

with a <strong>to</strong>tal capacity <strong>of</strong> 13,845,000 <strong>to</strong>ns (#266%). Capacity,<br />

therefore, increased 3q times. In 39 years (from 1856 <strong>to</strong><br />

1894) capacity grew 5.5-fold, and if we take Russian and<br />

foreign vessels separately, it is seen that during these 39<br />

years the number <strong>of</strong> the former grew 3.4-fold (from 823 <strong>to</strong><br />

2,789), while their capacity grew 12.1-fold (from 112,800<br />

<strong>to</strong>ns <strong>to</strong> 1,368,000 <strong>to</strong>ns), whereas the number <strong>of</strong> the latter<br />

grew by 16% (from 18,284 <strong>to</strong> 21,160) and their capacity<br />

5.3-fold (from 3,448,000 <strong>to</strong>ns <strong>to</strong> 18,267,000 <strong>to</strong>ns).** Let us<br />

remark that the capacity <strong>of</strong> homeward and outward bound<br />

vessels also fluctuates very considerably from year <strong>to</strong> year<br />

(e.g., 1878—13 million <strong>to</strong>ns; 1881—8.6 million <strong>to</strong>ns), and<br />

these fluctuations enable us <strong>to</strong> gauge in part the fluctuations<br />

in the demand for unskilled labourers, dockers, etc. Here,<br />

<strong>to</strong>o, capitalism requires the existence <strong>of</strong> a mass <strong>of</strong> people<br />

always in want <strong>of</strong> work and ready at the first call <strong>to</strong> accept<br />

it, however casual it may be.<br />

The development <strong>of</strong> foreign trade can be seen from the<br />

following data:***<br />

* Military Statistical Abstract, 758, and The Ministry <strong>of</strong><br />

Finance Yearbook, I, 363.—Productive Forces, XVII, 30.<br />

** Productive Forces. Russia’s Foreign Trade, p. 56, and foll.<br />

*** Ibid., p. 17. Yearbook <strong>of</strong> Russia for 1904, St. Petersburg, 1905.

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