V. I. Lenin

Russia’s Finances

Wehave repeatedly pointed out that the autocratic government is more
and more confused over its financial affairs (tricks would be an apter
word, I think). It is increasingly obvious that a financial collapse is
inevitable. Here is an interesting confirmation of this. The Berlin
correspondent of the London
Economist , {1} one of the most influential organs of the
European financial barons, reported on October 11 as follows:

“Arepresentative of the Mendelssohn Bank has been in
St. Peters burg this week to take part in the negotiations between the
Russian Government and French bankers for the much-heralded new Russian
loan. According to apparently authentic statements given out here, the
amount to be raised will be about £75,000,000 [about 700 million
rubles], of which France is to take about half, while the rest is to be
offered in Germany, Holland, England, and the United States. It is also
stated that a large part of the issue is to be devoted to taking up the
Treasury notes placed in France and Germany during the war.

That Russia should appeal to the money markets at just this juncture, when all the great centres are under unusual pressure, is
taken as striking evidence of its financial straits. One version of the
story, however, has it that only a small part of the sum above mentioned is
to be offered for subscription now, while the rest will be raised later,
presumably early next year. But this only increases the unfavourable impression as to the urgency of Russia’s needs. That there is no enthusiasm
in Germany for a Russian loan just at this moment goes without saying. Not
only the condition of the money market here, but, more than all, the
continuance of political turmoil in Russia, and the visible weakening, not
to say breakdown, of Governmental authority there, are facts that are being
weighed in Germany in a manner that augurs ill for the forthcoming
subscription.”

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Notes:
{1}
The Economist —a British economic and political weekly published in London since 1843; an organ of the big industrial bourgeoisie.

p. 176