Office of the Historian

No. 435.
Mr. Boker to Mr. Evarts.

Legation of the United States,
St. Petersburg, December 20, 1877. (Received Jan. 10, 1878.)
No. 241.]

Sir: I nave the honor to forward to yon herewith a short article from the Journal de St. Petersburg, of this date, upon the Russian budget of 1876, with a translation of the same. There were no doubt very considerable expenditures made in that year in anticipation of the war which broke out in the spring of 1877, and Russia has therefore reason to congratulate herself that the expenditures exceeded the receipts by so small an amount. As soon as I receive in an official form the compte rendu for 1876, I shall have the honor to forward it to you.

I have, &c.,

GEO. H. BOKER.
[Inclosure in No. 241. Translation.]

The Russian budget.

[From the Journal de Petersburg of December 8–20, 1877.]

We publish to-day, in a supplement, the report of his excellency the comptroller of the empire on the final settlement of the budget of receipts and expenditures for 1876. We will not insist upon the importance of this financial document, which derives particular importance from the year to which it refers. Note, that notwithstanding the influence of political circumstances, the receipts realized in 1876 exceeded by 2½ millions of roubles the calculations of the budget, and that the budget was finally balanced by a payment of 5 millions only of coupons, an amount which the treasury easily provided for out of the balance of 1875, which amounted to 40½ millions.

As regards the general situation created by political events, these results are certainly satisfactory, and they prove once more the financial power of Russia.