to the bureaucratic mind whether there are mines in the district or not, so long as the post exists. It was obvious to me that there was a great difference between the Canadian and the Russian method of administering mining concessions. A Canadian can register a claim and within a few days obtain the sole right of exploitation, but a Siberian has to encounter formidable regulations and long interviews with uniformed officials who are especially deputed to deal with mineral rights.
One would have thought that the post of a mining inspector would be filled by someone with a knowledge of his subject, but that is not thought necessary by the Russian Government. The gentleman whose acquaintance we made was a pensioned military officer of partly German extraction, who gave us a hospitable welcome and did everything to procure for us practical help and advice about travelling on the Russo-Mongolian frontier. His knowledge of mines and minerals did not appear to be vast, and he seemed to be more at home when he sat down to tea with us and recalled the military exploits of his earlier days, the memories of the Russo-Turkish War and the Battle of Plevna, in which he had taken part.
As one would imagine, public representative institutions at Minusinsk were limited both in number and in function. There is a town council elected by those who pay the apartment tax, but the duties of this body seemed to be even more restricted than those of the same body at Krasnoyarsk. The upkeep of an almshouse and a small town hospital, the repairing of a few primary school buildings, and the maintenance of tracks or so-called roads in the town
