buy, if they can, Moscow calicos, and cheap iron implements to help them in their field work. The rise in the standard of living, largely assisted by the building of the railway, helped to bring about these economic changes. Foreign traders in Siberia cannot pay too much attention to the social conditions of the country, and they must always bear in mind that the class of goods sent to Siberia must suit an as yet primitive, although developing, civilization.
One of the most important factors in effecting these changes is, as I have indicated, the development of communications: cheap transport here, as elsewhere, is naturally the principal agent in breaking down the old condition of economic isolation. The great railway which crosses the continent from east to west is now fed by the river traffic, running north and south, and in time branch lines will be constructed to run parallel with the rivers to certain localities which are known to be peculiarly rich and favourable to colonization.
As I describe in Chapter IX., the proposed new route by sea from Europe to Siberia via the Arctic, and Yenisei estuary, which has been established by Captains Wiggin and Webster, may have great effect in cheapening the cost of transport to Central Siberia, and seems, moreover, within reach of achievement. The hope, however, of subsidizing this route by rebates of the customs dues on goods imported thereby must not be too much relied upon. The influence of the manufacturing interests in old Russia, I who have a great power over the Government, is more than likely to be exerted against all attempts to lower the import tariffs in any parts of the Empire. Having regard to the economic relationships between
