Page:England & Russia in Central Asia,Vol-I.djvu/95

THE EUSSIAN GOVERNMENT IN TURKESTAN. 75 where the khans were able to make both ends meet, it is not easy to see why Russia should so completely fail. We cannot accept as the cause of this deficit the ex- planation that Russia is so weak as to pay through the nose for what she purchases. As the matter stands, there is, according to the published accounts, an annual deficit of six million roubles which has to be made good by the Imperial exchequer. As the Turkestan army is technically a local army, Russia has not the satisfaction of possessing an actual addition to her military strength in it ; and, as a matter of fact, for offensive purposes on a large scale the Turkestan army must be reinforced, and strengthened in artillery and munitions of war from Europe, before it could take the field. In the estimates of expenditure we have given, no allowance is made for any extraordinary ex- penses such as those connected with the military pre- parations in Turkestan during the summer of 1878, or for the expedition against Khokand ; and these have to be added to make the absolute charge against the Russian exchequer understood. There are also the expenses of the Trans- Caspian district, which figure under the Caucasian returns. Considering the ac- tivity of General Lomakine, and the great cost of animals of transport, etc., the expenses connected with that general's governorship are not slight, and they certainly are a dead loss. It is probable that during last year the deficit has not been six millions but ten millions. Russia is not so rich that she can afford, to waste that amount annually. The ruling powers cannot continue to demand that sacrifice, and the