[Russkia Vedomosti, No. 222, Sept. 27, (Oct. 3,) 1914, P. 3.]
Prof. Migoulin has submitted to the Russian Minister of Finance a scheme
for new internal loans to meet the extraordinary expenditures caused by
the present war.
It is proposed to enlist the support of various groups of capitalists
and of small property holders and to obtain from them about
2,500,000,000 rubles, ($1,500,000,000.)
Four different loans are contemplated. Persons desiring to invest their
savings at a small but sure interest rate will be able to buy the
certificates at a 5 per cent. loan. These certificates will have a face
value of 100 rubles, and they will sell at $90. The interest rate will
not be changed within the next fifteen or twenty years. Therefore, the
actual interest rate will be 5.56 per cent. on the original investment.
A 6 per cent. loan will cater to those investors who like to place their
loans at shorter terms. The certificates of this loan will be sold at
premiums. Five-year certificates will be sold at ninety-six for a
hundred rubles face value, four-year certificates at ninety-seven,
three-year certificates at ninety-eight, two-year certificates at
ninety-nine, and one-year certificates at par. This loan will be free
from the interest (coupon) tax, but not from the income and inheritance
taxes. In case of success one billion worth of these certificates will
be issued.
For persons interested in the changes of values upon Stock Exchange
different loans will be issued. In the first place, no interest-bearing
ten-ruble certificates with a large number of winners will be issued. A
considerable number of these certificates will be redeemed each year. It
is proposed to have one winner of 200,000 rubles, one of 100,000, two of
50,000, one of 25,000, about fifty of 10,000 rubles each, some 3,950
"chances" of from 100 to 500 rubles each. The whole loan may amount to
100,000,000 rubles. It is to be redeemed within fifty years.
Should this loan prove a success it will be followed by another of equal
amount.
Finally, Prof. Migoulin proposes to obtain about 200,000,000 rubles by
selling 4 per cent. Government bonds in fifty-ruble denominations. This
loan, too, will be equipped with the winners at the annual draw for the
redemption.
The first of the proposed loans will be realized soon. The Government
has decided to obtain 500,000,000 rubles at 5 per cent. This new loan
will increase the present debt of the Russian Government of
8,838,000,000 rubles ($4,500,000,000) to 9,338,000,000 rubles. Russia
has to pay 370,000,000 rubles annually for the interest on her debts.
About one-half of her indebtedness is due to railroad building and to
other more or less productive expenditures. But the other half of her
indebtedness has been spent on armaments, wars, and other unproductive
items.
Russia's new budget is about 3,500,000,000 rubles ($1,800,000,000.) The
interest on the new loan will increase this budget only 6 per cent. But
this new loan increases again her unproductive debt and places a heavy
burden upon the taxpayer for whom the Government has prepared many
"surprises" this year.
The possibilities of _internal_ loans are not very great. During the
first month of the war about 380,000,000 rubles of savings were
withdrawn from the banks. Of this sum only 76,000,000 were redeposited
later when the first excitement had passed. The rest of the money
evidently was either used up for production, for consumption, or for
private storing of ready cash. How much of this money will come forth to
buy the various short-time loans no one is able to tell beforehand. But
the big manufacturing interests are craving for _foreign gold loans_,
not for internal paper money loans.