When any great enterprise is projected, the first question is--"How will this new scheme affect the interests of the State ?" Thus, when the course of a new railway has to be determined, the military authorities are among the first to be consulted, and their opinion has a great influence on the ultimate decision.

The natural consequence is that the railway-map of Russia presents to the eye of the strategist much that is quite unintelligible to the ordinary observer--a fact that will become apparent even to the uninitiated as soon as a war breaks out in Eastern Europe.

Russia is no longer what she was in the days of the Crimean War, when troops and stores had to be conveyed hundreds of miles by the most primitive means of transport.

At that time she had only 750 miles of railway; now she has over 36,000 miles, and every year new lines are constructed.
The water-communication has likewise in recent years been greatly improved.

On the principal rivers there are now good steamers.
Unfortunately, the climate puts serious obstructions in the way of navigation.