The Jewish "excise farmers" [1] were converted into railroad men, as shareholders, supply merchants, or contractors.

A new Jewish plutocracy came into being, and its growth excited jealousy and fear among the Russian mercantile class.

The Government, filled with enthusiasm for the cultivation of large industries, was not as yet prepared to discriminate against the Jews whenever big capital was concerned.

But it lent an attentive ear to the "original" Russian merchants whenever they complained about Jewish competition in petty trade, on which the lower Jewish classes depended for their livelihood.

The Government, which had not yet emancipated itself from the habit of "assorting" its citizens and dividing them into a protected and a tolerated class, set out to elaborate measures for "curbing" the Jews belonging to the latter category.
[Footnote 1: i.e., those that leased from the Government the collection of excise on liquor.