the ports and the towns do not extend to the renting of houses, apartments, and country houses for temporary use and for personal residence.

ART. 2. In the localities pointed out by article I, foreign subjects can insure the payments due to them by accepting as security immovable property; but the securities of this kind and the recovery of credits in general may not entail in favor of foreign subjects either the acquisition of the mortgaged immovable property or entrance into effective possession, or usufruct.

ART. 3. With regard to the rights of succession of foreigners as to immovable properties situated outside the ports and the towns in the provinces mentioned, the following restrictions are in force:

(1) The legitimate succession of the descendants, and of husband or wife as to property (immovable) remaining after the death of a foreign subject, takes place according to the laws in force if the heir has settled in Russia before March 14, 1887. (2) In all the other cases of legitimate succession, as well as in cases of succession by testament, the foreign subject is obliged, within the term of three years, counting from the acquisition of the rights to the property (immovable), to sell the said property to a Russian subject.

ART. 6. The dispositions of the preceding articles are applicable to associations, companies, and commercial and industrial societies, constituted by virtue of the foreign laws, even if they shall have been authorized to operate within the limits of Russia.

Articles of the civil laws regarding stock companies.*

ARTICLE 2139. Where a company is organized by a number of capitalists subscribing shares in an enterprise and thus forming a common capital, the participation and responsibility of each shareholder is restricted to his share in the enterprise. (Remark.-Shareholders' societies having for their object the navigation on the Caspian Sea must be formed exclusively by Russian subjects.)

ARTICLE 2140. Companies can have for their object any useful enterprise or the exploitation of an invention which does not exclusively belong to a third person. Governmental authorization is necessary to enable it to constitute itself. It is not absolutely necessary that the object of the company should be commercial.

ARTICLE 2141. The governmental authorization can be given in three different ways, namely, (1) pure and simple, (2) with certain special advantages, (3) with concessions and privileges.

ARTICLE 2142. The Government, by according the authorization, does not assume any responsibility regarding the chances of the enterprise.

ARTICLE 2143. This article subdivides the companies into two categories, according as to whether the object of their enterprise requires preparatory studies and works of installation (as, for instance, for railways, bridges, or canal works), or permits the commencement of operations as soon as the capital is formed.

ARTICLE 2144. Concessions and privileges are accorded only to the first category of companies. The authorization pure and simple is given to the companies representing the second category.

ARTICLE 2146. The company can be founded for an indefinite time, but the concessions and privileges are accorded only for a specific time, which varies according to the nature of the enterprise to which they are related.

ARTICLE 2147. At the expiration of the term, they may be prolonged or renewed.

*Svod Zakonow, volume 10, part 1.

ARTICLE 2149. All companies must be provided with a license.

The only excep

tion made is in favor of those companies who are introducing into Russia a new commerce or industry heretofore unknown.

ARTICLE 2152. A company obtaining a concession can not dispose of its rights, nor merge or unite with any other company without special authorization from the Government.

ARTICLE 2153. A company is not permitted to alter or change its by-laws or to extend the field of its operations beyond the limits first prescribed, without at first obtaining due authorization therefor.

ARTICLE 2154. If all the shares are not paid up or subscribed for at the epoch determined by the by-laws, the company is not organized unless the shareholders reduce the capital and the Government approve the reduction.

ARTICLE 2156. A company ceases to exist if it does not begin its operations within the time specified by the statutes, if an extension has not been granted.

ARTICLE 2160. There can be but one kind of shares, namely, nominal. The statutes fix their value.

ARTICLE 2161. The amount of each share is either paid up in full at the time of the formation of the company or in quotas according to its needs.

ARTICLE 2163. The share is given to the shareholder only after full payment. Receipts to bearer are forbidden.

ARTICLE 2164. In case of default of payment within the specified time, the shareholder loses his title, and the company profits by the payments already made. The company has the right to substitute another share for the one thus annulled.

ARTICLE 2165. The number of shares for the founders can not represent more than one-fifth of all shares issued. They must be numbered. Founders' shares can only be given for services already rendered. Founders may obtain not only onefifth of the first shares issued, but may obtain an equal portion of all subsequent issues. Founders' shares are transferable.

ARTICLE 2167. The holder may dispose freely of his shares and receipts. Nevertheless, during his lifetime the alienation can only be made by a regular transfer. All sales or purchases on fixed-time delivery are forbidden, and fines may be imposed upon those who take part in them.

ARTICLE 2173. Creditors have no rights upon the moneys paid in by a shareholder, but they can exercise their rights upon the shares and the accruing dividends. ARTICLE 2174. The founders administer the company until it is fully constituted. ARTICLE 2175. After this the general meeting of shareholders nominate the members of the council of administration.

ARTICLE 2176. This council represents the company and acts for it. Members of the council are not personally liable for the engagements of the company.

ARTICLE 2194. Before a concession is granted, the nature of the enterprise, whether the same is of interest for the public and in what manner and for what period the concession may safely be granted, are carefully considered, and the questions decided whether the company shall take out a license, and whether the shares shall at once be paid up in full.

ARTICLE 2195. When there are two demands of a like nature, and both offer equal guaranties, the preference is given to the one which was first represented.

ARTICLE 2196. After the project has been examined by the minister, it is submitted to the Committee of Ministers, if there is a demand for an authorization only; but, in case a concession is demanded, then the project is submitted to the Imperial Council.

ARTICLE 2197. After approval by the Emperor, the statutes are published through the instrumentality of the Senate, and the company publishes the same in the

newspapers.

FAILURE OF CROPS IN SOUTHERN RUSSIA.

Reports received at Odessa from private and other sources leave but little room for doubt as to the unfavorable condition of the Russian grain and hay crops.

The past winter was unusually mild, and there was very little snow or frost. The spring season, up to the present, has been almost entirely without rain, and the same may be said of the winter season, practically no rain having fallen here since last November.

From the winter we pass almost at once into summer weather here in the south, and during the present year the change has been unusually rapid, and the drought has dried up the grasses to such an extent that the country surrounding Odessa is parched and yellow. There will be little or no hay for feeding purposes this year. This failure is general in the country bordering on the Black Sea and Sea of Azof and, in a less degree, in the provinces of Poltava and Kharkof. Cattle, sheep, and horses are even now being moved to localities where feed can be found for them.

The rye crop, it is feared, owing to lack of rain, will prove a complete failure in the regions mentioned above. An average crop of rye in the above region, which includes the provinces of Bessarabia, Cherson, Taurida, Ekaterinoslav, Poltava, Kharkof, and the Don Cossack and Kuban territories, would be 95,000,000 bushels. According to present reports, 30,000,000 bushels will cover this year's yield.

The Government has bought large quantities of rye for shipment to the Far East, paying 20 copecks (10 cents) per pood (36 pounds) over the market value for the grain. I am informed that the condition of the rye crop in the more northern and central provinces of Russia presents a more favorable aspect.

Winter wheat seems to stand too thick and too high for the season of the year. What I mean is that a shorter stalk and longer head would be more satisfactory, as it looks as if there would be plenty of straw and very little wheat.

Spring-sown grains, including wheat, are much in want of rain, and, unless they receive it copiously within the next two weeks, the outlook this year for Russia will be very poor indeed.

Owing to the drought this season, the farmers have held back large reserve stocks of various cereals, and less grain has been brought to this and other Black Sea ports than for many years past. Strange to say, prices are low, and, while they will no doubt rise, there is no present indication of such a movement.

ODESSA, May 20, 1899.

THOS. E. HEENAN,

Consul.

CROPS IN RUSSIA.

Consul Heenan, writing from Odessa under date of June 2, 1899, confirms his report of May 20,* in regard to the failure of crops in southern Russia. Rain has not fallen to any extent, and cattle have been turned into the rye fields, all hope of saving this cereal having been abandoned. The yield of winter wheat will be far below the average; spring wheat will also be less than usual; oats and barley promise light crops. The consul adds the following particulars in regard to the affected districts:

The province of Cherson contains 17,495,685 acres of land, with a population of 2,732,832. It has eighteen cities, of which Odessa. with 410,000 inhabitants, Nicolaiev with 100,000, and Cherson with 70,000 are the most important. The province of Bessarabia, with an area of 12,009,856 acres, has a population of 1,993,436. The largest town is Kishinev-110,000 inhabitants. The province of Taurida contains 14,919,974 acres, with a population of 1,443,560. The famous Crimea forms a part of this province. Here the culture of the vine reaches its highest development, and Crimean wines are well and favorably known all over Russia. The province of Ekaterinoslav has an area of 15,665,777 acres and a population of 2,112,651. The mineral resources are enormous, and millions of foreign capital are engaged in developing them. The province of Poltava contains 12,329,914 acres, with a population of 2,794,727. The province of Kharkof has 13,463,522 acres and a population of 2,509, 811. The city of Kharkof has 180,000 inhabitants. The Don Cossack territory contains 40,660, 808 acres and a population of 2,575,818. The Kuban territory, with an area of 22,840,040 acres, has a population of 1,922,770. The provinces of Kief and Podolia are the richest agricultural districts in European Russia. acres and has a population of 3,576,125.

Kief contains 12,592,574 Kief, the largest city, has

acres were sown in beet

a population of 250,000. In 1898, 311,982 root, yielding 1,500,768 tons of beets, from which 167,975 tons of sugar were manufactured. The province of Podolia contains 10,383,294 acres, with a population of 3,031,513. Podolia had in 1898 254,471 acres sown with beet root, which yielded 1,330, 100 tons of beets, from which 151,862 tons of sugar were manufactured. The province of Volhynia has 17,727,411 acres, with a population of 2,997,902. This province planted 62,076 acres in beet root in 1898, which yielded 330,671 tons of beets, giving 39,694 tons of sugar.

*See preceding report.

The average crop of the various cereals in these provinces is as follows:*

Besides the above cereals, the province of Cherson yielded 1,929,ooo bushels of corn; Bessarabia, 17,679,000 bushels; and Podolia, 3,857,000 bushels.

The province of Poltava yields about 5,250,000 bushels of buckwheat annually; Kharkof, 1,800,000 bushels; Kief, 4,875,000 bushels; Podolia, 1,800,000 bushels; and Volhynia, 3,375,000 bushels.

The failure of the rye crop in this southern country is the most serious feature of the situation, because it is the food of the masses and this is the third year in succession in which the rye crop has failed or practically failed. This may be seen by the exports from Odessa:

* Under date of June 19, Consul Heenan gives the following statistics as to the yield in 1891 (the famine year) of the provinces named:

The famine year, notes the consul, did not produce a great diminution of rye and wheat in the southern provinces, from which there are now such unfavorable reports as to both winter and spring sown crops.