A certain influx of gold was thus secured, but not nearly enough for the object in view.* Some more potent means, therefore, had to be employed, and the inventive minister evolved a new scheme.  If he could only induce foreign capitalists to undertake manufacturing industries in Russia, they would, at one and the same time, bring into the country the capital required, and they would cooperate powerfully in that development of the national industry which he so ardently wished.  No sooner had he roughly sketched out his plan—­for he was not a man to let the grass grow under his feet—­than he set himself to put it into execution by letting it be known in the financial world that the Government was ready to open a great field for lucrative investments, in the form of profitable enterprises under the control of those who subscribed the capital.

* In 1891 the total value of the exports was roughly 70,000,000 pounds.  It then fell, in consequence of bad harvests, to 45 millions, and did not recover the previous maximum until 1897, when it stood at 73 millions.  Thereafter there was a steady rise till 1901, when the total was estimated at 76 millions.

Foreign capitalists responded warmly to the call.  Crowds of concession-hunters, projectors, company promoters, et hoc genus omne, collected in St. Petersburg, offering their services on the most tempting terms; and all of them who could make out a plausible case were well received at the Ministry of Finance.  It was there explained to them that in many branches of industry, such as the manufacture of textile fabrics, there was little or no room for newcomers, but that in others the prospects were most brilliant.  Take, for example, the iron industries of Southern Russia.  The boundless mineral wealth of that region was still almost intact, and the few works which had been there established were paying very large dividends.  The works founded by John Hughes, for example, had repeatedly divided considerably over twenty per cent., and there was little fear for the future, because the Government had embarked on a great scheme of railway extension, requiring an unlimited amount of rails and rolling-stock.  What better opening could be desired?  Certainly the opening seemed most attractive, and into it rushed the crowd of company promoters, followed by stock-jobbers and brokers, playing lively pieces of what the Germans call Zukunftsmusik.  An unwary and confiding public, especially in Belgium and France, listened to the enchanting strains of the financial syrens, and invested largely.  Quickly the number of completed ironworks in that region rose from nine to seventeen, and in the short space of three years the output of pig-iron was nearly doubled.  In 1900 there were 44 blast furnaces in working order, and ten more were in course of construction.  And all this time the Imperial revenue increased by leaps and bounds, so that the introduction of the gold currency was effected without difficulty.  M. Witte was declared to be the greatest minister of his time—­a Russian Colbert or Turgot, or perhaps the two rolled into one.