with gold, which had been in the meantime, upon an order the 
origin of which was not ascertained, dispatched to Omsk, where 
they arrived without any interference. That stratagem devised by 
certain members of the Siberian Government deprived the People’s 
Government of its strongest asset in the negotiations with the Sibe- 
tian Government. And thus the seizure of the gold led shortly to a 
tangible result, namely, the formation of the “Directorate,” on the 
basis of a coalition between the two governments. As is well known, 
the Directorate did not last long and was supplanted by the Supreme 
Government of Admiral Kolchak. 
Tue OMsk GOVERNMENT AND THE GOLD Stock 
y 
e 
1 
I! 
2, 
The arrival of the gold in Omsk caused great joy among the 
Siberian Government. At first, the opinion prevailed that the gold, 
as patrimony of the people, had to be kept intact until the convoca- 
tion of a Constituent Assembly of all Russia. Soon, however, the 
insufficient equipment of the troops of the Siberian army, which 
maintained the struggle against the Bolsheviki, and, on the other 
hand the demand of the Allies for guarantees of eventual payment 
for the arms and war material sent by them to Siberia, compelled 
Admiral Kolchak and his Government to depart from that prin- 
ciple. Beginning with the month of May 1919 there began the sale 
of gold with the view of meeting the urgent expenses for the acquisi- 
tion of war material. Besides, gold had to be shipped to Hong- 
kong following upon the opening of credits in favor of the Omsk 
Government by the 'Anglo-American Syndicate (Baring Brothers, 
Kidder, Peabody & Co.). In all there was shipped from Omsk to 
Vladivostok, to be sold or to be deposited as security, 217,038 kilo- 
grams of gold, of a value of 270,508,835 rubles ($143,947,050) 
of which 184,238 kilograms (237,257,815 rubles equal to 
$122,187,775) soon arrived at their destination, while 32,800 
kilograms (42,251,020 rubles equal to $22,789,275) were 
seized by Ataman Semenoff rand held at Chita. That arbitrary 
seizure of gold, which took place at the time of the retreat of 
Admiral Kolchak’s army toward Omsk, in the Fall of 1919, proves 
not merely that Ataman Semenoff regarded himself as independent 
of the Supreme Authority of Admiral Kolchak, but that he was in 
active opposition to that authority. All demands for restitution of 
the gold were in vain, nor was any result attained by the appeal 
addressed directly to Ataman Semenoff by Admiral Kolchak, Gen- 
eral Dieterichs and the Minister of Finance. The gold remained 
in Chita until the fall of the Irkutsk Government. 
Of the 184,238 kilograms of gold which reached Vladivostok,