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,
