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And vast sums of money had actually been spent and were still

being spent on this business, and utterly unproductively, and the

whole business could obviously lead to nothing whatever. Alexey

Alexandrovitch had perceived this at once on entering office, and

would have liked to lay hands on the Board of Irrigation. But at

first, when he did not yet feel secure in his position, he knew

it would affect too many interests, and would be injudicious.

Later on he had been engrossed in other questions, and had simply

forgotten the Board of Irrigation. It went of itself, like all

such boards, by the mere force of inertia.