100 REFORM OF RUSSIA'S FINANCES AND CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIONtaken up by the "liberal" publicists like A. Radishchev. Speransky's
acquaintance and even close relations with both Samborskii and
Radishchev would be sufficient reason, if proof were necessary, for his
being well acquainted with the views of the Physiocrats and Classical
economists. But Speransky's personal contribution from the Russian
point of view was that he brought these ideas together, presented them
in a systematic and comprehensive form, and - most important of all
- drew the practical institutional lessons for his program of admin-
istrative reorganization. 1
The foundation of a nation's prosperity, Speransky believed, resides
in two elements: natural resources and labor. Russia has plenty of
both, provided they are permitted to develop fully. Russia's natural
resources consist in great quantities of fertile and arable land, in
mineral wealth; they can be exploited more fully. The labor force of
the country is, perhaps, not excessively large, but plentiful enough so
far, and it is not inferior in quality to that of any other labor force
in the world. Land, i.e. agriculture, is Russia's most important founda-
tion of economic prosperity, and the government should not in any
way stifle the freedom of action necessary for its development. Land - and the produce of agricultural labor - are not only the most valuable
resource, they are also the principal source of revenue for the state.
Therefore, a general tax on land must become the pillar of the state's
fiscal policies and finances, and the arbitrary and economically inde-
fensible poll tax must be abolished. The second foundation of the
state's prosperity, and the Treasury's revenue, is industry (in the widest
sense of the word). Here too the government should not only refrain
from fettering industrial enterprise, but should encourage and foster
the maximum of private activity. Under Russian conditions, however,
the government must still take an active role in developing industry,
at least for the time being. As will be seen subsequently, Speransky's
belief in the unhampered development of all potentialities inherent
in the country and the nation was closely related to his fundamental
tenet of political philosophy. The task of the government is to help
this maximum development of the nation's moral, spiritual, and
economic possibilities. As long as the conditions for the full natural
development of economic opportunities have not been achieved, the
government can and should nurse it along by its fiscal, monetary, and
tariff policies and by legal and institutional controls.
1 The following account of his ideas on economic problems is based on: "Ob
uchrezhdeniiakh otnosiashchikhsia ... ," loco cit., pp. 17-19, 21. Also, cf. the "Dok1ad
Ministra Vnutrennikh Del za 1803," cited in Chapter 3, and several letters written
after his exile to Count Gur'ev (1817-1820, in Pamiati pp. 451-486 passim).