112 REFORM OF RUSSIA'S FINANCES AND CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIONAmerican regulatory commissions, such as the NLRB. "In all ministries,"
reads the Statute, "at the discretion of the Minister and depending on
the business at hand, there can be invited to the Council [0£ the
Ministry] members from the outside, such as factory owners, for ques-
tions pertaining to manufacturing, prominent traders for commercial
matters, etc." 1 Although the questions on which the consultation and
counsel of private individuals were to be sought were limited to economic
matters, this provision meant an increased participation of "public
opinion" in the administration. It reflected the government's growing
concern for the needs, desires, requirements, and interests of its sub-
jects. Unfortunately, in practice the provision received less attentionthan it should or than Speransky had hoped for. It was not until 1828
that the Ministry of Finance got around to establishing a Manufactures'
Council with "public members;" and a Commercial Council to which
prominent merchants were invited was set up only in 1829.^2 There-
after, these outside members played a significant part in influencing the
economic policies of the government, especially in the development of
the country's natural resources, by acting as intermediaries and inform-
ants for both the government and their fellow entrepreneurs.
The Statute of June 25, 181l declared that the Ministries "are institu-
tions by means of which the Supreme Executive Power [i.e. the Emperor]
acts upon all parts of the administration." 3 In other words, the
ministries were the direct executive organs of the Autocrat, for "the
essence of power entrusted to the ministers belongs exclusively in the
executive category. No new law, no new statute can be made, or any
previous [law] revoked by authority of the Minister." 4 The minister's
power only consisted in his right to compel the subordinate levels of
the administration to execute the laws and statutes issued by the
Emperor. In the performance of this function the minister was directly
responsible to the Monarch. 5 Of course, the Ministers could recommend
new legislation or request the withdrawal of current statutes, but the
Emperor needed not, in any way, to follow these suggestions. The very
limits of the functions assigned to the ministries immediately raised
two important questions: What institution was to unify the administra-
tion and give it consistency of purpose? And where would the legis-
lative function be vested? The legislation enacted at Speransky's behest
1 PSZ, 24,686, Sec. 30 (pp. 688-689).
2 Korkunov, oj). cit., II, 395.
3 PSZ, 24,686, Sec. 206.
4 I'SZ, 24,686, Sec. 208.
5 PSZ, 24,686, Sec. 210.