248 GOVERNING RUSSIA'S PROVINCESadministration to the changed conditions, in regard to both the Rus-
sian and native populations.
A serious effort at solving these accumulated problems was made in
the first decade of the 19th century. In 1805, Ivan Borisovich Pestel
(father of the Decembrist leader) was appointed Governor General
of Siberia and his devoted assistant, N. I. Treskin, Civil Governor at
Irkutsk. For the next 14 years the two were almost unchallenged masters
of Siberia. Working closely together, Treskin on the spot and Pestel in
St. Petersburg, they tried to reshape Siberia according to their own
views and lights. Their names have become almost bywords for arbitra-
ry rule, inhuman cruelty, and ruthless exploitation; and it is difficult
to obtain a balanced picture of their activity. But there was much more
to it than the persecutions and cruelties invariably mentioned in con-
nection with Pestel's and Treskin's names. Our records do not give a
full characterization and motivation of their policy with absolute
confidence and completeness. But a few important basic features do
emerge from the documents. They are an essential background for a
proper understanding of the aims and actions of Speransky.l
Pestel and Treskin, quite able and energetic in their own ways, fol-
lowed in the traditions of the 18th century police state. Without much
imagination, they had absorbed the intellectual and political fashions
prevailing in their younger days. It was a blending of physiocratic
economic theories with ruthlessly strict militaristic despotic methods.
The necessity of developing agriculture occupied first place among
their social policies. Treskin, a native of Siberia, was absolutely con-
vinced that the future of the region lay in the expansion of its agricul-
tural potential. He applied all his administrative ability and great
energy to the promotion of this end. By various means, both direct and
indirect, he fostered and protected farming and spread it to areas where
it had not been practiced before. Following up attempts made before his
time, he settled Russian peasants along Lake Baikal. Through generous
awards of titles, rewards and decorations, he encouraged the Buriats
to take up farming as a basic occupation. He followed up his encourage-
ment by loaning them money and implements, giving them technical
advice, and easing their tax burden.To stimulate the peasant's incentive, Treskin took measures to give
a greater return to the farmer on his crop: he had the state stores buy
up the grain offered by the peasants at advantageous prices; to this1 The names of Pestel and Treskin can be used undifferentiatedly, as both stood
for the same policies. Pestel pushed them and protected Treskin from St. Petersburg,
whereas Treskin suggested and implemented them on the spot.