GOVERNING RUSSIA'S PROVINCES 249
same end he used his right to license direct export of grain to China
and to contract grain purchases for military uses and distribution to
needy nomads across the border. To assist in the development of agri-
culture, Pestel and Treskin built roads, protected the highways, im-
proved navigation on the rivers, and re-zoned the trading areas of the
major towns. Treskin's tireless and constant supervision, which some-
times went to extremes (for instance his personal inspections of private
shops, stalls, and taverns in Irkutsk), helped to bring some law, order,
and security to Siberia.
The growing of grain and other agricultural produce was only one
side of Siberia's economic development, though. The farmer's products
had to be marketed; they had to be distributed over a large area, for
not all parts of Siberia were equally suited to agriculture. Siberia also
served for the transit of merchandise to and from China and Inner
Asia (Mongolia, Thibet), and the peasant's products were of value both
as an exchange commodity and for the upkeep of the merchants. Final-
ly, the comparatively large number of soldiers, officials and officers
who resided in remote areas unsuitable for farming and far from the
main economic centers, had to be fed and supplied. Thus the market-
ing and distribution functions had to be developed also. Naturally,
this function had been performed by the traders. But even more so
than the merchant in European Russia, the Siberian trader was - econo-
mically speaking - highly conservative, nay reactionary, and extremely
inefficient. He was afraid of competition and operated primarily on the
basis of specially granted privileges which made it possible for him
to establish his monopolistic control over the buying and selling mar-
kets. He had no regard for the need of the region and cared little for
developing the local economy. As he was the only means by which any
producer, be he Russian or native, could market his output and pur-
chase the necessary manufactured goods, the merchant in fact "owned"
the local inhabitant. But more nefarious yet, the Siberian merchant
stifled the growth of the region's economic potential because of his
extortionist practices and his conservative methods of operation.
Pestel and Treskin decided not to put up with this state of affairs
any longer, and aimed at a transformation of Siberia's economic struc-
ture. They followed two approaches which to them seemed complemen-
tary, though they appear mutually exclusive to us. On the one hand,
they promoted free trade and active competition, so as to break the mo-
nopolistic hold of old-established merchants. To this end, internal tariffs
and customs were abolished throughout Siberia; special or exclusive
privileges were refused to the prominent merchants; grain trade with
