GOVERNING RUSSIA'S PROVINCES 253of learning from you orally the true condition of this important
region and of basing on solid foundations its well-being for future
times.^1This assignment, in the Emperor's opinion, an opinion based on his ac-
quaintance with Speransky's speed and efficiency, should not take more
than one to two years.
Speransky, as we know, was not very happy about this new assignment.
He therefore was in haste to finish his survey of Siberia, untangle the
administrative confusion, correct the abuses, and punish the guilty. As
soon as he decendy could, he reported the termination of his mission
and impatiently waited for the Imperial command to return to
St. Petersburg. One has the feeling that his activity in Siberia was mark-
ed by a sort of febrility, by an unwillingness to get at the bottom
of each particular situation. But to satisfy his own scientific curiosity,
and as if to make up for his lack of thoroughness, Speransky was deter-
mined to see as much as possible with his own eyes. He spent most of
his time -inspecting 'Siberia, traveling to the remotest corners of the
territory, to places where no previous governor had ever set foot.
Well aware that Pestel's and Treskin's misrule had been possible
only because of the cooperation and complicity of the local authorities,
Speransky selected his own private chancery. It included some of his
old time assistants like Zeier; others, like Troitskii, he took along
from Penza, and also young men who were taking their first steps in
government service under his careful direction (Wil'de, Weickardt).
Finally, he persuaded a fe~.y young officials whom he met during his
travels through Siberia to join his personal staff. Among these was Cap-
tain of Engineers Batenkov, the future Decembrist, who by virtue of
his ability, energy, and first-hand knowledge of Siberia, became Sperans-
ky's right-hand man.
The fear instilled by a decade of Pestel's and Treskin's arbitrary and
cruel rule made the Siberian population wonder whether they could
rely on Speransky as a protector and true righter of wrongs. At first,
people were afraid to present their petitions and complaints publicly
in the towns. Speransky related that petitioners stopped his carriage in
the middle of forests, where they had hidden to await his passage, and
presented their complaints in secret from local authorities. In some
cases fear of the local official equalled or even exceeded that of the
dreaded Emperor, Paul I. The story is told that when Speransky publicly
demoted and arrested one of the worst local officials, Loskutov, an old
1 Alexander I to Speranskii, letter dated 22 March 1819, cited in N. K. Shil'der,
lmperator Aleksandr Penryi, IV, p. 149.