294 PROJECTS FOR REFORMING THE PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATIONauthorities. In view of the role played .by the secretary, among a
largely illiterate peasantry, it is easy to see that in his person, the
bureaucracy had a powerful agent and informant. The other members
of the administration would be selected directly by the volost' assembly.
All elections were subject to confirmation by the district and provincial
authorities. Membership in the township assembly was to be limited
to the chiefs of households only, a very important restriction. 1
Although tqe basic unit in an agrarian country is the village, it did
not receive much attention in Speransky's project. Perhaps it was
because his plan affected only the villages of state peasants - villages
of private serfs being under the absolute control of the landlord. As
the state peasants formed only a minority of the rural population of
Russia and had their own customs and traditions, Speransky preferred
to keep away from this last remnant of peasant autonomy. For the vil-
lage administration of every twenty-five households of state peasants,
Speransky suggested a system which paralleled the township setup
closely. A village elder, village judges, and a village assembly were toperform functions similar to those of their volost' equivalents. To
execute the decisions of the village administration and serve as liaison
with the township authorities, the village assembly was to elect a few
"ten-men" (desiatnik), proportionately to the population of the
village.^2
In making his proposals for the village and township administrations,
Speransky aimed at keeping the regular bureaucracy and the officials
elected by the nobility from executive functions among the peasantry.
The major task of the village and volost' administrations was to
execute the decisions and orders of district and provincial authorities.
The peasant "off~cials" retained some small degree of power and
initiative only in matters affecting the village's public order and fiscal
obligations. It would therefore be exaggerated to speak of Speransky's
proposal as introducing self-government or autonomy for the state pea-
santry. But, no doubt, an unqualified application of its provisions
might have served as the point of departure for a gradual development
in this direction.
1 The volost' performs the following tasks: keeps a permanent and correct census
of the population, acts as the general police for the township or its members.
apportions the tax burden among the inhabitants. takes care of petty civil cases
and minor misdemeanors. The township administration can impose light sentences,
as. for instance, a fine not to exceed ten rubles. temporary indentured labor (for
debts), moderate corporal punishment. advance recruiting into the army (a most
important right, even though every case had to be confirmed by the district admin-
istration). (Ibid., pp. 345-54, pars. 342. 397-468).
1I Ibid., pp. 336-344, pars. 343-396 passim.