CHAPTER IIIADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES 1802-1812Whatever their differing views on the character of reform, everybody- from the Emperor down - agreed on one thing: the chaotic and
cumbersome administrative structure of Russia had to be changed. For
this difficult task, energetic and able functionaries were much needed,
and Catherine's collaborators had the advantage of experience and
eagerness to make a comeback after their eclipse under Paul I.
Prominent among these old dignitaries was D. P. Troshchinskii,
Procurator of the Senate under Catherine II, who was appointed
Secretary of State and entrusted with the drafting of new decrees and
legislation. Troshchinskii himself needed a capable and energetic
younger assistant, and his choice fell on Speransky, who was the most
gifted and promising junior functionary in the central administration.
A new period was beginning in Speransky's career, a period of intense
and fruitful work for the improvement of Russia's central admin-
istration. During the first few years, from 1802 to 1807, Speransky
was an important but still subordinate official; in that capacity he
participated in the organization of the Ministry of the Interior, the
reform of ecclesiastic education, and the formulation of the government's
role in the country's economic development. In the following years,
1808 to 1812, he was the most intimate collaborator of Emperor
Alexander I. In this capacity he devoted most of his creative energy
to the working out of the basic schemes and plans for a thorough
reorganization and transformation of Russia's central government
institutions, the subject of later chapters. Besides this fundamental work
of reform, however, Speransky was entrusted with a variety of other
matters. They were of only peripheral and secondary concern to him,
and his participation in them varied greatly; but they deserve some
attention as they illustrate the wide range of his activities. The most
significant areas of administration to which he made a contribution and
which we propose to discuss briefly in the following pages, included
such varied problems as the promotion of government officials, the