J\DMINIS'I'RATIVE ACTIVITIES 1802-1812 51ablest assistant. Speransky was entrusted with the Second Department
of the Ministry of the Interior which dealt with police functions and
with the welfare of the realm. In other words, he became the chief of
the central office dealing with all domestic affairs, a post he retained
until 1807. In this capacity he participated in the drafting of some of
the most important legislation in the first years of Alexander's reign.
Unfortunately' again we cannot always determine the extent of his
personal participation and influence. All we know is that two im-
portant acts, the Law on the Free Agriculturists and the Statute on
the Jews, were prepared in his department and received their final
form under his direct supervision. 1 Furthermore, he was responsible
for the internal organization of the Ministry. A firm believer in a
clear and strict hierarchical "chain of command" for central government
institutions he organized the Ministry along such lines (Statute of the
Ministry of the Interior, July 1803, PSZ 20,852), which gave the
various heads of departments and divisions full authority within their
own spheres of competence and enabled them to act as expert advisers
- staff officers - to the Minister. This organization served later as a
model for the other ministries and as the basis for Speransky's general
reorganization of the ministerial system in 1811. 2
In the case of some measures, however, Speransky's initiative and
role can be established with certainty. None of them can be counted
among the most significant actions taken by the government at the time
but they did initiate practices that survived for a long time. Moreover,
they are quite characteristic of Speransky's thinking and methods.
Although the periodical press had been introduced into Russia by
Peter I, there was no official bulletin or newspaper through which the
government could inform the country of its views and decisions. At a
time when "public opinion" was becoming a factor to be taken into
consideration, the periodical press was too' good and effective a tool
to be left unused. As a former teacher, Speransky clearly saw the
1 s. M. Dubnow, Die neueste Geschichte des jildischen Yolkes 1789/1914, Bd. I,
Das Zeitalter der ersien Emanzipation 1789-1815 (Berlin 1920), Chapt. VI, § 47,
pp. 293-300; S. M. Dubnow, History of the Jews in Russia and Poland from the
earliest times until the present day (Transl. by I. Friedlaender), vol. I (From the
Beginning until the death of Alexander I), (Philadelphia 1916), pp. 335-345; P. S.
Usov, "Sluchai iz zhizni grafa M. Speranskogo", Istoricheskij Yestnik, X (1882)
721-722.
2 Korkunov, Gosudarstvennoe Pravo, II, pp. 358-359; as Jacob characterized it:
"Der grosste Theil der schonen Einrichtungen, welche dieses Ministerium [i.e.
Ministry of the Interior under Kochubei] so riihmlich auszeichnete und die Auf-
merksamkeit von ganz Europa auf dasselbe lenkte, war Speranskis Werk," Denk-
wilrdigkeiten, 277. Cf. Storch, Russland unter Alexander dem I, vol. I, No. 3
(NOV.-Dec. 1803), pp. 393-410 and vol. II, No.4, (1804), pp. 5-61, for the German
version of the official notifications of these transformations.