86 REFORM OF RUSSIA'S FINANCES AND CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION
Nor did the experience of foreign countries go unnoticed in Russia,
and Alexander's advisors on economic matters drew on this experience
whenever possible. The financial history of foreign nations could
provide much that was instructive, for Russia was not alone in being
beset with the consequences of the uncontrolled emission of paper
money. Some countries had failed to find a proper solution, with dire
consequences to their political and economic stability. This was the
case of the Ancien Regime in France, Austria, Denmark, and their fate
served as a warning. Others, like England, Holland, Napoleon's France,
had solved or were in the process of solving the problem; their methods
might be very instructive for Russia. Finally, there was the far away,
but nonetheless interesting and valuable experiment made by the young
United States. In every instance, financial policy gave rise to lengthy
and lively debates which in turn provided material for study and
reflection. The Russians were well informed on all these developments
through the substantial accounts and translations published in the
periodical press. Articles in the St. Petersburzhskii Zhurnal, the Statisti-
cheskii Vestnik were supplemented by reports made to the Free Eco-
nomic Society and the Academy of Sciences, as well as by personal
contacts with Western statesmen and academic personalities. The in-
formation and experience from abroad found their way, more or less
directly, into the proposals and projects submitted by Russian officials
to their superiors.
Finding that the Ministry of Finance, under the inefficient direction
of F. A. Golubtsov, had failed to initiate any meaningful financial
reform-program, the Emperor ordered the establishment of a special
Commission for Financial Affairs in 1806. The Commission was given
the task of preparing a comprehensive plan for a healthier monetary
policy. At first, the Commission did not justify the hopes put in it by
Alexander, for it resorted to the traditional expedient of issuing more
paper rubles. In 1809 the Emperor appointed Speransky to the Com-
mission, and under the latter's energetic leadership, work progressed
rapidly along new lines. Speransky secured the collaboration of several
outstanding political economists, Professors Jacob, Balugianskii, and
Lodi from the University of Kharkov. Their combined efforts resulted
in an able and interesting report which provided the theoretical
framework for Speransky's own Financial Plan in 1810. In his memoirs,
Jacob claimed to have been the author of this important plan which
Speransky only copied. But the claim of the learned professor is subject
to doubt in view of Jacob's tendency to a naive exaggeration of his
own importance. Soviet historians have contended that the most