292 The iWi/itary Settlements
.:nd of Alexander's reign there were signs that the favourite was losing his grip.
Hr: attempted to devolve responsibility for decision-making, but this only blur-
rd the lines of authority and encouraged the regional commanders to take
:ib~nies, whereupon their subordmates did iikewi~t:. :--lar.y of the senior
offkers, notably Generals P. A. Kleynmikhel' (Kleinmichel), Arakcheyev's
chief of staff, and Vitt, were of Baltic German extraction, but it would be
quite wrong to blame 'aliens' for the abus~s that occurred, as some historians
have done.^8 ~ Two factors are more relevant: (a) settlement officers lacked
specialized training in agriculture or farm management-indeed, there was a
belief in military circles that this was unnecessary;^83 (b) once appointed to the
Separate Corps, they generally made their careers entirely within it, and so
were looked askance at by their fellows in line regiments. The latter resented
the fact chat settlement officers received a bonus of 50 per cent on top of their
regular pay.^84 Actually half this sum was deducted during the first four years
of service to create the capital for a special officers' loan fund, and the money
could not be reclaimed on transfer. As the years went by it became ever harder
to secure such a posting, or even a discharge. This limitation on officers'
mobility lowered their morale.
From a moral point of view the settlement officer was placed in a difficult
position. He had to keep in his superior's good graces by expressing con-
fidence in the scheme, whatever his inner thoughts might be. Daily he was
tempted to behave hypocritically and dishonestly. The more conscientious
(and prosperous) tried to leave, while others joined for the sake of the bonus.
The evils of absolutism in the administrative domain were here reproduced in
microcosm. Those in subordinate positions of authority were under constant
pressure to produce results, yet knew that their actions could not easily be con-
trolled. This opened the way to bureaucratic abuses, notably misappropriation
of state funds and cruelty towards inferiors. In the Polotsk regiment, settled in
the Mogilev region, several company commanders sold surplus grain on their
own account and withheld their men's pay-che latter a common offence in
line units as well. Two brother soldiers named Trusov conspired with two
senior NCOs to exploit some soldiers' labour; fearing exposure, they killed
another NCO named Grigor'yev and beat another settler so severely that his
distraught wife died in childbirth. These facts were reported by two privates,
one of whom was the best farmer in his district, and an investigation was
launched which confirmed their account. The brigade commander, however,
had the informants court-martialled! They were sentenced to run the gauntlet
five and six times respectively through 500 men. The verdict was upheld by the
82 For example. Kersnovsky, lsroriya, ii. 278: 'a German idea, transposed by the gauntlet into
the: clay soil of Novgorod'.
SJ Von Bradke, as a 20-year-old sub-lieutenant. was put in command of 7 ,000 men engaged on
-:onstruction work, although-as he told Arakcheyev frankly-he had no experience of dvil
~ngineering and could not distinguish rye from oats: 'Zapiski', p. 36.
84 Fabritsius (SVM vii), app. p. 269.