Marking Time 329process. in The recruiting boards, too, earned a bad repucation for venalicy. Jn
Simbirsk one military receiver habitually took money for turning away healthy
recruits or accepting those with physical defects, and at one levy collecced
about 8,000 roubles-which he soon gambled away at cards.^27 The most
profitable source of gain was the larger and wealthier families, who could
afford to bribe officials to accept a recruit from some family lower down on
the list. At Astrakhan' in 1836 40 families managed 10 evade their respon-
sibilities in this way; and in Volhynia that year a derk set up a bogus recruiting
board of his own, at which he inducted two brothers, the elder of whom wa~ a
mere nine years old.^2 x The cost to the populace was heavy, since in addition 10
bribes they had to supply a sum of money, fixed at 33 roubles, to cover each
recruit's food, clothing, and transit expenses.^29
Such malpractices make it hard to credit Lieutenant-General Bismarck's
confidenc assertion that 'the abuses which used to take place when recruits
were inducted, which caused heavy losses among them, have vani~hed, thanks
to the emperor's concern'. .lo Yet the piccure was not entirely bleak. Nicholas
sent his aides-de-camp to the provinces as overseers, and from 1838 onwards
gradually introduced a simpler system which put the emphasis on. the cascing
of lots among all men aged 20-21 in each section. By 1848 this procedure had
been introduced among state peasants in (^34) provinces, and in 1854 was made
general among them; some serf proprietors also went along with it.^11 Drawing
lots, although apparently less equitable, made it harder for the weahhier
peasants to cheat. It also meant that the army inducted more younger men,
who could hope to return to civilian life in middle age, when they were still
able to earn their living, rather than as worn-out or disabled veterans.
The authorities also tightened the rules governing substitution and exemp-
tion. Since hired men made poorer soldiers an effort was made to reduce their
number by offering would-be volunteers an opportunity to enlist directly, in
return for a monetary reward. .l^2 The state's policy was not entirely consistent,
since one noblewoman of enlightened views, who ordered substitutes hired for
all her conscripted peasants, was officially commended for her pains; (^11) it was
presumably felt that the proprietress's personal intere~t in her scheme would
limit the scope for abuse.
26 Bolotenko, 'Adrnini~Malion', pp. 390, 39~.
21 S1ogov, 'O..:herki', p. 643; Bolotenko, 'Adnuni'>tration', p. 41 I; d". lan,ki, Tabh•uu, p. 157:
'everything i~ venal I here'.
2K Bolotenko, 'Administration', pp. 413, 415.
lY Ibid., p. 421; II PSZ vi(i), 4677 (2K June 1831), II,§~ IH4-91: 'iii. 6362 (I Aug. 1833).
Jo Von Bismarck, Russische Krie1:smuch1, p. 84.
JI Bcyrau, 'Leibeigenschaft und Milittirvcrfassung', p. 206; II PS/ \ix. 28331 (9 June 1854);
Petrov, Russkayu 1•oyen11aya silo, ii. 42J; von Ha.\thau,cn, l1:r1eg111111ch1 R11I.1lu111/s, p. 69.
J' Petrov, R11sskaya 1•oye1111uya silu, ii. 424; rm 1hc abu'e': · Rapp.11·t ,ur l'ar 111i:e de 1crrc Jc la
Rus~ie' l0l'I. 1852), MAE, M ct D, Ru"i..:, Hll. J7 (1!01-5~l. r. .15-1'; BnlnlcnJ..o, 'AJmini,tra-
tion', pp. 396-9.
JJ Von Haxthausen, Kriegsmucht Rm.1/um/I, p. 70.