PROJECTS FOR REFORMING THE PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION 281his technological military training and confirmed by his interpretation
of the testimonies of the Decembrists. During his reign, there was no
more question of sweeping political reforms. Nicholas avoided any
fundamentally new approaches to Russian political and social needs.
He only permitted the tackling of concrete and practical issues as they
arose; he preferred to seek the help of ad hoc secret committees set up
to deal with specific problems requiring immediate solution. These
personal and political circumstances limited Speransky's role to that of
a foremost administrative technician in a strictly bureaucratic and
"conservative" government.
After 1821, and more particularly after 1825, we find Speransky
devoting all his energies and talents to the elaboration of many projects
and proposals for the numerous secret ad hoc committees established
by Nicholas I. These plans and projects have a distinctly "bureaucratic"
character. They were primarily concerned with the details of office
practice, rules of law, the technicalities and narrow objectives of re-
medial administrative measures. And on these, he was much more
ready to compromise, to accept the changes suggested by his colleagues
in the committees or demanded by the monarch. For after all, there
was no purpose in insisting stubbornly on matters which did not involve
fundamental theoretical issues; the relative merits of various procedures
and concrete suggestions for solving practical problems could best be
tested pragmatically. Even Speransky's most important accomplishment
in the last period of his life, the codification of Russian laws, was largely
intended as a technical aid for the smooth and orderly running of the
machine of government.
But even in its new, narrow way, Speransky's work continued to
play an important role in shaping the practice and thinking of the
imperial administration. His thorough examination of every problem's
historical and institutional roots and his logical and clear formulation
of possible solutions helped later generations of officials to see the
situation more clearly in its proper perspectbe. Some of his observations
and conclusions, based on wide and deep experience, brought their
fruits in the reign of Alexander II.
From his exile and governorships, Speransky returned with a five-
year long direct acquaintance of Russian provincial conditions and ad-
ministration, an acquaintance which high dignitaries - even himself
before 1812 - had always lacked woefully. Working over his observations,
he was prepared to give a comprehensive picture of the situation and
to make specific practical recommendations for the elimination of
abuses and defects. As we noted, in all the proposals and plans he had