Zemsky headman is an original position that has become known in Russia since the 16th century. The emergence of this type of officials is directly related to the reform of local self-government. The further development of these institutions secured the rights and obligations of zemstvo elders, who continued to conduct their activities until 1917. Despite all the attempts to liberalize the local authorities, they still worked in the old fashioned way. Why did it happen? Let's try to figure it out.
Ancient Russia
This position has been known since the time of Kievan Rus. At that time, zemstvo elders, who are also princely serfs and faithful servants, were appointed by the prince or his closest supporters to lead the lower classes. The laws of Yaroslav the Wise mention village and military elders. The former were engaged in the rural population of the princely patrimony, sorted out quarrels, litigations, and collected taxes. The latter were in charge of land problems, disputes over communal and patrimonial lands, and sorted out property troubles. Later, the institute of seniors moved to the territory of the northeastern principalities.
Reform of Ivan the Terrible
For a long time, labial and zemstvo elders were appointed by princely decree. Byin essence, they did not exert any influence on the local population, but ran over according to the method of Tatar raids: they galloped, collected, took away. Although it was they who were instructed to keep order in the most remote places of the Russian lands, they performed their duties reluctantly. Arbitrariness and monstrous corruption reigned everywhere, and there was no council or boss for the local kings. It took the iron will of an individual ruler to break the existing system and develop a new principle for the functioning of the local administration.
During the reign of Ivan the Terrible, there was an urgent need to completely reorganize the administrative system of the Russian state. The general code of laws tied to this political process was called the reforms of local self-government. The main reason for their emergence was the need to abolish the so-called feeding - an archaic relic of ancient times, which gave the right to visiting officials to live from the income (that is, feed) of a certain area.
Instead of quitrent in kind, a financing system was introduced, and cash flows were directly controlled by the state.
Stoglavy Cathedral
In 1551, the Stoglavy Cathedral gave the green light to the introduction of the statutory zemstvo charter, according to which the institute of governors was completely eliminated. Instead of appointees in all corners of the Russian state, zemstvo elders began to be elected locally. A royal decree of 1555 ordered that feeding be canceled andto elect these officials locally. Zemsky huts, which personified the executive power, became the focus of local power. The judicial and administrative system was completely reformed, and under Ivan the Terrible, zemstvo elders were endowed with new rights and powers.
Zemsky elders' career
The transformation of local government completely changed the profile of the administrative system of the Russian kingdom. The zemstvo headman began to have a wide range of powers. It was in charge of the local courts, which tried not only civil cases, but also small criminal violations of the law. Particularly high-profile criminal offenses were de alt with separately. The headman de alt with the problems of the draft population, the management of the lower classes and the collection of taxes. The main type of tax was the "farm tax", which was required to pay the entire adult male population of the country. This collection replaced the obsolete viceroy. The money began to go directly to the royal treasury, and from there the maintenance of local officials and visiting auditors was paid.
Zemsky headman stood at the head of the Zemstvo hut. He de alt with the problems of the use of communal lands, tax records, the collection and distribution of state taxes, and carried out other assignments.
If for a number of reasons the labial headman did not fulfill his duties or was not elected, then these duties were also under the jurisdiction of the head of the Zemstvo hut. In this case, the zemstvo headman supervised the public police, controlled the work of zemstvo judges, zemstvo clerks and clerks, kissers.
Voice and control
The candidate for this wonderful position was chosen from among the most influential and we althy local residents. With a good set of circumstances, they were destined for the career of metropolitan officials and boyars. Of course, many lesser nobles aspired to make such a career. Zemsky headman was elected on the spot, and was directly subordinate to the central order, which was in charge of the nearby counties. His term of office lasted from one to two years. Simultaneously with the re-election, the entire staff of the Zemsky hut was reviewed. The most famous zemstvo headman was A. Minin.
In 1699 Zemsky huts become like local councils of small European cities. Zemstvo starosta became burgomaster with a significant expansion of the range of his duties. But in the remote places of the Russian Empire, the old form of local government continued to exist. Another reorganization of local self-government institutions took place in 1719.
Provincial Reform
Changes in the central government over the course of two centuries (from the 16th to the 18th centuries) were periodic and non-systemic. Peter the Great sought to give the dense Russian administration a civilized European look. Of course, there was no talk of any self-sufficiency of European local governments, rather, an imitation of the Swedish system of self-government, but in fact all power was still concentrated in the hands of the tsarist appointees. The labial and zemstvo elders seemed to be chosen locally, but fortheir approval in office required a separate decree of the king.
Why didn't it work out?
City administrations were reformed according to the Swedish model, but rural zemstvo huts were reluctant to succumb to innovations. First of all, this was due to the lack of an educated population and severe class restrictions that did not give the draft class the right to hold elected positions. Therefore, the staff for the new local self-government bodies was recruited from old clerks and clerks, who did not know how and could not reorganize their work according to a given model. Therefore, the Petrine reform of local self-government did not fulfill the tasks assigned to it, but became only an autocratic decoration for existing European freedoms.
