Activities of Small Loan Inspectors in the Pre-Revolutionary Russia (Based on Materials from the Olonets Province)

Abstract

The study examined the main activities of small loan inspectors. This job position appeared in the structure of the State Bank with the beginning of the reform of the small loan system in 1904. Inspectors were assigned a significant role in its practical implementation. The study of the problem showed that the absence of a local branch of the State Bank in the Olonets province at the beginning of the twentieth century. technically made it impossible for the position of small loan inspector to appear in the province. This has become a noticeable factor in the slow development of this system here. Due to the absence of small loan inspectors in the province, local provincial authorities tried to popularize credit partnerships among peasants through zemstvo chiefs. This approach failed. Only with the opening in the Olonets province of a branch of the State Bank and an inspection of small loans under it, the situation with the development of credit institutions in rural areas began to change for the better. The article studies the process of establishing the institution of small loan inspectors in the Olonets province, identifies the main difficulties of their work, and identifies local features. Attention is paid to the attitude of local peasants to the figure of the inspector.