The evolution of zemski obligations’ system on the territory of the Belarusian provinces (the second half of the 19th – the beginning of the 20th century)

Abstract

In the article, based on the analysis of legal acts, changes in the system of zemsky obligations on the territory of the Belarusian provinces in the second half of the 19th – the beginning of the 20th century are characterized for the first time. It was noted that in the post-reform period it functioned on the basis of the 1851 Rules of the New Organization of the Zemsky Obligations, but its structure gradually included expenditures on social sphere: financing the rural-medical part, the maintenance of institutions departments’ of public charity and primary schools. The corresponding changes were fixed by the laws of 1868, 1883, 1887 and decisions approving zemsky estimates. The study made it possible to identify the main disadvantages of the existing system of zemsky obligations. They included: legislative approval of estimates for a three-year term, the impossibility of prompt redistribution of zemsky funds, bureaucratic procedures for disposing of them, long-term preparation of estimates, which was accompanied by extensive correspondence of central and local authorities. To eliminate these shortcomings, the Ministry of Internal Affairs proposed to reform the existing system of zemsky obligations by introducing Zemstvo self-government on the territory of the Belarusian provinces. However, the ministry met with opposition on this issue from the two most influential dignitaries of the late 19th century: Finance Minister S. Yu. Witte and the Chief Prosecutor of the Synod K. P. Pobedonostsev. An analysis of the estimates of zemsky obligations has led to the conclusion that in the post-reform period the zemsky tax was transformed into the main source to provide the wide range of needs of the local population. At the end of 19th – the beginning of 20th century they amounted to a total of more than 3 million rubles in year. In the structure of the estimates, the share of social spending ranged from 30–40 %. On the territory of the Vitebsk, Minsk and Mogilev provinces these resources were handed over to the institutions of local economy in 1903. In the Grodno and Vilna provinces it was kept the former order of management of the zemsky obligations according to the 1851 Rules of the New Organization of the Zemsky Obligations. Based on the analysis of estimates for these regions, it was first shown the annual amount of expenditures on zemsky duties increased 1.5 times from 1.5 to 2.3 million rubles. At the same time, the share of social spending increased by 1.3 times and reached 48 % on the eve of the First World War. During the post-reform period, the system of zemsky obligations on the territory of the Belarusian provinces underwent a significant evolution. On the basis of an analysis of legal acts and estimates of zemsky duties, it was first proved that this source of local taxation has become the main financial resource for the development of various components of the social sphere in countryside.