Forming of central office bureaucracy of the Department of agriculture in the epoch of Nicholas the First

The article is devoted to the question of the formation of bureaucracy of the Department of Agriculture. In the epoch of Nicholas the role of the Department of Agriculture was played by the Department of State Property. This Depart-ment was engaged in reformatory activities and it needed new and more effective bureaucratic machinery. The «hu-man content» of this machinery is analyzed in this article. The beginning of the 19th century in Russia was marked by the institution of Ministerial control system. However, mili-tary conflicts it participated in delayed this process for a long time. The post-war demobilizations of the army, released a large number of potential officials which coincided with the necessity of the expansion of the state apparatus and provided many agencies, including the Ministry of Agriculture, with personnel. The formation of the Ministry of Agriculture began with the establishment of the V branch of His Imperial Majesty Office on April 29, 1836. The Ministry of State Property was established on the December 26, 1837, headed by P.D. Kiselev. Later, another three departments were established. In 1843 the Forest Department was annexed to the Ministry, in 1848 -the Management of Horse Breedery, and in 1854 - the Department of Timber. P.D. Kiselev attached great importance to the selection of personnel for the new office and was able to obtain a decent team, personally appointing familiar and proven individuals for the responsible positions. They were V.I. Korneev, N.M. Gamaleja, I.F. Dellinsgauzen, N.E. Tukmachev, V.E. Klokov etc. At the time of the establishment of the Ministry its Central apparatus consisted of 618 officials. Officials of the Ministry received rather high salaries. Thus, the Director of the Department received 12000 rubles a year, Director of the office 9000 rubles, Head of the Department from 4,500 to 5,000 rubles; Head of the Office - 2550 rubles. At first P.D. Kiselev received 4288 rubles 50 kopecks for the lease of apartments, then he moved to the state house. His payment included 14365 rubles 89 kopecks and the rent of 6000 rubles. As the Head of the Fifth Department of His Imperial Majesty Office he received another 12,000 rubles. Salary of the Assistant Minister N.M. Gamaleja consisted of 6033 rubles and the rent of 4000 rubles. Aiming to create the best conditions of service, P.D. Kiselev took care of his employees and despite all the disad-vantages, was pleased with the personnel of the office. Mainly conscientious officials served in the Ministry. They es-tablished its work, laid traditions and formed official language and image of the Ministry of Agriculture within the au-thorities.

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