Committee on February 18, 1844 to discuss the situation of the gold industry in Eastern Siberia: history of establishment and activity

The article examines the history of the emergence and activities of the committee established by the Ministry of Finance on February 18, 1844 "to discuss the assumptions of Lieutenant Colonel Kazimirsky regarding improving the gold industry in Siberia". This committee drew the authors' attention for some reasons. Firstly, it is a rare example of an interdepartmental institution of the first half of the 19th century, created on the initiative of the chief of the III department and chief of the gendarmes A.Kh. Benkendorf. Secondly, the circumstances of the establishment of the committee show how the deraptment of political police could influence the activities of the ministries. And, thirdly, up to the present time the history of the activities of this committee has not specifically attracted the attention of researchers. The following research tasks were set: 1) to identify the reasons and circumstances of the establishment of the committee; 2) to characterize the composition of the committee; 3) to analyze the information about the issues considered by the committee and their implementation in practice. The main sources for the article were the materials stored in the central state archives of Russia. The article is based on the application of such methods of historical science as narrative, historical-genetic and comparative-historical analysis. The authors came to the following conclusions. The specificity of the committee's activities is bases on the fact that the initiative to create it came from the chief of the gendarmes, whereas the issues submitted for discussion were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance. Chief of gendarmes A.Kh. Benkendorf insisted on including a gendarme headquarters officer in the committee, thus giving him the opportunity to influence the committee's activities. However, in the future, Benkendorf himself did not participate in determining the composition and order of the committee's work, and the finance minister evidently was not interested in carrying out the reforms initiated by another agency. Probably, this predetermined the modest results of the committee's work: a large list of innovations proposed by the gendarmerie agency was considered during one meeting, of which some partial measures were implemented, but they did not radically affect the development of the Siberian gold industry.

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