The Peasant Question and Ways to Solve It in the Business Press of the 1850s-1860s.

The article first demonstrates that specialized (economic) newspapers and journals of the mid-19th century directly participated in the debate on solving the peasant question in the Russian Empire. They zealously defended their position and were not afraid of the then revolutionary democratic authorities. For example, I.V. Vernadsky's journal Ekonomicheskiy Ukazatel' (1857-1861) "fought" with N.A. Nekrasov's Sovremennik and, in particular, with N.G. Chernyshevsky, who supported the communal system of peasant lands after the reform. Vernadsky and his colleagues did not understand and did not accept this position. In their opinion, the communal system suppressed competition between peasants, which prevented the development of economic relations in the countryside; it also "killed" private property and the ability to engage in free activities. According to Vernadsky, free labor was a necessary engine of progress. In this regard, Vernadsky's journal was supported by other business periodicals. F.V. Chizhov's Vestnik Promyshlennosti (1858-1861), intended for the developing Russian bourgeoisie, considered the abolition of serfdom from the standpoint of free peasant labor. The huge "army" of the liberated population could, at its discretion, manage its power. This would form a wage labor market, and the competition that would arise would significantly increase productivity in the industrial sector of the Russian economy. Chizhov did not consider the issue of community in his edition, for he believed that a working peasant did not need land. M.Ya. Kittara's newspaper Promyshlennyy Listok (18581859) did not actively debate on the issue of the communal system; however, in this issue, it was in solidarity with Vernadsky's Ekonomicheskiy Ukazatel'. Both believed that the "evil" of the communal system, which hindered the peasants' success, was their strip ownership of land and lack of personal property. In another business newspaper, N. Lebe-dev's Proizvoditel' i Promyshlennik (1859-1861), the peasant question was hardly touched upon (there are only several materials devoted to the peasants' plight). The data presented in the article indicate that the peasant question did not leave anyone indifferent in the second half of the 1850s, its solution was paramount for the thinking society of the time.

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