Duties, Professional Appearance and Personal Qualities of Provincial Officials of Excise Departments and Financial Chambers of Eastern Siberia at the beginning of the 20th century

Abstract

This article tested the facts of social and professional appearance of officials in Siberia. They served in the structure of local government under the Ministry of Finance. The object of the study is treasurers, senior accountants, clerks, clerks, controllers, assessors, auditors, technicians, secretaries, overseers, senior and junior assistants who served in the provincial, regional and district institutions of the Irkutsk province, the Yenisei province, the Trans-Baikal region and the Yakutsk region. The historical sources of the study were the “Lists of ranks in the Ministry of Finance” for 1907, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1914, which contain information about the name and rank, the ages, the presence of orders and medals, education (with the name of the educational institution), religion, stages of public service (years of entry into the civil service, department and current position). We analyzed and compared the data and established patterns in the professional appearance and personal qualities of officials who served in 1906-1917. We examined officials who worked in positions of the VI-VIII classes according to the "Table of Ranks" of Peter I. We discovered the following patterns. Firstly, the officials were younger in the Trans-Baikal and Yakut regions compared to the officials who served in the Irkutsk and Yenisei provinces. That is, younger officials went to more remote territories. In the Yakutsk region and the Trans-Baikal region, 54 % of officials were between 26 and 45 years old. In the Yenisei province and the Irkutsk province, officials aged 46 to 55 years old accounted for 46 %, and from 26 to 45 years old - 34 %. Secondly, 70 % of officials were Orthodox in Eastern Siberia, 20 % of officials were Catholics and Protestants. Thirdly, representatives of the local administration were traditionally awarded orders and medals for impeccable service. More than 60 % of officials were marked with orders of Saints Vladimir, Anna, Stanislav and medals.