By the end of the 30ies there could be
seen signs of a new rise of statistics
which, by mid-40ies, had become
an undeniable fact: the system of
government statistics was getting
improved, it was carrying a vast volume of work, the number and quality of the
statistic and economic research and publications were increasing, and the public interest
to statistics was being revived.
In 1834 a special Statistical section was
established at the Council of the Ministry of
the Interior (Full Code of Laws of the
Russian Empire, Collection 2, Volume 9,
Section 2). According to the Rules of the
Statistical Section under the Council of the
Ministry of the Interior, approved on
20.12.1834, the purpose of its establishment
was the preparation of detailed and, as far as
possible, accurate descriptions of the functioning of all the units subordinate to the
Ministry of the Interior. In addition, it was
entrusted with the preliminary examination
of newly submitted plans of cities and towns,
proposals for new subdivision of gubernias (provinces) and uyezds (districts), assumptions as to the urban incomes and expenditures, and consideration of economic aspects
of projects for construction of buildings to
come under the jurisdiction of the Ministry
of the Interior.
The statistical work commissioned to the
Chancery of the Statistical Section was
based on the data received from the
Ministry's departments and from the
Governors of the provinces. It was stipulated by the Rules that every statistical work
should be preceded by a historical review of
the former state of the unit described, to be
compared with its present state. Whenever
necessary, the text was supplemented by
tables.
At the same time, in all the provincial
centres there were established statistical
committees presided by civil governors and
supervised by Governors-General. The
provincial statistical committee collected
data, checked them, brought into uniform
order, entered them in the tables, according
to the forms received from the Statistical
Council of the Ministry, or compiled from
these data accurate descriptions of the
province as a whole, or of some individual
branches of its economy, industry and trade.
The committees opened slowly, and by
1853 they had been formed in 33 out of 49
provinces in the European part of Russia.
In 1837 there was determined and put
into final shape the system of annual reporting by gubernias (provinces). The former
terms of reference were extended, but the
socio-economic statistics was excluded from
the main report on the state of provinces.
And only in 1842 the Ministry of the
Interior considerably expanded the programme of statistical reporting from the
provinces, introducing there data on the
most important areas of economic life (population, agriculture, industry, trade, etc.).
The approved sample of the annual
report, with an annex consisting of 27 tables,
was sent out to all the provincial chiefs (The
letter of the Department of General Affairs,
Ministry of the Interior, No. 1514, dated
07.03.1843).
Since 1847, there was set up at the
Ministry of the Interior the Interim
Committee for the "lustration" of landlords'
estates in the Western Kraj (territory). This
lustration should consist in preparing an
accurate economic description of every
estate, measuring and classifying the lands,
appraising them, etc. The Committee experienced difficulties due to the lack of technical personnel and funds. It was suggested
that the work on the lustration of the landlords' estates should be combined with other
statistical work conducted at the Ministry.
On December 22, 1852, on a Royal
command, the Interim Lustration Committee and the Statistical Section of the
Council at the Ministry of the Interior were
superceded by the Statistical Committee
under the direct supervision and guidance of
the Minister of the Interior (Full Code of
Laws of the Russian Empire, Collection 2,
Volume 27, Section 1).
On March 4, 1858, the Statistical
Committee was reorganized into the Central
Statistical Committee (Full Code of Laws
of the Russian Empire, Collection 2,
Volume 33, Section 1). According to the
work entrusted to it, the Committee was
subdivided into two divisions: the Statistical
and the Zemstvo. The tasks of the Statistical
Division included collection, critical checking, bringing into order and processing of
statistical data for all the branches of government control, and publication of its transactions. The Zemstvo Division was engaged in
preliminary discussion and processing of all
the matters related to the zemstvo and economic arrangements.
The Central Statistical Committee was
granted the right to demand statistical materials on subject-matters included in its terms
of reference, not only from the Departments
of the Ministry of the Interior but also from
other highest Departments. All the provincial statistical committees were subordinated
to the Central Statistical Committee, and it
had to produce respective manuals and
guides to be used for obtaining the required
data and checking on the work performed.
The organization of government statistics in Russia at that time was, undoubtedly, a step forward in comparison with the one
in existence at the beginning of the XIXth
century.
During the 50ies, the Ministry of the
Interior carried out a number of specialized
statistical works that, in a degree, were the
prerequisite of the reform of 1861. By their
nature, these works could be subdivided into
three groups: investigations characterizing
the serf population of Russia, elaboration of
data dealing with land prices; studies of the
landlord property rights, the land tenure,
serfs' duties and services, and the landlords'
outstanding debts.
In 1852 there was published a compendium of data in the country as a whole, based
on reports from the provinces: "Statistical
Tables According to the Data for 1849".
Some elaborated data on the landlords' land
property rights were published in 1860
under the title of "Supplement to the
Transactions of the Editorial Commissions
for Compilation of Regulations Concerning
Peasants Released from Bondage". Works
on statistics of towns were published in two
fundamental statistical editions: a double-
volume compendium "Social Order and
Economy of Towns" (1859) and a multi-
volume edition "Urban Settlements in
Russia" (started in 1859 and completed
already in post-reform years).
A number of vast statistical investigations conducted in the 40-50ies served as a
stimulus for further development of statistical
science. Russian scientists-statisticians of
that time advanced considerably in determining the relations of statistics with scientists studying public life. They clearly pointed out:
- the existing integral relation of statistics with sciences studying public life (N.I. Nadezhdin "Scope and Routine of Viewing
People's Wealth Constituting the Subject of
Economic Statistics", 1845);
- the necessity for statistics to base on
the conclusions of social sciences examining
the specific sphere of life studied by a statistician (D.A. Milutin "A Critical Study of
the Importance of Military Geography and
War Statistics", St.Petersburg, 1846);
- the great significance of statistics as a
means of substantiating the conclusions of
social sciences and ensuring their further
development (D.A. Milutin - the above-mentioned work).
A number of scientists (K.F. Germann,
D.A. Milutin, N.I. Nadezhdin, D.P. Zhuravsky, and others) even at that time
revealed the contents of the theory of statistics as a science on statistical methodology; they understood the necessity and saw the
directions of immediate solution of problems
related to the sources of statistical data,
organization of statistical observation,
improvement of statistics; they theoretically
substantiated the question of the grouping as
a category of statistical science and widely
used this method for studying socio-economic phenomena; they achieved a serious
success in the theory of mean values, dynamic characteristic of processes studied, in the
field of statistical study of the interrelationship of signs, etc.
The final approval and recognition of the
political and economic trend in the Russian
statistical science was the main historical
merit of the Russian statisticians of that period. Theoretical works of the then statisticians served as a reliable foundation for specific statistical studies. But their principal
significance consisted in positive influence on
the subsequent development of Russian
statistics. The ideas of the political and economic tendency were adopted by the progressive representative of governmental
statistics of the post-reform years, and with
them was connected the success of zemstvo
statistics.
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