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8Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences 2 (2014 7) 359-365
УДК 94 (571.51): 351.741
Some Aspects of Economic Conditions of Police of Yenisei Governorate in the 1st Half of 1920s.
Yuriy N. Boyko*
The Krasnoyarsk State Teachers' Training University
named after V.P. Astafiev, 89 Lebedeva Str., Krasnoyarsk, 660049, Russia
Received 31.05.2013, received in revised form 13.06.2013, accepted 30.10.2013
In the article a process of supplying of the Yenisei provincial police during first half of 1920th is considered. This process is studied on the facts of clothing, weapon, housing and pecuniary allowance which is taken mostly from the local archive.
Keywords: Yenisei provincial police, administrative department, police, regimentals, housing, armament, penalty policy, budget of administrative department.
The important factor, making essential impact on effective implementation by law-enforcement bodies of objectives on protection of a public order and fight against crime, is worthy pecuniary guaranteeing. However in the heaviest conditions of revolution and civil war when there was a formation of the Soviet power and structures of the Soviet police, law-enforcement bodies had serious difficulties in this sphere.
According to the resolution of the Council of labor and defense (CLD) «About supplying of police with food, fodder and articles of prime necessity» from June 11, 1920 all available personnel of employees was supplied with all types of an allowance in accordance with general practice with the military units of Red army drawing garrison duty. Policemen monthly joined in the plan of the army supply established for its rear parts.1 In spite of the fact that, the power gave
© Siberian Federal University. All rights reserved
* Corresponding author E-mail address: borgir-666@mail.ru
particular attention to stabilization of pecuniary security of law-enforcement structures of the province, situation remained very intense.
One of the most dramatic was a situation with clothing allowance. The chief of the Yenisei provincial police S.T.Moiseenko in his report to the manager of Siberian police described the situation in provincial police in June 19, 1920: «The province police doesn't have any uniform at the moment. As commanding officers, so, mainly, policemen have to carry their own clothes. Impossible mixture of different attire turns out. And if it isn't armband signs it would be inconvenient to define that it is a police. With approaching of warm time the problem of providing with footwear became especially aggravated. While it was cold, policemen which most part are locals, wore felt boot, but when the snow started to melt and becoming of spring
waters it became impossible. Who had some footwear, by this time absolutely wore it out». (Bugaev P.1, 1993: 279-280) The local Provincial Revolutionary committee (PRC) tried to render a certain help with regimentals for police. For several times it allocated the money to the staff of external policemen as compensation for bearing of own clothes. Such assistance, undoubtedly, promoted to improvement of the situation, but the question, in fact, didn't solve.
The problem with supply of police employees with regimentals remained critical in the province during the first half of 1920th. It especially became complicated during the winter time. In Minusinsk uyezd new winter uniform was allocated only for 1/5 policemen in October, 1921. The police of Achinsk uyezd got only 2 sheepskin jackets and 7 pairs of felt boot for 20-30 persons at that month.2 The chief of the Achinsk uyezd police P.Dedov noted that the situation with regimentals was wretched. «Many policemen are so bare that it is a shame to put them on a post». (Bugaev P.2, 1993: 76) In June, 1921 the new chief of the provincial police V.F.Emelyashin in conditions of lack of stocks of warm regimentals for the forthcoming winter suggested within the confidential order to chiefs of uyezd departaments to organize in areas and volosts procurement and manufacture of dogs' fells for tailoring of warm clothes. In whole, in December, 1923 police of the Yenisei province was supplied with regimentals for 75 %, footwear and linen - for 50 %, warm things - for 60 %, equipment - for 30 %, bedding - for 10 %.3
Such circumstances sometimes led officers in charge to perpetration of malfeasances. So, according to the data of the inspection of the Yenisei uyezd police during autumn 1923, the fact of sale of material evidences by its chief Chelyshev for the sum of 65 rubles in gold was revealed. On this money he bought regimentals for his employees, doing it allegedly with the consent of local executive committee.4
Usually such crimes had forced character which was repeatedly ascertained by the police administration. In the report of provincial administrative department concerning with the situation of ordinary policemen of Krasnoyarsk in the first half of 1924 it was noted that «earning at that time ... about 8-9 rubles as a salary and living in a dirty and cold hostel without having regimentals, a policeman had to shirk his duties and think more of his existence, than about interests of his service».5
Besides the staff of the Yenisei provincial police had a critical situation with housing. Originally because of a heavy criminogenic situation in the province it was planned to move all the city police departaments to confine them to barracks. This arrangement would allow to have the group which is capable to react against gangster actions and disorders of rural population in nearby rural areas operatively and to solve a question with housing for a while. However the lack of money didn't allow to realize this idea. During 1920-1922 any city police departament had no hostels for its employees. In 1923 in Krasnoyarsk two hostels for employees of the 1st and 2nd departments where 15-20 employees with their families could live were equipped. In the Yeniseisk uyezd a police hostel was equipped only in 1924. The situation in other uyezds remained unresolved. According to results of inspection of living conditions of employees which had been carried out at the end of 1924 in the 2 uyezds (in a source it isn't specified where specifically), 10 % of employees lived in good apartments, 33 % had satisfactory conditions of apartments, 40 % -unsatisfactory, 17 % of employees lived in bad conditions.6
Another problem was an unsatisfactory situation with armament in police during the first years of the Soviet government. At the beginning of 1920 nearly a half of police staff had no weapon. The main sources of its replenishment
were requisition from the population, using the weapon left by Kolchak's ex-troops and confiscation from armed bands. However in May, 1920 rifles (of an old sample) and cartridges for all the state of uyezd and city police were allocated by the provincial military commissariat. (Bugaev P.2, 1993: 279) From that time supplying of police with weapon and ammunition started to be carried out regularly and uninterruptedly.
But after settlement of this problem there were certain incidents. So in the summer of 1920 policemen of the 5th district of the Kansk uyezd (settlement Ilanskoe) had to lock at nights in their district's office and didn't let anybody, as they had no cartridges for their guns. Meanwhile in Krasnoyarsk the uyezd brigade commander V. Grishenkin in his order to the Krasnoyarsk separate police battalion from June 7, 1921 demanded to take the most drastic measures for those employees who spend cartridges for firing «on a game and simply "so-so"» during combatant operations. Most of them got from 4 to 7 days of arrest for the such offense.7
Since February, 1922 in the provincial police uniform standards of arms for the employees had been brought in. For command and administrative structure revolvers of "Nagan" system were introduced; a senior policeman was armed with a cavalry sword, a three-linear rifle and a revolver; a cavalry policeman got a cavalry sword and a rifle, a foot policeman had a rifle only.8
Due to difficult economic situation in which the province police was staying during the spring of 1921 the chief of the Krasnoyarsk uyezd and city police ordered to all police stations to busy themselves with sowing of grain crops for supplying needs of the principal city and uyezd police. Later this practice extended through the whole province. Since 1922 the staff of Minusinsk police had started to be engaged regularly in earth cultivation, supplying all the uyezd police with bread and vegetables. The practice of annual
logging of firewood for heating of working spaces and houses of employees during the winter period, and also laying-in of fodder for service horses became regular. In the Krasnoyarsk uyezd it was authorized to send up to 25 % of staff of external service, and also up to 10 % of white-collar workers for these needs.9 (Bugaev P.2, 1993: 106)
To improve the pecuniary guaranteeing of the province police a rewarding of the staff of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was introduced in July, 1922. Rewarding expenses depended on percentage allocations from the sums of returned property. At the congress of employees of the provincial police, taking place on August 28-29, 1922 the offer concerned with creation of police workers' cooperatives (workcoops) for improvement of position of the local police which could servicing subsections of militia was brought. With support provided by the Yenisei province executive committee in 1922 the Krasnoyarsk police organized the cooperative "Ekonom", which thrashed grain on a rented steam mill and sold a flour to the local police for 50 % cheaper than the market cost. (Udalnov, 1922: 171; Bugaev P.2, 1993: 107) Since August 29, 1923 according to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (ACEC) offered to award employees for the active struggle against woodviolators.
During the New Economic Policy for the purpose of reduction of an account part of the state budget the maintenance of police and criminal investigation department had been transferred to the means of local budgetary funds since November, 1922. It is obvious that the provincial budget wasn't ready to take over new expenses. Thus, predicted budget deficit of the Yenisei province for 1923 was 5 trillion rubles at 15 trillion all provincial expenses. After such step financial and pecuniary position of police that hadn't been too good before, began even worse. Local
budgets were based on the income of municipal services, organizations and enterprises, and also from state and local taxes and fees. But because of unprofitable municipal services and weakness of the tax system local budgets were weak. On the average about the country in 1922-23 economic year their deficiency made about 25 % from the revenues. (Shabelnikova, 2002: 176)
The situation in police was improved by the account of «penalty policy». The department of administration of the Yenisei province executive committee on March 13, 1923, being guided by the resolution of Council of Peoples Commissars from 20.12.1922, declared a contribution to the local police departments of administration of 50 % from the sums exacted as penalties on affairs, connected with illicit manufacturing, storage and sale of alcohol drinks and alcohol-containing substances. In the spring of 1923 the local executive committee of Turukhansky region gave out a credit to the police of 1000 squirrels (300 rubles in a gold equivalent) for improvement of pecuniary life of employees. It was paying off at the expense of a percent from penal contributions to the regional police.10
By 1925 bonuses from penalties for administrative offenses began to play an important role in life of a rural policeman, reaching 25 % from his salary (information on the Krasnoyarsk district). Such a considerable increase was reached, generally at the expense of imposing of penalties on the moonshiners (so called samogonschiki) who mainly lived in a country. While the income of city policemen, thanks to assignments from penalties, increased by 2 rubles only.11
In September, 1923 the rate of salary of chiefs of provincial, city, district police, their assistants was equated to the rates of provincial senior officers and thus increased for 15-25 %.12 (Kharlov 2002: 55) An additional measure to increase of the income of employees was the decision of Siberian
province executive committees to increase rates to policemen for 15 % at the expense of partly payment of municipal services. Turukhansk's policemen according to the order of their regional executive committee were released from payment of municipal services.
For the purpose of partial deliverance from the weight of maintenance of the police machinery, which had appeared an excessive toil for the provincial budget, the maintenance of city police laid down on city budgets, volost police - on volost budgets since October, 1924 (with completion of division of the province into districts). There were uyezd administrative departments and, partially, bodies of police who stayed on the balance provincial and city budgets. Absence of the regulatory acts regulating the order of its maintenance negatively affected the level of financial and pecuniary security of the police. It allowed to local Soviets to establish independently an order of percentage assignment from the budget on the maintenance of police, ignoring needs of uyezd police departments.
Apparently from the Table 1, local budgets also weren't ready to accept of police bodies on their balance. It is obvious from understating of the volume of credits allocated by executive committees relatively demanded by the police at almost a third (29 %) for all territorial formations of the province.
The utility (writing, operative, confidential) needs, and also expenses on regimentals and ammunition were mainly exposed to reduction. Provision of uyezd policemen with summer and winter regimentals made at that time 30 % from the norm. Thus papakhas (caps) were provided for 50 %, fur coats - 8 %, short fur coats - 34 %, felt boots - 50 %, underwear - 25 %. There wasn't any footwear at that moment. Besides all the policemen receiving a salary over 15 rubles (i.e. practically all police officers) had to pay for public services again since October, 1924.
Table 1. The report of demanded and planned sums of credits for the maintenance of staff of uyezd police for 1924-1925 budget year*
Police departments Required, rubles. Planned according to the province budget, rubles. Difference, rubles. Per cent of reduction
Krasnoyarsk 14076,17 7708,54 6367,63 45 %
Achinsk 20518,12 13462,52 7055,60 34 %
Kansk 24238,66 15714,40 8524,26 35 %
Tayshet 1921,93 1879,04 42,89 2 %
Minusinsk 19672,57 12234,94 7437,63 38 %
Khakass 5902,22 3701,22 2201 37 %
Yeniseisk 3658,33 2974,35 683,98 19 %
Turukhansk 2945,71 2221,77 723,94 25 %
* Extracted from: SAKR F. R-874, inv. 1, c. 58, l. 308.
Table 2. Change of range of a salary of police officers in the province in 1923 and 1925*
Position Годы
1923 1925 % к 1923г.
Руб. Руб.
Chief of a district 9,45 28 296 %
Senior policeman 8,40 18,60 221 %
Younger policeman 6,65 16,80 253 %
* Extracted from: SAKR F. R-863, inv. 1, c. 39, l. 1; SAKR F. R-874, inv. 1, c. 59, l. 114; SAKR F. R-874, inv. 1, c. 101, l. 23-24.
In essence the wages fund did never decrease as a salary was very low enough. In 1923 the average salary of an industrial worker of the Yenisei province made 32,3 rubles while the average salary of a policeman (in a range from younger policemen to the chief of a district) made up 8-9 rubles. The minimal set of food and articles of prime necessity, cost 7,14 rubles in May, 1923. By 1925 the salary of a younger policeman grew approximately in 2,5 times (21,1 rubles), but it was still much lower than the compensation of an industrial worker making 48-52 rubles at that time.13 (Table 2)
The situation with regimentals of employees started to change at the end of 1924 when the maintenance of uyezd police was passed from the provincial budget to local
ones. This measure caused on the one hand, a sharp reduction of the staff of employees in police, but with another, allowed to supply the remained employees in full. But sometimes this improvement didn't always have a qualitative character. For example instead of new overcoats employees might get old renewed short winter coats. Old jackboots also were taken under repair and distributed to employees again. Bedclothes hadn't updated at all since 1920. In the same 1924 it was supposed to release on 100 rubles to every Krasnoyarsk policemen for regimentals, however, in reality it was allocated only on 62 rubles. Thus, provision with regimentals turned out to be equal 100 % on paper, however it didn't even reach 50 % on quality in reality.14
Table 3. The estimate on the maintenance of PAD and the police of Krasnoyarsk for 1924-1925 budget year
Obtained by the police, rubles. Allocated by executive committees, rubles. Paid out from the required, %
Budget Salary business expenses Regimentals Whole sum Salary business expenses Regimentals Whole sum Salary business expenses Regimentals
Province 35314 36000 -- 71314 35314 18698 -- 54012 100 52 % --
City 27050 15876 7124 50050 27000 8162 3090 38252 100 51 % 43 %
* Extracted from: SAKR F. R-874, inv. 1, c. 101, l. 31-32.
From the volume of credits allocated for the maintenance of the provincial administrative department (PAD) for 1924-25 budget year (Table 3), it is obvious that appropriations for economic needs were cut down at almost twice by provincial and city executive committees. Expenses on regimentals were reduced by 57 %. Thus the percentage of the budget of PAD to the all-provincial budget made only 1,2 %, to the city - 3,7 %.
Such situation had to treat to the means allocated for the regimentals very economically. So in the report on the Yenisei PAD for 19241925 budget year it was fixed that PAD and Krasnoyarsk police in 1924 were compelled to buy warm clothes in Minusinsk because it cost for 20 % lower there than in the province center.
Thus, all attempts of the central, regional and local authorities to solve the question of
pecuniary guaranteeing of the Soviet militia throughout the first half of 1920th appeared unsuccessful. The reasons of it are closely connected not only with severe conditions of life in the days of civil war and the first postwar time, but also with the fundamental attitude to police as an auxiliary and even minor body during the period of New Economic Policy. Transfer of the maintenance of police on local budgets led to considerable staff reduction and temporarily promoted to stabilize the situation with regimentals. But it still remained insufficient and the salary of employees, despite of its increase and «penalty policy» remained low. All of this created such problem as personnel turnover, also promoted the growth of crimes among employees and didn't allow executing the main functions on prevention of crime and protection of a public order adequately.
1 The collection of statutes and orders of Soviet workers and peasants' government. April 25, 1920. P. 259-260.
2 The State Archives of the Krasnoyarsk region (SAKR) F. R-742, inventory 3, case 8, lists 2-4, 7.
3 SAKR F. R-742, inv. 3, c. 10, l. 108; c. 56, l. 28-30; SAKR F. R-874, inv. 1, c. 8, l. 27.
4 SAKR F. R-874, inv. 1, c. 39, l. 11.
5 SAKR F. R-874, inv. 1, c. 27, vol. 1, l. 221.
6 SAKR F. R-874, inv. 1, c. 90, l. 49.
7 SAKR F. R-49, inv.1, c. 8, l. 301; SAKR F. R-742, inv.3, c. 3, l. 6; SAKR F. R-741, inv. 1, c. 24, l. 125.
8 SAKR F. R-741, inv. 1, c. 128, l. 24.
9 SAKR F. R-741, Inv. 1, 24, .H. 125.
10 SAKR F. R-874, inv. 1, c. 49, l. 12.
11 SAKR F. R-874, inv. 1, c. 101, ll. 18, 23.
12 SAKR F. R-874, inv. 1, c. 96, l. 34-35.
13 Newspaper The worker of Krasnoyarsk, December 6, 1924; May 11, 1923; October 29, 1925.
14 SAKR F. R-874, inv. 1, c. 101, l. 18.
References
1. Bugaev, D.A. At the police service. Book 1, Part 1. (Krasnoyarsk, 1993).
2. Bugaev, D.A. At the police service. Book 1, Part 2. (Krasnoyarsk, 1993).
3. Kharlov, N.A. The police of Siberia during 1920th. A dissertation (Novosibirsk, 2002).
4. Shabelnikhova, N.A. Police of the Russian Far East, 1922-1930: historical experience of organization and activity. A dissertation.(Vladivostok, 2002).
5. Udalnov, M. "About the police of Siberia", The life of Siberia, 2 (1922), 170-172.
The list of abridgements
Государственный архив Красноярского края (ГАКК) Фонд (Ф.) Р-742, опись (оп.) 3, дело (д.) 8, листы (л.) 2-4, 7.
The State Archives of the Krasnoyarsk region (SAKR) Fund (F.) R-742, inventory (inv.) 3, case (c.) 8, lists (l.) 2-4, 7.
Совет Труда и Обороны - СТО.
The Council of labor and defense - CLD.
Губернский революционный комитет - Губревком.
The Provincial Revolutionary Committee - PRC.
Отдел Уголовного розыска
The Criminal Investigation department - CID.
Всероссийский центральный исполнительный комитет - ВЦИК.
The All-Russian Central Executive Committee - ACEC.
Губернский административный отдел - ГАО.
The Provincial Administrative department - PAD.
Некоторые аспекты
материального обеспечения милиции
Енисейской губернии в первой половине 1920-х гг.
Ю.Н. Бойко
Красноярский государственный педагогический университет
им. В.П. Астафьева Россия, 660049, Красноярск, ул. Ады Лебедевой, 89
В статье рассматривается процесс материального обеспечения милиции Енисейской губернии в первой половине 1920-х гг. Рассмотрение ведется по нескольким пунктам: обмундирование, вооружение, жилье и оплата труда. Исследование построено преимущественно на материалах местного архива.
Ключевые слова: милиция Енисейской губернии, административный отдел, милиция, обмундирование, вооружение, жилье, штрафная политика, бюджет административного отдела.
