"THIRD ELEMENT"

a conventional name in Russia for the raznochintsy intelligentsia who served for hire in zemstvo institutions (agronomists, statisticians, technicians, doctors, veterinarians, teachers, insurance agents, etc.). The expression "TE", in contrast to the "first" (government and administrative) and "second" (zemstvo elected), came into use in the 900s. As the zemstvos developed, the role of hired specialists increased more and more. In the 90s. 19th century at 34 lips. In Russia, there were 65-70 thousand zemstvo employees, there were up to 50 hired employees for one elected. Gradually "T. e." acquired a leading role in the work of the zemstvo. At the initiative of the representatives of "T. e." meetings and congresses of zemstvo employees were convened. In 1896 the All-Russian s.-x. congress, congress on technical. education, the Pirogov Congress of Doctors. Among the "T. e." were prominent scientists and societies. figures: N. F. Annensky, B. B. Veselovsky and others. Thanks to "T. e." cultural-hoz. Zemstvo activities were widespread, especially in the field of medicine, sanitation and schooling. Strengthening the role of "T. e." met opposition from the tsarist administration and conservative zemstvo nobles. Active figures "T. e." fired, exiled. This strengthened the opposition of "TE." to autocracy. As part of "T. e." there were a lot of bourgeoisie. liberals, populists, there were also social-democrats, to-rye used the service in the zemstvo to fight the autocracy.

Lit .: Lenin V.I., Poln. coll. cit., vol. 5, p. 327-35 (vol. 5, pp. 258-65); Veselovsky B. B., History of the Zemstvo for 40 years, vol. 3, St. Petersburg, 1911; Kornilov E. G., Zemskaya democratic. intelligentsia and its participation in the revolution. movement of the 70s of the XIX century, in the book: Voronezh State. un-t. Sat. scientific works, in 6, Voronezh, 1972.

V. V. Garmiza. Moscow.


Soviet historical encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. Ed. E. M. Zhukova. 1973-1982 .

See what "THIRD ELEMENT" is in other dictionaries:

    In Russia, the conditional name of the democratic intelligentsia who served in the zemstvo for hire (doctors, teachers, statisticians, etc.), in contrast to the administration (1st element) and zemstvo vowels (2nd element) ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

    The conditional name of persons who served in the zemstvo for hire (doctors, teachers, statisticians, etc.), in contrast to the administration (1st element) and zemstvo vowels (2nd element). Source: Encyclopedia Fatherland ... Russian history

    - “THIRD ELEMENT”, in Russia, the conditional name of the democratic intelligentsia who served in the zemstvo for hire (doctors, teachers, statisticians, etc.), in contrast to the administration (“1st element”) and zemstvo vowels (“2nd element”) … encyclopedic Dictionary

    In Russia, the conditional name of the democratic intelligentsia who served in the zemstvo for hire (doctors, teachers, statisticians, etc.), in contrast to the administration (“1st element”) and zemstvo vowels (“2nd element”). political science: Dictionary reference. comp… Political science. Dictionary.

    In Russia, the conditional name of the democratic intelligentsia who served in the zemstvo for hire (doctors, teachers, statisticians, etc.), in contrast to the administration (“1st element”) and zemstvo vowels (“2nd element”) ... encyclopedic Dictionary

    - (“The Third Element”) is the conventional name for the raznochintsy intelligentsia who served for hire in zemstvo institutions (agronomists, statisticians, technicians, doctors, veterinarians, teachers, insurance agents, etc.). The term "T. e.", as opposed to the "first element" ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

    MYTH- (Greek word, speech, legend) the language of description, which, due to its primordial symbolism, turned out to be convenient for expressing eternal models of personal and social behavior, some essential laws of the social and natural cosmos. M. is ... ... Modern Philosophical Dictionary

    This article or section needs revision. Please improve the article in accordance with the rules for writing articles. This article focuses mainly on elements ... Wikipedia

    element- a, m. élément m., germ. Element lat. elementum element, original substance. 1. Do ancient Greek philosophers materialists one of the constituent parts of nature (fire, water, air, earth), underlying all things, phenomena; element. BASS 1.… … Historical dictionary gallicisms of the Russian language

    Contents 1 Residents of the Hidden Leaf Village 1.1 Anko Mitarashi 1.2 Dan ... Wikipedia

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The role of the "third element" in the zemstvo self-government of Russia.

Key words: zemstvo officials, zemstvo, zemstvo reform, intelligentsia, "third element"

Annotation: the article is devoted to the formation of a social stratum, called the "third zemstvo element" in the second half of the 19th - early 20th, and also touches upon the aspect of the "special" position and role of the zemstvo intelligentsia in the state in this historical period. It was concluded that the "third element" predetermined the fate of the Russian Zemstvo and played an important role in the development of such areas as statistics, education and health care.

Keywords: zemski state workers, zemstvo, zemskaya reform, intelligentsia, “tretiy element”

The article covers the formation of the social level, received the name “tretiy element” in the second part of the XIXth-in the beginning of the XXd, as well as the aspect of the “special” status and the part of zemskoi intelligentsii is touched upon in the state at this historical period. The conclusion was made that “tretii element” predetermined the destiny of the Russian zemstvo and played a very important role in the development of such fields as statistics, education and health care.

“There are two ruling “classes” in Russia: 1) Administration and 2) Representatives of estates. There is no place for the third element in the estate monarchy. And if recalcitrant economic development increasingly undermines the foundations of estates by the very growth of capitalism and causes the need for "intellectuals", whose number is increasing, then we must inevitably expect that the third element will try to expand the limits that are narrow for it "1, pointed out V.I. Lenin in the Zarya magazine in 1901. At the same time, B.B. Veselovsky, the greatest connoisseur of zemstvo history, gave the following assessment to this social stratum: “Zemstvo employees were not only mercenaries, but also participants in the common zemstvo cause. They associated their cultural and partly political aspirations with it, for them it was more than a field for "service" - they strove to work, not "serve" 2 .

The appearance of zemstvo employees dates back to the time of the creation of zemstvos. In the "Regulations on zemstvo institutions" in 1864. states: "For the performance of such duties on the affairs of zemstvos, which by their very nature require special knowledge and training, zemstvo councils may invite outsiders." In 1899-1900. Samara vice-governor Kondoidi at the opening of the session of the provincial zemstvo assembly of persons who do not belong either to the administration or to the number of representatives of the estates, he called the "third element". This term, quickly spreading, received all the rights of citizenship.

The analysis of this society is important both in terms of a certain summing up of the modernization of Russia, and in terms of conceptual understanding of the role played by the socio-political and cultural activities of zemstvo employees, who first worked in an organized manner in the Russian village and went down in history under the name of the “third element” 3 .

Among the authors of works devoted to the history of the Zemstvo intelligentsia, one should name the pre-revolutionary researchers B. B. Veselovsky, N. I. Iordansky, F. A. Danilov, A. N. Potresov; Soviet historians N. M. Pirumov, V. R. Leikin-Svirskaya, E. G. Kornilov, A. V. Ushakov, G. A. Gerasimenko, V. A. Gornova, E. N. Morozov, T. A. Veprentsev and, of course, representatives of the latest Russian historiography L. A. Zhukov, A. G. Vazhenin, P. V. Galkin, L. E. Laptev, V. G. Badanov.

The range of sources containing certain data on the creation of the zemstvo intelligentsia, its professional activities, is extremely diverse. Regulations on zemstvo institutions, decrees, legalizations, orders directly related to the emergence of zemstvo employees as a certain category of persons associated with “local benefits and needs”, as well as with the formation of the activities of individual professional associations (doctors, teachers, statisticians). This also includes government orders that apply not only to zemstvo employees, but also encompass the scope of their activities.

The development and growth of the zemstvo civil servants, according to N.I. Iordansky, were “a natural product of the entire development of the Russian zemstvo, an inevitable consequence of the growing importance of the middle classes and a necessary correction for the errors of the formal-legal zemstvo organization” 4 .

The appearance of zemstvo employees, as they are also called zemstvo intelligentsia, was one of the results of the implementation of the zemstvo reform of 1864. In Soviet times, the term "intelligentsia" underwent a radical semantic transformation. The starting point for historians was Lenin's definition, according to which the intelligentsia is a social stratum of people engaged in mental work. We cannot but agree with E.V. Chernysheva that as a result of such a professional approach, the concepts of a zemstvo employee, zemstvo intelligentsia, “the third element” have become identical 5 .

We can give the following definition of the zemstvo intelligentsia - this is a layer of qualified specialists who are in the service of zemstvo institutions. Their number constantly increased and eventually reached impressive proportions, far exceeding the number of elected zemstvo vowels 6 . The Great Soviet Encyclopedia defines the “third element” as “a conventional name for the raznochintsy intelligentsia who served for hire in zemstvo institutions (agronomists, statisticians, technicians, doctors, veterinarians, teachers, insurance agents, etc.). The term "Third Element", in contrast to the "first element" (government and administrative) and the "second" (zemstvo elected), came into use in the 1900s. The "third element" included quite a few bourgeois liberals, populists, and there were also social democrats.

From the end of the 19th century, namely from the 80s, the “third element” began to organize, to gather its forces in order to openly come out in the 90s with a claim to a closer participation in the direction of zemstvo affairs. With the complication of zemstvo life, which has especially affected since the mid-90s, the influence of free mercenaries became more and more, and A.I. Novikov rightly notes that at present “the center of gravity of the zemstvo organization lies not in elected people, but in” third element"

Until the 1990s, the provincial zemstvo economy was extremely poorly developed, the administration of most districts also did not differ in significant complexity, and the elected officials of the administrations (“the second element”) had the opportunity to stand closer to everyday work. But in the 1990s, with the increase in estimates, with the development of credit and other operations, a completely different picture is observed. The number of elected element of government for 1886-1903. almost did not increase, while the army of hired employees more than doubled, and by 1908. it reached 65-70 thousand people 8 .

Since the early 1990s, there has been a general upsurge in mood. As a result of the aggravation of the agricultural crisis and the implementation of the government's policy in favor of the industrialists, oppositional ferment intensified in the advanced strata of the landowning circles and political aspirations revived, although at first only to a weak degree. These aspirations acquired a real character only under two conditions: firstly, it would be necessary to build them on a socio-economic basis - on the basis of protecting, to one degree or another, the cultural and material needs of the mass of the peasantry, and secondly, it would be necessary either way approach these masses differently and secure their sympathy in the struggle that was to be waged against the "bureaucracy" 9 . On both sides, the “third element” acted as an intermediary.

“The lack of interests of the zemstvo serving intelligentsia as a whole, contrary to the needs of the working classes,” writes Mr. Bilevsky, “allowed it to be in the semi-estate, often selfishly and always timidly minded zemstvo, the defender of the interests of the lower, underrepresented classes of the people, the defender of the rights of the individual citizen and the beginnings amateur performances" 10 . Thus, representatives of the zemstvo intelligentsia occupied a "special" position in the zemstvo. This is observed both in the material plane (social benefits established in many zemstvos for zemstvo employees: free housing, the opportunity to undergo advanced training, give their children an education at the expense of the zemstvo, etc.), and ideologically. The "Third Element" is distinguished by a special worldview and an active social position. And the existence of the concept is absolutely fair, according to which the zemstvo intelligentsia represented a special social community, although it was part of the Russian intelligentsia, but which, due to the specifics of its professional activity and social status, had unique features 11 .

Working closely with the advanced layers of the "second element", the representatives of the "third element" democratized all Zemstvo work, leading the Zemstvo themselves in the same direction.

Among the "second element" in the 1990s, there are more and more representatives of the intelligentsia - professors, scientists, doctors, engineers. It must be admitted that, ideologically and even personally, the line between the "second" and "third" elements in the 1990s was largely violated 12 .

The concentration of forces of zemstvo doctors and statisticians dates back to the 80s. During the period of intensification of zemstvo reaction, when medical councils were liquidated and statisticians were persecuted, almost simultaneously centers of association of zemstvo workers arose: the Pirogov Society and the statistical department at the Moscow Law Society.

The desire of the zemstvo civil servants (doctors, statisticians) to unite is one of the characteristic features of the 80s. It was precisely at this time that the element began to take shape, which later acquired the name of the “third” and brightly appeared in the zemstvo field; in the 80s he was still uniting, gathering his forces. By the 1980s, zemstvo employees had grown significantly in numbers; the very mechanism of zemstvo work became more and more complicated, thereby strengthening the role of the labor force - the "third element". Finally, we can conclude that the cadres of zemstvo employees began to be filled more and more with ideological people who went to the zemstvo not only for "service", but also for cultural work in the broad sense of the word.

Gradually, zemstvo interests captured an increasing circle of non-qualified intelligentsia, including young students, who set themselves the task of joining the zemstvo, for cultural work.

In the 90s, the “third element” significantly strengthened its position, strengthened itself in various (sanitary, statistical, etc.) bureaus, in medical councils, in school commissions; At the same time, the number of regularly convened congresses is growing, and since the end of the 1990s, teacher training courses have been organized in a number of provinces. The "third element" was more and more united, at the same time becoming closer to the guiding work of the Zemstvo.

Of course, by no means in all zemstvos did the “third element” receive a proper participation in the organization of zemstvo affairs; even more than that, there are a number of zemstvos in which this element was almost absent.

In the 90s, the "third element" appeared on the open stage. His activity is the component that deflected the resultant of zemstvo-cultural and political life in the direction of democracy; in view of this, the attacks on the Zemstvo civil servants, which intensified in the 1990s from reactionary circles, become quite understandable.

K. Golovin, who had a very negative attitude towards zemstvo employees, noticed that the center of the political actions of the “third element” were mainly provincial cities, where “the majority of zemstvo undertakings were concentrated: pedagogical seminaries, from where people's teachers and teachers came out; statistical bureaus, which were soon joined by agricultural, zemstvo technicians; all sorts of hospitals, around which medical personnel were grouped 13.

Statisticians were the vanguard of the Zemstvo intelligentsia. The enormous work carried out by zemstvo statisticians on a detailed study of the life of the Russian village left a deep mark on science. Statisticians went to the vanguard of the "third element" and they play a prominent role in the development of the zemstvo movement.

A.I. Chuprov noted in the early 1990s that "the study of a significant part of Russia, carried out on the initiative of zemstvo institutions, is perhaps the most important thing that has been done in our country for the knowledge of the country and people." The zemstvo statisticians, who carried out this most important work both for the economic and political history of the country, were a prominent and typical group of the zemstvo intelligentsia.

Along with statisticians, two other large groups of zemstvo intelligentsia worked in the zemstvo: medical personnel and teachers.

Since the beginning of the 1990s, the activity of zemstvos in public education has become one of the main directions in the revival of zemstvo activities in general. This revival was connected with the activities of the literacy committees and with the general cultural movement, which embraced wide circles of the intelligentsia, and especially young students. In the mid-1990s, the almost universal raising of the issue of universal primary education by zemstvos, the discussion in a number of zemstvos of issues of out-of-school education and the book trade contributed to the growth of teachers' cadres and expanded the scope of their activities.

From 1897 to 1901, 34 teachers' seminars were opened in the zemstvo provinces. The county congresses of teachers, banned in 1885, were allowed again in 1889. And although the conditions for their holding were strictly regulated, they were able to become a meeting place for the rural intelligentsia. Zemstvo teachers were most active in social work in provincial zemstvos, where they, participating in school bureaus and commissions, prepared materials for reports at zemstvo meetings on universal education, on the school network, on school buildings, on libraries, on raising the level of teaching staff, on his financial and legal status.

“The proclamation of the complete free of charge school education, bringing the school closer to the population, improving the position of teaching staff, the need for a broad formulation of out-of-school education - all this,” wrote L.D.

Out-of-school education: public reading rooms, libraries, sale or free distribution of publications of the literacy committee were also the most important areas of activity, mainly for teachers of zemstvo schools 14 .

As literacy committees united teachers, so the Pirogov Society became the center of the public and professional organization of zemstvo doctors. The "Moscow-Petersburg Society of Doctors in Memory of N.I. Pirogov" was founded in 1885, but zemstvo doctors took a dominant position in it only in the early 90s of the 19th century 15 .

"THIRD ELEMENT"

in Russia, the conditional name of the democratic intelligentsia who served in the zemstvo for hire (doctors, teachers, statisticians, etc.), in contrast to the administration ("1st element") and zemstvo vowels ("2nd element").

TSB. Modern explanatory dictionary, TSB. 2003

See also interpretations, synonyms, meanings of the word and what is the "THIRD ELEMENT" in Russian in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books:

  • THIRD ELEMENT
    in Russia, the conventional name for the democratic intelligentsia who served in the zemstvo for hire (doctors, teachers, statisticians, etc.), in contrast to the administration ...
  • THIRD ELEMENT
    element", the conventional name for the raznochintsy intelligentsia who served for hire in zemstvo institutions (agronomists, statisticians, technicians, doctors, veterinarians, teachers, insurance agents ...
  • ELEMENT in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    (from lat. elementum - the element of the original substance), an integral part of a complex whole. See also Element…
  • ELEMENT in big Soviet encyclopedia, TSB:
    (from Latin elementum - element, original substance), 1) in ancient philosophy, one of the first principles, the same as the element (water, earth, ...
  • ELEMENT
    [from Latin elementum element, original substance] 1) in ancient Roman philosophy, one of the main parts of nature (fire, air, water and earth); …
  • ELEMENT in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    a, m. 1. An integral part of a complex whole. Decompose something into elements.||Cf. INGREDIENT, COMPONENT. 2. Share, some part of paradise in ...
  • THIRD V encyclopedic dictionary:
    , -ya, -ye. 1. see three. 2. Disinterested in the conflict between the parties, impartial. The third side. I am the third person here (an outsider). …
  • ELEMENT in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    , -a, m. 1. An integral part of something, a component. Arrange the whole on eyae-ribbons. 2. Share, century-paradise part of something, in ...
  • ELEMENT
    CHEMICAL ELEMENT, see Chemical element ...
  • ELEMENT in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    ELEMENT (from lat. elementum - element, initial supply), an integral part of a complex ...
  • THIRD in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    "THIRD ELEMENT", a conditional name in Russia. democratic intellectuals who served in the zemstvo for hire (doctors, teachers, statisticians, etc.), in contrast to ...
  • THIRD in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    "THIRD REICH" (German Drittes Reich, lit. - the third empire, third kingdom), the name of the Nazis fascist. Germany. The term "T. r." was borrowed...
  • THIRD in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    THIRD INTERNATIONAL, see Communist ...
  • ELEMENT
    element "nt, element" nt, element "nt, element" nt, element "nt, element" nt, element "nt, element" nt, element "nt, element" nt, element "nt, ...
  • THIRD in the Full accentuated paradigm according to Zaliznyak:
    three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three thy, thr "thw, thr" th, thr" th, thr" th, thr" th, thr" th, thr" th, ...
  • THIRD in the Full accentuated paradigm according to Zaliznyak:
    three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, three, ...
  • ELEMENT in the Popular Explanatory-Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Russian Language:
    -a, m. 1) In ancient Greek materialist philosophers: one of the principles, one of the constituent parts of nature (fire, water, air, earth); element. 2) ...
  • ELEMENT in the Dictionary for solving and compiling scanwords:
    Fifth in the film with Mila ...
  • ELEMENT in the Thesaurus of Russian business vocabulary:
  • ELEMENT in the New Dictionary of Foreign Words:
    (lat. elementum element, original substance) 1) in ancient Roman philosophy - one of the main parts of nature (fire, air, water and ...
  • ELEMENT in the Dictionary of Foreign Expressions:
    [ 1. in ancient Roman philosophy - one of the main parts of nature (fire, air, water and earth); the same as the element...
  • ELEMENT in the Russian Thesaurus:
    Syn: component, detail, link, circuit, device, component, component, member, element, section, ...
  • ELEMENT
    Syn: component, detail, link, circuit, device, component, component, member, element, section, ...
  • THIRD in the dictionary of Synonyms of the Russian language:
    impartial…
  • ELEMENT
    1. m. 1) An integral part of a complex whole. 2) a) Some part of part of something. b) Feature c the content of something. 3) …
  • THIRD in the New explanatory and derivational dictionary of the Russian language Efremova:
    1. m. 1) open. One who is in a set follows after the second. 2) One who is not interested in smth., that ...
  • ELEMENT
    element, ...
  • THIRD in the Complete Spelling Dictionary of the Russian Language:
    third, yah, ...
  • ELEMENT in the Spelling Dictionary:
    element, ...
  • THIRD in the Spelling Dictionary:
    third, -ya, ...
  • ELEMENT
    simple substance, indecomposable by conventional chemical methods into its component parts Spec Periodic system elements (Mendeleev). element chemical source electric current Galvanic …
  • THIRD in the Dictionary of the Russian Language Ozhegov:
    uninterested in the conflict between the parties, impartial third party. I am the third person here (an outsider). the third is obtained by dividing by three, one third ...
  • ELEMENT in the Dahl Dictionary:
    husband. , physical , chem. beginning, basis, element, simple, uncomplicated substance. | mat. the data on which the desired is calculated. -package schools, ...
  • THIRD in the Dahl Dictionary:
    and old. thirds, 1. following the second. The third hour, it's time between two and three o'clock. At the beginning, at the end of the third. …
  • ELEMENT in Modern explanatory dictionary, TSB:
    (from lat. elementum - element, original substance), an integral part of a complex whole. See also Element…
  • ELEMENT
    element, m. (Latin elementum, originally one of the four elements of the world: fire, earth, water or air). 1. Composite part of something. Expand...
  • THIRD in the Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language Ushakov:
    third, Third. 1. Numbers. order to three. Third year. Third day of the month. Third hour. At the third hour (i.e. after two). …
  • ELEMENT
    element 1. m. 1) An integral part of a complex whole. 2) a) Some part of smth. b) Sign in the content of smth. …
  • THIRD in the Explanatory Dictionary of Efremova:
    third 1. m. 1) open. One who is in a set follows after the second. 2) One who is not interested in smth., ...
  • ELEMENT
    I m. 1. An integral part of a complex whole. 2. Some part of something. ott. Sign in the content of something. 3. Simple...
  • THIRD in the New Dictionary of the Russian Language Efremova:
    I m. 1. colloquial. The one who in any set comes after the second. 2. One who is not interested in anything that ...
  • ELEMENT
    I m. 1. An integral part of a complex whole, a share in the composition of something; component. 2. trans. One of the sides salient feature anything. …
  • THIRD in the Big Modern Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language:
    I m. The one who in any set comes after the second. II m. One who is not interested in anything...
  • THIRD CONGRESS OF THE RSDLP in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
    The congress of the RSDLP was held on April 12-27 (April 25 - May 10), 1905 in London in the context of the rise of the Revolution of 1905-07 in ...
  • RUSSIAN PROVERBS in Wiki Quote.
  • Virilio in the Dictionary of Postmodernism:
    (Virilio) Paul (b. 1932) is a French philosopher, social theorist, urbanist and architectural critic. Studied philosophy at the Sorbonne...
  • SPAS (HONEY, APPLE, NUT) in the Dictionary of Rites and Sacraments:
    SPASY (14/1, 19/6, 29/16 August) As promised, without deceiving, The sun penetrated early in the morning With an oblique stripe of saffron From the curtain to the sofa. …
  • REMEMBER OF THE DEAD. DAYS OF SPECIAL REMEMBER in the Dictionary of Rites and Sacraments:
    Commemoration of the dead. Days of special commemoration From ancient times, it is customary to make a deliberate commemoration of each deceased individually in a special ...
Full composition of writings. Volume 5. May-December 1901 Lenin Vladimir Ilyich

III. Third element

III. Third element

The expression "third element" or "third parties" was used, if we are not mistaken, by the Samara vice-governor, the city of Kondoidi, in his speech at the opening of the Samara provincial zemstvo assembly in 1900, to designate persons "who do not belong to any administration, nor among the representatives of the estates. The growth in the number and influence of such persons serving in the Zemstvo as doctors, technicians, statisticians, agronomists, teachers, etc., has long attracted the attention of our reactionaries, who also called these hated "third parties" the "Zemstvo bureaucracy."

In general, it must be said that our reactionaries—including, of course, the entire top bureaucracy—display good political instincts. They are so versed in all sorts of experience in the fight against the opposition, against popular "revolts", against sectarians, against uprisings, against revolutionaries, that they keep themselves constantly "on the alert" and much better than any naive simpletons and "honest nags" understand the intransigence of the autocracy with whatever independence, honesty, independence of conviction, pride in real knowledge. Having perfectly absorbed the spirit of servility and paperwork that reigns in the entire hierarchy of Russian officials, they are suspicious of everyone who does not look like Gogol's Akaki Akakievich (113) or, using a more modern comparison, like a man in a case (114 ).

Indeed, if people who perform certain public functions are valued not by their official position, but by their knowledge and merit, then does this not logically inevitably lead to freedom of public opinion and public control, discussing this knowledge and these virtues? Doesn't this undermine at the root those privileges of the estates and ranks, by which alone autocratic Russia is kept? Listen to what Mr. Kondoidi motivated his dissatisfaction:

“It happens,” he says, “that representatives of the estates, without sufficiently verified grounds, heed the word of the intelligentsia, even if they were nothing more than civilian employees in the government, only as a result of referring to science or to the teachings of newspaper and magazine writers.” What is it? Simple "civilian employees", but they undertake to teach "representatives of the estates"! By the way: the zemstvo vowels, about whom Mr. Vice-Governor speaks, are actually members of the institution of the non-estate; but since in our country everything and everything is saturated with estates, since the zemstvos, according to the new situation, have lost a huge share of all their lack of estates, then for brevity we can really say that in Russia there are two ruling "classes": 1. administration and 2. representatives estates. There is no place for the third element in the estate monarchy. And if rebellious economic development increasingly undermines the foundations of estates by the very growth of capitalism and creates a need for "intellectuals", the number of which is ever increasing, then one must inevitably expect that the third element will try to expand the limits that are narrow for it.

“The dreams of persons who do not belong either to the administration or to representatives of estates in the zemstvo,” said the same Mr. Kondoidi, “are only a fantastic character, but they can, assuming political tendencies at the base, have a harmful side.”

The admission of "political tendencies" is only a diplomatic expression of the conviction that they exist. And "dreams" are called here, if you like, all the assumptions arising for the doctor - from the interests of medical practice, for the statistician - from the interests of statistics and not considering the interests of the ruling classes. In themselves, these dreams are fantastic, but they feed political discontent, if you please.

And here is an attempt by another administrator, the head of one of the central provinces, to give a different motivation for dissatisfaction with the third element. According to him, the activities of the Zemstvo entrusted to him province "every year more and more moves away from those basic principles on which the Regulations on zemstvo institutions (115) are based." By this provision, the local population is called to manage affairs about local benefits and needs; meanwhile, due to the indifferent attitude of the majority of landowners to the right granted to them, “zemstvo assemblies took on the character of one formalities and affairs are managed by councils, the nature of which makes one wish for very much. This “entailed the formation of extensive offices under the councils and an invitation to the zemstvo service specialists - statisticians, agronomists, teachers, sanitary doctors, etc. - who, feeling their educational, and sometimes and mental superiority over zemstvo figures, began to show all greater and greater independence, which is achieved in particular by opening various congresses, and with the councils - councils. As a result, the entire zemstvo economy found itself in the hands of persons nothing to do with the local population.” Although “among these persons there are a lot of individuals who are quite well-meaning and deserving full respect, but they cannot look at their service otherwise than as a means of subsistence, and local benefits and needs can only interest them as much as their personal well-being depends on them. ". - “In the zemstvo case, according to the head of the province, hireling cannot replace the owner. This motivation can be called both more cunning and more frank, depending on how you look. It is more cunning, because it keeps silent about political trends and tries to reduce the basis of its judgment solely to the interests of local benefits and needs. She is more frank, because she directly opposes the "mercenary" owner. This is the primordial point of view of the Russian Whale Kitichs (116), who, when hiring some “teacher”, are guided primarily and most of all by the market prices for this species. professional services. The real masters of everything are the proprietors, so the representative of the same camp broadcasts, from which the praises of Russia are constantly rushing with its firm, independent of anyone and above classes standing power, freed, thank God, from that domination over folk life selfish interests, such as we see in those corrupted by parliamentarism Western countries. And since the owner is the owner, then he must be the owner of medical, statistical, and educational “business”: our pompadour does not hesitate to draw this conclusion, which includes a direct recognition of the political supremacy of the propertied classes. Not only that, he does not hesitate - and this is especially curious - to admit that these "specialists" feel their educational and sometimes even mental superiority over the zemstvo leaders. Yes, against mental superiority, of course, there are no means other than strict measures ...

And just recently our reactionary press had a particularly good opportunity to repeat the call for these austerity measures. The unwillingness of the intellectuals to allow themselves to be treated as mere mercenaries, as sellers of labor (and not as citizens performing certain public functions), has always led, from time to time, to conflicts between the government tycoons, now with doctors who collectively resigned, then with technicians. and so on. Recently, conflicts between administrations and statisticians have taken on a directly epidemic character.

It was noted in Iskra back in May (No. 4) that the local authorities (in Yaroslavl) had long been looking askance at the statistics, and after the March events in St. a strict choice, so that it was impossible to think about them that they could ever turn out to be unreliable. In the correspondence "Sedition in Vladimir on the Klyazma" ("Iskra" No. 5, June) outlined general position suspected statistics and the reasons for the dislike for it on the part of the governor, manufacturers and landlords. The dismissal of Vladimir statisticians for sending a telegram expressing sympathy to Annensky (who was beaten on Kazanskaya Square on March 4) led to the actual closure of the bureau, and since non-resident statisticians refused to serve in the zemstvo, which did not know how to defend the interests of their employees, the local gendarmerie had to act in the role of an intermediary between the dismissed statisticians and the governor. "The gendarme came to the apartments of some statisticians and suggested that they again apply for admission to the service in the bureau," but his mission was a complete failure. Finally, in the August issue (No. 7) of Iskra, an “incident in the Yekaterinoslav Zemstvo” was described, in which the “pasha” Mr. the resignation of all the other members of the Bureau and letters of protest from Kharkov statisticians (given in the same issue of Iskra). Further into the forest - more firewood. The Kharkiv Pasha, Mr. Gordeenko (also the chairman of the gubernia zemstvo council), intervened and told the statisticians of “his” zemstvo that he would not tolerate “within the walls of the council any meetings of officials on issues that do not concern official duties". No sooner had the Kharkov statisticians fulfilled their intention to demand the dismissal of the spy (Antonovich) who was among them, than the administration dismissed the head of statistics. Bureau, causing this again the departure of all statisticians.

The extent to which these incidents agitated the entire mass of zemstvo clerks according to statistics is evident, for example, from a letter from Vyatka statisticians who tried to thoroughly motivate their unwillingness to stick to the movement and were justly called in Iskra (No. 9) “Vyatka strikebreakers” for this. ".

But Iskra, of course, noted only some cases, far from all the conflicts that occurred, according to legal newspapers, in addition to the provinces of St. Petersburg, Olonets, Nizhny Novgorod, Taurida, Samara statisticians, since these cases aroused great discontent and ferment). To what extent the suspicion of the provincial authorities in general and their shamelessness reached, can be seen, for example, from the following:

“Head of the Tauride Bureau S. M. Blekloe in the “Report on the survey of the Dnieper district during May and June 1901” submitted by the council tells that the work in this county was accompanied by unprecedented conditions: although they were admitted to the performance of their duties by the governor, provided with proper documents and having, on the basis of the order of the provincial authorities, the right to the assistance of local authorities, the researchers were surrounded by extreme suspicion county police, who monitored behind them, expressing its distrust in the rough form, reached the point that, according to one peasant, a constable followed the statisticians and asked the peasants whether “the statisticians are propagandizing bad ideas against the state and the fatherland. According to Mr. Bleklov, statisticians had to "run into various obstacles and difficulties, which not only hindered their work, but also deeply affected self-esteem... Often statisticians found themselves in the position of some persons under investigation, about which a secret inquiry was carried out, which, however, is well known to everyone, and about which it was considered necessary to warn. From here, everyone can understand how unbearably difficult morale they often had to worry.”

Not a bad illustration for the history of zemstvo-statistical conflicts and for the characterization of supervision over the "third element" in general!

It is not surprising that the reactionary press attacked the new "rebels". Moskovskiye Vedomosti published a thunderous editorial entitled "The Strike of the Zemstvo Statisticians." (No. 263, 24 September) and a special article "The Third Element" by Mr. N. A. Znamensky (No. 279, 10 October). The "third element" "was arrogant," the newspaper wrote, "it responds with "systematic opposition and strikes" to attempts to introduce "the necessary service discipline." The blame for everything is the zemstvo liberals, who dismissed the employees.

“There is no doubt that some streamlining of Zemstvo evaluation and statistical work was undertaken by the most sober and reasonable Zemstvo figures, who did not want to allow in their jurisdiction promiscuity controls further and under liberal opposition flag. Both the opposition and strikes should finally open their eyes to who they are dealing with in person of that mental proletariat, which, staggering from one province to another, did not do statistical research, not the education of local teenagers in the social-democratic spirit.

In any case, in the form of "zemstvo statistical conflicts," a prudent part of the zemstvo leaders learn a useful lesson for themselves. We believe that she will now see quite clearly which snake, under the guise of "third element" warmed the zemstvo institutions on their chests.

We, for our part, also have no doubt that these cries and howls of the faithful watchdog autocracy (it is known that this is how Katkov “himself” called himself, who managed to “charge” M.Ved. community development, with the interests of the intelligentsia in general, with the interests of any real public cause that does not consist in embezzlement and betrayal.

For us Social-Democrats, this little picture of a campaign against the "third element" and "zemstvo-statistical conflicts" should serve as an important lesson. We must draw new faith into the omnipotence of the working-class movement led by us, seeing that the excitement in the advanced revolutionary class is being transferred to other classes and sections of society, that it has led not only to an unprecedented rise in the revolutionary spirit among the students, but also to the beginning awakening of the countryside, and to the strengthening of faith in self and readiness for struggle in such social groups, which (as groups) have so far remained little responsive.

Public excitement is growing in Russia among the whole people, in all its classes, and it is our duty, the duty of the revolutionary Social-Democrats, to direct every effort to be able to use it in order to explain to the progressive working intelligentsia what kind of ally it has both in the peasantry and in the students, and in the intelligentsia in general, in order to teach them how to use the flames of public protest flashing here and there. We will be able to fulfill the role of the vanguard fighter for freedom only when, led by a militant revolutionary party, the working class, not for a moment forgetting its special position in modern society and its special world-historical tasks of liberating mankind from economic slavery, will at the same time raise the nationwide banner of struggle for freedom and will draw under this banner all those who are now Messrs. The Sipiagins, Kondoidi and this whole gang are so assiduously pushing discontented people from the most diverse strata of society into the ranks.

To do this, it is only necessary that we take into our movement not only the inexorably revolutionary theory worked out by the centuries-old development of European thought, but also the revolutionary energy and revolutionary experience bequeathed to us by our Western European and Russian predecessors, and not slavishly adopt all forms of opportunism, from which we begin our western comrades, who suffered so little from them, and who are so much delaying our path to victory, can already get rid of them.

The Russian proletariat now faces the most difficult, but also the most rewarding revolutionary task: to crush the enemy, which the long-suffering Russian intelligentsia could not overcome, and to take a place in the ranks of the international army of socialism.

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