“The Pharisee thanks God that he has more than others and is satisfied with this, but my heart bleeds: there are still slaves, serfs, Irish peasants, English factory workers and proletarians more or less everywhere ... I did what I could."

Introduction

Count Yegor Frantsevich Kankrin is recognized as the most remarkable of the Russian finance ministers. He did not acquire this fame for nothing. It is enough to point out two of his merits in order to understand what a tremendous significance he had for Russian state and people's life: firstly, thanks to his financial and administrative abilities, the Patriotic War - this grandiose catastrophe in the life of the Russian people - was incredibly cheap in terms of money. , and therefore Count Kankrin should undoubtedly be ranked among the heroes of our Patriotic War, along with those heroes who, on the battlefields, acquired the gratitude of posterity; secondly, he did something that neither before nor after him any of the Russian finance ministers managed to do: he restored our monetary system, which was upset to the last extreme and caused countless victims in the national economy - he restored the value of our ruble after an unprecedented his fall. These two merits would be enough to perpetuate his name in Russian history. But his life and work are extremely interesting and deeply instructive in other respects as well. Count Kankrin lived and acted at a time when personal initiative played a very weak role, when it seemed very difficult to occupy a prominent post in the public service and at the same time maintain full independence. In this respect, Kankrin is an absolutely exceptional figure. In Nicholas's time, he not only remained true to himself from beginning to end, did not change one iota of his convictions, but managed to achieve their triumph in life, not obeying anyone, but, on the contrary, forcing others to obey him. The profound instructiveness of Kankrin's life and work becomes even more clear if we add that throughout his life he fought not for personal gain, but for an idea, for the benefit of the people, as he understood it, and never resorted to any no unworthy receptions, to flattery, intrigue. On the contrary, he was always truthful and honest, not only in the aims he pursued, but also in the means he applied. From this point of view, Kankrin can be called an ideal figure. When he was Minister of Finance, everyone undermined him, everyone intrigued against him: he opposed these intrigues and intrigues a business, and this argument turned out to be so immutable and strong that Kankrin retained his influential position until the moment when old age and illness struck him out of the ranks of the workers for the benefit of the people. All this makes us rank Kankrin among the most remarkable figures of the first half of the 19th century. He was not only an outstanding minister of finance, but also a whole character in the best sense of the word, who never entered into a deal with his conscience and fervently, in his own mind, defended the good of the people. In this regard, his personality deserves special attention: his political, economic and financial theories, which in many respects turned out to be untenable, were already untenable in his time and therefore can be forgotten without any harm to posterity; his economic activity, based on these theories, also turns out to be untenable in many ways, although in other respects, as we have seen, it gave brilliant results; but his devotion to the cause of the people, his ability to serve it, his endurance, truly worthy of the name iron, the methods by which he achieved his goal at the most difficult and unfavorable time for the manifestation of personal initiative, will long, if not always, serve as worthy of imitation example. If we also take into account that he was a foreigner and until the end of his life he did not even learn how to write and speak Russian correctly, then his activity will seem instructive to us in yet another respect: we will see what even a person can do for Russia, devoid of a sense of patriotism in the physiological sense of the word, when he is inspired by the idea of ​​the people's welfare, when he knows how to serve it and is ready to sacrifice all other interests for it. It is from this point of view that I will try to acquaint readers with the life and work of Yegor Frantsevich Kankrin.
It is not an easy task to present a complete characterization of him within the narrow framework of a publicly available biography. Kankrin is still waiting for his biographer: in this respect he was less fortunate than Speransky and Mordvinov, who found more or less competent biographers. The biographies of Kankrin, very few in number, are characterized by brevity, one-sidedness, and paucity of data. In order to acquaint readers with the literature on this subject and give them the opportunity to navigate in it, we will touch here on those works that we ourselves used in compiling this biographical sketch. The first place here is occupied, of course, by the works of Kankrin himself. We present them in chronological order, because there is still no complete list of them in our literature.

1. Dagobert, eine Geschichte aus dem jetzigen Freiheitskriege, in two parts, Altona, 1797 and 1798 (“Dagobert, a novel from the present war of liberation”).
2. Fragmente uber die Kriegskunst nach Gesichtspunkten der Militarischen Philisophi, St. Petersburg, 1809; the second edition was published in Braunschweig (“Excerpts concerning the art of war from the point of view of military philosophy”).
3. Weltreichrum, Nationalreichtuin und Staatswirtschaft, Munchen, 1821 (“World Wealth, National Wealth and the State Economy”).
4. Ueber die Militar-Oekonomie im Frieden und Kriege und ihr Wech-selverhaltniss zu den Operationen, St.-Petersburg, 1820 – 1823 (“On military economy during peace and war and its relation to military operations”).
5. Die Elemente des Schonen in der Baukunst, St.-Petersburg, 1836 (“Elements of beauty in architecture”).
6. Phantasiebilder eines Blinden, Berlin, 1845 (“The Fantasies of a Blind Man”).
7. Die Oekonomie der menschlichen Gesellschaft und das Finanzwesen, von einem ehemaligen Finanzminister, Stuttgart, 1845 (“Economy of human society and finance, op. by the former Minister of Finance.” This is the only work of Kankrin, under the preface of which the author's name is placed).
8. Aus den Reisetagebuchern des Grafen Kankrin. Aus den Jahren 1840 - 1845. Mit einer Lebensskizze Kankrin "s, herausgegeben von A. Grafen Keyserling, Braunschweig, 1865 (“From the travel diaries of Count Kankrin 1840 - 1845 with a biographical sketch of Kankrin. Edition of Count A. Keyserling").
9. Im Ural and Altai. Brifewechsel zwischen A. Humboldt und dem Grafen Kankrin, aus den Jahren 1827 – 1832, Leipzig, 1869 (“In the Urals and Altai, correspondence between A. Humboldt and Count Kankrin, 1827 – 1832”).
10. Of the more detailed notes compiled by Kankrin, the following deserve special attention: farmers, especially in Russia.” “Russian archive” for 1865); b) Note “regarding the campaigns against the Turks dated August 21, 1819”. “Military collection”, vol. 99; c) “Remarks of the Minister of Finance Count Kankrin” on the project of an institution for the administration of the province in 1825 in “Materials collected for the commission on the transformation of provincial and district institutions”, 1870, part 1.

In all Russian and foreign literature, there is only one somewhat detailed biography of Kankrin, compiled by his son-in-law, Count Keyserling. It is set out on fifty pages, printed in quick succession, and, of course, somewhat one-sided, since it belongs to a close relative. In addition, it is incomplete: to embrace and evaluate Kankrin's extensive scientific, literary and state activities in a few pages is unthinkable. The biography of Count Keyserling is placed, as indicated, in the form of a preface to the travel diaries of Kankrin himself. The reader will find a brief extract from this biography with a few additions in the Russian Archive for 1866. The second, somewhat more detailed, assessment activities Count Kankrin (but not the biography) belongs to an unknown author and is placed in the “Journal de St. Petersbourg" for 1860 (No. 137 - 143) under the title "George Cancrine". Finally, the third, again very short, biography was included in the books of Mr. Skalkovsky: “Our statesmen and public figures” and “Les ministres des finanses de la Russie”, 1891, who used mainly the first two biographies with the addition of very incomplete data from our historical journals. All other biographies of Kankrin (“Essay on the life and work of Count Kankrin”, St. Petersburg, 1866, and various obituaries and articles published in Russian magazines and newspapers: in the “Library for Reading” for 1864, in “Domestic Notes” for 1865 and 1866, in the “Illustrated Newspaper” for 1866, in the “World Illustration” for 1874, in the “St. Petersburg Vedomosti” for 1865 and 1866, in the “Russian Archive” for 1867, in “Activities” for 1868, etc.) contain almost no new data or considerations other than those found in the above-mentioned biographies. This shows how incomplete the work on covering Kankrin's life is. The evaluation of his financial performance, in particular, has a more extensive literature, but even this must be recognized as very insufficient. A careful reading, if possible, of all magazine and newspaper articles devoted to this issue, convinced us that when criticizing Kankrin's financial activities, only two points of view were mainly meant: some condemned, others praised Kankrin for his protective aspirations. From this side, they wrote mainly about Kankrin. The question of the restoration of metallic circulation also has a very modest literature. The most complete work belongs to the Baltic German, Herr Schmidt. This is his master's thesis: “Das russische Geldwesen wahrend der Finanzverwaltung des Grafen Cancrin”, St. Petersburg, 1875. Then we can point to the article by prof. Bunge: "Count Kankrin's Thoughts on Paper Money", placed in the "Russian Bulletin" for 1864, and on general studies on our money circulation (Gorlov, Kaufman, Goldman, Bezobrazov, Bunge, Brickner, etc.). The question of Kankrin's activity in supplying our army during the Patriotic War has not been worked out at all. This activity, which gave Kankrin a prominent place among our administrators, remained shrouded in thick darkness. Finally, not one of Count Kankrin's biographers has yet attempted to shed any light on his general worldview and personality, to present an objective description of it, so that one has to collect fragmentary data, scattered a little everywhere, in order to form a more or less clear idea of ​​\u200b\u200bhis personal qualities and shortcomings of this outstanding Russian statesman of the first half of the 19th century. Let us try to combine all these materials and, having eliminated from them everything unverified or obviously false, to present, as far as possible, a complete description of the life and work of the most remarkable of the Russian finance ministers.

Chapter I

Origin of Kankrin. - His father. - Childhood and student years. - Roman Kankrin. - His visit to Russia. - Life's troubles. - Kankrin and Arakcheev. - Who, in fact, drew up the plan for the campaign of 1812. – Appointment of Kankrin as quartermaster general
Kankrin was born on November 16, 1774, although he himself celebrated his birthday on November 26, connecting it with the name day. His homeland was the German town of Hanau in the then Electorate of Hesse. There are two versions about the origin of Kankrin: Vigel in his “Memoirs”, Ribopierre in his “Notes”, Disraeli in his famous novel “Coningsby” attribute to him a Jewish origin; Vigel even directly states that his grandfather was a learned rabbi. In fact, Kankrin was not a Jew, but a German. His grandfather was a mountain official, his ancestors were pastors and officers. The conjecture about the Jewish origin of Kankrin was probably partly due to the natural tendency of the Jews to rank as many of their fellow tribesmen as possible, partly due to the fact that Kankrin really combined many characteristic features of the Jewish tribe: he had a lively temperament, an extremely sharp mind, he loved science and literary pursuits, and at the same time perfectly understood the requirements of real life, was extremely practical, prudent and at the same time was fond of poetry, art, loved beauty in all its manifestations, and he himself made a far from aesthetic impression, both with his sharp, angular manners , so, mainly, negligence in a suit.
His father, Franz Ludwig Kankrin, was a very prominent figure of his time, although only in a narrow specialty. His writings on technology, architecture, mining, legal matters make up a small library - they are so numerous. Of these, some have retained their significance to this day, such as, for example, his work on “Mining Salt Business” and on “The Rights of Land Owners to Adjacent Water Spaces” (“Abhandlung vom Wasserrecht”). Thanks to his deep knowledge, theoretical and practical, he soon advanced in the official hierarchy of his fatherland, the Electorate of Hesse, but his harsh and harsh temper damaged his further career. He did not get along well with the orders that prevailed in the small German courts. Between one of the ladies of the court, the favorite of the elector, and the wife of Kankrin the father, a quarrel occurred, which ended with him immediately resigning and moving to the service of the margrave in Ansbach, where he was in charge of mining, salt and construction affairs: the large number of German courts served as it is known, to some extent, by correcting the “fatherly” relations that prevailed at these courts. However, Father Kankrin must have been distinguished, in the words of his son, by a very “obstinate disposition”, because he did not get along well in Ansbach and, despite his extreme reluctance to move to “remote and barbaric” Russia, took advantage of the Russian government made for him offer and in 1783 he moved to our fatherland, leaving his young son in his homeland.
A brilliant offer was made to him, which testified that he had become famous as a remarkable technician: he was given a salary of 2,000 rubles, a raise of 3,000, and in the event of his death to his widow, a pension of 2,000 rubles. At the time, that was a lot of money. There is an indication that in Russia, immediately upon the arrival of Father Kankrin, his knowledge was highly valued. So, for example, in the papers of N.V. Sushkov, a handwritten note by Catherine II to Khrapovitsky has been preserved with the following content: “December 21, 1784. Kankrein to show the prepared forest charter. From this we can conclude that Father Kankrin was involved in the work on the publication of our legislation of a technical nature. On the other hand, Count Bezborodko wrote about him to his boss, the Novgorod governor Arkharov: “So that his opinions and ideas as a person full of extensive knowledge in the salt part should be respected.” The prominent position he occupied in Russia is also indicated by the privileges he enjoyed. So, a few years after moving to Russia, he could, with the preservation of his content, leave to improve his health and for scientific work to his homeland and live there for eight years, so that his final resettlement to our fatherland took place only in 1796, and in 1797 he moved to Russia and his famous son.
Very little is known about how the latter lived, developed and studied at school age. I was not even able to collect information about where he, in fact, studied and lived. It is only known that until the age of eight he lived in Hanau, that is, in the town where he was born. I note this circumstance because, in my opinion, it is of no small importance. The impressions of early youth and childhood are usually very strong, especially in such nervous and impressionable people as Kankrin was. Hanau at the end of the last century was a town, probably numbering no more than three or four thousand inhabitants. It differed from other towns only in its extremely developed industry. At the end of the 16th century, many Flemings and Walloons sought refuge in it from religious persecution, an industrious and industrial population, which founded in Hanau, as in other German cities, many industries that flourish to this day. In the homeland of our Kankrin, they were mainly engaged in the manufacture of silver and gold items, woolen and silk fabrics. Their workshops, seething with life, spread prosperity in the city and the surrounding area, and, of course, the picture of this ebullient activity of the industrious population was deeply engraved in the memory of an impressionable child. In addition, it should not be overlooked that Kankrin's father was constantly involved in the technical issues of mining, salt, coinage and construction. Thus, probably, here lies the source of the predilection that Kankrin had all his life for developed industry, for mining, coinage and construction, and which to a large extent formed the basis of his remarkable state activity. Where Kankrin was trained between the ages of 8 and 13 remains unknown; when he was 13 years old, his father returned to his homeland and lived in Hesse for almost eight years, that is, he captured all the time when Kankrin finished his gymnasium and university course. There is, however, no doubt that Kankrin received a classical education, since he did not forget the Latin language until his old age. He first entered the University of Hesse, but, apparently, was dissatisfied with teaching at this university and enrolled in the number of students at the University of Marburg, where he completed the course brilliantly in 1794. He studied at the university mainly legal and cameral sciences and left the best memories in his comrades: they convey that Kankrin strove for everything beautiful and noble and even founded a comradely circle in order to maintain in its members a love for ideal goods. His mood at that time is best evidenced by a novel written by him as a student and appeared in 1797 under the title: “Dagobert, a novel from the present war of liberation”. We will not begin to convey the content of this novel by young Kankrin, because in terms of its plot it differs little from other novels of that turbulent time, when the desire for freedom was expressed in heroic actions and pathetic exclamations, when people were seized by passionate impulses, and those who themselves did not participate in the grandiose events of that time, poured out the corresponding mood on paper. As in all novels, love in Dagobert plays, of course, the main role. She is has a brother and he accidentally kills him; hence the tragic element; the matter ends with the fact that the lovers decide to live according to Tolstoy's recipe, like brother and sister. But this turns out to be intractable, and when passion makes them throw themselves into each other's arms, a fatal shot deprives them of their lives at the same time. But what is curious in this novel, of course, is not the plot, but the fact that the author weaves into it a lot of reasoning and maxims, in which an already remarkable mind is reflected. Extremely interesting, for example, is the characterization of Kant's philosophy, regarding which the author says that it does not reveal the truth to us, but that it brings us closer to it and, as a brilliant impulse in this direction, arouses sympathy for itself; It is also extremely curious that the author, inspired by an ardent desire for freedom, seems to be simultaneously asking himself the question of the ways of achieving it most faithfully, that he, recognizing freedom and security as the goal of the state, at the same time holds the idea that his efforts should be directed to achieve not so much the happiness of citizens as the greatness of the country, that happiness is a too vague concept, that one must strive for those conditions that, while ensuring the well-being of the masses, at the same time ensure the prosperity of the state. In a word, in this first literary work of Kankrin there are already those thoughts that he later developed in his other more mature literary works and to a large extent realized in his remarkable state activity.
We noted all these facts from Kankrin's childhood and youth in order to find out the beginnings of that spiritual mood that made Kankrin an extremely original personality, combining features that are rarely found in one person: a major practitioner grows on purely idealistic soil, not only striving for ideal blessings, but also able to implement them in life with rare energy and skill. Already in the young Kankrin, an admirer of beauty, a supporter of goodness, the author of a novel in which freedom and the desire to fight for the well-being of the masses are glorified, are united with a cold and attentive observer of industrial life and with a figure ardently devoted to sober knowledge, science. All these features were preserved in Kankrin until the end of his days, until those sad weeks and months when he, a living corpse, still with passionate attention and with unflagging mental clarity, followed everything that worried and worried the best figures of his time.
At first, he encountered significant life hardships. His father managed to secure the rank of “government adviser” for him, but Kankrin could not get a place in his homeland, despite the brilliant talents that he showed as a student. The “severe disposition” of the father, who was certainly honest, but a little accommodating and intractable figure, incapable of dealing with his conscience, also hurt his son. In 1796, Father Kankrin returned to Russia and again took up his duties as director of the old Russian salt works. The following year, he also sent his son to Russia, who suffered in his homeland from inactivity and lack of material resources. Thus, our future finance minister came to Russia in 1797, during the reign of Emperor Pavel Petrovich.
The sight of Petersburg (of course, Kankrin had arrived by sea) made a painful impression on him. The Neva, which later, partly thanks to his efforts, was decorated with beautiful and even majestic buildings, then presented a rather deserted view. Unfamiliar surroundings, strangers, alien to him both in language, and in manners, and in costume, set him up so depressingly that he was ready to give up everything and return to his homeland at the first opportunity. At first, his presentiment did not deceive him: he had to experience bitter disappointments, severe hardships, which even caused a very dangerous illness. The father managed to secure a prominent rank for his son. Twenty-three-year-old Kankrin was immediately renamed from “government” to “court” advisers, but he did not receive any position. On the contrary, the rank mainly harmed him, because the court adviser could not be appointed to any minor position, and he could not get any prominent post, due to his complete unfamiliarity with our administrative procedures and the Russian language. The young man was terribly poor, endured poverty and hunger, mended his own dress and boots, and was forced to give up smoking tobacco. Probably at this time, that is, during the six years that he spent in great poverty, from finishing his university course to getting a good place, he developed a habit of frugality, which he maintained throughout his life: a simple and moderate lifestyle. was one of the distinguishing features of Kankrin in comparison with his comrades in the service. He even went too far in this respect: for example, later, as Minister of Finance, Kankrin expelled sealing wax from use, replacing it with paste, and this caused the bankruptcy of several sealing wax factories; in domestic life he also showed extraordinary savings, which brought on him a reproach of stinginess - a reproach, however, completely undeserved, since when it came to helping the poor and needy, he was always the first to lend a helping hand. He did not have the callousness of the soul, this hallmark of a stingy person, on the contrary, his soul, as we will see, was always compassionate, responsive to the grief of others. However, the circumstance why Kankrin endured such a severe need remains not entirely clear. Here is what his travel diaries say about this: “The plight of my parents (however, his father, as we saw, received a good salary) - my father was invited to Russia earlier, but did not get along well in the country - an uncertain future, domestic troubles, which, however, was not my fault, plunged me into long-term, life-threatening illnesses. A happy accident, an anomaly (eine Anomalie) changed my fate.” What this strange happy accident consisted of remains unknown. We only know that until 1800 the plight of Kankrin did not stop. At this time, he tried to teach, was a commission agent, entered the office of a wealthy farmer as an accountant - in a word, he did anything.
His life's troubles stopped to some extent in 1800, when he was appointed assistant to his father, who continued to be the director of the old Russian salt works. He stayed with him for three years, helped him bring them into exemplary order, and at the same time got to know our fatherland and the Russian people better. Young Kankrin entered active service and received a position with a certain content thanks to the patronage of the then Vice-Chancellor, Count Osterman, to whom he presented a note on improving sheep breeding in Russia and who immediately appreciated the knowledge and abilities of the future minister. Probably, thanks to the patronage of the same Osterman, in 1803 he was transferred to the Ministry of the Interior, to the expedition of state property in the salt department. In his memoirs, Vigel characterizes Kankrin of that time as follows: “He did not command anyone, and the employees showed him special respect.” Kankrin retained this extreme simplicity in handling later, having taken the position of the most influential statesman, just as he managed to retain the respect of countless people with whom his fate confronted in the performance of his extensive and responsible duties. His knowledge and abilities must have caught everyone's eye and made such a strong impression that even the severity of his temper and the harshness of his treatment of people inherited from his father could not obscure or hide his virtues. We really see that both the government and private individuals are entrusting Kankrin with various assignments, that his services are beginning to be needed. At first, they turn to him on matters of his specialty, that is, on the forestry and salt business. By the way, the later famous temporary worker, Count Arakcheev, turned to him at that time. Their meeting casts a rather bright light on Kankrin. It was recommended to Arakcheev, I think, by Baron Pirkh, the head of our artillery in Finland and Arakcheev's teacher. The latter demanded Kankrin to himself through his boss, Minister of the Interior Kozodavlev. Kankrin appeared, and Arakcheev addressed him as “you”, offering him to take up forest management on his estate. Kankrin listened to him, looked sharply into his eyes, and, without answering, turned and left. Then Arakcheev demanded from the Minister of Internal Affairs that he seconded Kankrin to him. This was done, and Kankrin had to appear before his superior as the face of a subordinate. “You are dissatisfied with me,” Arakcheev turned to him, “but don’t be angry; we'll have lunch together and then we'll get down to business." The lesson had an effect, and Arakcheev always treated Kankrin very kindly and considerately afterwards.

HIGHER STATE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION

RUSSIAN CUSTOMS ACADEMY

REPORT

On the topic: “ Life and state activity

E.F. Kankrin.

Financial Reforms and Contribution to the Development of Customs”.

Done: listener

Faculty of Law

group 3103

Lahita Yulia Sergeevna

Life and state activity of E.F. Kankrin.

Financial reforms and contribution to the development of customs.

Yegor Frantsevich Kankrin was born in 1774 in the city of Hanau (Hesse). After graduating from the gymnasium, he received his higher education at the universities of Hesse and Marburg, and at the age of twenty he was a doctor of law. Kankrin possessed many talents, which allowed him to gain extensive knowledge in many areas. He was also fond of mining and construction. In 1797, at the request of his father, Kankrin arrived in Russia. Franz Ludwig, his father, was a well-known mining engineer and was in charge of the old Russian salt works.

In Russia, Kankrin's career did not develop at first, and he disliked St. Petersburg, as he was very sick from the local climate. In his homeland, Yegor Frantsevich already had a fairly high rank, and due to this, in St. Petersburg he immediately became a court adviser. Kankrin's ignorance of the Russian language prevented him from taking a more decent position. And only three years later, under the auspices of I.A. Osterman, they prepared a place for him as an assistant to his father. He was engaged in salt and forestry, and in 1809 he was appointed inspector of the German colonies in the St. Petersburg province, and he moved to Strelna.

Kankrin was fond of not only technical disciplines, but also loved literature. He wrote many treatises on economic and general political topics in German. One of the first such works - "On the Art of War", written in 1809, attracted the attention of the Minister of War, Barclay de Tolly. And soon Emperor Alexander I will learn about Kankrin. In 1812 he was appointed quartermaster general of the army under the leadership of Barclay de Tolly, and in 1813 - the Russian active army.

As contemporaries noted, Kankrin spent the Patriotic War of 1812 very “economically”. Thanks to his efforts, 26 million rubles of the sums allocated for the war remained unspent. Moreover, after the war, he presented documents according to which, in general settlements with the allies, Russia paid not the 360 ​​million that was demanded from it, but only 60 million rubles.

After the victory over Napoleon, Russia's influence in European affairs increased dramatically. In 1819, the most moderate customs tariff was adopted, which removed all prohibitions on the import of foreign goods and the export of Russian ones. It soon became clear that free competition of products of the domestic industry with the corresponding Western European counterparts was not possible. No European power was going to follow the principle of free trade. Liberal policy sharply worsened the economic situation in Russia. In order to overcome the crisis of national production, in 1822 a protective customs tariff was adopted, which banned the export of 21 and the import of 300 goods. The tariff of 1822 was revised more than once. In 1824, 1825, 1830, 1831, 1836, 1838, 1841 it was repeatedly amended, the general direction of which can be expressed in the following words - from fiscal prohibitive to fiscal protectionist customs policy. In any case, until the Minister of Finance was E.F. Kankrin (1823-1844) Russia pursued a policy aimed at achieving a deficit-free state budget. Thus, the objective course of development of the Russian state has shown that the customs policy is closely connected with the domestic and foreign policy of the state. The protective customs policy promoted the development of trade and patronized the development of industrial production.

As part of the commercial and industrial course of 1822-1850. the connection with free-trade tendencies in the interests of the domestic economy was destroyed. For more than 100 years, the customs service was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance. This was reflected both in the nature of the uniforms of the officials of the customs department, and in departmental symbols.

Having been in public office for several years, having experience of activities on the scale of Russia, Kankrin clearly imagined all the features of the life of the country. In 1815, he submitted a note to the tsar about the need to free the peasants. It was a real plan for the gradual elimination of serfdom in Russia. It is not surprising that the minister was not liked in high society. In addition, as a financier, he always defended state interests, pursued bribery. Yes, and he had a difficult character: he was capable of caustic witticisms. In society, he was called nothing more than "an unsociable grumbler", "a misanthrope from the Germans." In 1820, he resigned, and soon received a flattering and very lucrative offer - to go to serve in Austria. But Kankrin had already become attached to Russia and refused to leave it.

In 1822, he returned to active work again: Alexander I introduced him to the State Council, and in 1823 Kankrin replaced D. A. Guryev as Minister of Finance. The star of his career rose to its zenith.

In the highest circles, the appointment of Kankrin was met with hostility. Many said then that this godlessly distorting Russian language German does not know Russia and will ruin it without fail. But it turned out the other way around. The "German" turned out to be a financier of the highest class and a great statesman who directed his remarkable abilities to improve the welfare of the country.

In 1769, under Catherine II, banknotes were introduced into the Russian monetary system. Initially, the nominal value of banknotes did not exceed 1 million rubles. Assignations were backed by silver and copper coins. But already in 1786, the volume of banknotes increased to 46 million rubles, and a few years later it amounted to 158 million rubles. As a result, there was an excess of money, and this led to the depreciation of banknotes in relation to hard currency. And soon, after the Patriotic War of 1812, the depreciation of banknotes was repeated.

Kankrin took over as minister of finance in 1823, at a time when the empire's money economy was in a deplorable state and was increasingly in decline. There were three exchange rates for the paper ruble in the Russian monetary system. The first served for settlement with foreign merchants and exchange for foreign currency. The second was used in the collection of taxes, and the third was used for all internal transactions. November 16, 1817 A document was adopted according to which, when collecting duties, one ruble in silver was equated to 4 rubles in banknotes. By 1820, the value of banknotes was raised by 40 kopecks ( document dated November 28, 1819). Kankrin managed to maintain this ratio of banknotes to the silver ruble until 1839, although this rate still did not reflect reality. The state lost money on this, and manifesto of July 1, 1839 the silver ruble was adopted as the main monetary unit, and a general rate of banknotes in relation to the silver ruble was established for all types of monetary transactions. Now for one silver ruble they gave three rubles and fifty kopecks in banknotes. So Kankrin began his monetary reform of 1839-1843.

The next step, Yegor Frantsevich introduced into circulation a new means of payment - deposit notes, in denominations of one, three, five, ten, twenty-five, fifty, one hundred rubles. Deposit notes circulated on a par with silver. At the end of 1841, deposit notes were replaced by credit notes. Due to the exchange of banknotes and deposit notes for credit, the state managed to accumulate about 65 million rubles in silver coins.

Kankrin also introduced excise (indirect) taxes on tobacco and sugar, which caused discontent in society. After all, before the state replenished its finances traditionally at the expense of taxable estates. Now the non-taxable part of the population also had to pay taxes, and this primarily affected the nobility. High duties were introduced on goods imported into Russia, and in 1826 a new customs tariff was established. Kankrin contributed to the development of mining, gold mining, and encouraged geological surveys. He helped organize geological expeditions and set up a meteorological service. He also took care of future personnel: under him, the Forestry and Technological Institutes, higher agricultural schools, and mining educational institutions were created. In addition, Kankrin willingly financed capital construction: buildings of new institutes and museums, bridges were erected. Were rebuilt customs in St. Petersburg, the building of the stock exchange in Moscow. State-owned buildings were built in Arkhangelsk, Odessa, Riga and Taganrog.

Above all Kankrin put thrift. In the very first years, Yegor Frantsevich saved up 160 million rubles, which went to the Russian-Iranian (1826-1828) and Russian-Turkish (1828-1829) wars. The financial system created by Kankrin operated until the Crimean War (1853-1856). Then the monetary crisis came again in Russia. In 1855, government spending exceeded revenue twice.

After the departure of E.F. Kankrin, from the post of Minister of Finance, a movement arose in the country for the abolition of export and reduction of import duties. A revision of the customs policy was forced by the especially beginning American export, which intensified competition in the world market of agricultural products. Also, economic liberalism and free trading were back in vogue. In a note by the chairman of the special committee, Count Orlov, in 1845, there was sharp criticism of the current tariff, which restricts imports and hinders the export of Russian goods. Based on the conclusions of this note, the ministers of finance and foreign affairs submitted to Emperor Nicholas I a proposal to revise the tariff. The new tariff, in their opinion, should be multifunctional, providing prudent protection of domestic production, contributing to an increase in the level of consumption of imported goods and an increase in customs revenues. On October 13, 1850, a new customs tariff was approved. It made the first breach in the prohibitive system of foreign trade that had prevailed since 1822, and marked the beginning of a moderately protectionist phase of customs policy that lasted until 1877. In subsequent years, the government, anxious to find ways to increase customs revenue, continued its policy of softening the prohibition system. This was prompted by the disappointing results of the Crimean War (1853-1856), as well as the bourgeois reforms that had begun. In August 1856, a decision was made to revise the tariff of 1850 and establish a special committee to create a new tariff. The committee noted with satisfaction that not a single branch of domestic industry suffered from the introduction of the tariff of 1850. The new tariff proposed to maintain a balance of various interests: foreign trade and the state treasury, industry and consumers. The discussion of the issues of tariff policy in the draft of the new customs tariff proceeded in a sharp polemic between supporters of free trade and adherents of protectionist views. The influence of the protectionist lobby led to cautious, gradual government measures in the field of customs and tariff regulation. For this reason, the new customs tariff (approved by Alexander II on April 25, 1857) represented another concession in favor of a free trade system. Indeed, the tariff of 1857 protected the bulk of Russian industrialists from foreign competition. Any attempts by foreigners to convince them of the advantages of low import duties on consumer goods (British) or raw materials and semi-finished products (Germany) were not successful. At the same time, the appeals of free traders, who advocated free competition as a necessary condition for reaching the world level of industrial production, did not go unheeded in Russia.

________________________________________________________________

In 1839, Kankrin fell seriously ill. He several times asked the tsar for his resignation, but Nicholas I, releasing the minister on long vacations for treatment abroad, did not accept the resignation. In 1844, Kankrin fell ill again and soon died. Yegor Frantsevich Kankrin is still considered one of the largest figures in the history of Russian financiers.

E. F. Kankrin. His life and state activity Sementkovsky R I

Chapter I

Origin of Kankrin. - His father. - Childhood and student years. - Roman Kankrin. - His visit to Russia. - Life's troubles. - Kankrin and Arakcheev. - Who, in fact, drew up the plan for the campaign of 1812. – Appointment of Kankrin as quartermaster general

Kankrin was born on November 16, 1774, although he himself celebrated his birthday on November 26, connecting it with the name day. His homeland was the German town of Hanau in the then Electorate of Hesse. There are two versions about the origin of Kankrin: Vigel in his “Memoirs”, Ribopierre in his “Notes”, Disraeli in his famous novel “Coningsby” attribute to him a Jewish origin; Vigel even directly states that his grandfather was a learned rabbi. In fact, Kankrin was not a Jew, but a German. His grandfather was a mountain official, his ancestors were pastors and officers. The conjecture about the Jewish origin of Kankrin was probably partly due to the natural tendency of the Jews to rank as many of their fellow tribesmen as possible, partly due to the fact that Kankrin really combined many characteristic features of the Jewish tribe: he had a lively temperament, an extremely sharp mind, he loved science and literary pursuits, and at the same time perfectly understood the requirements of real life, was extremely practical, prudent and at the same time was fond of poetry, art, loved beauty in all its manifestations, and he himself made a far from aesthetic impression, both with his sharp, angular manners , so, mainly, negligence in a suit.

His father, Franz Ludwig Kankrin, was a very prominent figure of his time, although only in a narrow specialty. His writings on technology, architecture, mining, legal matters make up a small library - they are so numerous. Of these, some have retained their significance to this day, such as, for example, his work on “Mining Salt Business” and on “The Rights of Land Owners to Adjacent Water Spaces” (“Abhandlung vom Wasserrecht”). Thanks to his deep knowledge, theoretical and practical, he soon advanced in the official hierarchy of his fatherland, the Electorate of Hesse, but his harsh and harsh temper damaged his further career. He did not get along well with the orders that prevailed in the small German courts. Between one of the ladies of the court, the favorite of the elector, and the wife of Kankrin the father, a quarrel occurred, which ended with him immediately resigning and moving to the service of the margrave in Ansbach, where he was in charge of mining, salt and construction affairs: the large number of German courts served as it is known, to some extent, by correcting the “fatherly” relations that prevailed at these courts. However, Father Kankrin must have been distinguished, in the words of his son, by a very “obstinate disposition”, because he did not get along well in Ansbach and, despite his extreme reluctance to move to “remote and barbaric” Russia, took advantage of the Russian government made for him offer and in 1783 he moved to our fatherland, leaving his young son in his homeland.

A brilliant offer was made to him, which testified that he had become famous as a remarkable technician: he was given a salary of 2,000 rubles, a raise of 3,000, and in the event of his death to his widow, a pension of 2,000 rubles. At the time, that was a lot of money. There is an indication that in Russia, immediately upon the arrival of Father Kankrin, his knowledge was highly valued. So, for example, in the papers of N.V. Sushkov, a handwritten note by Catherine II to Khrapovitsky has been preserved with the following content: “December 21, 1784. Kankrein to show the prepared forest charter. From this we can conclude that Father Kankrin was involved in the work on the publication of our legislation of a technical nature. On the other hand, Count Bezborodko wrote about him to his boss, the Novgorod governor Arkharov: “So that his opinions and ideas as a person full of extensive knowledge in the salt part should be respected.” The prominent position he occupied in Russia is also indicated by the privileges he enjoyed. So, a few years after moving to Russia, he could, with the preservation of his content, leave to improve his health and for scientific work to his homeland and live there for eight years, so that his final resettlement to our fatherland took place only in 1796, and in 1797 he moved to Russia and his famous son.

Very little is known about how the latter lived, developed and studied at school age. I was not even able to collect information about where he, in fact, studied and lived. It is only known that until the age of eight he lived in Hanau, that is, in the town where he was born. I note this circumstance because, in my opinion, it is of no small importance. The impressions of early youth and childhood are usually very strong, especially in such nervous and impressionable people as Kankrin was. Hanau at the end of the last century was a town, probably numbering no more than three or four thousand inhabitants. It differed from other towns only in its extremely developed industry. At the end of the 16th century, many Flemings and Walloons sought refuge in it from religious persecution, an industrious and industrial population, which founded in Hanau, as in other German cities, many industries that flourish to this day. In the homeland of our Kankrin, they were mainly engaged in the manufacture of silver and gold items, woolen and silk fabrics. Their workshops, seething with life, spread prosperity in the city and the surrounding area, and, of course, the picture of this ebullient activity of the industrious population was deeply engraved in the memory of an impressionable child. In addition, it should not be overlooked that Kankrin's father was constantly involved in the technical issues of mining, salt, coinage and construction. Thus, probably, here lies the source of the predilection that Kankrin had all his life for developed industry, for mining, coinage and construction, and which to a large extent formed the basis of his remarkable state activity. Where Kankrin was trained between the ages of 8 and 13 remains unknown; when he was 13 years old, his father returned to his homeland and lived in Hesse for almost eight years, that is, he captured all the time when Kankrin finished his gymnasium and university course. There is, however, no doubt that Kankrin received a classical education, since he did not forget the Latin language until his old age. He first entered the University of Hesse, but, apparently, was dissatisfied with teaching at this university and enrolled in the number of students at the University of Marburg, where he completed the course brilliantly in 1794. He studied at the university mainly legal and cameral sciences and left the best memories in his comrades: they convey that Kankrin strove for everything beautiful and noble and even founded a comradely circle in order to maintain in its members a love for ideal goods. His mood at that time is best evidenced by a novel written by him as a student and appeared in 1797 under the title: “Dagobert, a novel from the present war of liberation”. We will not begin to convey the content of this novel by young Kankrin, because in terms of its plot it differs little from other novels of that turbulent time, when the desire for freedom was expressed in heroic actions and pathetic exclamations, when people were seized by passionate impulses, and those who themselves did not participate in the grandiose events of that time, poured out the corresponding mood on paper. As in all novels, love in Dagobert plays, of course, the main role. She is has a brother and he accidentally kills him; hence the tragic element; the matter ends with the fact that the lovers decide to live according to Tolstoy's recipe, like brother and sister. But this turns out to be intractable, and when passion makes them throw themselves into each other's arms, a fatal shot deprives them of their lives at the same time. But what is curious in this novel, of course, is not the plot, but the fact that the author weaves into it a lot of reasoning and maxims, in which an already remarkable mind is reflected. Extremely interesting, for example, is the characterization of Kant's philosophy, regarding which the author says that it does not reveal the truth to us, but that it brings us closer to it and, as a brilliant impulse in this direction, arouses sympathy for itself; It is also extremely curious that the author, inspired by an ardent desire for freedom, seems to be simultaneously asking himself the question of the ways of achieving it most faithfully, that he, recognizing freedom and security as the goal of the state, at the same time holds the idea that his efforts should be directed to achieve not so much the happiness of citizens as the greatness of the country, that happiness is a too vague concept, that one must strive for those conditions that, while ensuring the well-being of the masses, at the same time ensure the prosperity of the state. In a word, in this first literary work of Kankrin there are already those thoughts that he later developed in his other more mature literary works and to a large extent realized in his remarkable state activity.

We noted all these facts from Kankrin's childhood and youth in order to find out the beginnings of that spiritual mood that made Kankrin an extremely original personality, combining features that are rarely found in one person: a major practitioner grows on purely idealistic soil, not only striving for ideal blessings, but also able to implement them in life with rare energy and skill. Already in the young Kankrin, an admirer of beauty, a supporter of goodness, the author of a novel in which freedom and the desire to fight for the well-being of the masses are glorified, are united with a cold and attentive observer of industrial life and with a figure ardently devoted to sober knowledge, science. All these features were preserved in Kankrin until the end of his days, until those sad weeks and months when he, a living corpse, still with passionate attention and with unflagging mental clarity, followed everything that worried and worried the best figures of his time.

At first, he encountered significant life hardships. His father managed to secure the rank of “government adviser” for him, but Kankrin could not get a place in his homeland, despite the brilliant talents that he showed as a student. The “severe disposition” of the father, who was certainly honest, but a little accommodating and intractable figure, incapable of dealing with his conscience, also hurt his son. In 1796, Father Kankrin returned to Russia and again took up his duties as director of the old Russian salt works. The following year, he also sent his son to Russia, who suffered in his homeland from inactivity and lack of material resources. Thus, our future finance minister came to Russia in 1797, during the reign of Emperor Pavel Petrovich.

The sight of Petersburg (of course, Kankrin had arrived by sea) made a painful impression on him. The Neva, which later, partly thanks to his efforts, was decorated with beautiful and even majestic buildings, then presented a rather deserted view. Unfamiliar surroundings, strangers, alien to him both in language, and in manners, and in costume, set him up so depressingly that he was ready to give up everything and return to his homeland at the first opportunity. At first, his presentiment did not deceive him: he had to experience bitter disappointments, severe hardships, which even caused a very dangerous illness. The father managed to secure a prominent rank for his son. Twenty-three-year-old Kankrin was immediately renamed from “government” to “court” advisers, but he did not receive any position. On the contrary, the rank mainly harmed him, because the court adviser could not be appointed to any minor position, and he could not get any prominent post, due to his complete unfamiliarity with our administrative procedures and the Russian language. The young man was terribly poor, endured poverty and hunger, mended his own dress and boots, and was forced to give up smoking tobacco. Probably at this time, that is, during the six years that he spent in great poverty, from finishing his university course to getting a good place, he developed a habit of frugality, which he maintained throughout his life: a simple and moderate lifestyle. was one of the distinguishing features of Kankrin in comparison with his comrades in the service. He even went too far in this respect: for example, later, as Minister of Finance, Kankrin expelled sealing wax from use, replacing it with paste, and this caused the bankruptcy of several sealing wax factories; in domestic life he also showed extraordinary savings, which brought on him a reproach of stinginess - a reproach, however, completely undeserved, since when it came to helping the poor and needy, he was always the first to lend a helping hand. He did not have the callousness of the soul, this hallmark of a stingy person, on the contrary, his soul, as we will see, was always compassionate, responsive to the grief of others. However, the circumstance why Kankrin endured such a severe need remains not entirely clear. Here is what his travel diaries say about this: “The plight of my parents (however, his father, as we saw, received a good salary) - my father was invited to Russia earlier, but did not get along well in the country - an uncertain future, domestic troubles, which, however, was not my fault, plunged me into long-term, life-threatening illnesses. A happy accident, an anomaly (eine Anomalie) changed my fate.” What this strange happy accident consisted of remains unknown. We only know that until 1800 the plight of Kankrin did not stop. At this time, he tried to teach, was a commission agent, entered the office of a wealthy farmer as an accountant - in a word, he did anything.

His life's troubles stopped to some extent in 1800, when he was appointed assistant to his father, who continued to be the director of the old Russian salt works. He stayed with him for three years, helped him bring them into exemplary order, and at the same time got to know our fatherland and the Russian people better. Young Kankrin entered active service and received a position with a certain content thanks to the patronage of the then Vice-Chancellor, Count Osterman, to whom he presented a note on improving sheep breeding in Russia and who immediately appreciated the knowledge and abilities of the future minister. Probably, thanks to the patronage of the same Osterman, in 1803 he was transferred to the Ministry of the Interior, to the expedition of state property in the salt department. In his memoirs, Vigel characterizes Kankrin of that time as follows: “He did not command anyone, and the employees showed him special respect.” Kankrin retained this extreme simplicity in handling later, having taken the position of the most influential statesman, just as he managed to retain the respect of countless people with whom his fate confronted in the performance of his extensive and responsible duties. His knowledge and abilities must have caught everyone's eye and made such a strong impression that even the severity of his temper and the harshness of his treatment of people inherited from his father could not obscure or hide his virtues. We really see that both the government and private individuals are entrusting Kankrin with various assignments, that his services are beginning to be needed. At first, they turn to him on matters of his specialty, that is, on the forestry and salt business. By the way, the later famous temporary worker, Count Arakcheev, turned to him at that time. Their meeting casts a rather bright light on Kankrin. It was recommended to Arakcheev, I think, by Baron Pirkh, the head of our artillery in Finland and Arakcheev's teacher. The latter demanded Kankrin to himself through his boss, Minister of the Interior Kozodavlev. Kankrin appeared, and Arakcheev addressed him as “you”, offering him to take up forest management on his estate. Kankrin listened to him, looked sharply into his eyes, and, without answering, turned and left. Then Arakcheev demanded from the Minister of Internal Affairs that he seconded Kankrin to him. This was done, and Kankrin had to appear before his superior as the face of a subordinate. “You are dissatisfied with me,” Arakcheev turned to him, “but don’t be angry; we'll have lunch together and then we'll get down to business." The lesson had an effect, and Arakcheev always treated Kankrin very kindly and considerately afterwards.

But the government also gave him various assignments, first in his specialty, and then in other matters. Thus, he traveled to many provinces for the revision or arrangement of forestry and salt mines. Kankrin performed all the orders so well that awards rained down on him. But he not only conscientiously carried out the assignments entrusted to him, but, in addition, he carefully got acquainted with Russia, with its natural wealth and people. Then Kankrin already learned to speak Russian fluently, although not quite correctly, and in his speeches he constantly began to resort to well-aimed Russian proverbs. The following fact testifies to what impressions he made from his business trips. By the way, Kankrin was seconded to Senator Polikarpov, a very bright personality of that time, sent to some provinces with instructions to help the starving. Polikarpov argued that if he succeeded in fulfilling this order, it was mainly due to the rare diligence of the young Kankrin. Kankrin, later, when he was already the Minister of Finance, having learned that the widow of the late Polikarpov was in St. Petersburg, hurried to her to greet her, and at the same time told her that he keeps the best memory of her late husband, who first taught him to love Russian people. At that time, that feeling of devotion to his second fatherland had already developed in Kankrin, which subsequently forced him to reject the most brilliant proposals of other governments. There was not a trace left in his soul of the impression that he endured when approaching Petersburg, and which almost made him give up everything and return to his homeland. Even then he felt himself Russian and firmly decided to devote himself to Russia.

In 1809, Kankrin was appointed inspector of all St. Petersburg foreign colonies already in the rank of state councilor. There is evidence that he was quite in place here, too, but, obviously, this activity seemed to him too narrow. Kankrin then lived in St. Petersburg in the winter, in Strelna in the summer, and we have news that at that time he returned to his former literary works, visited the German theater and wrote detailed reviews, placing them in newspapers. But, in addition, at the same time he conceived and wrote one extremely interesting work, which had an undoubted success and greatly influenced his further career. Like almost all of Kankrin’s writings, this work, “Excerpts Concerning the Art of War from the Point of View of Military Philosophy,” came out anonymously, went through two editions and drew the attention of the entire military world of that time to Kankrin, among other things, Minister of War Barclay de Tolly and teacher of Emperor Alexander I, General Pfuel. The author of War and Peace portrays General Pfuel as a dry military theorist, devoid of practical meaning. Apparently, he was like that in reality, because the camp he built under Driss, according to military experts, gave the impression, as Marquis Paulucci put it, of the work of a “madman or traitor”. But, on the other hand, it finally became clear that the idea of ​​​​using natural conditions (the vastness of the territory, climate) to defeat Napoleon, the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bcontinuous retreat came from General Pfuel and the German military party in general, in contrast to the Russian one, which demanded an onslaught, a bold attack on enemy invaded Russia. And here is what is interesting: immediately after the appearance of the mentioned work of Kankrin, in which this idea is also carried out, he was invited to General Pfuel and began to work with him daily in the evenings. Moreover, the emperor himself became keenly interested in the personality of Kankrin and demanded an accurate information about him. It was reported to him that Kankrin was “a very knowledgeable and capable person, but un peu dur”.

Obviously, Kankrin's work made an extremely strong impression on the military authorities of that time, if such an influential figure as General Pfuel then considered it necessary to enlist Kankrin's close participation in the development of the plan for the upcoming war. It is equally difficult to assume that General Pfuel, who subsequently invented the notorious Dris camp, was himself a staunch supporter of the Kunktator war. Rather, it must be assumed that he did not fully assimilate someone else's idea, and much makes one think that it first came to Kankrin's mind. In any case, in the development and practical implementation of this idea, the issue of supplying the army with the necessary food played a very significant role, and we really see that Kankrin is first appointed assistant to the general-proviantmaster with the rank of real state councilor (in 1811), and then in at the very beginning of the war - quartermaster general of the first western army and soon all active troops. Thus, a new period begins in the life of Kankrin, about which we have already said that he is his brilliant merit and gives him the right to be ranked among the most prominent figures in the Patriotic War.

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Egor Frantsevich Kankrin - 4th Minister of Finance of Russia, statesman and writer.

A family

Born November 27, 1774 in the city of Hanau. Father - Franz Ludwig Kankrin, having received a favorable offer from the Russian government, moved to live in Russia, but left his son in his homeland. Subsequently, he married Ekaterina Zakharovna Muravieva, who bore him two sons - Alexander and Valerian.

Education

Kankrin was educated in Germany, he was mainly interested in and studied legal sciences. He studied at the Hesse and Marburg universities, graduating in 1794.

Initial career

In 1797, Kankrin came to Russia to visit his father, and was immediately appointed his assistant. Having quarreled with his father, he lived for a long time in small positions, worked as an accountant for a buyer, did not disdain any low work. The war of 1812 was a real chance for him to break into the people, where, having entered the headquarters, he quickly attracted the attention of the highest authorities, including the emperor himself, because he was an honest and intelligent man.

Starting to manage the food of one unit, he was soon transferred to the post of General Provision Master of the entire Russian army. And he coped with his position brilliantly, there was no one like him in the allied army, so everyone turned to Kankrin for advice. For his achievements during the war, Kankrin was promoted to lieutenant general.

Work in the ministry

In 1822, the Minister of Finance Guryev, after a loud scandal, was removed from his post, and Alexander, on the recommendation, put Kankrin in his place. Early in his tenure as Minister of Finance, Kankrin improved and managed customs tariffs. In 1822, with the assistance of Kankrin, a new tariff was issued, which slightly infringed on free trade.

As a far-sighted man, Kankrin understood that at that moment Russia could not afford to be influenced by foreign trade. In addition, he increased duties, believing that it was from customs that significant funds could be squeezed out to restore the state treasury, which by that time was in decline. And already in the first years of his reign, this gave its results, contributing to the treasury instead of 11 million rubles, 26 million rubles in silver.

Unlike his predecessor Guryev, Kankrin was against various loans, at huge interest rates. He repeatedly said that he was going to improve not the state of the treasury, but the well-being of the masses. Therefore, he pursued a policy of austerity, prohibited loans, and, most importantly, did not allow raising taxes. So, he found himself many enemies among the officials, but this never bothered him.

Monetary reform Kankrin

The main achievement of the 4th Minister of Finance was his monetary reform. It led to the devaluation of banknotes, but Kankrin set a completely different goal. At that time, the exchange rate of the ruble fluctuated, and there were even several rates. And the peasants suffered the most from this, because their common people's course was very different from the official one, it turned out that they sold goods at a low price, and paid taxes at a very high price.

Kankrin decided to create a single rate, in June 1839 a law was issued stating that all transactions should be carried out at the same rate, so he put an end to cheating among swindlers, and improved the situation of the peasants. But the main advantage of the monetary reform was the introduction of paper money, in the very first year, 27 million rubles were exchanged for silver in paper money, which at the rate were equal to the silver ruble.

Then, together with him, he issued credit cards, which were also quickly put into circulation. The entire operation to replace silver with paper money was a success. And the name of Kankrin was forever associated with the monetary reform in Russia.

Conclusion

Kankrin was remembered as a talented financier and public figure, having served as Minister of Finance from 1822 to 1844, the only person who lasted such a long period of time. He died in 1845, a year after the resignation, which the Tsar asked for back in 1840.

Financial and credit reform E.F. Kancrina

2. Activities of E.F. Kankrin as Minister of Finance

Having assumed control of Russian finances, Kankrin found them in a state of disarray: the state budget deficit had become a chronic phenomenon; ordinary government revenues decreased from 447 million rubles. in 1820 to 391 million rubles. in 1822, arrears grew; ordinary government expenditures were covered by funds received from external loans and borrowings from state credit and other institutions.

The instability of the financial system was largely due to the paper money in circulation - banknotes. They were introduced by Catherine II in 1768 to partially replace the depreciated copper coin. The issuance of more and more banknotes became an easy way to cover any public expenditure, and their number in circulation grew rapidly, and the cost fell, leading to the high cost of all commodities.

Kankrin had his own views on how to overcome the crisis. He did not consider it necessary to redeem banknotes by entering into loans or saving funds from the budget. In his opinion, the withdrawal of banknotes had to be postponed for a long time - until a sufficient fund of silver coins was accumulated. Prior to this, new issues should have been stopped, thereby securing the value of already circulating paper money. Kankrin carried out this plan with amazing skill: not a single banknote ruble was issued for all his management, while the value of a paper ruble was kept within 25-27 kopecks. silver.

In his activities, Kankrin relied on the general concept he developed for the rise of the Russian economy, including trade, industry, agriculture, as well as science and education. The initial premise is to restore order in public finances, first of all, to establish a balance in the budget. In this regard, he constantly demanded and achieved a rational, thrifty attitude to the expenditure of financial resources.

State expenditures and incomes in the period of E.F. Kankrin Belousov R.A. "Economic history of Russia: XIX century." Book 1 M., 2000 1823 and 1833 million rubles in banknotes, 1843 silver.

In an effort to fulfill two main tasks - to eliminate the budget deficit and create cash reserves - Kankrin applied some economic measures, which he himself did not approve of in principle. So, in 1827, he introduced a tax-paying system in the wine trade, instead of state administration, which was accompanied by large expenditures of the treasury and abuses of officials. Introducing the payoffs, Kankrin was not mistaken: the income from the sale of wine increased markedly.

Another measure carried out with the direct participation of Kankrin in 1822 was the increase in import customs duties, which had been reduced three years earlier, as a result of which the revenues of the treasury increased several times. Income growth was the main, but not the only goal: by increasing duties, Kankrin understood that protectionism in this period was useful for the development of a weak domestic industry.

An important event of E.F. Kankrin, which expanded the possibilities of foreign and domestic trade, stimulating the search for new forms, was the guild reform (1824). It limited the tendency to monopolize trade by merchants of the 1st guild and expanded the rights of the average urban merchants, put the trade of merchants of the 3rd guild within certain limits, stimulating their transition to a higher guild by allowing the expansion of entrepreneurship. The trading opportunities of the peasantry, including the serfs, were improved, subject to the payment of all taxes and duties. Thus, small trade in the cities was strengthened and additional income was provided to the state budget of the country. The disadvantages of the guild reform include the fact that it did not use the system of progressive income tax, which economists of that time wrote a lot about, that is, the tax was taken from the listed goods, and not from the capital circulating in trade. Improvement in the organization of trade was occupied by Kankrin's thoughts in the future: in 1832, a new charter on bills, charters on commercial insolvency, on commercial courts, and on the St. Petersburg stock exchange was adopted.

Kankrin was skeptical about the development of the railway network and, in particular, the expansion of credit, not only in the form of the development of private banks, but even state-owned ones, as well as savings institutions.

The years Kankrin managed the finances were weighed down by many extraordinary expenses. So, in 1827-1829. expenses were required for the Persian and Turkish wars, in 1830 - to suppress the uprising in Poland; in 1830, cholera raged in the country, and in 1833, famine caused by crop failure. The minister was especially burdened by military spending.

All this time, Kankrin was preparing a draft financial and credit reform, which was supposed to improve the state of Russian finances. But he managed to put the reform into practice only in 1839-43.

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