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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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 gained great fame as a remarkable technician: he was assigned a salary of 2 thousand rubles, lifting - 3 thousand, and in the event of his death to his widow - a pension of 2 thousand 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 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 to himself Kankrin 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, he then conceived and wrote one extremely interesting work, which had an undoubted success and greatly influenced his later 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.