GENDARME REPORTS OF THE 1850s-1870s AS A SOURCE FOR STUDYING THE DEVELOPMENT OF GOLD MINING IN WESTERN SIBERIA
P.P. Rumyantsev
Tomsk State University, Russia, 634050, Tomsk, Lenin Avenue, 36
Keywords: золотопромышленность, прииски, Западная Сибирь, XIX в, жандармы, штаб-офицер, надзор, годовой отчет, генерал-губернатор, gold mining, mines, West Siberia, XIX century, gendarmes, staff officer, surveillance, annual report, Governor-General
Abstract
The article objective is to consider annual reports of gendarme staff officers on the private gold mining development in West Siberia in 1840-70s as an independent historical source. The article goals are the following: a comprehensive analysis of the information contained in annual reports of gendarmes on various aspects of gold mining process, especially information on accidents, crimes, law violations, etc.; making conclusions on the gendarme report importance as an independent historical source, primarily on the history of the gold mining in the specified time. Comparative historical analysis is the main research method. The author revealed that the gendarme staff officers’ attention was focused primarily on various kinds of incidents and violations on the gold mines in Siberia. It should be noted that gendarmes did not depend on local administration, and were directly subordinated to the heads of gendarmerie districts and governors-general, that could indicate the objectivity of information contained in their reports. The next conclusion is that the arguments of the gendarme staff officers on the gold mining state and their proposals to improve workers’ conditions confirmed that they were rather qualified in all these matters. Another conclusion is about sufficiently high level of efficiency of the gendarme surveillance in private gold mining: the Governor-General of West Siberia as the highest executive power in the region and the person, to whom the gendarme’s reports on the state of gold mining were addressed, gave orders to the governors on the necessity to adjust cases of violation and abuse revealed by gendarmes. In turn, the governors reported on the work done. Summarizing the research, the author claims that due to the lack of reliable sources on the history of gold mining development in Siberia in the mid XIX century, gendarme reports contribute to closing this gap in some way. Therefore, gendarme reports should attract more attention from scientists
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