250 state budget, since he was “to submit by October 1 to the statskontoret a budget proposal {shtats fershlag, Swedish statsförslag, author’s note) or an information about the expenditures in the entire province, according to which the king decrees that the budget for all civil servants in the whole realmshall be drawn up for the coming year. Describing the provincial bursar’s position required little space since, according to Pick, that official “has no other task than to receive everything that is submitted and to hold it in safe keeping, as well as to pay it out according to the governor’s instructions and assignations.” The provincial prosecutor’s position, finally, consisted of superintending the activities of the civil servants and reporting to the governor if, for example, he suspected anyone of embezzling state funds. In addition to this, he had police functions and w'as to “take such persons in hand as commit obvious crimes. ” 137 The Russian counterpart to the provincial prosecutor was the system of fiskaly established in 1711. A large part of Pick’s account was devoted to a description of the bailiff, or the highest official in the härad, who, according to Pick, “is called in Sweden the crown bailiff (kronfocht, Swedish ! kronofogde, author’s note).” The bailiff’s principle responsibility was that of collecting the taxes within the härad, and for this purpose he was to “draw up a book of accounts (rospisnaia kniga) for each peasant and record in it when and what each peasant paid.” What Pick was referring to here was the collection book which was set up by the härad scrivener each year. This was set up in such a way that it was possible to see, on one side, what taxes—in cash and in kind—were demanded of each homestead ” 138 {hemman) and were to be collected by the bailiff. On the other side, space was left for the bailiff’s notes concerning the taxes actually collected. In connection with the land register (jordeboken), the bailiff was to “make special endeavors to repopulate the abandoned peasant homesteads and, so that they shall become useful (v pol’zu upotrebit'), he shall also see to it that, when the king confers any villages or homesteads for life, these estates {maetnosC), villages, and the like, are returned to the king when the affixed time has passed.” Moreover, the bailiff was to keep a “never sleeping eye” {nedremannoe oko) on his district, or härad. To assist him the bailiff had a härad scrivener (gerrars”shreiber”, häradsskrivare)}‘^‘^ Pick gave the smallest administrative unit in the Swedish local admi140 Ibid., 11. 12—12v. Ibid., 11. 14—14v. Ibid., 11. 5v—8v. WiRSELL, 19. TsGADA, f. 248 dclo 58 1. 7. 140
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