267 proposal.The modifications that resulted from the Senate’s discussions indicate, according to Vodarskii, that the Senate agreed with the principle of allowing the commercial interests in the towns to organize themselves into corporations, and even of allowing them to exercise a certain amount of self-government in matters concerning the administration of the towns. Indeed, the Senate went even further than Pick’s proposal when it decided to establish a special court for the commercial class. Nevertheless, selfgovernment was strictly limited, in Vodarskii’s judgement, since it was stipulated that the magistracy was to be supervised by a Senate appointee (oher-prezident), who was to oversee the election of its members and to report to the Senate on its activities. The Russian oher-prezident was thus charged with the tasks performed by the överståthållare vis-a-vis the Stockholm magistracy, while those parts of Pick’s proposal that dealt with town privileges were struck out in connection with the revisions carried out in the Senate, primarily by AnisimShchukin. It is apparent from what has been said here that the Petrine regime was unwilling to grant the commercial groups much economic and polideal independence; the needs of the merchants and manufacturists were usually met in those cases where they coincided with the interests of the absolutist state. In spite of this, however, the founding of the magistracy was an expression of the growing economic and social importance of merchants and manufacturists in eighteenth-century Russian society. 204 205 Ia. E. VouARSKit, “Proekt reglamenta glavnogo magistrata i ego redaktsii (1720 g.),” Problemy istochnikovedeniia (11 v., Moscow, 1933—1963), X, 204—206. Ibid., 196, 207. Prince lu. lu. Trubetskoi was named ober-prezident. The rich Moscow merchant, Ilia Isaev, became president of the St. Petersburg magistracy; PSZ, VI, no. 3,520, p. 131). After the Russian conquest of the Baltic provinces, Isaev was sent to Riga as oberinspektor to take charge of that city’s magistracy. Isaev’s task was to protect and promote the Russian interests in that commercially most important Baltic city. He remained at that post until 1721, when he assumed the presidency of the St. Petersburg magistracy. See Wittram, 85—86. Heinrich Pick was critical of the appointment of Isaev, and in a memorandum for the tsar he gave the following reasons: “Es ist ein gantz anders im Rigischen Magistrat zu presidiren, woselbsten erfahrne und gelehrte Manner im Magistrat sitzen, und woselbsten die schönste Regels, Ordnung, und Verfassungen bereits im vollen Gange seyn, und also der Magistrat in der Regierung einer regulieren Biirgerschafft, ohne Hiilffe und Unterweisung des Presidenten fort kommen kann; Hier in St: Petersburg ist aber annoch das Gegenteil in alien. Zudeme ist besagter Isajew von Jugend auff ein guter Kauffman gewesen, und hat in den Haubt-Stiicken des Magistrats-Wesens, nebl. in der Justitz, der Policey und anderen Biirgerlichen Ordnungen, wenig erfahren. Wann demnach Ihro. Majtt: diesen Mann mit Nutzen zu employren geruhen wollen, so ware Er am dienstlichsten als Rath in Commertz-Collegio zu sitzen, in welcher Affaire er niemanden etwas nachgiebet.” See A. R. Cederberg, Heinrich Pick. Ein Beitrag zur russischen Geschichte des XVIII. Jahrhunderts (Dorpat/Tartu, 1930), Beilage 3, 98—99. 203 204 205
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