287 the collection and allocation of the soul tax was to be administered.-"^ The regimental administration was also given police authority, the primary purpose of which was to prevent serfs fromleaving the district.-^'-^ The collection of the soul tax was left to a special commissary {komissar ot zemli) elected by the local nobility. The tax collected by this official was to be delivered to the regimental commander, who was held responsible for how these revenues were used.-*’” This komissar ot zemli should not be confused with the provincial administration’s zernskii komissar, an official patterned on the Swedish härad bailiff. If one were to look for a Swedish counterpart to the komissar ot zemli, it would have to be the so-called mantalskommissarie, and it is possible that the mantalskommissarie actually served as the model for the komissar ot zemli introduced in 1724. In many ways, the task of these two functionaries paralleled one another.-”' Through the establishment of the regimental district and the addition of yet another tax collector, the komissar ot zemli, there arose between the regimental administration and the regular provincial administration a dualism which became a breeding ground for conflicts. The provincial administration was now entirely divorced from the collection of the largest tax, the soul tax, and only a few indirect imposts remained for the zemskii komissar to collect. Even the collection of these imposts was hindered by the regimental administration, which did not allow the zemskii komissar to collect any taxes within the regimental district until the soul tax had been collected in full.-”- The importance of the military fiscal organs tended to increase at the expense of the civil administration, and this tendency was encouraged by the central government. Shortly after Peter’s death, the soul tax was reduced from seventy-four to seventy kopecks.-”’' This measure was introduced because of the flight of the serfs which had followed the introduction of the soul tax and the quartering of the troops in the countryside. The situation of the peasants had deteriorated greatly during the last years of Peter’s reign, especially as a result of the many crop failures during the period. In 1729, the kamer-kollegiia collected data on the decrease in the tax base over the period 1719—1727, and of the 3,500,000 taxable souls {podatnye dushi) included in the material, the college’s table showed a decrease of 500,000 2r>H Bogoslovskii (1902), 390. -•-» IhiJ., 395. The duties of the kommissar ot zemli were regulated by an instruktsiia issued on November 6, 1724, the original of which, with Peter’s signature, is in TsGADA, f. 1451 delo 18 11. 377—380v. 2U0 See RA, Riksregistratur, Instruktion för mantalskommissarien, December 20, 1693. Bogoslovskii (1902), 397—403. 2«1 PSZ, VII, no. 4,650, p. 413.
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