301 Pososhkov characterized the soul tax as “a destructor of souls” {dushevredstvo, a play on the words podushnaia podad) because of its negative consequences for the peasant’s ability to survive and, therefore, in the long run, for the incomes of the state, as well.^^'* He also felt that this method of tax assessment itself was open to criticism, “since a soul {dusha) is an intangible thing and cannot be understood and has no price. Pososhkov concluded that taxing the land was the only proper method of assessing taxes. Surveys should be conducted, and then each peasant should be charged a tax computed on the basis of the acreage he cultivated.^*® “And the payment from an entire homestead,” wrote Pososhkov, “may be affixed for all taxes at three or four rubles per year, or as might be more suitable after a direct and correct investigation, and from half a homestead the half, and from a quarter of a homestead a quarter of the payment, and the other fees should be assessed according to the size of the homestead, then no one will be done any injustice and it will be easy for everyone.” According to Pososhkov’s way of viewing things, one homestead would consist of three cultivated fields of two desiatina each, or of six desiatina altogether.^^' Thus, half a homstead would be three desiatina, or three cultivated fields of one desiatina each, and a quarter of a homestead would be one and a half desiatina, or three cultivated fields of half a desiatina each.^‘® If such a system were implemented, the tax would be justly distributed among the peasants, and this would also benefit the state treasury in the long run. Pososhkov was, however, aware of the fact that the taxation of land would provoke the strong opposition of the estate owners, and he wrote that he presumed that “the powerful persons (sil'nye litsa) will attempt to prevent this in every way, since they have become used to living according to their own will and do not like to give as much as they like to take. ” 315 319 Ibid., 191. Ibid., 179. There were even calls among the nobility for a general survey of the Russian lands. Vasilil Tatishchev suggested to Peter in an aide memoire that the land should be surveyed and clear property boundaries should be drawn in order to put an end to land controversies between noblemen; ZA (no. 68), 70—71. According to Tatishchev, such a measure would have further consequences in that it would be easier to recruit noblemen into state service if they knew that they could leave their estates without anyone confiscating their property. Tatishchev studied the surveying system and cartography practised in Sweden; see A. I. Iukht, “Poezdka V. N. Tatishcheva v Shvctsiiu (1724—1726 gg.),” Istoricheskie zapiski, 88 (1971), 330—331. 317 I desiatinu=1.09 hectares; Pososhkov indicated the acreage in chetverti (1 chetvert’ — 1/2 desiatina). Pososhkov, 198. Ibid., 194. This quotation provides a good illustration for Yaney’s opinion; see above, p. 299. aiH 819
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