75 nonetheless, show that he was very aware of the risks connected with his activities in Stockholm. Pick left Sweden toward the end of 1716, and the return trip was certainly a difficult one. A general prohibition against ships calling at, or even leaving, Stockholm had been issued in the summer of 1716, and surveillance over sea traffic in the Stockholm archipelago had presumably been increased at the same time. Some merchant vessels were confiscated under the current Swedish regulations on privateering,^^^ and leaving Stockholm with hundreds of documents concerning the organization of the Swedish administrative system was clearly a risky business under these circumstances. On December 13, 1716, Adam Weyde informed the tsar that Pick: has not only just returned happily from Stockholm, but he has brought with him everything that is needed for the colleges and all sorts of regulations; he has even brought with him many other useful things about very useful establishments. He says that he did this at great risk and that he did not know how best to act; therefore he took his wife with him and sewed some letters in her skirts, while he passed out others to the skippers for safekeeping. Pick met with the tsar at Amsterdam in January 1717, and Peter must have been very impressed with the results he had achieved during his visit to Stockholm. Indeed, the tsar was so convinced that Pick would be of valuable assistance in the reform activities ahead that he issued a twelveyear contract of employment to him on January 23, 1717. Pick was granted the position of councillor in the yet-to-be-established kamcrkollegium at St. Petersburg, “since We”, as was stated in the contract, “are sufficiently informed of his ability, skillfulness, and suitability.” The contract stipulated that Pick was to exercise a full vote in the college, and that he was to have an annual salary of eight hundred ducats in specie, as well as free lodging and firewood. Pinally, Pick was granted the tsar’s assurance that he and his family would be allowed to leave Russia freely at the end of his contract. The substance of this contract clearly reveals that the first thing on the agenda was a reform of Russia’s fiscal administration. Citing the reason for hiring Pick, Peter stated that “We have the intention of establishing a permanent kamer-kollegiia in order better to administer our incomes” and “so that our finances or incomes shall be brought, reordered, and held in good and proper order. Before Pick reported to St. Petersburg to commence his efforts there, he was to travel to Germany with authorization from the tsar to recruit Helander, 55—56. Pekarskii, 201 note 1. TsGADA, f. 248 delo 11 1. 41. ” 151 149 150
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