Page:The Spirit of Russia by T G Masaryk, volume 1.pdf/86

60 Roman emperor. With the newly conquered territories the baronage was taken over as a working institution.

Peter's absolutism was likewise displayed in the tsar's relationship to the peasantry. By the introduction of the poll tax and of other dues based thereon in place of the land tax the peasant was grievously affected. The entire burden of taxation was laid upon him, the new and oppressive element in the poll tax consisting in its imposition upon all peasants. The nobility, the state clergy, and the ennobled officials, together with persons of academic status and certain special classes, were exempt from taxation.

The introduction of this imperfect and ill-considered system of direct individual taxation was characteristic of the defects of Petrine financial policy. The tsar himself was interested in commerce alone. He had adopted the principles of the mercantile system: his policy of conquest, and above all his desire to make use of the sea, were closely connected with these principles. He initiated the construction of the Ladoga canal, completed in 1732, to connect the Baltic with the Caspian. The desire to favour commerce and manufacture (the time for the export of grain had not yet come) led to the institution of the system of privileges for the benefit of the upper classes and the mercantile community.

Before Peter's reign the state revenue had been about one and a half million roubles. The revenue for the year 1715 was eight and a half million roubles.

Posoškov, a self-taught economist, was profoundly touched by the tragical situation of the peasantry in the days of Peter. Despite his espousal of the cause of the autocrat as against the nobility, he recognised the severities of Peter's absolutism, and desired the establishment of a people's council (narodosovětie). He atoned for his opinions by lifelong imprisonment in the fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul.

At the close of Peter's reign the inhabitants of Russia numbered thirteen millions.