INTERVIEW WITH THE MINISTER. VYSHNEGRADSKY ABOUT ITS FINANCIAL POLICY AND A GOVERNMENT ISSUE

Abstract

The practice of interviewing government officials was widespread in the parliamentary countries of Western Europe as early as the 19th century. It remained deeply alien to the Russian authoritarian system until the revolution of 1905-1907. The monopoly of political utterance belonged to the monarch; the lower-ranking officials acted only as mute executors of his sacred will. To this power, subjects could make requests and petitions, but not ask questions or demand a report. Only such atypical figures for official Russia as Finance Minister I. A. Vyshnegradsky and then S. Yu. Witte dared to speak to the public with explanations of their policies. The article considers the unpublished interview of Vyshnegradsky given by him to Prince A. V. Meshchersky on June 28, 1889. The topic of the conversation was the most urgent petitions of the Poltava nobility to reduce railway tariffs for the transportation of grain cargo and the need for financial support by the state for the indebted landowner’s estates. Prince Meshchersky acted as a lobbyist for noble interests and intended to encourage Vyshnegradsky to promote their promotion more actively. The course of reviving the economic and political hegemony of the nobility determined government policy in the era of Alexander III, so the Minister of Finance was careful in his statements. Sympathizing with the words of the noble aspirations, he however made it clear to the interlocutor that the demands of the nobility were not fully feasible. Further, Vyshnegradsky detailed his financial program, which gave priority to fighting budget deficits, tightening tax and customs policies, but not wasting public funds to support inefficient landowners. All subsequent economic policies of Vyshnegradsky corresponded to this program. S. Yu. Witte, his successor as Minister of Finance, continued this program, causing growing discontent among the nobility and its patrons in the government

Keywords

• i. a. vyshnegradsky
• prince a. v. meshchersky
• alexander iii
• ministry of finance
• landowners
• dvoryansky bank