Trips to the Precincts in the Communicative Space of Magistrates in Yakut Oblast in the late 19th − early 20th Century

Savvinov Pavel Olegovich ORCID: 0000-0002-4260-6225 Junior research associate, Institute for Humanitarian Research and North Indigenous Peoples Problems of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences 677027, Russia, Republic of Yakutia, Yakutsk, Petrovsky str., 1 pavel_savvinov@mail.ru Other publications by this author

The abolition of serfdom in tsarist Russia accelerated the development of the economy, setting the empire on the path of industrialization, and led to significant changes in the social structure of society. In turn, this required judicial reform. The new judiciary was formally separated from other branches and was based on the principles of equality of the parties, independence of judges. In general, in pre-revolutionary Russia, the branch of law developed in the direction of establishing the rule of law, separating judicial power from administrative power, recognizing a person's equal right to judicial protection, which became the foundation for the formation of civil consciousness in society ^{[17, p.144]}.

The relevance of the topic is due to the fact that there are no special studies in Russian historiography devoted to the study of the activities in the communicative space of the Institute of Magistrates in the Yakut region. Filling this gap will help determine the place of the region in the legal field of pre-revolutionary Russia, will make it possible to trace the process of general modernization of the region. The purpose of this work is to analyze the travels of magistrates of the Yakut region in their communicative space in the late XIX – early XX centuries.

The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that for the first time a special study was undertaken of judges traveling around the world sites in the communicative space, which is understood as a system of diverse communicative connections arising between various communication participants. The professional community created its own social communicative space, the agents of which were individuals, groups of people and the institute of magistrates ^{[16, p.16]}. The subject of the study is the travels of magistrates on the sites in the Yakut region in their communicative space in the late XIX ? early XX century . The object of the study is the communicative practice associated with the development of legal proceedings in the Yakut region of this historical period.

The study was conducted on the basis of methodological principles of the frontier modernization approach, which is based on the idea that incomplete development should leave an imprint on modernization processes both in the regions and in the country as a whole ^{[27, pp.21-29]}. As a tool of cognition, the historical-system method is applied within the framework of the modernization paradigm of modern historical knowledge.

 The chronological framework of the study covers the period from the late XIX – early XX centuries, when the tsarist government was aimed at the gradual unification of the institutions of power and the rapprochement of the administrative structure of Siberia with the central regions of pre-revolutionary Russia, taking into account the Siberian specifics in the field of governance. Extending the administrative and judicial institutions already introduced in the central provinces to Siberia, the tsarist government sought to use the accumulated experience, to find the most acceptable forms of adaptation. By that time Yakutia had entered the all-imperial legal space, and the development of the world and crown courts in the region began ^{[11, p.138]}. The territorial scope of the work covers the Yakut region, that is, the territory under the jurisdiction of the Yakut District Court. The territory of Siberia was divided into two districts of judicial chambers – Omsk and Irkutsk. The Yakut District Court was under the jurisdiction of the Irkutsk Judicial Chamber ^{[5, pp.112–117]}.

In Russian historiography, the institute of justices of the Peace was not specifically considered as a communicative space. The pre-revolutionary authors N.F.Annensky, V.N.Anuchin, R.L.Weisman, G.N.Potanin and others investigated certain aspects of the reform and functioning of judicial institutions formed in Siberia at the end of the XIX century ^{[3] [4] [7] [28, pp. 260-294.]}. Soviet historians and jurists they did not pay attention to the implementation of the "Provisional Rules on the application of Judicial Statutes to the provinces and regions of Siberia" dated May 13, 1896, as well as the improvement of the judiciary in the early twentieth century, when the council of sworn attorneys, the jury court began to operate within Western Siberia, the staff of magistrates significantly increased ^{[14, pp.154-163]}. Modern researchers consider judicial proceedings in Siberia of the late XIX and early XX centuries in the context of studying the judicial transformation of 1897. Most of the works are devoted to the judicial authorities of Western Siberia ^{[1] [15]}. The practical absence in Russian historiography of special works devoted to this topic determines the relevance of the study. As historical sources, a complex of diverse materials stored in the funds of the National Archive of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) (ON the RS (Ya) and the State Archive of the Irkutsk region (GAIO) has been attracted. These are legislative acts of the tsarist government, clerical documents of magistrates, the Yakut District Court and the Irkutsk Judicial Chamber, formed as a result of the functioning of the institutions of the World Court in the Yakut region.

Judicial districts were divided into world sections, which were based on such features as the area of the territory, population density, the number of cases, the coincidence of the boundaries of the world sections with the corresponding administrative districts ^{[5, pp.112–117]}. In total, six judicial and magistrate precincts were formed in the Yakut region:  Yakutsk, Yakutsk, Olekminsky districts, Vilyuysky world site, Olekminskaya and Vitim gold mining systems. By 1910, the following sections of magistrates were operating: Yakutsk, the 1st and 2nd sections of the Yakut district, Olekminsky, Vilyuysky, Verkhoyansky Kolyma districts ^{[22, l.17]}.

For the Russian Empire, transport infrastructure was of great importance for the socio-economic development of the region. Communication routes connected the most remote corners of the empire into a single All-Russian market, provided continuous commodity exchange between producers and consumers of products, industry and agriculture. Five postal and passenger routes diverged from the center of the Yakutsk region to different ends: Irkutsk, Okhotsk, Amginsky, Verkhoyano-Kolyma and Vilyuysky ^{[26, p.155]}. Land communications, as a communication channel, played an important role in the communicative space of magistrates of the Yakut region during the period under review. The main highway connecting the Yakut region with the rest of the empire was Irkutsk-Yakut, which was considered one of the most developed and busiest roads. The main purpose of this tract was to ensure the delivery of exiles. As of 1911, there were 31 stations on the Yakutsk – Olekminsk tract, located at a distance of 15 km from each other, the total length of the tract in winter was 2766.75 versts, and in summer 2732.75 versts. Four to five pairs of post horses were kept on the highway ^{[13, pp. 28-33]}. In summer , traffic was carried out along the river .Lena on the mail and passenger steamers of merchant Glotov, in winter on horseback. In spring and autumn , during the thaw period , riding a horse along the ridges of the valley of theLena or wherever possible ^{[10, l.239]}. Two highways ran to the Okhotsk coast – to Okhotsk and to Ayan. The Yakut-Okhotsk Highway was the only highway in Russia where three types of mobile vehicles were used during winter driving: horses, dogs and deer ^{[13, pp.13-16]}. The Yakut-Ayan Tract was created to serve a Russian-American company and operated year-round. The Yakut-Amginsky Zemsky tract functioned as a postal tract ^{[13, p.63]}. The Amginsky postal tract led to the Amginsky parish. From Yakutsk to Amga there is a cart track, and then to the Ust-May settlement – a pack one. There was no highway from Ust-May settlement to Nelkan, communication was carried out by deer, horses and boats ^{[10, l.240]}. 

The Yakut-Vilyuysky tract was of great importance for the district, which ranked second in terms of population and economy in the region. 17 stations operated on the highway for 710 versts ^{[13, p.59]}. At the beginning of the XX century, the zemsky tract appeared from Vilyuysk to the Khochinsky foreign administration. This tract crossed the Vilyu River three times, therefore, during the freezing and spring ice drift, the message was interrupted ^{[13, p.85]}. The visits of the magistrate of the Vilyui district to the uluses were carried out extremely rarely, due to the remoteness and extreme difficulty of the way in most of the time of the year. A trip along the highway in summer was possible exclusively on horseback, and in winter on horseback and on a sledge on a horse and on deer ^{[10, L.248]}. In the north of Yakutia, the Yakut-Kolyma postal tract ran, with a length of 2227 versts, there were 41 stations from Yakutsk to the centers of Verkhoyansk and Kolyma districts ^{[7, pp. 46-49]}. Along the zemsky tracts of Srednekolymsk–Nizhnekolymsky and Srednekolymsk–Verkhnekolymsky, traffic in summer was carried out along the Kolyma River. Winter trails ran mainly on ice. Traveling along the highway was carried out by dog sleds, horses and deer, and in summer by boats ^{[13, pp.73-74]}. This highway on the territory of the Yakut district with a length of 120 versts ran through the taiga, which could be passed on horseback and on deer ^{[10, l.255]}. 

The justice of the peace was obliged to consider cases not only in a permanent cell, but also to go to places to facilitate the parties and witnesses to appear in court, which is sometimes at a considerable distance from the place of residence of the summoned persons ^{[22, L.40]}. Overland communications played an important role for the travel of magistrates to their sites. Justices of the peace carried out a significant part of the trips only in summer and winter with the help of the so-called inter-court communication or on horseback, and also equipped special expeditions where there were no roads and tracts. Communication along the Lena River was carried out in the summer by mail steamers ^{[21, l.7]}. Magistrates did not have time to consider cases due to constant traveling to their sites. A huge number of cases could not be considered to the end at the very first meeting, due to the lack of constant communication with the uluses and naslegs, therefore, it was always necessary to postpone cases for the absence of parties or witnesses and for the lack of information about the delivery of summonses. Some cases were postponed for the same reason two or three times, while visits of magistrates to the places of consideration for 1000 versts were possible no more than once a year. For example, in such settlements as Aldan, Maya, Nelkan, Ust-Mayskoye, where the judge usually went in early summer on one of the steamships departing annually to Nelkan ^{[21, l.9ob.]}. The exception was the magistrate of the city of Yakutsk, where there were no trips, so there were practically no pending cases ^{[21, l.39]}.

For a detailed consideration of land communication as a channel in the communicative space of magistrates, correspondence with the complaint and explanation of the magistrate of the second precinct of the Yakut district V.E.Turkovsky with the Yakut District Court is of great interest. Here he describes in detail about the state of the postal and zemstvo tracts of Yakutia. The area of activity of the magistrate of the second precinct of the Yakut district was located on the right bank of the Lena River ^{[21, l.7]}. The magistrate's section included Amginskaya Sloboda, the villages of Novopokrovskoye, Ust-Mayskoye, the catholic settlements (Petropavlovsk, Troitskoye, Baturskoye), the villages of Dukhoborov (Natarskoye, Otradnoye) and the East Kangalassky, Boturussky, Borogonsky, Batagaysky, Meginsky, Dupsyunsky ulus, as well as naslega Namsky ulus, located on the right bank of the river ^{[22, l.17]}. The chamber of the magistrate of the second precinct was located in Yakutsk from April 1 to June 1, and from September 15 to November 1, the chamber was moved to the right bank of the Lena River ^{[21, l.7]}.

On the right bank of the Lena River, roads were laid out of large logs that were filled with soil, but over time prevented travelers from traveling. The magistrate of the second precinct of the Yakut district wrote that he had to travel "on such sleepers" hundreds of miles. Wooden bridges rotted quickly, and driving through these bridges became life-threatening. Local authorities did not carry out repair work on roads and bridges, so travelers themselves had to repair bridges ^{[22, L.79]}. Having traveled in 1894 together with the road technician P.A.Sikorsky along the Ayan postal tract, the exiled settler and revolutionary narodnik Ya.V.Stefanovich wrote that a significant part of the postal tract was covered with round logs, because of which, after passing two or three postal stations, travelers felt completely tired ^[29].

At the post stations, people passing by changed horses and other means of transportation. In winter, postal stations served as a place where travelers and officials could hide and warm up from the cold ^{[22, L.78]}. The chase was a system of post yards (pits) designed for changing horses. Inter-court, partly philistine persecution was imposed on the population as a duty ^{[26, p.160]}. Its organization had to be handled by foreign councils ^{[25, p.137]}. On the territory of the Yakut region, postal stations were small Yakut yurts, where two or three Yakut families lived together with cattle ^{[22, L.79]}. The magistrate of the second precinct of the Yakut district noted the unfavorable condition of all postal stations and the lack of supervision by local authorities on the left bank of the river .Lena ^{[19, L.69]}. The yurt was divided by a partition into a residential part and a barn. According to the memoirs of the head of the Irkutsk postal and telegraph district, R.Y. Sonnenburg, the yurt was usually illuminated only by the flame from the fireplace, and candles and kerosene are found only among the wealthier Yakuts. The fireplace was installed in one of the corners of the yurt, where food was cooked, cakes (unleavened bread) were baked and so on ^[12]. During their travels to their sites and to conduct a preliminary investigation, the justices of the peace went to the crime scenes along the postal and zemstvo tracts. In the spring of 1909, in his report, Justice of the Peace V.E.Turkovsky writes that, having left the village of Amga in Boturussky ulus on April 9, 1909 to conduct a preliminary investigation, he was delayed for a long time on the way due to the lack of horses at each postal station. Almost all the owners of the postal stations explained that they had not been warned about the arrival of the justice of the peace and therefore had not prepared the horses ^{[19, l.69-70]}. In the above-mentioned postal stations, the carts used were in a deplorable condition and every 2-3 versts had to stop and repair the cart ^{[19, l.69]}. In December 1910, Justice of the Peace V.E.Turkovsky was unable to leave Yakutsk for the villages of Amga and Nelkan to conduct an investigation due to the fact that at the Begyurskaya postal station the owner refused to chase horses due to lack of material resources, and all the horses fell. Therefore, the judge was forced to return back to Yakutsk, having spent a day of time ^{[22, l.91]}.

It was not uncommon for one justice of the peace to have to perform duties at several magistrates' stations. So, since 1911, V.E.Turkovsky has been a magistrate of 1-2 precincts of the Yakut district for the investigation and consideration of world jurisdiction, which complicated his work. The first section of the Yakut district was located on the left bank of the Lena River, which included 20 postal stations of the Irkutsk tract, Nikolskaya Sloboda, the villages of Dobroye, Vladimirskoye, Cool, the catholic settlements of Markhinskoye, Novonikolaevskoye, Kildemskoye, Khatyn-Arinskoye, as well as West Kangalassky and Namsky uluses ^{[22, l.17]}. A. Vetrova wrote that the justice of the peace, as a rule, received the accumulated information about the crimes committed late, since he had to travel around his entire precinct, but could not go on the case for the investigation due to the scheduled court sessions ^{[8, pp.77-108]}. In the absence of Justice of the Peace V.E. Turkovsky, his clerk received mail from various institutions. The justice of the peace, coming from traveling, always received a huge mass of mail, and opened only packages with the inscription "Urgent" or "Prisoner" ^{[22, L.47]}. If the judge ignored the information about the crimes, he had to give an explanatory note to the prosecutor's supervision and the district court ^{[8, pp.77–108]}. So in the spring of 1912, Justice of the Peace V.E.Turkovsky, being, according to him, constantly on the road in two sections, read the mail received from the district attorney with a delay and therefore began investigating the case of horse theft with a delay ^{[22, L.44]}. However, the district attorney wrote that the justice of the peace received the case of the horse theft on the 20th of March, and began the investigation only on April 2 and did not notify about the reasons for the delay ^{[22, L.67]}. In his explanation to the district court, V.E. Turkovsky writes that he had no practical opportunity to immediately move all cases due to the remoteness of settlements. It took two months for a justice of the peace to travel far, and when he came from traveling, V.E. Turkovsky did not have time to read the mail he received, since he could not stay at home for more than one week and was forced to go to his sites again. Therefore, the magistrate opened only urgent envelopes, and took the rest with him on a trip, because of this, many investigative measures were slowed down ^{[22, L.76-77]}. As a result, the general meeting of the Yakutsk District Court in relation to the justice of the Peace, Justice of the Peace V.E.Turkovsky, determined a disciplinary violation under Article 410 of the Penal Code, namely "for slowness and negligence in the administration of office" ^{[22, L.78] [30, p.386]}.

Justices of the peace could use any premises convenient for conducting the trial ^{[22, L.40]}. Because of this, some local self-government bodies expressed dissatisfaction. In particular, A.A.Osintsev, a trusted peasant of the Pavlovsky volost of the Markhinsky village, petitioned the district court to ban the departure of magistrates to the Pavlovsky volost board for the examination of court cases. A.A.Osintsev explained his statement by the fact that holding meetings of magistrates in the volost board contradicts the law, but without specifying which one, and interferes with the work of the board in the volost ^{[22, L.36]}. The magistrate of the 1st precinct on this complaint gave his explanations on the opening of the court session in the building of the volost board. The fact is that in the villages of the Yakut region there were no appropriate premises where it would be possible to hold a court session on cases of world jurisdiction, especially in the neighboring Pavlovskaya volost. For example, tribal councils were located at stations consisting of one room with two windows and no floor, where those passing along the highways had the right to enter and could unwittingly violate the order of the court when hearing cases ^{[22, L.37]}. As a result, the Yakutsk District Court responded to the petition of a trusted peasant of the Pavlovsky volost of the Markhinsky settlement that the magistrate of the 1st precinct within the volost had the only convenient place in the building of the Pavlovsky volost board. However, this did not deprive the volost board of the right to find a convenient room for the justice of the peace for trials, preliminary investigations, if they interfered with his activities ^{[22, L.40]}.

Thus, traveling around the world sites, as a communication channel, played a big role in the communicative space of magistrates of the Yakut region. The vast vastness and inaccessibility of the territories of the region, which occupied a significant part of the north-east of Russia, acted as one of the main difficulties in the implementation of the activities of magistrates. Due to the poor condition of postal and zemstvo roads, the absence of horses at the stations, magistrates could not reach certain territories of their site. In addition, the frequent trips of magistrates to vast areas led to the fact that they practically did not have time to read all the mail received during their absence, which became one of the reasons for the slowdown of the proceedings. During their visits, the magistrates could use any premises convenient for conducting the trial as a temporary chamber.

You can simply select and copy link from below text field.