Volost foreman

The volost foreman was elected by the volost gathering , for a period of not more than three years, mainly from householders. Elected elders should have been approved in posts by the zemstvo chief or world mediator (where the zemstvo chiefs were not introduced). Volost foremen could not be younger than 25 years old. The right to be elected was deprived of people in the past who were subjected to corporal punishment, who were tried and investigated, “knowingly depraved behavior” ^[1] .

The volost foreman was obliged:

• Announce the orders of the peasants to the government and observe the non-proliferation of false decrees and harmful rumors;
• Protect the piety and security of persons and property, as well as take primary measures to restore order before the arrival of the county police; take police measures to uncover and detain criminals;
• Detain tramps and runaways;
• Report to authorities on crimes and disturbances in the volost, as well as on unauthorized persons;
• Observe the precise implementation of the rules on the registration of peasants to societies;
• Dispose of in emergency situations (fires, floods, general diseases);
• Supervise the execution of decisions of the volost court , enforce the decisions of the volost gathering ;
• Convene and dissolve the volost gathering and lead it;
• Observe the proper maintenance of roads, bridges and gateways ;
• Watch the village headmen ;
• Observe the proper administration by societies of all duties;
• To manage volost worldly sums and property;
• Issue residence permits to rural residents.

The volost foreman supervised the volost board , consisting of all rural headmen, as well as the assessors of the board (if any) and the assistants of the tax collector (if any).

The volost foreman was obliged to implicitly comply with all the legal requirements of the zemstvo chief , world mediator and ranks of the district police .

The institute of volost foremen in the described form was established by the "General Regulation on Peasants Who Departed from Serfdom" of February 19, 1861, and until 1917 did not undergo significant changes. The duties of foremen were the same everywhere where there were peasants as an estate, regardless of whether provincial institutions, zemstvo institutions and zemstvo chiefs were introduced in these places. Among the Cossacks, the officials corresponding to the volost foreman were called village chieftains .

The labor of the volost foreman was, as a rule, paid.

• Volost gathering
• Volost court
• Volost Board

• General provision of the peasants // Code of Laws of the Russian Empire. - (unofficial. Ed.). - 1912. - T. IX, appendix. - S. 1-82.
• Peasant reform in Russia in 1861. Collection of legislative acts / ed. K.A.Sofronenko. - M .: GIUL, 1954.- 318 p. Archived April 5, 2011 on Wayback Machine
• Self-government of a peasant rural and volost society. - M .: Type. t-va I.D.Sytina, 1905 .-- 143 p.
• Volchkov V. A guide for the peasants. Collection of applicable laws regarding societies. their control and responsibilities sat down. and volost. official persons and lower. officials - M .: Type. M.N. Lavrova, 1880 .-- 256 s.