Did а Smolensk Peasant Want to be a Village Headman?
 (To the Question of Peasant Self-government in Smolensk Governorate)

Abstract

The article considers the status of the village headman in the system of peasant self-government of the Smolensk Governorate in the post-reform period. The main attention is paid to the social position of the village headman in the peasant community and his attitude to the duties of the official of the peasant self-government and the peasants’attitude to him.
 According to Russian legislation, the village headman was at the head of the village society, he performed administrative and police functions. In this regard, the district presences often received complaints about village headmen related to drunk-
 enness, arbitrariness and embezzlement of public money. Despite the low salary and a large amount of work, the village headmen faithfully performed their duties, and many complaints received against them in the presence were not confirmed and were
 due to the legal illiteracy of the peasants themselves. Confirmed complaints were punished, as a rule, with a 7-day arrest under the volost administration. By such a measure, the county administration exercised control over the activities of village
 headmen and maintained law and order in the village.
 The author draws a conclusion that the modernization processes, in particular, the decomposition of the community, that took place in post-reform Russia, influenced the change in the position of the village headman.