Provincial Budget and Agronomic Assistance in the Tomsk Province in the Late XIX – Early XX Centuries

Abstract

The article presents the history of planning, discussion, and approval of the Tomsk provincial budgets by the central departments in the early XX century. The analysis included documents on preparation and adoption of three-year estimates and revealed a high degree of interest in agrarian transformations, both on the part of the local population and the provincial administration. The appropriations approved and implemented in practice included the allocation of funds for dairy experts and experimental farms. However, the budgets drafted by the provincial administration faced significant restrictions from the central departments as a result of the poor legislative grounds. While planning the draft budget for 1915–1917, the Tomsk provincial agronomist put forward a large-scale project for agricultural development, which included a big experimental station. The proposals were discussed by the local committees and received a mixed assessment, e.g., the Biysk committee supported the plan, but the Zmeinogorsk committee was very skeptical about it. Despite the considerable preparatory work, the central department reduced the final version of the provincial budget by 53%.