Salaries of officials of the mining industry of the Altai Mining District in the 1860s: on the issue of income inequality

Shchetinina Anna Sergeevna PhD in History Associate Professor, Department of National History, Altai State University 656049, Russia, Altai Krai, Barnaul, Lenin, 61, office 312 anyash83@mail.ru Other publications by this author

The purpose of this study is to establish the inequality in the wages of officials of the Altai Mining District employed in the mining industry in the first post-reform years. Officials in Siberia, including in the Altai Mountain District, for the most part had no other sources of income other than public service. In this regard, the study of income inequality is possible on the basis of salary data.

The issues of wages in the context of studying the property inequality of the population of pre-revolutionary Russia were studied in detail by B. N. Mironov ^{[1, 2, 3, 4, etc.]}, but his research on this topic covers European Russia. The same can be said about the works of foreign authors ^[5]. The topic of property/economic inequality and wages of workers and employees of the second half of the XIX – early XX centuries in the mining industry of Siberia in general, and the Altai Mining District in particular, is poorly studied. There are only a small number of studies on the remuneration of workers and employees of Siberia, written in different periods. Most of them cover the 1880s-90s. Even less covered by research is the problem of inequality/differentiation in wages. Basically, the available works are devoted to the analysis of wages of workers or officials and its dynamics, but there is practically no emphasis on the study of inequality.

The first works devoted to the earnings of workers and employees in the mining industry of Siberia appeared at the end of the XIX century. First of all, we note the two-volume work of V. I. Semevsky "Workers in the Siberian gold fields" ^{[6, 7]}. Based on archival documents, many of which have not survived to the present day, the author provides information on the wages of workers in private and state-owned gold mines in various Siberian districts, including in the Altai Mining District. V. I. Semevsky analyzes the dynamics of workers' salaries during the period he studied (from the beginning of the gold industry to the mid-1890s), and also describes in detail the working conditions and the economic situation of workers. In his work there are some data for studying the wage inequality of skilled and unskilled workers, as well as materials for comparing wages at state-owned and private mines of the Altai Mining District.

In N. A. Rubakin's work "Russia in numbers ..." ^[8] most of the information relates to the European part of Russia, nevertheless, the book is interesting both for comparative characteristics and for getting a general picture of the earnings and the situation of different class groups of the population of Russia in the pre-revolutionary period.

In the Soviet and post-Soviet periods, the topic of wages and the situation of workers in the Siberian gold mines became the most covered by researchers. In addition to archival sources, the authors often relied on the work of V. I. Semevsky. At the same time, the main attention was focused on the salaries and economic situation of Siberian workers, while the earnings of Siberian officials and their financial situation are less reflected in historiography.

V. P. Zinoviev studied the salaries of workers in the mining industry of Siberia in sufficient detail in the 1970s - 2010s. His works provide data on salaries, budgets of workers and their economic situation in general ^{[9, 10, 11, 12, etc.]}. In addition to statistics on different Siberian regions, the author analyzes the types and forms of remuneration, compares nominal and real wages ^{[13, 14]}. Let us pay attention to the differentiation of salaries established by V. P. Zinoviev by specialty, qualification, gender and age, as well as by nationality, seasons and geographical location of enterprises ^{[15, 16]}. Most of V. P. Zinoviev's research covers the late XIX – early XX centuries and is devoted to the workers of gold mines. Having studied the differences in the amount of their wages on various grounds, V. P. Zinoviev concludes that there is a significant difference in the wages of skilled workers and unskilled, Russians and foreigners, men and women, while he notes a weak tendency to equalize the prices of workers at the beginning of the XX century ^{[15, p. 285]}.

A similar study was presented in the collective monograph "The Working Class of Siberia in the pre-October period" ^[17], among the authors of which was V. P. Zinoviev. The work chronologically covers the post-reform period, a comparison of the wages of workers in different industries is presented, although the main attention is paid to mining. In the mining sector of the Siberian provinces, the dynamics of the growth of nominal and real wages, daily and seasonal for the period from 1861 to the mid-1890s is given. It is concluded that the nominal salary of miners grew slowly, daily wages grew slower than seasonal ^{[17, p.138]}. The comparison of the growth of real incomes of workers in the pre-reform and post-reform periods is given, according to the results of which the position is formulated that the intensive growth of real incomes of workers in Siberia was characteristic of the pre-reform period, when the formation of the gold industry was underway and there was a shortage of workers. After 1861, according to the authors, the growth of real wages decreased sharply ^{[17, p.141]}.

The works of V. A. Skubnevsky ^{[18, 19]}, B. K. Andryushenko ^[20] and V. N. Faronov ^[21], written in the late XX - early XXI centuries, are also devoted to the earnings and socio–economic situation of manufacturing workers in Siberia in the late XIX – early XX centuries. The authors, relying on the research of their predecessors, as well as on an extensive source base, give a comparative description of the salaries and incomes of workers inside Siberia, as well as at the country level.

The economic situation of railway workers in Siberia, including their wages, its dynamics, are considered in detail in the research of B. I. Zemerov. Analyzing the dynamics of nominal and real wages, the author concluded that at the turn of the XIX–XX centuries, nominal wages were growing, but prices were growing faster, and real wages were declining ^{[22, 23, 24]}.

Significantly less research is devoted to the wages of Siberian officials in the pre-revolutionary period. Thus, Yu. M. Goncharov, studying different social strata and estates of the Siberian city, touched upon the topic of their economic situation. He cites the testimonies of contemporaries about the state of officials, statistical data on Siberian cities, mainly Tobolsk, Tyumen and Omsk in the second half of the XIX – early XX centuries ^[25]. After comparing the income groups of officials, the author notes a fairly low standard of living and salaries for most officials in Tobolsk and Omsk. At the same time, the general standard of living in Siberian cities (among burghers, merchants) was, according to Yu. M. Goncharov, quite high ^[26]. Comparing with the data for the country as a whole, he cites N. A. Rubakin's information that at the beginning of the XX century, only 20% of officials had a monetary allowance of more than 1,000 rubles per year ^[26]. In Siberia, this percentage was even lower.

Thus, the issues of economic inequality (including wages) of the population of Siberia in the second half of the XIX – early XX centuries were not specifically raised by researchers: most of the attention was paid to the economic situation of workers in the mines of Siberia. To a lesser extent, the issues of remuneration of officials were studied. 

* * * 

The subject of our research is a comparative characteristic of salaries of officials of the mining industry of the Altai Mining District in the 1860s.

The salary of officials depended on the class in the Table of Ranks, the place of service and the position held. In the mining industry of the Altai Mining District, in addition to officials in accordance with the Table of Ranks, there were representatives of the corps of mining engineers (for them classes were designated according to positions from IV to X ^{[27, pp. 402-403]}), corps of foresters, sacred and ecclesiastical. In addition to those who had a rank according to the Table of Ranks, clerical servants were often counted among the officials in the documents, since they were considered the first step for obtaining a lower rank.

In the sources containing data on salaries for the Management of Altai Mining plants and in the institutions and enterprises subordinate to it, as well as in the successor institutions of this department in subsequent years, there is the wording "lower and working ranks" who were behind the Table of Ranks. The lower ranks at the Altai mining plants included charters, conductors, surveyors, assayers, draftsmen, paramedics, pharmacy students, clerks and masters (all of them had the common name "uryadniki" until 1861). The lower ranks were referred to in the documents as "clerics", that is, they can also be attributed to officials. Workers were considered to be artisans and clerks, journeymen, scribes and students.  Artisans and workmen worked in production. Prior to the reform of 1861, the lower ranks were equated with non-commissioned officers, and workers were equated with ordinary military service ^{[28, pp. 126-127]}. All of them were included in the staff of mining institutions and enterprises.

After the abolition of serfdom, "mandatory" lower and working ranks were exempted from factory work, but could continue to serve under the terms of the contract. As a result, the term "contracted" appears in the sources: those who signed a contract with the plant management for a period of at least a year (but not more than three years, after which the contract was renegotiated). The classification of employees also changed somewhat: the newly hired ones were still called lower and working ranks, but all the former ranks of uryadnikov, urochnikov, etc., with some exceptions, were canceled ^{[29, p. 439]}. In production, craftsmen were considered to perform technical, factory and mine work requiring "known knowledge and skill", as well as officials "in terms of technical, economic or written, who will be hired." Workers were those who were engaged in non-technical or auxiliary work. For all, a division into categories was introduced, on which the amount of salary subsequently depended ^{[29, pp. 444-445]}.

In addition, the sources contain information about the amount of earnings of freelancers, that is, those who have not signed contracts with the administration of an institution or enterprise for a year or more. Freelancers worked in various positions: in production, in offices, and in management units.

Based on the fact that the salary of officials, lower and working ranks was appointed according to the staffing table, then using such sources, it is possible to establish not only the salary, but also the approximate number of officials (those who had a class on the table of ranks, mining engineers, lower ranks). We have the following staffing tables at our disposal:

1. 1849 for the Main Directorate of the Altai Mining Plants, with its subordinate institutions, factories, mines and gold fields ^{[28, pp. 80-130]};

2. 1860 for the V-th Department of the Altai Mining Board for private gold crafts ^{[30, pp. 526-527]};

3. 1867. the staff of the Police departments of Siberia ^{[27, 453-455]} and in the villages of the Altai Mountain District ^{[27, pp. 51-52]};

4. 1868 for Kolyvan grinding factory ^{[31, pp. 786-787]};

5. 1883 for the Altai Mountain District ^{[32, pp. 11-17]}.

The first of them contains the most complete information about the composition of employees, their ranks and the amount of salaries and other payments. Despite the fact that it was drawn up in the pre-reform period, salaries for officials were appointed according to it in the 1860s before reorganizations and the adoption of new staffing schedules. So, for example, in the payroll statement for officials and junior employees of the department of private gold mines of the Altai Mining Board for March 1866, it was reported that salaries for officials of the department were assigned according to the staffing schedule of 1849 ^{[33, L. 6]}. At the same time, the same source for February 1866 contains an indication that "the maintenance of the personnel of the 5th department of the Altai Mining Board, ... mining audit ... and the allocation of areas in the Mariinsky, Altai and Kirghiz [mountain] districts" is carried out according to the staffing schedule of 1860 ^{[34, L. 1]}. The department itself was formed in 1855, and in 1860 its staff was reduced due to the withdrawal from subordination to the Altai Mining Board of private gold mines of three districts of the Yenisei province ^{[35, pp. 148-149]}. Thus, the staffing table of 1860 adjusted part of the schedule of 1849 in terms of reducing the number of positions in the Altai Mining Board.

When comparing the staffing tables of 1849 and 1860 with the payroll statements and estimates for the maintenance of factories, mines and mines, which indicated the salary of the entire staff, only isolated discrepancies in the salaries of officials were revealed. The statements and estimates were analyzed for 1864, 1866 and 1867. The absence of serious discrepancies once again suggests that the staffing table for officials continued to operate in terms of determining the size of salaries in the post-reform years.

As for the lower and working ranks, their approximate total number can also be traced by staffing tables, as well as by "Collections of statistical information on the mountain part". These collections were published by the Scientific Committee of the Corps of Mining Engineers in 1864-1867 . Unlike officials , the remuneration of the lower and working ranks after 1861 was no longer determined by the staffing table of 1849 . The exception was the salaries of those who had to work for 1-3 years in accordance with the conditions of obtaining freedom.

Next, the salaries of officials and lower ranks are analyzed, mainly as of 1864. Information on wages was taken from reports of managers of factories and mines, to which estimates for 1864 were attached. According to the salaries of officials, the information was also clarified and/or supplemented with staff schedules and payroll statements for 1866-1867.

Higher bureaucracy. According to the staff schedule of 1849, there were 165 class officials, that is, those who had classes according to the Table of Ranks, or belonged to the Corps of Mining Engineers and the Corps of Foresters. These were officials of the Altai Mining Board and all the institutions and enterprises subordinate to it, and this number also included the Tomsk Civil Governor, who until 1864 was also the Chief Mining Chief, receiving an additional salary for this position.

In addition to their salaries, officials from among mining engineers received monthly table money, money for orderlies and once every three months apartment money (in the case of rental housing). Some also received traveling money. When analyzing salaries in this work, only salary was taken into account.

Without canteens, apartment, etc. surcharges according to the state of 1849, out of 165 officials, only the Chief Chief of the Altai Mining Plants received a salary of more than 1,000 rubles per year. This position was held by the Tomsk civil governor, who was paid 1800 rubles a year for it to his main position.

Salary from 500 rubles to 1000 rubles was received by 14 people. These are the mining chief of factories, the ruler of affairs, advisers, the auditor of private gold mines, the managers of some factories, mines and their assistants. In some factories and mines, managers were of a lower class, so their salaries were even lower. In general, if we consider the class composition, then the highest class was with the Chief Chief of the Altai Mining Plants – IV (mining engineer). The positions of mining engineers had a range of IV-X. Basically, all the officials were within the VI-XIV classes. Belonging to the lower class ranks was one of the reasons for the low salaries of most officials. In general, the salary of all officials on the staff of the Altai Mining Board and subordinate institutions and enterprises cannot be called high, given that its maximum size was 1800 rubles per year.

In the 1860s, the situation did not change radically. In the statements and estimates of 1864-1868, which indicated the salaries of officials of factories, mines and the fifth branch of the Altai Mining Board, there was not a single person receiving more than a thousand rubles a year (these estimates did not take into account employees of the Mining Board itself except for the V-th Department). Moreover, for managers of factories and mines, the salary included an additional payment for the rank (which could be significantly higher than the salary itself, as in the case of the manager and his assistant at the Pavlovsky Plant – colonel and lieutenant colonel, respectively), and even so it did not exceed 900 rubles. (Table 1). At mines, factories, as well as in the V-th department of the Altai Mining Board in 1864-1868, 12 class officials out of 75 received salaries from 500 to 1000 rubles per year.

Table 1

Officials receiving salaries from 500 to 1000 rubles in the mining industry of the Altai Mining District 1864-1868.

Officials receiving a salary of 500 to 1000 rubles in the mining sector of the Altai mining district 1864–1868 

Calculated by: GAAK. F.2. Op. 1. d. 1913, 2912, 2942, 7278; The Complete Collection of laws of the Russian Empire. The Second Meeting. Volume XLIII. Department 3. 1868. Staffs and report cards. – pp. 786-787.

Calculated by: State Archive of the Altai Territory. Fund. 2. Description. 1. Case. 1913, 2912, 2942, 7278; Complete collection of laws of the Russian Empire. Assembly Second. Volume XLIII. Branch 3. 1868 States and tables. pp. 786–787. 

Table 1 shows that the manager of the Kolyvan grinding factory had the highest salary. In 1868, an official of the VII class (not from Mining engineers) was in this position. This amount of salary was established after in 1868 the staffing of the factory was revised due to sharply increased costs after the introduction of free labor (the previous schedule was approved back in 1807). At the same time, the Head of the Altai factories was given the right at his discretion "and for the success of factory work" in the future to make changes to staffing according to the number of persons and expenses for the maintenance of lower and working ranks within the allocated amount for the maintenance of the factory. But the number of officials "using official rights" and their salaries were forbidden to change ^{[36, L. 3-4 (vol.)]}.

According to the estimates and statements of 1864-1866, the salaries of managers and their assistants at the factories were higher than according to the staffing table of 1849. The estimates show their alignment due to additional payments by rank (Table 2). At all factories in 1849, the salary was assigned to managers as mining engineers. For example, at the Barnaul plant, the Engineer-lieutenant colonel was the manager, at the Pavlovsky plant – the Engineer-captain. In 1864, at the Pavlovsky plant, the manager was already from among the Engineers-colonels (it is not known about Barnaul), and the additional payment for the rank significantly increased the salary, although the amount assigned by the state did not change. According to other factories, according to sources from 1864-1868, at the moment it was not possible to find information about their classes, ranks, etc., but nevertheless, it is clear that they had almost the same salary due to surcharges.

Table 2

Salaries of officials in the mining industryAltai Mountain District in 1849-1868 .

Salaries of officials in the mining sector of the Altai mining district in 1849-1868

Calculated by: The Complete Collection of laws of the Russian Empire. The Second Meeting. Volume XXIV. Department 2. 1849. Staffs and report cards. – pp. 80-130; GAAK. F.2. Op. 1. d. 1913, 2912, 2942, 7278.

Calculated by: Complete collection of laws of the Russian Empire. Assembly Second. Volume XXIV. Department 2. 1849 States and tables. pp. 80–130; State Archive of the Altai Territory. Fund. 2. Description. 1. Case. 1913, 2912, 2942, 7278. 

In general, if we consider all 75 class officials of factories, mines and mines of the Altai Mining District, as well as the V-th branch of the Altai Mining Board, then the average salary in 1864-1868 was about 317 rubles per year ^{[37, our calculation]}. The lowest was at the commissars in the factory offices (120 rubles each).

Lower ranks. The lower and working ranks after 1861 received only a salary. For the first years, while the released workers worked out the prescribed period, the factories and mines did not seek to change their payment. However, after the release and working out, the former craftsmen were not eager to get back to their former place on the same terms. Enterprises began to lose workers, including qualified ones. In 1864, according to mining statistics, 5258 people were employed at the enterprises of the Altai Mining District (there was no division into lower and working ranks in the source), of which 3509 people were employed at mining works, 1749 people were employed at auxiliary works ^{[38, p.58]}. In 1865, the total number of employees decreased to 5129 people, while there was a change in the ratio of mining and auxiliary personnel: 2610 people and 2519 people. accordingly ^{[38, p. 48]} (Figure 1).

Figure 1. The number of employees of the Altai Mining District

Picture 1. Number of employees in the Altai Mining District

Source: Collection of statistical data on the mountain part for 1866 St. Petersburg: <url>. Corp. horn. engineers, 1864-1867.

Source: Collection of statistical information on the mountainous part for 1866 (1864–1867). St. Petersburg: Scientific Committee of the Corps of Mining Engineers. pp. 48, 58. 

It is noticeable that with the overall reduction in the number of employees, there was a decrease in the share of qualified specialists. One of the main reasons was called low wages. If we compare the salaries of the lower ranks according to the staffing table of 1849 and according to the estimates of 1864, then in the post-reform period the salary increased at least twice. For example, in 1849, the highest salary was for the charter officers of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd articles: 180, 120, 90 rubles per year, respectively ^{[28, pp. 80-130]}. In 1864, the salary of charters was from 180 rubles to 300 rubles per year ^[37].

However, a significant factor in comparing the salaries of lower and working ranks in 1849 and 1864 should be considered that before the reform of 1861, they received provisions and uniforms from the administration, funds were invested in the staff of each enterprise for these purposes. Provisions were provided to the lower ranks, foremen and their families with a salary of less than 90 rubles per year. Uniforms were issued to the lower ranks. After 1861, all this was abolished, regular ranks could enjoy benefits (for example, buy bread at the factory store at the purchase price, etc.), but their maintenance was entrusted to them.

In 1864, the salary of 300 rubles a year for charters, as well as for conductors at mines and factories, was still the highest of all the lower ranks. That is, 300 rubles a year was the maximum salary of an official in the mining industry who does not have a class rank. The smallest salary was assigned to a teacher of the law in factory schools – 36 rubles per year (most often it was an additional salary to a factory priest for teaching). If we consider the size of the main one, then the minimum salary in 1864 was received by: an assayer at the Gavrilovsky plant – 48 rubles.; a contractor at the Sokolny mine – 52 rubles. and a teacher at the factory school of the Loktevsky plant – 58 rubles. (Table 3).

Table 3

Salaries of assayers, contractors and teachers in factories and mines
Altai Mountain District in 1864 (rubles per year)

Salary of assayers, contractors and teachers at factories and mines of the Altai mining district in 1864 (rubles per year) 

Calculated by: GAAK. F.2. Op. 1. d. 1913, 2912, 2942, 7278.

Calculated by: State Archive of the Altai Territory. Fund. 2. Description. 1. Case. 1913, 2912, 2942, 7278. 

Table 3 shows that salaries for the same positions were an order of magnitude higher at other enterprises. The reason for such low pay at the allocated factories and mines is most likely that there were still workers who did not work out a 3-year term to obtain freedom under the terms of the reform of 1861, and they received salaries on pre-reform conditions. This can be confirmed by the fact that in the staffing table of 1849, the following salary sizes were established for the positions of teacher and assayer: teacher of the 1st article - 58 rubles per year; assayer of the 1st article – 48 rubles per year ^{[28, pp. 80-130]}. In addition, in the statements and estimates of 1864, it is indicated that the positions of teacher and assayer at the Loktevsky and Gavrilovsky factories, respectively, were occupied by uryadniki.

In general, the average salary of the lower ranks in 1864 at six factories of the Altai Mining District was 132 rubles, and 126 rubles per year – at six mines. Taking into account the remuneration of all the officials considered (both class and lower ranks), we can say that at the enterprises of the Cabinet economy, the salary of officials was, as in Siberia as a whole, quite low. For comparison, we can take the data given in the works of Yu. M. Goncharov, who studied the financial situation and earnings of officials in Siberia in the second half of the XIX- early XX centuries. on the example of Tobolsk and Omsk. In his research, he talks about the very low earnings of most officials of Siberian cities. The lower bureaucracy was poor, barely making ends meet. In Tobolsk, more than 95% of officials in the middle of the XIX century received a salary of no more than 300 rubles per year ^{[26, pp. 20-21]}. In the Altai Mining District, officials, Mining engineers of the XIV-VI classes in 1864-1868 received from 120 rubles to 900 rubles, their average salary was 317 rubles per year. The lower ranks received from 48 to 300 rubles, the average salary was 129 rubles per year.

The reform of 1861 forced cabinet enterprises and mines to take measures to preserve workers, including skilled workers and employees. One of the main measures to retain specialists was the amount of salary. In this regard, salary increases occurred mainly for lower ranks, while class ranks, at least until the end of the 1860s, received salaries set by pre-reform staffing schedules. However, the increase in salaries for the lower ranks did not lead to an increase in their welfare, since at the same time they lost the opportunity to receive provisions and uniforms from the administration.

The average annual salary of the lower ranks in the mining industry of the Altai Mining District was 2.5 times lower than the average annual salary of officials of the XIV–VI classes. The "Commemorative Book for the Tobolsk Province for 1864" describes the standard of living of clerks (they can be considered an intermediate link between the class and lower ranks, since promotion to the Table of Ranks began from this stage). This source speaks of a meager salary for clerks, which does not provide "neither a piece of bread, nor a warm corner and clothes, nor even a pair of strong boots and galoshes" ^{[39, p. 329]}. As B. N. Mironov writes in his research, the average annual salary of clerks in Russia (their share was 27.2% of all officials) in 1857 was 100 rubles. ^{[3, p. 93]}.  A clerical servant in the Altai Mountain District , depending on the place of work , received a salary from 24 to 96 rubles per year according to data for 1866 and from 100 to 180 rubles per year in 1867 . That is, pre-reform and in the first post-reform years, the salary of clerks of the Altai Mountain District was even lower than the already small salary of a clerk in European Russia.

In general, the average salary of all lower ranks was 129 rubles. Thus, it can be imagined that the salary of the lower ranks, even after a significant increase, did not give them the opportunity to feed not only their family, but even themselves. Yu. M. Goncharov, giving a description of the Siberian lower bureaucracy given by contemporaries, pointed to their poor appearance, which could be compared with exiles and prisoners from the poorest strata societies ^{[26, p. 20]}. Contemporaries estimated the financial situation of the lower ranks in Siberia even lower than the burghers and city peasants. Poverty and lack of prospects, according to the descriptions of contemporaries, led to mass drunkenness ^{[39, p. 329]}. Among the lower bureaucracy, in addition to drunkenness, constant debts and bribery were widespread everywhere, the latter being, in fact, almost the main source of income with a beggarly salary ^{[40, p. 14-15]}.

Officials of the VI-XIV classes in the mining industry of the Altai Mining District, having an average annual salary of 317 rubles, were not considered beggars, of course, but it is difficult to call their level of well-being high. Of all the class officials, only 14 people received more than 500 rubles a year. In European Russia, according to B. N. Mironov, the average annual salary of 300 rubles was received in 1857 by officials of the IX-XIV classes ^{[2, p.122]}. In the mining industry of the Altai Mining District, officials of the lower classes (X-XIV) were in the worst position, receiving only a salary, the size of which was close to or even equal to the average salary of the lower ranks (slightly more than 120 rubles). Representatives of the higher classes received monthly table money and once every three months – apartment (in case of absence own or government housing). Managers, auditors, bailiffs and doctors, in addition, received money for 1-2 orderlies or servants. Yu. M. Goncharov in his works quotes the words of his contemporaries about a very modest life, budget and lack of luxury among most Siberian class officials in the post-reform period: modest, simple clothes, food, furniture. Their financial situation was comparable to that of the burghers ^{[26, p. 27]}.

* * *

Thus, with the difference in the average annual salary of the class bureaucracy and the lower ranks in the mining industry of the Altai Mining District by 2.5 times, wages were very low for both, especially when compared with European Russia. There were no tendencies to equalize these two groups of bureaucracy in the amount of salaries, and the salary increases of the lower ranks in 1864-1868 were not in order to bring it closer to the salary of class bureaucracy, but in order to retain former compulsory workers who were freed in 1861.