Formation of Soviet state statistics in Altai (1917-1925)

Vladimirov Vladimir Nikolayevich Doctor of History Professor, Department of Russian History, Altai State University 656049, Russia, Altai Krai, Barnaul, Lenin Avenue, 61, room 312 vvladimirov@icloud.com Other publications by this author

Bakulina Natal'ya Valentinovna Postgraduate student, Department of Russian History, Altai State University 656049, Russia, Altai Krai, Barnaul, Lenin Ave., 61, room 312 les-bor82@yandex.ru

Introduction

Statistics of the Soviet period in Altai originates from the system of statistical institutions formed before the October Revolution. These are primarily institutions of zemstvo, as well as resettlement statistics. Although zemstvo statistics were not fully formed due to the late appearance of the Zemstvo in Siberia, nevertheless, it served as the basis for the creation of Soviet statistical institutions. And the materials and experience accumulated by zemstvo statistics have become a very valuable help at the initial stages of the formation of statistical bodies of the new government.

The researchers' interest in studying the development of statistics in Siberia mainly affected the pre-revolutionary period. V.A. Osprey made a great contribution to the study of statistical bodies in Siberia at that time. In his monograph, the history of statistical organizations of Western Siberia and the Steppe Region in the XIX – early XX centuries is studied; their activities are not only in the field of statistics, but also socially and culturally; structural changes and regional features that occurred in the organization and activities of statistical institutions are considered ^[1].

However, a number of works are devoted to statistics of the early Soviet period. Thus, O.V. Simonova's article shows the formation of state statistics in Siberia on the example of the Novosibirsk region. The key points of the formation of the administrative-territorial apparatus of Siberian statistics, which was directly connected with the statistical bodies of Altai, are considered ^[2]. The well-known Novosibirsk historian V.I. Shishkin also addressed the study of the origins of state Soviet statistics in Siberia. In addition to interest in the processes of formation of statistical organizations in this period, the author's attention is directed to the biographies of famous Siberian statisticians: V.N. Sokolov, V.Ya. Nagnibedy, M.P. Krasilnikov, etc. ^[3].

The study of the activities of the Altai Zemstvo as a whole during the Civil War is devoted to the work of A.G. Gordeev, who studied a set of measures carried out in the Altai province to restore the destroyed management system, revealed the structure of the apparatus of the Altai provincial Zemstvo Council, including its statistical department ^[4].

Among other authors who turned to the study of Soviet statistics in Siberia, one can note, for example, V.Ya. Nagnibeda, N.N. Nikitenko, I.V. Yarovoy, A.A. Ageenko, G.A. Polyakova, V. Sokolov ^{[5; 6; 7; 8; 9]}.

In general, however, the formation and activities of statistical bodies in Altai in 1917-1925 have not been studied enough. In this paper we will focus on the formation of the system of state Soviet statistics in the Altai province from 1917 to the beginning of its reorganization in connection with the formation of the Siberian Territory (1925). Altai province as an independent administrative unit was formed by the Decree of the Provisional Government of July 17, 1917, according to which Tomsk province was divided into two: Tomsk, with the provincial city of Tomsk, and Altai, with the provincial city of Barnaul. The Altai province included Barnaul, Biysk, Zmeinogorsky, Kamensky and Slavgorodsky counties ^[10].

Sources

The research is based on the analysis of mostly unpublished documents of the State Archive of the Altai Territory (GAAK, f. R-212 and R-328) containing materials of the Altai Provincial Statistical Bureau (AGSB) from 1917 to 1925. The composition of the documents allows us to trace the history of the transformation of pre-revolutionary statistical bodies into bodies of Soviet statistics. In addition to the reports of statistical sections (demographic, public education, public health, labor and social security, agriculture, current agricultural statistics, industrial production, economic, military, utilities and management, etc.), the corpus of archival documents also consists of telegrams from the Central Statistical Office (CSU) and the Siberian Statistical Office (SSU), minutes of meetings of the board of the AGSB and the Barnaul District Statistical Bureau, monthly reports on the work of county statistical bureaus, correspondence with county statistical offices, correspondence with executive committees, conference minutes, materials of All-Russian statistical congresses, all kinds of work reports, personal sheets of township statisticians, etc.

The list of documents of the R-212 fund according to the GAAK inventories begins in 1917. However, the main array of sources dates back to 1919. For the previous 2 years, there are single documents that record, as a rule, some individual facts and events, but do not give an idea of the activities of statistical bodies as a whole. So, for example, a document of 1918 has been preserved – a report of peasant volost zemstvo administrations to the Barnaul Evaluation and Statistical Department dated October 2 on the number of apiaries in districts and volosts indicating the number of bee families, where, in particular, it was noted that "... there are no apiaries in the Barnaul district" ^[11].

It is possible to get an idea of the state and activity of statistical organizations of Altai in 1917-1918 from the documents of the following years. First of all, these are all kinds of reports on the organization of the AGSB and county statistical offices related to 1919-1920. From them you can get some information about the work of statistical organizations in 1917-1918, about the staff, as well as about the status of available statistical sources.

Formation of Soviet statistical bodies

As already noted, when creating Soviet state statistical bodies in Siberia, the rich experience of resettlement and zemstvo statistics was widely used. At the same time, the zemstvo boards of Western Siberia were formed only in the second half of 1917 – early 1918. A.G. Gordeev mentions the evaluation and statistical department, which was formed at the Altai Zemstvo Board ^{[4, p. 60]}. The Department functioned in 1917-1918 with interruptions for military operations. It is known that he was part of the structure of the zemstvo council, the staff for 1917 consisted of only one person. Of course, this was clearly not enough. As O.V. Simonova notes, after the Bolshevik revolution, in October 1917, the first Siberian Regional Congress was convened in Tomsk, which stated that "... currently in Siberia there is a complete absence of statistical bodies or an imperfect statement of the case in existing bodies" ^{[2, p. 106]}. The creation of a centrally planned economy made statistical accounting one of the most important elements in the organization of the national economy. The process of centralization of statistical institutions has begun.

In June 1918, the first All-Russian Congress of Statisticians was convened, which discussed the draft Regulations on State Statistics. July 25 , 1918 The Decree of the Council of People's Commissars "On State Statistics (Regulation)" formalized the creation of a single nationwide body in the country – the Central Statistical Office (CSB). This decree, as well as the "Regulations on the organization of local Statistical Institutions" and the "Regulations on the Council for Statistics at the Central Statistical Office" approved in September 1918, laid the foundations of Soviet state statistics in the RSFSR, according to which the organization of provincial councils for statistics and the establishment of provincial and county statistical bureaus was provided ^[12]. Thus, the foundation of state statistics was laid, headed by the CSU. The CSU and its local bodies were charged with: maintaining statistics of all branches of the national economy, conducting and developing census materials, issuing yearbooks and other periodicals.

In 1917-1918, there were still evaluation and statistical departments in the Altai province. In addition, statistics of cooperative organizations were kept. But until the restoration of Soviet power, the statistical bodies remained fragmented. The restoration of the work of local statistical bodies took place in a set of measures carried out as part of the restoration of the management system destroyed during the civil war.

At the end of 1919, statistical bodies under the Sibrevkom were formed on the territory of the krai, which faced complex tasks of collecting, processing and analyzing data necessary for planning and managing the national economy in the vast territory of Siberia. The Altai Provincial Statistical Bureau (AGSB) of the Revkom was established on December 12, 1919 on the basis of the evaluation and statistical department of the Altai Provincial Zemstvo Council on the basis of the decree of the SNK of the RSFSR "On local statistical institutions". On the same day, the Bureau moved to a new building in Barnaul on Gogol Street, 16. There was a request to the revkom to install a telephone in the premises on Gogol Street, as well as to release 5 fathoms of firewood for 6 furnaces "otherwise there is no way" ^{[13, L. 8]}].

The core for the organization of the AGSB was the above-mentioned evaluation and statistical department of the Altai Provincial Zemstvo Council. His available staff, which by that time consisted of 4 counters headed by the head V.A. Chernevsky, by the decree of the Gubrevkom, became entirely part of the AGSB, the structure of which by the end of December 1919 consisted of the statistical bureau and county sub-departments preserved from the zemstvo statistical organization, and the staff consisted of 9 employees. V.A. Chernevsky became the head, in addition, the following positions were established: assistant to the head (I.I. Ostakhov), statistician of the 1st category (K.P. Kolosov), statistician of the 2nd category (A.I. Starkhova, K.N. Pushkareva, S.N. Botanova, A.A. Vasiliev), clerk (N.A. Yasinsky), scribe (A.G. Merzlyakov). The structure also included the board of the AGSB, provincial and county expert commissions created to solve current issues of statistical accounting (the commission for monitoring and determining the yield of crops and herbs, the provincial organizational commission for rent taxation, etc.). Initially, the bureau was divided into 2 sub-departments: firstly, industrial statistics, secondly, land, agricultural current and basic statistics. The functions of the bureau included the collection of statistical data on the state and development of the national economy, finance, public education, health, demographic information, preparatory work on the zoning of the province ^{[13, L. 14]}.

On the basis of the decree of the Council of People's Commissars "On Local Statistical Institutions" of 1918, the AGSB in each county had to organize its own county statistical offices, and in each parish had its own volost statisticians through whom to collect all the necessary statistical information on the programs and instructions of the CSU. Programs and instructions began to arrive in the Altai province only in the middle of 1920, when communication was established with the CSU. ^{[14, l. 13.]}.

The provincial State Bureau managed the activities of the county statistical offices, which had volost statisticians in their subordination. The organization of county statistical offices in the Altai province began in 1920 . Together with the staff of the provincial department, the surviving management staff of the organically interconnected Zemstvo District and Evaluation and Statistical departments: Barnaul, Biysk, Zmeinogorsky and Karokorumsky (Gorny Altai), a total of 7 people, moved to the formation of county offices. In addition to the 4 county offices already opened in 1920, 3 more offices – Kamenskoye, Slavgorodskoye and Barnaul Municipal – were supposed to be opened later. All the zemstvo statistical materials, as well as a network of correspondents of current statistics, in the number of 600 people, selected with great difficulty, were transferred to the AGSB and its county offices.

Having only the texts of laws and regulations on the organization of local statistical institutions and an advance in the amount of 10,000 rubles received from the Gubrevkom, the AGSB "... groped its way to further organization and to consolidate in its environment the staff remaining at the crossroads in the counties." ^{[13, L. 58]}. The first task of the department was to replenish the staff and join the environment of local Soviet departments and institutions as a Provincial statistical center. According to the decree on local Statistical institutions, a Gubstatsovet was established to coordinate the work and review their plan. For this purpose, on January 16, 1920, an organizational meeting of the Provincial Council for Statistics was convened, which, despite its somewhat random composition, nevertheless significantly contributed both to the mutual acquaintance of the AGSB and the main departments, and to the identification of some regular statistical and organizational tasks. And, very importantly, it consolidated the Gubstatsovet as a very important and necessary organization. For technical coordination of current statistical work, a statistical board was organized at the AGSB. During this time, the bureau has already begun to serve the City Departments by issuing certificates on the number of different categories of the population, on the composition of municipalities, on the situation of industry and the location of the largest industrial enterprises, on land ownership and land use. By February 1, 1920, the staff of the responsible employees of the bureau was replenished so much that it became possible to organize sections (demographic, agricultural, public education, industrial and land), to allocate an office and organize a statistical board from the heads of sections headed by the head of the bureau. On February 13, 1920, the second meeting of the Gubernatorial Council was held, which reviewed and approved the work plan of each section and resolved a number of fundamental organizational issues.

The activities organized by the AGSB in 1919-1920 should also include the division and processing of the materials of the 1917 census of the Altai province, which were in Tomsk at that time, since the census was still carried out before the separation of the Altai province from Tomsk. For this purpose, at the end of January 1920, two employees of the land section of the AGSB were sent to Tomsk, who conducted an inspection and section of materials for shipment to Barnaul. "The need for this material, although very poorly collected, is great, and with the receipt of it, the work of the land section will be adjusted" ^{[13, l. 58]}.

On January 4, 1920, the Zmeinogorsko-Biysk county statistical department of the AGSB was organized, formed on the basis of the evaluation and statistical department of the former Biysk County Zemstvo Board, whose apparatus and materials are well preserved. The head of the department was appointed N.V. Doroshenko, who previously worked as the head of the evaluation and statistical department of the former Biysk county zemstvo board, "as a person familiar with the county and having statistical experience" ^{[14, L. 15]}. Like V.A. Chernevsky, N.V. Doroshenko had a higher legal education.

The urgent organizational task of the AGSB in 1920 was the opening of the Slavgorod and Kamensky District Offices, which was slowed down due to a lack of senior staff. It was especially difficult to find the heads of these departments. Due to the remoteness of the Stone and especially Slavgorod from Barnaul, there were no candidates for the role of managers among Barnaul and Biysk statisticians. In February 1920, V.A. Chernevsky sent identical letters to the Slavgorod and Kamensky provincial revkoms with a request to assist in opening county statistical offices in this area, to fulfill the tasks of the center, local organizations and instructing volost statisticians. The staff was supposed to be as follows: head, assistant, statistician of the 1st category, counter. In the future, a clerk and a scribe were needed. The letters also expressed a request to the Slavgorodsky and Kamensky gubrevkoms "... to recommend a local for the position of head. The candidate was required to have a keen interest in socio-economic issues, knowledge of the district and the basics of the economy of the peasant economy and, if possible, previous experience in any such work, as well as education not lower than average" ^{[15, L. 1]}. The answer of the Slavgorod Gubrevkom has been preserved: "there is no candidate" ^{[16, l. 2]}. The head of the Kamensky Ustatkom was eventually persuaded to move from Tomsk ^{[16, l. 4]}.

The organization of the Karakorum county statistical office in the village of Ulala took place literally in the conditions of military operations. Starting in November 1919, the normal life of the county and, as a consequence, the statistical department, was disrupted. The department was evacuated several times. After the expulsion of the White Guards in December 1919, the statisticians started to work, but not for long. In January of the following year, 1920, Karakorum county was abolished and divided into 3 districts: Ulalinsky, Uymonsky and Shebalinsky. Due to administrative and territorial changes, the statistics department ceased to exist. On January 23, 1920, the county zemstvo council was ordered to prepare the cases for delivery to the Liquidation Commission. On January 24, the cases were handed over. The Department resumed work on March 1, with S.M. Komarova as its interim head. The working conditions of the staff of statisticians from 2 people were depressing. There was no room, tables, chairs, so they worked in their apartment in Ulala. Gubstatburo was not able to provide material support to the department, limiting itself only to methodological assistance. N.V. Doroshenko, who visited Ulala at that time, "introduced employees to work in Biysk and Barnaul and gave appropriate instructions" ^{[17, L. 2]}.

Despite all the hardships of existence, the department did a lot of work during 1920. Information was collected and summarized on the size of the sown area in the volosts of the former Karakoram county, the number of volosts in each district was adjusted, printed questionnaires were sent out to find out the number of population by age, gender and nationalities, information on the number of factories, factories, enterprises in the former Karakoram county was sent to the Gubstatburo, a "questionnaire for calculating the number of horses, the remnants of those who fled with the whites" ^{[17, l. 4]}.

The problem of staffing the former Karokorum county statistical Department was very acute. They tried to solve the personnel issue by involving local candidates. Inquiries about persons who may be volost statisticians were sent to all volrevkoms. In fact, the activity of the Karokorum county statistical department in 1919-1920 was based on the personal energy and enthusiasm of one person – the head of S.M. Komarova. She worked in the state department in the evenings, because she was not released at her place of main work – in a credit partnership. In a letter to the head of the AGSB V.A. Chernevsky, S.M. Komarova asks to send her to a 4-month course to train statisticians in Omsk, where she "would really like to learn" ^{[17, L. 5]}. 

The Barnaul Municipal Statistical Department was organized from the statistical sub-department under the commune department, which began functioning on December 24, 1919. By the end of January 1920, in addition to the head of the sub-department, there were two first-class statisticians in the state. At first, the sub-department was busy determining the staff and familiarizing with the statistical material remaining from the former self-government, and also sought to establish the scope of the sub-department's activities and its interaction with the Gubstatburo. The work that had just begun was slowed down by the departure from the service at the end of January of statisticians and the head.

On February 1 of the same 1920, the Barnaul statistical sub–department again began to be formed by ordinary workers and by February 20, the staff was made up: 2 statistics of the 1st category, 1 statistician of the 2nd category, 1 counter controller, 1 counter of the 3rd category, and a clerk of the reference desk. In the absence of a manager, the work was distributed among employees depending on the degree of its difficulty and responsibility, and a member of the AGSB board took over the overall management of the entire course of work. The following groups of works were organized: land surveying statistics, housing statistics, construction and repair statistics, fire statistics, statistics of municipal enterprises (telephone, electric and water stations and small enterprises), accounting of the activities of the accounting department, control sub-department, collegium, other sub-departments, personnel of employees and workers of the communal department, statistics of average wages fees and reference prices, statistics of the material warehouse.

The staff of the State Bureau of the Barnaul municipal department at the beginning of 1920 consisted of a statistician of the 1st category N.D. Galakova (acting head), a statistician of the 2nd category L.I. Kolmakova, a clerk of the bazaar table N.A. Grabatkina, a temporary deputy clerk of the bazaar table M.P. Peterdina. The salaries were, respectively: the head of 1750 rubles, the statistician of the 1st category 1350 rubles, the statistician of the 2nd category 1200 rubles, the clerk of the market table 970 rubles. For 1920, the staff of the city statistics section of the Barnaul county statistical office of the AGSB increased to 14 people ^{[18, l. 8.]}.

Thus, the process of formation of the system of county statistical offices in the Altai province in 1919-1920 faced problems characteristic of the entire Siberian region: an acute shortage of qualified personnel, insufficient funding, disordered vertical of power, lack of order of interaction of statistical bodies with various departments. Due to the confusion in the interaction, many conflict situations arose, seriously hindering the activities of statisticians. The confrontation between local and central authorities took a lot of time and effort.  Local government structures (Sibrevkom, Gubprodkom, etc.) demanded that the AGSB fulfill their requests as a priority. The bureau itself insisted "that first of all it should fulfill the tasks of its center, and then the local authorities" ^{[13, l. 23.]}. The confusion with the vertical of power is evidenced by a report to the Altai Gubrevkom by the acting head of the Karakorum Statistical department, S.M. Komarova: "On March 29, 1920, the state department left Ulala with the revkom to the village of Shebalino, where the Gorno-Altai District Committee was formed as a county. The Gorno-Altai Revkom considers us its own and wanted to make us a sub-department of the Land, but for now we are autonomous. In what relation we will be with the District Committee, I have no idea. What about the seal "Karakoram Statistical Department"?  or order the "Gorno-Altaisky Revkom. Statotdelenie "?.." ^{[17, l. 4]}.  

In the middle of 1920, a stable clear connection between the AGSB and Moscow had not yet been established. There was no clear work plan for the current year. In addition, county volost statistical bodies have not yet been established. There were no volost statistics, which the bureau had not yet started recruiting. Nevertheless, despite the current difficulties, the staff of the AGSB realized the importance of their work for the Soviet state. The whole complex of unrealized or partially implemented, but not analyzed statistical measures in 1917-1920 was included in the list of priority tasks for the future, 1921. It included a survey of the distribution apparatus (consumer shops and factories, lists of cooperative and credit societies), a survey of the procurement apparatus (to make a list of all acceptance points: offices, offices, agents, warehouses, barns, to collect information from credit and cooperative unions where the points are located, the distance from the railway, wharves, staff, warehouses, pakhouse, dimensions, volume, load capacity, dryers, dust collectors, glaciers), inspection of agricultural products processing enterprises (mills, creameries, cheese factories, soap factories, sausage, smoking, canneries, vegetable dryers, ekstrol plants, leather, sheepskin, wool, pimokat, twine), agricultural productivity survey and industry, survey of settlements and their population, survey of cultivated land.

Frequent territorial reformation is especially characteristic of the first years of the existence of Soviet power. Altai province did not stay away from this process. Changes in the administrative-territorial division entailed the inevitable reform of the statistical apparatus. By the resolution of the Sibrevkom of December 22 , 1920 Slavgorodsky uyezd was transferred to Omsk province. In this regard, the presidium of the Altai Gubernatorial Executive Committee terminated relations with the Soviet institutions of the county in the matter of orders, including the county statistical bureau opened there ^{[13, l. 172]}.

Expanding the scope of activities and strengthening the staff

In the middle of 1921, the AGSB included 5 county state bureaus, as well as township statisticians and volunteer correspondents on the ground. County bureaus collected raw material (questionnaires, information). All this was received for development in the AGSB. During 1921, his activity consisted mainly in processing the materials of the All-Russian Census, which took place in November 1920. In addition, there was ongoing work on the survey and development on the instructions of the center.

The structure of the AGSB by 1921 consisted of 11 sections: demography, public education, public health, labor and social security, agriculture, current agricultural statistics, industrial production, economic, military, communal services and management, land, general management department. The staff of the AGSB in June 1921 was 103 people with a standard of 215. In addition, it was supposed to increase in connection with the All-Russian Census by 204 people. Thus, a total of 419 people had to work, i.e. the shortage of employees was over 75% ^{[13, L. 184]}. The personnel shortage in the statistical management system is typical for the entire period under study. Nevertheless, the structure and use of the workforce with an acute shortage of personnel were characterized by harmony and expediency, there was no parallelism in activity. The Altai Provincial Extraordinary Commission for the Inspection of the states in June 1921 noted that "... the use of manpower is economical and productive. Despite the huge shortage of staff and the resulting launches – zav. bureau of tov. Chernevsky dismisses employees who are inoperable, useless for the institution, thus creating a productively working and reliable staff. Conclusion: the staff needs replenishment" ^{[13, l. 184]}.  

Separately, it is necessary to say about the people who made possible the very existence of post-revolutionary statistical organizations in Siberia. The backbone of Siberian statisticians at the stage of the formation of statistical organizations in the region were prominent statistical scientists, people dedicated to their work, each of whom made a significant contribution not only to the organization of statistical structures, but also to the scientific and methodological field of statistical research. These were true devotees of their work, who, in the most difficult conditions of the breakdown of the state system, devastation, military operations, the first steps of the formation of new state bodies, headed the work of the statistical bodies of Siberia, specialists with higher university education, with extensive experience in the zemstvos and the field of resettlement statistics. The SSU was headed by M.P. Krasilnikov, a graduate of Kazan University, who began work as an ordinary statistician in the Perm and Ufa zemstvos. After moving to Siberia, he worked in the statistical bureau of the Union of Siberian Cooperatives, then headed the SSU. A very significant person for the history of Siberian statistics was I.V. Yarovoy, who served as the deputy head of the SSU. After the transfer of M.P. Krasilnikov to Moscow, to the CSU, I.V. Yarovoy became the head of the SSU. He had extensive experience working in Siberian statistical institutions, was the author of a number of printed works. Another bright personality was N.N. Baransky – a professional revolutionary, later a famous scientist, geographer. He worked at the SSU in the 1920s, headed the sections of moral and demographic statistics ^{[2, p. 109]}.

Many other employees of SSU and provincial statistical organizations also had special education and extensive experience. Since its formation, the AGSB has been headed by Valentin Alfonsovich Chernevsky. A lawyer by education, he also headed the evaluation and statistical department of the Altai Provincial Zemstvo Council. Being a man with great energy and knowledge of his business, he led the AGSB through the most difficult stages of formation. Thanks to him, the backbone of the statisticians of the Altai province was created, which solved the complex problems of the first post-revolutionary years.

In 1922, administrative and territorial reorganization continued in the country. Altai province was reformed. By the decree of the Central Executive Committee of June 1, 1922, the autonomous region of the Oirot people was formed, where the state bureau of the region with the states and the budget of the county institution was organized ^{[13, l. 217]}.

By the end of 1922, a fairly well-organized network of county statistical bureaus had been built in the Altai province. The County state bureaus were subordinate to the Provincial State Bureau and functioned as an independent Department of the County Executive Committee. The responsibilities of the Ustatburo included the organization and production of current observations in all branches of statistics; mandatory participation in the organization and conduct of all one-time censuses and surveys.

The range of activities has also expanded. The following functions were assigned to the county state bureaus:

– demography: monitoring of civil registration for natural traffic statistics;

– on agriculture: organization of a network of township statisticians and voluntary correspondents, adjustment of their work; registration of annual changes in elements of agriculture (agricultural population, acreage, livestock, inventory); twice a month registration of crop species; registration of other elements of agricultural production and farming techniques;

– on industrial statistics, labor statistics and professional movement: maintaining lists of accountable institutions (factories, industrial unions, etc.), distribution of survey forms;

– in the field of education: organization of annual registrations of all educational and cultural educational institutions;

– in the field of economic statistics: registration of market prices for all items of local turnover for ten days; production of seasonal nutrition surveys of urban and rural population; questionnaire studies;

- in the field of administrative statistics: monitoring the provision of established statistical reporting by various institutions;

– when conducting national censuses and surveys: recruitment of employees, distribution of census materials, briefing, preliminary summary ^{[13, L. 244]}.

In 1923, the All-Russian City Census became a large-scale event in the field of statistics. The forces of Altai statisticians were sent to prepare and conduct this event. The result was statistical data on the population of the Altai province, indicating the name of occupations and profession ^[19]. In 1924, in addition to current statistics, the AGSB was engaged in preparing for the trade census to be held in 1925 on the territory of the Altai province.

In connection with the transition to a planned economy, the tasks facing statistics have changed significantly. For example, by 1924, price statistics became one of the most important indicators for the national economy. The previous statistics were limited to the simple registration of prices for goods and the accumulation of purely reference material, sometimes not quite of good quality, due to completely inexplicable fluctuations. Prices could have practical application in relative terms to determine the ratio of prices for agricultural products and industrial items. A completely different approach to price statistics was outlined by 1924. Prices themselves became the main ones. Price statistics data began to be used in the preparation of all kinds of calculations and estimates, in market surveys of the Altai province, Siberia, the USSR. 

In February 1924, at the Siberian Statistical Conference, the question of the reorganization of price statistics was raised. In October of the same year, the CSU proposed a new procedure for collecting prices and sending them to the center. The peculiarity of the new order was the expansion and refinement of the nomenclature, the expansion of price registration points and the registration of wholesale and retail prices by categories of trading enterprises (state, cooperative, private). In the conditions of Siberia, the registration of procurement prices was of great importance. The instructions from the CSB to the AGSB contained a requirement to provide a description of the reasons that caused the price change. The procedure for providing information has also changed significantly – the usual forwarding is being replaced by telegraphic and hasty mail.

For the implementation of the planned works of the AGSB, some funds are allocated from the CSB. Price collectors are recommended to move away from the previous views on price registration as a statistical material. On the forms, there was a special appeal to the price collector: "Dear comrade. The collector performs work of national importance. Prices are collected not for reference, but for calculations for the life of the country" ^{[20, l. 135-136.]}. The editorial office of the newspaper "Krasny Altai" in a telegram asks "to send price data weekly" ^{[20, l. 126]}. Attitudes have also changed towards other types of data obtained from labor, health and education statistics, the importance of which was due to their influence on public policy in these areas, which made the work of statisticians of state importance.

In general, it can be noted that by 1925 the main structures of the Altai provincial statistical Apparatus were formed, and the tasks for monitoring and studying each structural element were defined. Tasks and responsibilities were also distributed between state and departmental statistical bodies.

The continuation of the territorial reform of the country was the formation of the Siberian Territory. On May 25, 1925, the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee approved this new administrative territory with the center in the city of Novonikolaevsk. The Siberian Region included Altai, Yenisei, Novonikolayevskaya, Omsk, Tomsk provinces and Oirot Autonomous Region, later some changes were made to the composition and borders of the region. 5 districts were formed on the territory of the former Altai province: Barnaul, Biysk, Kamensky, Rubtsovsky and Slavgorodsky ^{[10, p. 16]}. In this regard, the statistical bodies of Siberia are also being rebuilt. Since October 1, 1925, 17 district statistical bureaus have been formed instead of the existing 5 gubstatburo and 22 ustatburo. The AGSB was abolished. The district statistical bureaus were now under the jurisdiction of the Siberian Regional Statistical Office ^{[2, p. 109]}.

Conclusion

Thus, the process of reforming statistical bodies in the Altai Territory stretched for several years. During this time, a wealth of experience has been accumulated in the practice of statistical accounting, scientific and methodological developments in the field of statistical science, training of statistical personnel. Largely thanks to the enthusiasm of the workers, it was possible not only to protect statistical structures with their achievements from destruction, but also to build new ones that meet the needs of the emerging Soviet state.

Due to the structural and political changes that took place in the state in 1917-1919, many statistical data were irretrievably lost. There is no statistical material in the Altai Territory for many indicators for the period from 1913 to 1920 . In 1919, the CSU, knowing the disastrous post-war state of statistical funds, sent a letter to all provincial cities with recommendations on the development of data from the 1917 household urban census. "If the data has not been preserved, use the data of all censuses close to 1917" ^{[18, l. 29]}.  To summarize the results of the city census of 1917, Altai statisticians "collected all available and preserved censuses since 1914" ^{[18, l. 29-31]}. Nevertheless, statistical data, sometimes collected with great difficulty, were supplied to the center and to local authorities. Despite the meager funding, statistical compilations were produced. They tried to solve the lack of personnel by organizing statistical courses. With the increased volume of work, they coped with the improvement of the counting methodology. There is no doubt that the work carried out by Altai statisticians in 1917-1925 deserves the highest praise and should be the object of close study, since statistical data is one of the keys to the study of the history of any region.