ABSTRACT
The peasant or field commune was the most important institution of rural Russia. The impression that peasants were to remain a distinct and inferior category was reinforced by the requirement that applicants for the new post who were hereditary nobles of the locality be given preference and that gentry marshals be consulted on their appointment. Ducing the ministry of Tolstoi, the central government, concerned over maintaining order in the countryside, also noted the shortcomings of peasant administrators: their squandering of public funds, abuses of authority, or avoidance of responsibility. The official answer was that educated noble landowners, dedicated to the peasants' welfare and familiar with their needs, would do more for them than impersonal codes. Peasants were much pitied or praised by their privileged and literate countrymen from all parts of the ideological spectrum, but they were little known even by those who made an honest effort to study them.
