4.8.2.2 Self government local level

Self-administration of the former colonies at the district and community level remained in German hands even after the reform of 1871. The village and district administrations, as in Russia, overall, were now based on the common farmers’ law. Formally and in content they were subject to the principles of the rural Semstwo system. Self-administrative institutions were now more strongly controlled by the state than before and their powers were severely curtailed.

The most important changes were as follows:

• The districts (Okruga) were replaced by areas (Wolosts). Each community received the right to form a Wolost, as long as it had a certain number of residents. Krasna fulfilled these conditions and received Wolost status. When the district office contained just one community, as was the case in Krasna, all of the males of the community entitled to vote elected the area officials. (In other cases delegations from the district communities did this). Since Krasna had the dual status of district and village, it had only one form of government with the mayor at the top. Otherwise, there was no other village administration; the chief mayor took over the mayor’s responsibilities. Krasna administration was a mixture of district and village tasks combined. There was no mayor, just a chief mayor.
• Mayors and chief mayors lost their associates. Instead, two institutions existing in Russian regions before 1871 were introduced: Sotskii (leaders of a hundred) and Desjatskie (leaders of ten), ¹⁾ elected for the period of one year and performing mostly police duties.

The Sotski was their representative of the mayor and mainly responsible to supply wagons and compulsory workers. See 10, Taxes, contributions and providing produce in kind Leaders of ten, the Desjatzki, handled community police work, supervised the youths, acted in disturbances of the peace, assigned night watches and administered all of the above.
See also 4.9, Judicial Practices, Public Order and Safety for Organization and Personnel for Safety and Order in the Community.

• The chief mayor was still elected for a period of three years. Elections no longer used election lists, but the anonymous ballot. It is not clear when this change was made. We still have election lists from 1869 (see above) and therefore it can be assumed that the change occurred soon after 1871. A “bullet system” was used and Eduard Ruscheinsky explains this procedure ²⁾: The community assembly suggested candidates for election for the office of chief mayor and other offices. The candidates were voted for in sequence. It was a secret vote and happened like this: The election urn was a box. People did not use pieces of paper, but balls. The urn had a hole in the front, a divider inside. One portion was colored white, the other black. White was the pro, or “for it” side, black was the con or “against it” side. A person voting for the candidate put his bullet in the white slot, if not in the black one. A board divided the inside into black and white. The person in charge of the election handed each voter a ball and all community members walked by the election box, dropping their balls into the desired slot. The candidate with the most white balls/votes was nominated (elected) chief mayor.
• The circle of voters was expanded. Each farm owner or owner of a parcel of land in the German communities was granted the right to vote. Other community members dispatched a representaive of ten residents to the community assembly. This prevented landless people from representation in the council.
• The loss of autonomy of the former colonies can be demonstrated by the degree of validity of their resolutions from community assemblies:
  Election of the chief mayors and mayors had to be agreed to by the bailiff.
  Community decrees concerning matters like the budget, public building construction, matters concerning moneys and taxation needed a majority vote of two thirds and the agreement of the bailiff.
  Community decrees dealing with lesser matters were agreed upon by the majority of the vote and were put into force after the district office signed off on it. Krasna had the dual status of district and community and the decrees there were immediately effective.

These changes were not clearly noticeable in the daily community life of Krasna. The mayor and chief mayor continued being in charge and the community assembly remained as the politically deciding institution.
The community continued to hire the pastor, teacher, secretary and assisting personal for the community tasks.

Note: Krasna chief mayors are listed at 7.8, under State and Community Offices of Administration, (functionaries in administration on a state and community level)