The highest levels of communal government of the colonies were the district or area offices for several colonies, then came the village administration (mayor’s office) in the individual colonies. Until 1871 Krasna belonged to the district of Wittenberg/Alt-Posttal. A district office was later established in Wittenberg in 1817 and a chancellery was built. ¹⁾ When Wittenberg/Malojaroslawetz was divided in 1834 the office was placed in the more centrally located colony of Malojaroslawetz II (Alt-Posttal).

The district office “Okruga” consisted of a chief mayor (district administrator) and two officials. Officials were elected by majority vote of the rural communities of the colonist district and they had to be farm owners.

The chief mayor was elected for three years and the officials for two years. Voting periods for the assistants was alternated; each year only one could be elected. A districts secretary supported the chief mayor and his officials and he handled all the running business affairs. He was the actual leader of the district chancellery and his was a full time job. Often he had assistants. He was hired by the administration under agreement of the chief mayor. The district office had the task of supervising the village administrations under its jurisdiction and to acknowledge the decisions made by the individual community. Aside from this, it handled matters beyond the scope of individual communities and one of these tasks was the administration of the orphan and fire fund. See also 6.4, Community Tasks and Self Help Organizations

Important decisions made had to be forwarded to the Welfare Committee. To a certain degree, judicial matters also figured into the responsibilities of the district/community. See also 4.9, Judicial Practices, Public Order and Safety

The village was the lowest level of self-government in the Bessarabian colonies. The colonies elected a mayor, called Starosta and two associates and a Dessnatik in charge of 10 farms. Re-election was permitted. These officials formed the executive staff of the community, which was in charge of the community office, the village or mayor’s office of the district. The mayors were paid a small salary, associates and leaders of ten worked for free.

The colonist laws described the village administration and the necessary documents to file. Village administration had to:

• Ascertain that the colonist laws and orders of the governing authority were obeyed,
• Assure police order and safety as well as the cleanliness of the community,
• Upkeep of the roads, dams, bridges, community buildings and schools,
• Building new community buildings,
• Administration of grain supplies for emergencies,
• Collecting state and district taxes, the fire fund tax and money to pay the pastor, teacher, secretary and other community officials.

The pastors had to keep books about marriages, births and deaths and every 6 months they were obliged to file a report with the Welfare Committee.

The community assembly was the decision-making organ of the community and each farm dispatched a representative to the meetings. Landless people were excluded. The mayor, who also served as its president, called the community assembly several times a year and at these assemblies concerns and problems of the community were discussed. As needed, decisions were made. The community assembly elected the village mayor and his associates. It also made decisions about hiring the pastor, teacher, secretary, church custodian and the herders. The community paid all of these.

All persons present signed these important decisions, called community decrees. A decision bearing the majority of the signatures was adopted, others were not. Community decrees of smaller importance became the law as soon as the district office approved them. More important ones, including the annual budget, public building proposals and money and taxation matters needed confirmation of the Welfare Committee. There are several community decision documents in existence for Krasna, kept at the state archives in Odessa.

At the year-end meeting the mayor gave a report of his activities. Eduard Ruscheinsky ²⁾ describes such meetings, some of which were quite emotional.

Village mayors and associates were elected by the colonies for a period of two years. Just like the district administration election, the associate election was transposed. One election for one associate per year per session took place. Candidates for mayor and associates had to meet certain requirements. Only men could be elected who were:

• Of age and owned a whole farm,
• Exceptional farmers and led a clean life,
• Just and able to perform the job.

Only “sober and respectable” men of middle age were to be elected. The elected persons were well respected, but they were only elected if they had clean records.
Elections were public. In the community assemblies slated for the election, the candidates were suggested, and then the people present cast their vote. Voting lists were used for the purpose. (For an example, see figure 10.1, Documents and Reports from Government and Administration) Participation in elections was mandatory and people absent without an excuse were fined.

Elected mayors and associates had to be acknowledged by the Welfare Committee and be sworn in by the village priest or pastor in a prescribed oath of office. We have a copy of the office oath of Krasna mayor Matthias Müller dated February 14, 1848. Text,
See 10.1, Documents and Reports from Government and Administration

The mayor was the president of the community assembly and the leader of administration. It was his responsibility that the community administration tasks were taken care of in orderly fashion. It was also a responsibility of the mayor to assure that the residents “led an orderly, quiet and industrious existence in accordance with their status.” The village mayor could object to discrepancies and order monetary fines. He had a relatively far-reaching power.

The associates mainly cared for farm issues such as community livestock for breeding, herders’ concerns, fire prevention, night watches and more.

The mayor and his associates also had judge’s powers and police authority.
See also 4.9, Judicial Practices, Public Order and Safety.

Colonists were not permitted to leave the colony without a permit. A note from the village mayor sufficed for trips to the neighboring village, to Akkerman, the district capital, or to Kischinev, the government seat.
For longer journeys or prolonged absences a passport had to be applied for at the colonial inspector’s office, accompanied by the mayoral documents. Passports were only granted when certain conditions were met, for example, the petitioner was not behind in payments or involved in a court hearing. Passports out of country had even more stipulations.

The community clerk, called Selskiji Pisar, was responsible for the office administration of the chancellery and the community was his employer.
The secretary, well versed in legal issues, was responsible for all official community correspondence. He had the power to hire trainees and employees. He participated in community assemblies and kept the record. He was the bookkeeper for community finances and produced the year end reports and budgets for the next year. He kept the compulsory labor record and other lists and records. In the words of Eduard Ruscheinsky, describing the tasks of the community secretary:
In Russian times the tasks of the community clerk were adapted to the daily lives of the colonists. He had to supervise the guardianships of the orphans, keep resident records, set up marriage contracts, etc…. community clerks were the busiest in the evening hours after the villagers and the mayor were done with their field work.

• The policeman was also the community clerk. He took care of making the relevant announcements of the community administration, such as calling people to vote, invitations to community assemblies, reminding people to pay their tributes, ordering people to report to the chancellery, etc. He accomplished this by walking through the village and ringing his bell at prescribed intervals, shouting the announcement and message. He had other duties such as the cleaning and heating of chancellery rooms, cleaning the petroleum lamps and refilling them, etc.
  There are two names of such officials mentioned in newspaper reports: Michael Seifert (news report dated September 12, 1928) and Georg Paul (news report dated December 29, 1930).
• The village watch (See also 4.9, Judicial Practices, Public Order and Safety)
  E. Ruscheinsky ³⁾) writes about the actual situation of the village administration of Krasna prior to 1871. It is probable that all administration in the initial years was kept to an oral level. There are only written documents available from 1824 on.
  During this segment of oral jurisdiction there was no controlling agency; all administrative issues were done orally. The office practices of the mayor and his associates were based on mutual trust and German honesty. None of the community members had any doubts concerning the integrity of the elected officials. There were no controls and hardly any written documents. The mayor kept a notebook.
  Chancellery workloads increased after 1824. There was still much poverty and community members hired a farmer able to read and write to keep the records. As the community prospered, they hired a teacher, who then handled the written communication with the Welfare Committee in Odessa. Over the years the community continued to prosper and the administrative tasks increased. The teacher could no longer serve two bosses… Administration business piled up and the community was forced to hire a man they called the secretary… This secretary usually lived close to the chancellery…. All written communication was in German until 1871.

Note: Krasna mayors, as far as they are known are listed under 7.8, State and Community Offices of Administration
Regarding the building for the community administration, See 3.1, The village of Krasna, its Location and Appearance