SECTION F THE ORGANS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The organs of local government in Hetman Ukraine corresponded with the administrative and territorial divisions in the country. The country was divided into the Regiments (polky, sing., polk), as inter­mediate military as well as administrative and territorial units.

Once more we have to note that, as it was with the case of central government, the organs of local government retained the outward character of Cossack military units. In fact, they became the organs of the new state, endowed with the new functions of government which they did not have before the successful Rebellion of 1648. And again, as it was with the organs of central government, we find here the same inexact delimitation of military, administra­tive and judicial functions.

The Colonel (polkoυnyk) was the head and chief officer of a Regiment. The colonels were either elected by the Cossack Officers’ Council or appointed by the Hetman. Such appointments were often resented and opposed because they probably violated the established custom. In some cases the colonels were even elected by the Cossack Assemblies of their regiments. The principles and rules of election and appointment were not firmly established. It is interesting to note that, while in the northern and central Regiments of Hetman Ukrai­ne, the colonels, in most cases, were appointed (by the Hetman) or elected (by the central Officers’ Council), in the southern Regiments — in the first place in the Regiments of Poltava and Myrhorod (Mirgorod) they were elected in the seventeenth century by the Cossack Assembly of their Regiment. The colonels who were appoin­ted or elected by the organs of central government quite often ruled their Regiments for a long time; on the other hand, in the Poltava and Myrhorod Regiments they frequently were dismissed shortly after their election by the same Regimental Cossack Assembly which had elected them.

In the eighteenth century the Russian Government forced Het­man Ivan Skoropadsky to appoint several colonels of Russian origin. This was a singular case, and later on the colonels were appointed from the officers of Ukrainian origin. However, they were never elected by the Cossack Assemblies of their Regiments in the eigh­teenth century. The Regimental or the Cossack Chief Officers’ Coun­cil nominated several candidates for this position and the Russian Government or its representative in Hetman Ukraine approved one of them. Only during Cyril Rozumovsky’s rule the colonels were again appointed by the Ukrainian Government.

Colonels participated in the political activity and decision­making process of the central Ukrainian Government. They often attended the meetings of the Collegium of Cossack Chief Officers, and always participated in the enlarged sessions of the central Cossack Officers’ Council. The colonels arrived at these sessions as the heads and leaders of the Cossack officers and noble army fellows of their Regiments and could Undoubtebly influence the composition of the regimental delegation. The influential position of the colonels was evident from the fact that, when an enlarged session of the Cossack Officer’s Council passed a written resolution, it was usually signed only by the colonels, on behalf of the Cossack officers and noble army fellows of their Regiments.

In fact, the position of the colonel was in many aspects second to the Hetman’s. A colonel who was backed by the strong organiza­tion and military force of his Regiment was by far more independent than the Cossack chief officers who were dependent on and control­led by the Hetman. As we had already mentioned, there were quite a few cases when members of the lower group of Cossack chief offi­cers were appointed or elected to the position of a colonel.

The wide scope of the Colonels’ power assured their influential position. The colonel was the commander of his Regiment as a mili­tary unit. He led this unit in military campaigns. In the time of peace he summoned the Cossack Hundreds for inspections and reviews; on his order they had sometimes to serve as the guards or to carry out various errands and commissions. At the same time the colonel was the governor of his Regiment, as an administrative and territorial unit. He directed and supervised the work of all the organs of local administration, among them Cossack officers as the military and administrative officials of their districts. Quite often they were appointed by the colonel himself; in other cases, especially in sou­thern Regiments, they were elected by the Regimental Cossack As­sembly or the Hundred (Company) Assembly. Under the conditions of that time the granting of landed estates to the Cossack Officers of the regiment, or to the noble army fellows, for their service in the army or local government, was an important part of the colonels’ functions. The colonels’ ’’Letters,” sometimes confirmed by the Hetman’s grant charters, served as documents for the possession of landed estates. Later they helped the holders to acquire the full right of ownership to these estates.

Besides his position as the military commander and the governor of province-like territory, the colonel also carried out some judicial functions. Decisions of the regimental courts show us that in the seventeenth century the colonel often presided over the judicial college, superseding the judge of the Regiment. In these cases the monetary fines, which were the principal form of punishment, went to the colonel.

The colonel’s special ensign (symbol of authority) was the so- called pernach, a baton with a large end covered by metal.

The Regiment, as an administrative and territorial unit, was also governed by other organs — the Regimental Council of Cossack Officers and the Regimental Cossack Assembly.

The meetings of the Regimental Council of Cossack Officers (polkova starshyns’ka rada) were attended also by the commanders of the Hundreds and the noble army fellows who resided in the Re­giment. This body could probably have developed into an organ of elected self-government, but we can talk only about a possibility or probability of such development. The meetings of the Regimental Council took place in the town which was the seat of a Regiment’s administration. The meetings were not regular and were only called from time to time. The jurisdiction of the Regimental CouncR repea­ted in general the functions of colonels in the sphere of government and administration (³. e. had concurrent powers). At the same time its powers were more limited because the sheer number of cases and problems on its agenda.

The Regimental Cossack Assembly (polkova kozats’ka rada) was an organ based on the principle of direct democracy, i. e. the direct participation of the people (or, in this case, only members of the Cossack social group) in the discussion and decision of the problems of government. In this sense the Regimental Assembly was similar to the Cossack General Assembly of the whole state. The Cossack Regimental Assembly, just like the Cossack General Assembly, was a meeting of only one social group, in fact, of all members of the Cossack estate. However, these assemblies were the organs of go­vernment which discussed and decided the problems that concerned not only the Cossack estate but the whole state population (Cossack General Assembly), or the whole population of a certain region (the Cossack Regimental Assembly).

Being organs of the same type, the Cossack Regimental Assemb­lies followed the development of the Cossack General Assembly. As in the case of the Cossack General Assembly, they proved them­selves unable to effectively govern their region of the state. Conse­quently the development of the regimental assemblies repeated the story of the Cossack General Assembly; it was à path of decline and extinction.

The authority of the Cossack Regimental Assembly covered the discussion and decision of military, administrative and financial problems of their regions as well as the election of local officers and officials; in some cases they also acted as a court. These functions competed with the functions of the Regimental Officers’ Council.

In the eighteenth century, the time of increased influence of Russia on the Ukrainian government and society and the introduction of Russian bureaucratic procedure, the Cossack Regimental Assembly (where it still functioned) and the Regimental Officers’ Council were replaced by the regimental chancelleries (ρolkovi kantseliarii). To some extent these chancelleries acquired even certain functions of the colonels. They were not only an apparatus of clerical service but also organs of public administration. Strictly speaking, the adminis­trative functions belonged to their executive boards (prisutstviia) — collegiums of the regimental officers led by the colonel. The important part of the chancellery’s work was the carrying out of the population census, the valuation of the estates, the determination and regula­tion of the rights to these estates, etc. They also prepared and preser­ved the komputy — the master rosters of the Cossacks of the Regi­ments and, separately, the official registry of the noble army fellows.

The regimental chancelleries were served by the large number of clerks who were full-time employees, a result of mushrooming bureaucratic procedures in the work of eighteenth century govern­mental organs. The clerks or their superiors, the Cossack officers, prepared and drew up the countless reports, opinions, orders, etc. that filled the numerous bulky volumes which before World War II were preserved in the archives of Kiev, Chernihiv and Poltava.

Like the officials of the central government, the Cossack officers of the Regiments had the titles and ranks of military commanders which had originated before 1648. Their functions as well as their titles corresponded to the functions and titles of the Cossack chief officers. Thus the Regimental Quartermaster (polkovyi oboznyi) was second to the Colonel in his position and influence. He also was the commander of the regimental artillery. When the Colonel was absent the Regimental Quartermaster carried out his functions. In such cases he was called the ’’Acting Colonel” (nakaznyi polkovnyk). Next in line was the Regimental Judge (polkovyi suddia). He prepared the court cases for judicial examination and presided over the court sessions which the Colonel did not attend. The Regimental Secretary (polkovyi pysar) carried out the official correspondence of the Regi­ment; he directed and supervised the work of the clerks (kantselia- rysty and pidpysky) of the regimental chancellery. The Regimental Aide-de-camp, had mainly military functions. He inspected the Cossacks and their arms and supervised the guards; he also had some police functions. Next to him was the position of the Regimental Flag Bearer (polkovyi Ichorunzhyi) whose functions were in most aspects very close to the functions of the regimental aide-de-camp. His special duty was to guard the regimental flag (polkovyi znachok).

Besides these special functions the regimental officers were members of the Regimental Officers’ Council. In the eighteenth cen­tury they sat on the board of the regimental chancellery.

The Hundred or Company (sotnia) was the lower military, ad­ministrative and territorial unit (or district) of Hetman Ukraine. It was governed by the Hundred’s Commander (sotnyk). He was the military commander of the Cossack Hundred and administrator of its district. These functions were somewhat limited in comparison with the functions of the Hetman and Colonel. Thus, for instance, the Hundred’s commander usually did not dispose of the landed estates which belonged to the Ukrainian state.

In the documentary materials of the seventeenth century we find frequent notes about the meetings of the Cossack Hundred assemblies. Their structure, functions and procedure correspond to the structure, functions and procedure of the Cossack General Assembly and the regimental Cossack assemblies but were limited by their small territorial extent. An important part of their functions was the election of the Hundred’s commander and officers (but it often competed with the appointment of the Hundred’s comman­ders by the colonel, and the Hundred officers by the Hundred’s commander). In the southern Regiments of Poltava and Myrhorod this practice of the election of the commander and officers of the Hundreds by the Cossack Hundred Assembly existed even in the first decades of the eighteenth century.

There were only a few officers’ positions in the Hundred. Next to the Commander of the Hundred in rank and position was the Hundred’s Captain (sotennyj otaman); he performed the functions of the Hundred’s Commander in his absence. The holders of this posi­tion had a special duty to supervise the Cossacks who resided in the Hundred’s centre. If it was a comparatively large settlement the Hundred’s Captain was called the Town Captain (horodovyi otaman). Next to him was the Hundred’s Secretary (sotennyi pysar) who in the eighteenth century directed the work of the special Hundred’s Office and its personnel. The position of Hundred’s Aide-de-camp (sotennyi osavul) was similar in functions to that of the chief and regimental aides-de-camp.

When we describe the organs of municipal government in Het­man Ukraine, we have to note their great variety in the different cities and towns of the country. In the first place some of them en­joyed the right of self-government in accordance to German Magde­burg Law. This privilege was granted only to twelve larger cities: Kiev, Chernihiv, Pereiaslav, Novhorod-Siverskyi (Novgorod-Se- verskii), Starodub, Nizhyn, Poltava and others. If we look at the map we can notice that five of these cities were in territory of the nor­thern Starodub Regiment (Starodub, Novhorod-Siverskyi, Mhlyn₁ Pochep, and Pohar). In the south-east only Poltava was governed by Magdeburg Law.

The town hall in these ’’Magdeburg” cities was called magistral; its counterpart in other cities was just ratusha (the town-hall). The magistrates of Magdeburg Law cities were the mayor (viit or burgo­master), councilors (raitsi), jurors (Iavnyky) and the secretary (py- sar). If we look closer into the structure of individual cities in Hetman Ukraine we see that the number of these magistrates varied in diffe­rent cities; there were more of them in the larger cities, fewer in the smaller ones. The councilors and jurors performed their duties in turns. Ukrainian cities did not strictly observe the Magdeburg Law’s formal division of functions between the mayors and jurors as a college of judicial character, and the burgomaster and councilors as a group with administrative and financial functions. In the proposed code of Ukrainian laws — Prawa, po kotorym suditsia malorosiiskii narod (Laws by Which the Little-Russian People Are Judged) we read that the mayor was the head of municipal government; other members of city government should ’’care for general welfare.” The cities and towns which had not been granted the Magdeburg Law were governed by the boards of burgomasters and councilors; they were more dependent on the government of Cossack Hundreds than the Magdeburg Law cities. But in the eighteenth century even the Magdeburg Law cities lost a large measure of self-government and were more and more controlled by the central and regimental or­gans of Cossack government. As a result in time some of them were ruled by the appointed mayors who were selected from the noble army fellows and not from the burgher class. This situation shows, on the one hand, the strong influence of the upper social layer in a state of hereditary estates and, on the other hand, the weak poli­tical position of the Ukrainian cities. They had not developed strong industry and commerce and, as a result, could not effectively protect their rights to self-government.

The organs of municipal government exercised their functions in the fields of justice, finances and taxation. They supervised local guilds and the organization of municipal services. Especially impor­tant among the last was the prevention and extinguishing of fires which often resulted in the destruction of the large parts of whole towns.