Публіцистика В. М. Хижнякова як джерело з історії земського ліберального руху на півночі лівобережної України (60–80 рр. ХІХ ст.)

The article examines the journalistic legacy of a prominent member
of the Zemstvo liberal movement in northern Ukraine – V. Khyzhnyakov.
We have found a number of journalistic works by V. Khyzhnyakov, which is
being introduced to scientific circulation for the first time. Content analysis
of V. Khyzhnyakov’s works allows us to state that members of the opposition
aristocratic front of northern Ukraine took a direct part in the modernization
of the Russian Empire by reforming many areas of provincial society. For
example, the personal and financial efforts of the Zemstvo Liberals in
the capital of the Northern Left Bank, Chernihiv, built a water main – an
infrastructural achievement of the time. Progressives took an active part
in the formation and progress of a unique and very relevant at the time
educational institution – Chernihiv Women’s Gymnasium, and its teachers
– members of the Liberal Party, showed their humane philanthropy and
refused to receive official pedagogical fees. An outstanding achievement of
the liberal Zemstvos was the creation of a large-scale library network in the
region, with a total budget of 60,000 rubles, and the institutionalization of
plans to grant librarians the status of Zemstvo employees with appropriate
funding from local government budgets. The clerical problem occupied a
special place in V. Khizhnyakov’s journalism. Despite the failure of the
attempts of partnership between the Zemstvo liberal opposition and the
clergy of Ukrainian Polissya, V. Khyzhnyakov convincingly argued that
the parties did not become antagonists. In particular, this was reflected in
the proposals of the opposition front regarding the insurance of church
infrastructure, inviting clergy to cooperate in the field of statistical research.
However, the era of Counter-Reforms added skepticism in the attitude of
liberal Zemstvos to the clerical world, as official state policy during this
period essentially destroyed all the possessions of the era of the Great
Reforms. Numerous complaints from the peasantry about widespread
corruption among the clergy forced the North Left Bank Zemstvo to propose a package of reform measures that included a special church tax, granting the
clergy the status of Zemstvo officials, but in exchange for the vast majority
of religious rites and rites. Unfortunately, the progressive initiative was
not supported and the clergy continued to be funded by both parishioners
and the state. In response, the Zemstvo Liberal Party of Northern Ukraine
did not support the provision of renewed church and parish schools from
the budgets of Zemstvo institutions, as the former became a mouthpiece
for conservative policies in the Russian Empire. Respectfully mentioning
the bright members of the Zemstvo liberation movement, allies in the
political struggle, V. Khyzhnyakov categorically stated that the progress
of self-government in the country is possible only with the destruction
of society structure in the country, elimination of state supervision of
zemstvos and domination of democratic institutions, qualitative change of
the social base. In general, V. Khyzhnyakov’s journalism, in our opinion,
reproduces the basic imperatives of ethno-confessional, social, economic
and humanitarian programs of the Zemstvo liberal movement in the north
of the Left Bank of Ukraine during the study period, which makes the
found source of indispensable for researchers.