Išmatuoti erdves: Ribų komisijų įkūrimas ir jų veikla 1791-1792 metais

LTApšvietos epochos dvasia brandintos protingo visuomeninio ir politinio gyvenimo tvarkymo idėjos rado platų atgarsį kintančioje to meto visuomenėje. Šie procesai jungtinėje Lenkijos ir Lietuvos valstybėje ryškiausiai atsiskleidė Ketverių metų seimo laikotarpiu, ženklindami esminius pokyčius sociopolitiniame, ekonominiame, kultūriniame gyvenime. Straipsnio tikslas - ištirti iki šiol mokslinėje literatūroje mažai analizuotus Ribų komisijų institucijos įsteigimo 1791 m. tikslus ir šių institucijų veiklą. Ketverių metų seimo priimti įstatymai "Paprastasis atribojimas Lietuvos Didžiojoje Kunigaikštystėje" ir "Įvairios prigimties žemėvaldos atribojimas Karūnos provincijose" numatė skirtingą lokalinių žemėtvarkos institucijų sukūrimo ir funkcionavimo tvarką Lietuvoje bei Lenkijoje. Įstatymas dėl Ribų komisijų įkūrimo Lietuvoje, skirtingai nei Lenkijoje, buvo pradėtas sėkmingai įgyvendinti. Visuose pavietuose buvo suformuotos naujos žemėtvarkos institucijos - Ribų komisijos. Ribų komisijos Lietuvoje realizavo pirmąjį joms pavesto darbo etapą - suformavo darbo grupes, įsirengė patalpas, informavo apie dokumentų pateikimo tvarką bei pasirengė jų analizės ir žemės matavimo darbams. Prielaidas sėkmingam darbui sudarė įstatyme apibrėžtas komisijų sudarymo mechanizmas, nustatyti santykiai su aukščiausia vykdomąja valdžia - Įstatymų Sargyba bei teigiamas bajorijos požiūris į Ketverių metų seimo reformas. Tai atskleidžia Apšvietos epochos subrandintą protingo visuomeninio ir politinio gyvenimo tvarkymo siekį ir jo recepciją visuose LDK vaivadijose bei pavietuose.Reikšminiai žodžiai: Ketverių metų seimas; Ribų komisijos Lietuvoje 1791-1792 m.; Apšvietos epocha; Four Year Diet; The District Boundary Commissions in Lithuania in 1791-1792; The Age of Enlightenment; Ribos; Lenkija (Lenkijos karalystė. Kingdom of Poland. Poland); žemėvalda; Boundaries; Land-ownership.

ENThe article analyses the provisions of the laws 'Normal Delimitation in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania' and 'Delimitation of Various Kinds of Land Holdings in the Crown Provinces' that were adopted by the Four Year Diet in December 1791 and the problems with the implementation of these laws in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland. The research sources were the laws adopted by the Four Year Diet, the resolutions of the February 1792 dietines concerning the election of boundary commissions, the documents of the district boundary commissions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that are preserved among the documents of the Guardianship of the Laws (Polish Straż Praw) at the Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw (AGAD), and the minutes of the Vilnius Palatinate ordinary boundary court, which reveal the functioning of the new institution in 1792. After comparing the content of the laws adopted by Lithuania and Poland it states that according to the provisions of the laws 'Normal Delimitation in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania' and 'Delimitation of Various Kinds of Land Holdings in the Crown Provinces' a new type of land planning institution, the boundary commissions, had to perform the following functions: 1) resolve all the questions connected with the delimitation of land holdings without addressing inheritance, lawsuit, or exdivisio matters; 2) collect data about the ownership of all kinds of land in a specific district and create a document archive; 3) on the basis of the ownership documents, measure the land holdings and record them; and 4) prepare detailed plans of the land holdings. The main aim in the creation of the commissions was to carry out the measurement and cartographical work for all the kinds of legally owned land, which was essential to economically stimulate the state and to improve the tax system.The laws foresaw different compositions for the Lithuanian and Polish commissions. In Lithuania each district elected a commission with three compositions, which consisted of: 1) a commission plenum of all its members; 2) an appeal group of 7 commissars; and 3) an area group with 3 members and an arbitrator. In Poland boundary questions had to be considered and determined by two types of officials: boundary commissars and boundary judges. A boundary commission had to consist of 10 commissars elected in each dietine and distributed in groups (of two commissars each) to each parcel of land. A group of judges consisting of at least 5 members had to decide judicial questions. The laws foresaw different durations for the functioning of the commissions: in Poland the Boundary Commissions had to operate for 4 years, in Lithuania, for 5 years (until 1 May 1797). In Lithuania, in compliance with the provisions of the law, the Boundary Commissions were created in each district, which had a dietine, was formed of parishes, and was distinguished from the next district. The commission member elections were held in February 1792 in all the dietines (including the newly created ones) by a majority of the votes. The number of commissars depended on the size of the district, the quantity of land holdings, and the population density. The smallest number defined by law was 12 except in Vitebsk palatinate, for which it was deemed only 3 members would suffice, and Smolensk palatinate, Livonia, and Starodub district, for which no commissars needed to be elected.After surveying the creation of the commissions and their activities in 1792, the conclusions were drawn that the law adopted by the diet concerning the creation of boundary commissions, unlike in Poland, where their realisation encountered problems, was partially implemented in Lithuania: all the districts created the new land planning institution, the boundary commissions, which successfully realised the first stage of the activities entrusted to them and were ready to analyse the submitted documents and carry out the land measurement work. The prerequisite for successfully realising this stage of the work consisted of the commission creation mechanism defined in the law, the establishment of relations between the district land planning institution and the highest executive authority, the Guardianship of the Laws, and, most importantly, the nobility's positive view of the reforms of the Four Year Diet and support for the ideas for reforming and strengthening the state. The especially rapid pace of the implementation of the law in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania reveals the aspiration, which came to maturity during the Enlightenment, for the intelligent management of public and political life and its reception in all the palatinates and districts of the GDL. The work of the boundary commissions was stopped in Lithuania by , the intervention of the Russian army in June 1792 and the undoing of the reforms of the Four Year Diet. The 23 November 1793 resolution of the Hrodna Diet 'Ordinary Delimitation in the Crown and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania' revealed the positive assessment of the land planning institutions created by the Four Year Diet and the intention to recreate the boundary commissions in a future diet. [From the publication]