Metamorphoses of industrial statistics in surveys of the provinces of the Middle Volga region at the beginning of the 20th сentury

Introduction. The statistics collected as part of the preparation of the governor’s reports is an important source array that makes it possible to display individual parameters of the development of industrial production in Russia. Statistical reviews published annually for virtually all Russian provinces contain a general description of industrial development, as well as summaries on the number of industrial enterprises, the number of workers and the cost of production. Leaving the general characteristics of this source outside the scope of the study, we will attempt to analyze the information contained in it on the state of industry, as well as assess the possibilities of using its heuristic potential for statistical analysis of the main parameters of the development of industry in the provinces of the Middle Volga region at the beginning of the 20th century. Methods. The methodological basis is the principle of historicism, on the basis of which the subject of research is considered taking into account the peculiarities of the historical environment and in the context of its evolutionary dynamics within the chosen chronological period. To solve the set tasks, elements of the methods of historical and legal analysis were used, which made it possible to consider the object of research in the context of the development of Russian legislation. Operating with a fairly large amount of digital data has led to the active use of methods of information and statistical analysis. Results. Based on a comparative analysis of the content of the annual reviews of Kazan, Samara, Saratov, Simbirsk and Penza provinces for 1900-1913 the features of the presentation of information on the state of the industrial sphere were identified, the structure and content of the sections devoted to the analysis of industrial statistics were considered. It was concluded that there is no uniformity in the content of the relevant sections between the reviews not only of different provinces, but also of the same provinces over different years. Discussion and Conclusion. As the conducted research shows, the information on the industrial development of the provinces collected in the framework of the preparation of the governor’s reports cannot be regarded as a homogeneous and comparable statistical array. This was largely due to the vagueness of the criteria for industrial accounting, which impeded a clear division of large factories, on the one hand, and small handicraft enterprises, on the other. In addition, there was a lack of uniformity in the compilation of industrial statistics in the practice of preparing surveys of the provinces. The structure and content of the sections devoted to the characteristics of industrial development had significant differences both in reviews of different provinces and in reviews of the same province over different years. Nevertheless, the revealed nuances do not give any reason to write off this source. The use of the data contained in it can reveal rather important aspects of the industrial development of the region.