Today we will talk about Prince Mikhail Ivanovich Khilkov, a stoker and a locomotive engineer in the USA, a mechanic at a railway depot in England, a minister in Bulgaria and, finally, a Russian minister and a member of the State Council.
Prince Mikhail Ivanovich Khilkov (1834-1909)The future minister was born in 1834, in the Tver province, in the family of Prince Ivan Khilkov. Mother, Evdokia Mikhailovna, was close to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna - the wife of Emperor Nicholas I. Michael's childhood and youth were like all children in his circle. He received a home elementary education. At fourteen, he entered a privileged educational institution - the Petersburg Page Corps, which he graduated with the rank of ensign. At nineteen he began service in the Life Guards Egersky Regiment. Six years later, in the rank of captain, he left a military career and moved to a civil position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
This is where his typical career as a young rich prince ends.
Already in 1857, in the company of writer Eduard Zimmerman, Mikhail Khilkov travels around North America and tries himself to work on the railway. According to some reports, the journey continued further south, and two young men even visited Venezuela.
With the abolition of serfdom and the beginning of reforms, Khilkov distributed to the peasants most of the ancestral lands and went to America. A large-scale railway construction took place there, and Khilkov, under the name of John Magill (John Magill) in 1864, got a job at the Anglo-American Transatlantic Company. He then worked as a fireman on a train, assistant engineer and engine driver. He quickly reached the head of the rolling stock and traction service of the Transatlantic Railway.
In the direction of his company, "John Magill" was sent to Argentina, where railway construction was carried out, and from there he moved to England (to Liverpool), where he started all over again - he got a job as a simple fitter at a steam engine building plant. (The obituary in the New York Times describes a little differently the posts that Khilkov held in America and England).
Returning to his homeland, the future minister also began his career with small posts and quickly promoted. First he worked as a machinist, then as a head of traction service on the Kursk-Kiev and Moscow-Ryazan roads. Soon he headed the construction of the Trans-Caspian railway, then the only one in the world, laid through the desert.
In 1882, the Bulgarian government invited M.I. Khilkova to head the Ministry of Public Works, Communications, Commerce and Agriculture. For three years he is becoming one of the key figures in the Bulgarian economy.
In 1885, Khilkov returns to Russia, where he is appointed head of the Trans-Caspian Railway. Soon, they transfer to work the government director of the Privislenskaya railway, then the head of the Oryol-Gryazskaya, Livenskaya, Samaro-Zlatoust and Orenburg railways. Since March, 1893, Mikhail Ivanovich as Chief Inspector of Russian Railways.
The future minister was born in 1834, in the Tver province, in the family of Prince Ivan Khilkov. Mother, Evdokia Mikhailovna, was close to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna - the wife of Emperor Nicholas I. Michael's childhood and youth were like all children in his circle. He received a home elementary education. At fourteen, he entered a privileged educational institution - the Petersburg Page Corps, which he graduated with the rank of ensign. At nineteen he began service in the Life Guards Egersky Regiment. Six years later, in the rank of captain, he left a military career and moved to a civil position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
This is where his typical career as a young rich prince ends.
Already in 1857, in the company of writer Eduard Zimmerman, Mikhail Khilkov travels around North America and tries himself to work on the railway. According to some reports, the journey continued further south, and two young men even visited Venezuela.
With the abolition of serfdom and the beginning of reforms, Khilkov distributed to the peasants most of the ancestral lands and went to America. A large-scale railway construction took place there, and Khilkov, under the name of John Magill (John Magill) in 1864, got a job at the Anglo-American Transatlantic Company. He then worked as a fireman on a train, assistant engineer and engine driver. He quickly reached the head of the rolling stock and traction service of the Transatlantic Railway.
In the direction of his company, "John Magill" was sent to Argentina, where railway construction was carried out, and from there he moved to England (to Liverpool), where he started all over again - he got a job as a simple fitter at a steam engine building plant. (The obituary in the New York Times describes a little differently the posts that Khilkov held in America and England).
Returning to his homeland, the future minister also began his career with small posts and quickly promoted. First he worked as a machinist, then as a head of traction service on the Kursk-Kiev and Moscow-Ryazan roads. Soon he headed the construction of the Trans-Caspian railway, then the only one in the world, laid through the desert.
In 1882, the Bulgarian government invited M.I. Khilkova to head the Ministry of Public Works, Communications, Commerce and Agriculture. For three years he is becoming one of the key figures in the Bulgarian economy.
In 1885, Khilkov returns to Russia, where he is appointed head of the Trans-Caspian Railway. Soon, they transfer to work the government director of the Privislenskaya railway, then the head of the Oryol-Gryazskaya, Livenskaya, Samaro-Zlatoust and Orenburg railways. Since March, 1893, Mikhail Ivanovich as Chief Inspector of Russian Railways.
According to S. Yu. Witte, in those years in Russia there was no man who had an equally invaluable experience in the construction and operation of railways in different countries and in different climatic conditions. It was Witte who recommended Khilkov to the new tsar for the post of Minister of Railways of the Russian Empire, where he was appointed in January 1895. It should be noted that Khilkov was the second Minister of Railways, who had American experience behind them, - the first minister, P.P. Melnikov, also studied railway business in the USA.
Ten years spent by Khilkov at this post are characterized by an unprecedented rate of construction of railways and highways erected in the central and industrial areas of the country, in Siberia and in Central Asia. Under him, the length of the Russian railways increased from 35 to 60 thousand km, and their freight turnover doubled. About 2,5 thousand km of railway tracks were built annually (there were no such rates even in the Soviet period) and about 500 km of highways.
Report of Prince Khilkov to Nikolay II, December 1895In the USA, the appointment of a man with an American page in the biography was noted by the Minister. Leslie's Illustarted in the summer of 1895, published the article “Americanized Russian Minister”. All ten years of his work as a minister, the house and office of Khilkov were open to Americans who lived or visited St. Petersburg.
The grandiose works with his arrival were deployed on the Trans-Siberian Railway (which was built since 1891 of the year). Khilkov traveled to Siberia many times, where he quickly solved construction problems. He traveled by rail from the Urals to Lake Baikal, visited Transbaikalia. The minister paid particular attention to the arrangement of the highway, the improvement of the living conditions of the railroad workers and builders. Here is what he wrote to the tsar: “The more I get acquainted with the business of the Siberian Road, the more I come to believe in the upcoming global significance of this path and I find it necessary to speed up the implementation of the measures planned for its further improvement”.
The purpose of Khilkov and the intensification of the construction of Transsib were not accidentally interrelated. Tsarevich Nicholas not only opened construction in 1891, but also, becoming an emperor, did not hide what he invested in this project. General Nelson Myles reported on his conversation with Nicholas II:
"... He is very interested in the development of his country, especially the vast wild expanses of Siberia, the conditions of which very much resemble our own West some time ago. ... I discovered that he is well acquainted with history the development of our West and the advantages brought there by the development of railways, and he hopes to follow our example of dividing unoccupied land into small sections and distributing them to settlers in order to create a nation of patriotic homeowners similar to ours. "
One and a half years after his appointment, M.I. Khilkov went on a trip through Siberia and the Pacific Ocean to the United States of America to update his knowledge of the American railway business. He was the first acting Russian minister to travel in the United States. His friend and companion on this trip was an American, Joseph Pangborn (there is evidence that he convinced Khilkov of the benefits of building a “straightening” Transsib line through Manchuria - the future CER). Despite the fact that the minister did not want to widely disclose the fact of his journey, the New York Times tracked his travels and meetings with American businessmen (for example, notes from 14.10, 18.10 and 19.10.1896 of the year).
By the way, about Joseph G. Pangborn. This journalist specializing in the description of railways, organized an expedition of four participants (besides himself the group included an engineer, an artist and a photographer), which he called the World's Transportation Commission to collect information about the world's transport systems for the Colombian Museum in Chicago (which was intended to continue the work of the World Colombian Exhibition 1893 of the year on a permanent basis). During his trip, the US economy was depressed, and among Pangborn's tasks was to find new partners in the world for American business. Meeting with Mikhail Khilkov was a gift of fate for him.
Joseph G. Pangborn travels around India
Occupying a high position, Khilkov did not consider it shameful to communicate with ordinary railroad workers during his trips. He could personally sit at the train. For example, in Transbaikalia, when the engine driver was confused when overcoming the climb, the 65-year-old minister took his place and showed the class of driving the train through the pass.
Prince Khilkov with the railway authorities at the wagon on the Transsib under construction, February 1896
Under Khilkov, a unique in its kind Circum-Baikal railway was built, the “golden buckle of the Trans-Siberian Railway”, which has now become a monument to railway construction. With his approval, a station of pure marble was built in Slyudyanka, the only one of its kind on all roads of the country. And in September 1904, not far from art. Maritui Minister personally scored the last victory crutch on the canvas of the Circum-Baikal Railway, connecting the European and Asian Russia with a steel train.
Advertising Transsib, connecting Paris and China
Khilkov's friend on his first trip to America, Eduard Zimmerman, who became a famous travel writer, rode 1901 on the Siberian Railway and published travel notes in the Journal of Europe (1903, January and February numbers). During these years, Prince Khilkov is included in the highest circle of dignitaries of the empire, becomes a member of the State Council.
Repin I.E. Portrait of the Minister of Railways and a member of the State Council, Prince Mikhail Ivanovich Khilkov. Study for the film "The ceremonial meeting of the State Council."
During the years of the Russian-Japanese war, he did everything to force the carrying capacity of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Here is what the Times wrote in those years: “... Prince Khilkov is a more dangerous opponent for Japan than war minister A.N. Kuropatkin. He knows what to do, and most importantly - how to do it. Under him, the Siberian Railway began to work very efficiently, and its employees demonstrate high professionalism. If there is a person in Russia who is able more than anyone else to help his country avoid a military catastrophe, then it is Prince Khilkov ... ”
Dreaming of railway dynasties, he created general education schools, lyceums and technical schools for the children of the Transit. With the participation of Khilkov, the Moscow Engineering School was opened (now it is the Moscow University of Communications). And in Petersburg, in one of the buildings of the department headed by him, a museum was opened for various models, structures and vehicles.
At the suggestion of the Minister, the professional holiday of railway workers was established in 1896, which is celebrated even now.
The acts of Khilkov as minister and the scope of his vision are striking even today. Suffice it to recall his support for the project of the Siberian-Alaska Trans-Mainline. A concession for its construction was proposed to the Russian government in the early twentieth century by an influential American syndicate.
The line was to start in the Kansk region (as a branch of the Trans-Siberian Railway), cross the Angara and exit to Kirensk. Then on the left bank of the Lena walk to Yakutsk, where it was planned to build a railway bridge. Further, through the Upper Kolymsk, the railway went to the Bering Strait, which was supposed to be overcome by an underground tunnel or bridge to Alaska. The highway had to cross a huge undeveloped territory. It was planned to breathe life into these deserted areas at the expense of private capital, without the support of the treasury. To ensure guarantees of private investment, the Americans asked to give the syndicate a long-term, up to 1995, concession 12 km adjacent to the road. By that time, the United States had vast experience in railway construction. Their own rail network was the largest in the world and in 1905 was 350 thousand km (in Russia - 65 thousand km). At the same time, the construction of major highways in the United States was completed, and American capital was actively seeking places for profitable investments, including in Asian Russia, where many railways were built in those years.
The concession offered the American way of organizing construction in sparsely populated areas, with minimal budget help, at the expense of railway companies and syndicates. It was in this way that the vast territories of the North American United States were quickly mastered. At the same time, the government only directed the work, allocated land to railway companies with the right to exploit the mineral deposits discovered here. The rest of the land was transferred almost free of charge to the immigrants All this contributed to the active influx of capital and labor, mainly immigrants.
Here is how D. Burstin described the role of railways in the development of the USA:
“The railways of the American West had the ability to create a path for the settlement of the territory. This unique potential ability of the railways was noticed by astute Europeans. “To build a railroad in populated areas is one thing,” the Englishman traveled in 1851, wrote. “But building it to attract people to non-populated areas is quite another matter.” ... Railway contributes so much to the development of the country that yesterday’s abandoned lands become valuable sites. Thus, the action creates interaction: the railway contributes to the development of the region, while the development of the region enriches the railway ... The competition itself with the aim of capturing and taking possession of these vast, undeveloped expanses and formed decisively the image of American railways. ”
The question was considered by a special government commission. However, at that time, the Russian government did not dare to give the extensive Russian territory for 90 years for the exclusive use of a foreign company, with the right to develop all the natural resources here, and therefore initially refused a concession. The refusal was motivated by the fact that foreign capital could seize Siberia by resettling its compatriots to the ceded territories. Subsequently, the syndicate again appealed to the authorities, giving an obligation to build a road under the control of the Russian government, by the forces of Russian workers and engineers, preventing settlement along the line of anyone other than Russians. Railway companies were ready to build churches for workers, schools, hospitals, and other socially significant facilities at their own expense. In addition, guaranteed the complete safety of property rights of all private owners, who acquired land in the area of the highway before the concession.
Moreover, Russia had at its disposal the lands necessary for the realization of state and military interests.
The company also placed its own communications at the disposal of the government, and after 30 years the state had the right to buy the road. After 90 years, in 1995, the highway and its entire infrastructure should have been completely transferred to Russian ownership. Finally, as a demonstration of openness and seriousness of intentions, the Russian side was presented with a full list of members of the syndicate, which included very influential businessmen from New York, San Francisco, Chicago.
After all approvals, the idea of a concession was approved by the Russian Ministry of Finance and received support from the military. However, after the resignation of S.Yu.Witte from the post of Minister of Finance and M.I. Khilkov from the post of Minister of Railways, this ambitious Siberian-Alaskan project was never implemented. After the 1917 revolution, the project was completely forgotten (and a hundred years after the first discussion, in 2007, they were remembered again and forgotten again).
Minister Khilkov was concerned not only with the development of rail transport. He was an active supporter of the country's automobilization and predicted a great future for road transport. His signature is under the decree of 11 of September 1896. “On the procedure and conditions for the transport of weights and passengers in self-propelled crews.” This document officially allowed the mass use of the car as a passenger and freight transport. From this day begins the history of the motor transport industry in Russia.
The Minister promoted the development of Russian highways, took care that their quality corresponded to the level of advanced European countries. He personally participated in a number of motor rallies, showing that road transport can effectively complement rail transport.
In September, 1901, on his initiative, ran a three-car run on the Georgian Military Highway from Vladikavkaz to Tiflis. Behind the wheel of “De Dion Bouton” with a horsepower 3,5 engine Khilkov himself, another similar car, but assembled in St. Petersburg at Frese had the power 4,5 hp, the third car Panar-Levassor (14 hp, 6-seater) was issued by Khilkov France. In August, 1903 Khilkov participated in a motor rally along the Black Sea coastal highway (about 600 versts), organized for the development of automobile communication in this region of the empire, primarily in the Novorossiysk-Sukhum section. Together with the minister, famous persons of that time participated in the rally: P.A. Frese (one of the creators of the first Russian car and the owner of a car-factory that produced numerous car models), and N.K. von Meck (a public figure and one of the pioneers of the Russian automobile movement, commander of many motor races). The trip showed that cars can be successfully used to make regular connections along the Black Sea highway, to expand the availability of southern resorts.
Petr Alexandrovich FreseIn recent years, Khilkov took care of the development of a bus service in cities and outlined a number of measures for the development of this type of transport. He saw a great benefit, which in the near future can bring cars in the organization of urgent intra-city and intra-district communications, gradually replacing the outdated horse-drawn transport. Since the beginning of the 1905 revolution, strikes began on the railways. During the All-Russian October strike, Khilkov tried to set an example and, like in his youth, he sat down to control the locomotive. But it did not help. Khilkov resigned.
Left out of work, he died in March 1909 in Petersburg.