Presidency of the Land Government for the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia (1869-1921): Development of Jurisdiction and Record-Keeping System

Praćenje razvoja poslovnog djelokruga Predsjedništva ili Predsjedničkog ureda Zemaljske vlade za Hrvatsku i Slavoniju (1869-1921) te analiza dokumenata koji se odnose na uredsko poslovanje, ali i jedinog sačuvanog i nedatiranog registraturnog plana nastalog po svemu sudeći krajem 1918. godine, pokazuju neka bitna obilježja u radu ovoga tijela. Ured je imao relativno konzistentan djelokrug koji se postupno pomalo proširivao, što je dovelo do toga da se njegov sustav organizacije spisa, poglavito registraturni plan ili „osnova pismare“, dopunjavao na temelju onoga što je definirano na početku rada Predsjedništva. Porastom opsega posla i količine nastalih dokumenata, početnih šest registraturnih sveščanih skupina, prema kojima su spisi označavani i odlagani, razrađuje se 1891. godine podskupinama. Od 1912. godine, naročito tijekom ratnih i poratnih godina, očito je da odnos prema ažuriranju planova postaje sve nemarniji, kao i u ostalim segmentima uredskog poslovanja, pa se neke promjene što su u međuvremenu nastupile uopće ne uvrštavaju u plan iz 1918. godine, iako su u stvarnom poslovanju provedene. To, međutim, pomaže razumijevanju strukture planova koji nisu sačuvani, ne samo od 1912. već i od 1891, kad je sustav prvi put reformiran, a u osnovnim obrisima i od samog početka rada Predsjedništva, olakšavajući ujedno snalaženje u gradivu fonda.Research of organisational and jurisdictional development of the Presidency of Land Government for the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia (1869-1921), and analysis of documents related to its record keeping system, especially of the only one preserved registry plan (germ. Registratur Plan), which originates from 1918, reveals kind of continuity in the Presidency work. It had relatively consistent working scope, which was gradually widened, and made it possible to keep the same or similar organisation of records, especially of its registry plans, over decades. Slightly widened working scope and growth of the quantity of documents caused only few modifications of the registry plan created at the beginnings of the Presidency’s existence, as it is revealed by research, since the way by which documents were signed and filed didn’t change deeply over time. Analysis of documents’ content and file coding system reveals that six subject headings (I. Court, II. State Police and Security III. Press Censorship IV. Passports, V. Nobility Titles and Decorations VI. Miscellanea), known as registry bundles (germ. Registratur Faszikeln), were mostly just widened by introduction of sub-headings in 1891 (I-1 till I-10, III-1 till III-3, IV-1 till IV-4, V-1 till V-3, VI-1 till VI-14). The most important structural change was that of moving some issues from the Registratur’s Faszikel VI to the Registratur’s Faszikel I (Court issues; Rearrangement of counties, departments and municipalities; Personal issues; Office supplies and management), effects the creation of the widest range of sub-headings in those two registry bundles (Faszikeln). The plan which must had existed at that time corresponded to those changes. In 1912 and 1916 new sub-headings were mostly just added to earlier division, by exclusion of some specific topics from the Registratur’s Faszikel VI-14 (State Archives, Translation Office, Land Office for Support of Sick Workers, Railway Issues, etc.). Comparison of plan from 1918 with changes in the Presidency’s working scope same as in the file coding system over time, reveals that all changes were not incorporated into plans’ templates, what should had been done every time when headings and sub-headings division were changed. That makes the significance of the plan from 1918 more important, since it may be helpful for understanding record-keeping system and its vocabulary over time, and may be helpful to nowdays users, too. The separate part of the work deals with other features of the record-keeping, and its changes, showing that record-keeping procedures were not strictly respected towards the end of the Presidency’s work