The author analyzes the dynamics of salary of the Russian officials in the first half of the 19th century. The data of the nominal salary has been received on the basis of legislative documents, and the index number of the real salary has been calculated on the basis of the consumer price index constructed by the author. The decrease in real wages due to inflation led to the fact that officials were forced to meet the obvious deficit a historically proven mean - “earning money from cases”, which in the new conditions took the form of bribes, gifts and offerings. In the first half of the 19th century they again became the norm of everyday life.