76 THE ZEMSTVOS DURING THE WAR
priations made by the zemstvos may have been influenced by the
degree of patriotic sentiment that inspired one zemstvo or another.
Another and more tangible influence, however, should be noted,
namely, the extent to which the local population may have been
burdened with zemstvo taxes. This probably explains why, of eight
provinces whose zemstvos made maximum war appropriations as
compared with the total of their appropriations (more than 20 per
cent),! six provinces belonged to the group in which the zemstvo
institutions were only recently introduced and the burden of local
taxation was, therefore, relatively light. Conversely, all those provinces
 which had made the lowest appropriations for war needs (less
than 10 per cent) belonged to the old zemstvo provinces.
Zemstvo appropriations during the first period of the War (up
to 1916) were distributed among the individual items as shown in
the following table:

Zemstvo Appropriations in 191-1915.

Items
Relief of sick and wounded
Relief of families of soldiers and care of war
orphans
Relief of population in war zone
Expenditure connected with mobilization of zemstvo
 employees
Other war expenditure
Miscellaneous

Total

In rubles
14,718,200

Percentage
of total
45.9

10,726,400
617,700

33.5
1.9

8.0
8.1
2.6
82,056,100 100.0

In 1916 and 1917 the zemstvo appropriations for the first item
were considerably reduced. After 1914-1915, when the zemstvos appropriated
 nearly 15,000,000 rubles for the relief of wounded and
sick soldiers, it was impossible to foresee what proportions the War
would assume or how long it would last. This sum, therefore, seemed
enormous at that time. As time went on, however, it was seen that,
no matter what amount of money the zemstvos might appropriate,
it would be absolutely insignificant relatively to the vast extent of
! Kharkov, Perm, Orenburg, Astrakhan, Kiev, Podolia, Minsk, Mogilev.
2 Olonets, Novgorod, Pskov, Vladimir, Ufa, Taurida.