THE ZEMSTVOS AND THE UNION 81
ing under the watchful tutelage of the government authorities, they
might remain indifferent to the requests of the district committees
of the Union of Zemstvos. Sometimes they did codperate loyally
with the Union, but more frequently it proved necessary to look for
other executive agencies in the volosts. In a majority of cases, it was
found that other local bodies such as the parish committees were also
ansuitable for relief work, for their duties were confined strictly to
the care of the churches and the maintenance of the charitable institutions
 connected with the latter. Several zemstvos, moreover, already
 had their own organizations working within the districts, such
as area committees for the relief of the poor or sanitary committees
(in the district of Moscow and the provinces of Ekaterinoslav,
Kaluga, Kostroma, and Ufa).
All zemstvo institutions covering small areas which already exsted
 before the War were now utilized to their full capacity, but
were found to be absolutely inadequate. In many places, volost committees
 of the Union of Zemstvos were introduced and new zemstvo
charitable institutions were created. The organization of these different
 institutions showed a great variety, depending on local conditions
 and upon whether suitable individuals were available for this
responsible work. |
Most frequently, the volost committees would be formed from
among the zemstvo deputies living in the volost, together with the
volost elder, who was a peasant, two to three individuals chosen by
the general meeting of the peasants, village priests, and zemstvo
school teachers and doctors. Committees were sometimes established
in some of the richer trading villages, at factories, mills, ete. There
were even districts where the local committee of the Union found it
necessary to create a regular network of village committees, as for
instance, in the district of Ostrogozh in the province of Voronezh,
the district of Orsk in the province of Orenburg, and others. All
these small zemstvo organs in the volosts and villages received their
instructions from the district committees of the Union or from the
district zemstvos, carrying out their orders and reporting to them
on the work accomplished and on the expenses incurred. They would
also collect donations in money and in kind, and were supplied with
the necessary funds by the district committee.
At the same time, side by side with the zemstvo, there grew up another
 important organization. We refer to the codperative associa-