70 THE ZEMSTVOS DURING THE WAR 
ging trenches, building roads, and similar work; and (8) how to aid 
the local population and refugees in the war zone who were aban- 
doning their homes before the invading enemy and retreating with 
the army. 
Scope of the Work. 
To cope with these tasks under war-time conditions required 
great organizing ability. How the needs were met in actual practice 
we shall attempt to describe later on. For the present we confine our- 
selves to pointing out the fact that, about the middle of 1916, when 
the Central Committee undertook the classification of the various 
institutions that had been established in the war zone, it was able to 
register 146 types and varieties grouped in the following main cate- 
gories: medical, sanitary, canteens, transport of wounded, freight, 
charities, trading, veterinary, workshops, factories, abattoirs, dairy 
farms, laboratories, storage depots and warehouses, and Institutions 
for the purchase of raw materials. 
Toward the close of 1916 the number of such institutions belong- 
ing to the Zemstvo Union was as follows: 
Institutions of the Union of Zemstvos in 1916. 
Work- 
shops 
Medical Hos- and 
and sani- Can- Trans- pital fac- 
tary teens port trains tories Stores Depots Others Total 
Organized by 
Central Commit- 
tee 
Institutions of 
the provincial 
committees 
Institutions of 
committees of 
the front 358 “i 436 145 421 175 4,100 
Total 4,983 850 395 70 498 146 481 305 17,728 
It is easy to imagine how complicated the purchasing, bookkeep- 
ing, and other functions of the Central Committee at Moscow must 
have become by this time. New departments were established, in-