268 THE ZEMSTVOS DURING THE WAR 
ion “the right to acquire and dispose of property, sign contracts, 
assume obligations, bring civil proceedings, and appear in court in 
matters affecting the property of the Union” (article 4). 
These modest demands were wholeheartedly supported by the rep- 
resentatives of the zemstvos, but the Government strongly objected 
to it. Only after the Revolution, on June 7, 1917, did the Provi- 
sional Government legally confirm the “Statute concerning the All- 
Russian Union of Zemstvos,” a statute, however, far more liberal in 
its scope. The new law embodied, in the first place, those permanent 
duties which the Union was expected to undertake after the War, 
and dealt only in second place with the needs arising out of the 
War." 
Conclusion. 
We have described in the preceding pages the principal divisions 
of the Central Committee of the Union that were in operation dur- 
ing the second half of the War. The less important departments, 
however, as, for instance, the economic department were also 
steadily expanding their activities. It has naturally been impossible 
to give here anything like an exhaustive description of the numerous 
activities of the Union in all their aspects and manifestations. We 
have said nothing, or practically nothing, of the publishing, educa- 
tional, and legal work done by the Union. Mention has been made of 
the purchase of supplies for the needs of the zemstvo hospitals. 
Similar measures were taken for the purpose of supplying the zem- 
stvo schools with paper, writing materials, and textbooks, and the 
Union established a contact with the most important firms in Russia 
and Finland. The Union went so far as to buy one of the largest 
printing plants in Moscow, in order to be able to carry on this work 
efficiently. We have had no opportunity of discussing the work ac- 
complished by the learned commission sent by the Union to the al- 
'1 Article 1 of the law of June 1, 1917, reads: “The All-Russian Zem- 
stvo Union, being a united organization of zemstvo institutions, carries into 
effect those measures which are called for by (1) the needs and duties of a 
general nature and (2) by the war and its consequences. Nore: The All- 
Russian Zemstvo Union may also establish manufacturing, commercial, and 
credit enterprises, open schools (higher, secondary, and primary) and insti- 
tutions of social welfare, extend to them its codperation, and publish and 
distribute printed matter.” See Isvestia (Bulletin), Nos. 85-36, pp. 33-87, 
109-111.