Russian local government during the war and the Union of Zemstvos

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Monograph

Identifikator:: 1794855874

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-179223

Document type:: Monograph

Author:: Polner, Tichon I. http://d-nb.info/gnd/172311195

Title:: Russian local government during the war and the Union of Zemstvos

Place of publication:: New Haven

Publisher:: Yale Univ. Press

Year of publication:: 1930

Scope:: XXV, 317 S.

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter XI. Work in the army

Collection:: Economics Books

226 THE ZEMSTVOS DURING THE WAR In the course of my visit I was particularly struck by the conditions under which refugee children were living with their parents. Enormous hutments hastily hammered together, only partially lit, very cold, with large chinks and cracks through which the wind was blowing freely, with beds arranged sometimes in two or three tiers—such were the dwellings which were intended to accommodate several hundred refu- gees. In the towns, as well as in the villages, five and even ten families of refugees are sometimes housed in one apartment or cottage.” The children of refugees lived in exceedingly unsanitary condi- tions, in idleness, surrounded by people of coarse manners, who spent their time gambling. Countess Tolstoi recommended that a number of premises combining schools and dining halls should be open, where the children of the refugees would be able to spend their time in more favorable surroundings and under the direct su- pervision of teachers. This recommendation was promptly adopted, and between February, 1916, and August of the same year, Count- ess Tolstoi was given an opportunity of opening at various points along the front, sixteen such institutions accommodating about 3,000 children. At other points of the front, dining halls were opened, though not quite so rapidly as Countess Tolstoi wished, for the absence of suitable buildings presented considerable difficulty. These schools, where children were also provided with meals, ad- mitted children between four and fourteen years of age. The chil- dren were subdivided into four groups. The attendance varied between one hundred and five hundred. The staffs of the schools con- sisted of the principal and four women teachers, usually drawn from the students of the teachers’ colleges. They attended also to the re- quirements of hygiene and the feeding of the children. In order to avoid the problem of a curriculum—always a serious matter in Rus- sian schools—it was decided that the children should pass through the same course of studies as in the village schools, which was ap- proved by the Government. Dinner consisted of meat and soup, and of grits and porridge; for supper there was porridge with milk or bacon. The older children received professional training. The monthly expenditure per child did not exceed 18.25 rubles. This included the cost of education, food, salaries, and school books.? 28 J avestia (Bulletin), Nos. 837-38, pp. 215-218. 29 Thid., Nos. 87-88, pp. 215-218; Nos. 41-42, pp. 163-168; and Nos. 52- 53, pp. 193-203.

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