228 THE ZEMSTVOS DURING THE WAR
A period of feverish activity now began. All the buying was to
be ‘done by the Moscow Central Cooperative Society, which had
branches all over Russia. The Union’s committee of the western
front organized a retail stores department and a central warehouse.
Each army corps had a special administration in charge of the retail
 stores. The latter had at its disposal a number of instructors
and inspectors who made the rounds of the stores and collected the
cash receipts. In Moscow an agency was established to hasten the
buying and dispatch of the merchandise. A simple, effective system
of accounting was organized, involving separate store and cash accounts
 for each store. The Zemstvo Union did not intend to derive
a profit from the retail stores, but the expenditure on administration
 and transport, especially horse transport, was so heavy that it
was necessary to add 25 per cent to the cost price of articles sold to
avoid losses. Prices were uniform and price lists were posted on the
walls. The selection of articles offered for sale was made in accordance
 with the experience gained in Poland and was specially adapted
to the needs of the troops at the front. At first, fifty-five different
articles were provided, but this number was gradually reduced to
forty-five. In spite of the additional 25 per cent charge, the canteen
prices still defied all competition on the part of private merchants,
for the prices demanded by the latter were two and even three times
as high. The success of this undertaking was definitely assured and,
aided by the active interest taken in it by the representatives of the
codperative societies of Moscow, the organization began to develop
rapidly, especially after February, 1916, when the business began
at last to run smoothly and efficiently. At the beginning of Septemher,
 1916, 100 stores, 19 depots, and 14 bakeries were already in
operation on the western front. There was also a cigarette factory
at Minsk employing 525 men and women, as well as a number of
other undertakings.
The working capital of the retail stores on the western front was
altimately increased to 3,000,000 rubles. The steady growth of the
work is made clear by the following figures.