THE ZEMSTVOS AND THE UNION 85 
sions it would also be emphasized very clearly that the Government 
was dealing with the individual zemstvos, and not with the Union. 
This led to the frustration of several plans which had been very 
seriously considered by the joint committees of the Union of Zem- 
stvos and Union of Towns, and numerous efforts made by these 
organizations were doomed. This is what happened in the matter 
of combating epidemics, caring for the children of killed or dis- 
abled soldiers, the relief of refugees, the organization of food sup- 
ply, and many other serious questions. Under these circumstances it 
is but natural that discontent and irritation among the zemstvo 
workers should have steadily increased and manifested themselves 
very clearly at the conferences of zemstvos held in Moscow. 
Conferences of the Union of Zemstuvos. 
Seven such conferences were held. The first two, which met on 
July 80, 1914, and on March 12-13, 1915, and were attended by 
sixty or seventy representatives, displayed a great deal of patriotic 
sentiment and were loyal to the Government, limiting the discussions 
strictly to routine business. At the third conference, however, which 
was summoned by telegraph on June 5, 1915, a considerable amount 
of uneasiness was already apparent. This was a moment when the 
army, lacking munitions, was forced to retreat. The Duma had been 
prorogued. This conference, “conscious of its responsibility and its 
duty toward the country in these days of sore trial,” reminded the 
Government that, if the great common effort that is being made for 
the benefit of the army 1s to be successful, it will be “necessary to 
have a close union between the Government and the people, resting 
upon mutual confidence, and, to realize such a union in practice, it 
is indispensable to convoke immediately the State Duma.” 
At the next conference, which assembled on September 7-9, 1915, 
and was attended by 125 representatives, the chairman, Prince 
Lvov, in giving expression to the sentiments which animated the 
zemstvos, now spoke with far more determination, remarking, in the 
course of his address: 
We do not fight, nor have we now any need to fight, for the right of 
participating in the work of the nation. The facts themselves are now 
handing over that work to us, so that we have gradually advanced 
from our hospitals all the way to supplying the needs of the army in