164 THE ZEMSTVOS DURING THE WAR 
made to them. In the course of the next forty-five days a total sum 
of about 3,000,000 rubles was allocated to various local committees. 
No special funds for the relief of the refugees were however 
available in the treasury of the Central Committee of the Union, 
and in view of the existing emergency provision had to be made by 
borrowing from some other sources. On more than one occasion the 
President of the Union made urgent representations to the Ministry 
of the Interior for an emergency credit, but none of these telegrams 
elicited a reply. For the entire period only 500,000 rubles were 
granted by the Government to each of the two unions. On August 
13 an official of the Ministry at last informed Prince Lvov that the 
question was being considered by the competent authorities and that 
no funds had as yet been assigned. At last, on September 21, the 
Zemstvo Union obtained an additional grant of 900,000 rubles, and, 
receiving no answer to his persistent requests, Prince Lvov was com- 
pelled on October 1 to telegraph to the Minister as follows: “In case 
we do not receive within the next few days the credit requested, the 
Zemstvo Union will be forced to discontinue its work for the relief 
of refugees.” 
Organization Proposed by the Union of Zemstvos and the 
Special Council. 
On September 7 to 9, 1915, a conference of commissioners of the 
Zemstvo Union met at Moscow and discussed the problem of refugee 
relief. The meeting came to the conclusion that it was the duty of 
the Government to support the refugees and that it could be done 
successfully only by coérdinating in a proper manner the work of 
all the public agencies under the auspices of the Unions of Zem- 
stvos and of Towns. The conference gave its approval to the or- 
ganization of a joint committee to carry out this work, to be com- 
posed of an equal number of representatives of the two unions. It 
was the unanimous opinion of the zemstvo representatives that the 
funds for this purpose should be allotted through the medium of 
the Unions of Zemstvos and of Towns, which would keep in touch 
with the Government and would distribute the appropriations 
among the local organs. The conference also drew up a set of in- 
structions for the organization of public health work among the 
refugees, directing particular attention to the care of their children. 
When these resolutions were passed the joint committee for relief