REFUGEES
were issued to them at the expense of the zemstvos and private
charities.’
The whole organization of relief was designed according to a simple
 but effective scheme. The Government examined and approved
the budgets submitted by the Central Committees of the two unions
and granted credits. The Central Committees studied the estimates
of the local institutions, reduced them to uniformity, settled disputed
 points and coordinated the whole work of relief and of accounting,
 just as in the case of relief for the sick and wounded
soldiers. It was the duty of the provincial committees on refugees
to distribute the latter within the province, to organize the campaign
 against epidemics, to coordinate the activities of different
organizations working in the same field, and to regulate and control
the work of the district organizations. The enlarged district zemstvo
boards and district committees of the Unions of Zemstvos and of
Towns had similar duties within the limits of the district. The small
local organizations were expected to carry out the immediate work
of relief; investigate the needs of the refugees and report them on
the special forms provided by Moscow; supply them with shelter,
fuel, clothing, underwear, and boots; feed the invalids and children ;
find employment for those able to work; provide hospital accommodation
 for the sick; furnish information regarding outbreaks of
epidemics; collect and send to the district towns the orphans and
lost children; and so forth.
Unfortunately, this excellent scheme was not destined to be carried
 out in practice. As early as September and the beginning of
October, 1915, the work of the provincial committees was in many
places completely paralyzed by the unorganized movement of refugees
 and the lack of funds. The following two examples will serve to
illustrate the situation. On October 1, the provincial zemstvo board
of Ufa telegraphed to the Central Committee of the Zemstvo Union:

173

We are in the position to accommodate only 1,000 persons a day,
whereas 8,000 to 10,000 are arriving; the situation is terrible; sharp
frost has set in; the refugees, poorly clad, barefooted, are being transported
 in unheated trucks; the existing canteens are utterly inadequate
and entire trainloads are being dispatched without food, while the medical
 staff has no opportunity to examine them.
14 Ibid.. No. 25, pp. 93-100.