ORGANIZATION OF SUPPLY 179
ing now under the direction of one chief, now under that of another,
with the result that there was competition and constant friction
among the government departments. The Government placed its re-
liance upon the efficiency of the authorities rather than upon any
clearly-thought-out policy. This disorganization of transport, in
addition to the stringent regulations affecting separate localities,
did much to undermine the foundations of private business and in-
troduced into it an element of uncertainty and speculation.
Shortage of Foodstuffs.
In these circumstances, not alone the cities and towns but also the
rural districts in the consuming areas, began to experience an acute
food shortage. Not only individual buyers, but even codperative so-
cieties began to find it impossible to obtain the foodstuffs that they
required, and the zemstvos had to take measures to supply the de-
ficiency. The food shortage was not always confined to the consum-
ing provinces in the north; the producing provinces likewise suf-
fered from the same distress, as may be seen from the following
instance.
In 1916 flour millers in the province of Taurida who had “un-
limited supplies of grain” were forced to close down sixty-eight mills
and to curtail operations in ninety-eight others for lack of fuel,
and the result was a reduction of 7,400 puds in the daily output in
this province alone. At the same time the millers in the neighboring
provinces, in spite of the fact that they were supplied with a practi-
cally unlimited amount of coal from the local Donets mines, were
compelled to curtail production for lack of grain.*
All provinces suffered in equal measure from a shortage of arti-
cles of prime necessity other than foodstuffs. The unfavorable con-
ditions under which manufactured goods were distributed in the
rural districts were felt keenly by the peasants and sometimes even
forced them to refuse to dispose of their grain for cash. They were
dissatisfied, moreover, with the speculative inflation of the prices of
such articles. Sometimes the peasants would openly protest against
the fixing of the price of grain when the price of other articles of
prime necessity which they were obliged to buy, remained uncon-
trolled.®
* Izvestia (Bulletin), No. 39, p. 197.
8 Ibid.. No. 40, pp. 207-208.
