INTRODUCTION
which overcame all obstacles placed in its path. In the opinion of
the Government the zemstvos should have developed those aspects of
their work which were in the nature of tutelage over the population,
while the zemstvos themselves were particularly eager to emphasize
that side which promoted initiative and freedom.
The organization of the service of public health by the zemstvos
gave Russia full right to be proud of it. The network of free hospitals
 and dispensaries, preventive measures against epidemics, sanitation,
 lunatic asylums, sanatoriums—all these institutions for the
protection of the health of the nation were built on a harmonious
scheme with due regard to local requirements and needs. Elementary
education, to the development of which the Government was particularly
 opposed, was effectively promoted by the establishment of a
rapidly increasing number of schools where instruction was given
free of charge. The advancement of agriculture could be seen in the
rapid increase in the amount of agricultural machinery, the larger
sale of seeds from zemstvo depots, and the organization of model
cattle-breeding farms. Insurance and credit on easy terms for small
farmers were new departures which laid the foundation for the future
 prosperity of the rural community.
The limits of the zemstvo work which were merely outlined by the
law showed a pronounced tendency to extend. In every direction the
zemstvos were ready to go much farther than was intended by the
law. There was no limit to the natural expansion of local government.
 The various economic aspects of life were strongly interdependent
 and they were all elements in the progressive movement of a
country. The Government soon became aware of the tendency of
local government to encroach upon what it considered its prerogatives,
 a tendency which was deemed dangerous.
As it always happens in history, a period of liberal ideas was followed
 by one of reaction. It originated among the landed gentry who
took part in the institutions of local government and brought with
them the traditions of the bureaucracy who had formerly looked to
the Tsar for direction and expected their recompense from him. Deprived
 of their serfs, with whom they now met in the institutions of
local government on a footing of equality, the members of the gentry
 felt humiliated and unjustly deprived of their wealth and looked
for an opportunity to recover their former privileges. This reactionary
 section of the zemstvo assemblies found support among the

or