239 
principle, all the institutions of the Union in the army were sup- 
posed to be subject to the authority of the committee of the front; 
in practice, however, the responsibility for the work rested upon the 
chairman of the committee of the front (sometimes referred to as the 
high commission of the front). 
The organization of the Union was not free from criticism. Much 
tact and a great deal of experience in public work was required from 
the leaders of the Union, so that without giving undue offense and 
without hindering the initiative of this or that particular official, 
they should secure adherence to the instructions of headquarters, 
while acting in strict conformity with the requests of the military 
authorities. 
The direction of the routine work was left to the commissioners of 
the Union who were attached to large army units or were appointed 
for a particular area. The separate services were controlled by spe- 
cial departments of the committees of the front, which distributed 
supplies and money, issued instructions, and cobrdinated their ac- 
tivities. Such departments were created as occasion might require 
and they were not always successful in drawing a distinct line be- 
tween their respective fields of work. Thus, for instance, the can- 
teens on the southwestern front were dependent either on the de- 
partment of military communications, or the department of local 
relief, or the department of relief of refugees, or, lastly, on the de- 
partment of trench workers, according to the date and place of their 
formation. The departments acted independently in their requests 
for supplies; they followed their own rules and standards, with the 
result that frequent conflicts occurred. 
No one could possibly forecast how long the War would last and 
foresee the needs that would arise in its course. Every day presented 
new and unexpected problems. New institutions sprang up one after 
another, but at the beginning it was impossible to plan for a har- 
monious coordination in the working of the different parts of the 
machine. As the War continued, however, friction within the Union 
made itself more and more felt. An attempt had to be made, in the 
interest of smooth working, to reduce this chaos to order and system, 
and it became manifest that a constitution was indispensable for the 
regulation of the vast enterprise. An organization that was spend- 
ing 10,000,000 rubles a month and controlled thousands of sub- 
WORK IN THE ARMY