THE ZEMSTVOS DURING THE WAR
collaboration of several zemstvos for a common purpose. The Russo-
Japanese War was followed by a year of famine. The zemstvos of
the provinces which were suffering from bad harvests immediately
formed an “Organization of the Zemstvos” for the relief of the vic-
tims of the famine. This organization was retained after the emer-
gency and became a permanent institution. The Government not
only was now reconciled to it, but even granted the zemstvos funds
necessary for the carrying on of their work, thus emphasizing the
fact that the old hostility had been forgotten.
The relief work of the zemstvos in famine-stricken areas is per-
haps not without interest. A famine in Russia, it is only too well
known, is a terrible calamity. In the agricultural provinces, which
have practically no industry and where farming is the only source
of making a livelihood, a poor harvest due to dry eastern winds
brings untold sufferings to the population. The area affected by the
famine depends, to a large extent, on the power and direction of
the eastern winds. The eastern black-soil provinces of the Volga
basin are particularly susceptible to their ill effects. The worst
famine of the pre-war period occurred in 1891 when twenty-four
provinces were affected ; while poor harvests in ten to sixteen prov-
inces were not uncommon.
A famine confronted the Government with truly stupendous prob-
lems. Under normal conditions the population was looked upon as a
source of revenue for the Treasury. In years of famine, however, the
Treasury had to come to the rescue of the populace. The well-being
of the Treasury and of the Government was hopelessly upset and
they had to face problems they could not possibly solve. The omnipo-
tence of an autocratic government in a country as vast as Russia
is illusory. No effective system of government may endure unless it
has the support and collaboration of the nation. The administra-
tion endeavored to disguise its incompetence and the difficulty it was
in by repeated declarations to the effect that “everything is all
right.” This is frequently the motto of an autocratic government;
conscious of its own impotence it tried to deceive even itself, refusing
to face the damaging facts. In time of famine the Government at-
tempted to minimize the character of the calamity or even to conceal
it altogether from the Tsar and public opinion in the vain hope that
the population will somehow survive it.
In the days before the establishment of the zemstvos, a poor har-
3
