THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE 267
than the rights with which the zemstvos were already endowed. And
yet, in spite of these rights, the zemstvos were groaning under the
vigilance of the provincial governors. We have seen already that
special organs of the Union were often formed for the express pur-
pose of safeguarding for the officers of the Union that freedom of
action which was denied to the legally authorized zemstvo boards. It
seemed idle to hope to obtain by legislative action that freedom
which the local organs of the Union were so much in need of, and at
the same time it had to be borne in mind that legislative regulation
of the functions of the Union along lines approved by the bureau-
cracy might even go so far as to render all fruitful work impossible.
To be sure, the Union was already beginning at the close of the sec-
ond year of the War to take into consideration possible post-war
conditions, and whilst establishing the institutions made necessary
by the War, was striving, as were also separate zemstvos, so to or-
ganize them that they should meet the general needs not only during
the War but after it. The officers of the Union felt absolutely cer-
tain that it would continue its work after the War; but they realized
only too well the futility of hoping for legislative sanction for such
institutions at that particular moment.
As work progressed, however, the unlegalized existence of the
Union gave rise to ever increasing troubles. Lacking those legal
powers which would have enabled it to conclude legally binding
contracts, the Union was confronted with numerous difficulties in its
commercial and general business transactions. These had all to be
entered into in the name of individual zemstvos, which frequently
resulted in a loss of time and money.
Having carefully considered the abnormal situation, the Commit-
tee of the Union in March, 1916, at last decided to take steps to
legalize the Union. A bill to this effect was examined by a confer-
ence of delegates of provincial zemstvos on March 12-14, 1916. It
carefully avoided raising “dangerous” questions, such as that of the
legal character of the Union, of the relations to be established be-
tween its several organs and the Government, etc. It was drafted on
the assumption that the Union was merely a temporary organization
created to meet the necessities and possible consequences of the War.
[t sanctioned, moreover, as it were, that internal machinery of the
Union which had been evolved in practice, merely adding a chapter
borrowed from the law governing the zemstvos, which gave the Un-
