THE ZEMGOR 
cost. Orders for separate parts of shells were allocated to a large 
number of plants in such a manner that the product of each succes- 
sive operation was handed over by a smaller to a larger establish- 
ment, one of the latter dealing with the final assemblage of all the 
parts and the production of the finished shell (this was usually done 
in factories especially constructed for the purpose). Moreover, local 
committees often hastened to erect their own munition factories, 
buying or leasing suitable works already in existence and adapting 
them for this purpose. Machinery and other equipment were im- 
ported from the allied countries under the supervision of special 
commissions sent to those countries. 
During the first eight months of its operations the Zemgor ac- 
cepted and allocated orders from the Ministry of War to the value 
of nearly 85,000,000 rubles. These orders were received in a hap- 
hazard fashion, sometimes from the Ministry of War and sometimes 
from separate army units direct. Most of them were urgent. 
In the course of these transactions with the Government, it be- 
came evident that the Ministry of War had nothing approaching a 
precise idea of the requirements of the army. Orders hastily issued 
would be apportioned by the Central Committee of the Zemgor 
among the local committees of the two unions, as well as among 
private contractors and firms. Over one hundred committees of the 
Zemgor had accepted, up to March, 1916, orders valued at '70,000,- 
000 rubles, or 82.6 per cent of the total of the orders given to the 
Zemgor. Most of these orders came from the Army Supply Depart- 
ment, which required equipment to the value of nearly 41,500,000 
rubles (48.9 per cent). Next came the Army Technical Board, 
which required material to the value of 19,500,000 rubles (23 per 
cent), and the Principal Artillery Board, which gave orders to the 
value of 17,000,000 rubles (20 per cent). 
All orders were received at the so-called “limit prices,” that is, 
prices which used formerly to be paid by the Ministry of War. The 
Central Committee of the Zemgor succeeded, however, in placing 
them at much lower prices and thereby saved the Government about 
25 per cent of the cost. 
The hasty mobilization of industry presented exceptional diffi- 
culties. Time was needed to build factories, to adapt existing works, 
and to import machinery and tools from abroad. Leaving the large 
industrial establishments to the Government and the war industries 
273