THE ZEMGOR
27
The hurried evacuation of Riga in consequence of the rapid ad-
vance of the enemy toward that city is a typical example of the work
of the Zemgor in this domain.
The evacuation of the industrial plants of Riga was naturally
suggested immediately after the occupation of Libau by the Ger-
mans. The idea, however, found little support among the local manu-
facturers and among the highest military and civil authorities, and
at one of the conferences held at that time in Riga it was decided
that such a measure would be “simply impossible.” The Germans
were expected to capture Riga about the middle of J uly; yet the
officer commanding the city. thought it necessary as late as June 17
to issue an order prohibiting the dispatch of any freights from
Riga, with the exception of finished products and factory equip-
ment not required for work then in progress. Such was the view
held in the circles which were maintaining close relations with the
German industrialists of Riga. As for Petrograd, the authorities
there looked upon Riga and its industry as already doomed. The
Army Technical Board sent an invitation to the owners of factories
engaged on work for national defense, asking them to send repre-
sentatives to Riga in order to select equipment from local factories
which they might need for their own plants. The representatives
soon arrived in Riga and thereupon numerous commissions were
sent into the factories. Although these were working at full pres-
sure, the commissions, taking a fancy to this or that piece of ma-
chinery or equipment, would put their seal on it, with the result that
production was soon in a hopeless state of chaos.
The Unions of Zemstvos and of Towns decided to intervene. Their
representatives submitted to the Minister of Commerce and Indus-
try a memorandum in which his attention was called to the neces-
sity of conducting the evacuation of Riga in an orderly and sys-
tematic fashion. The memorandum urged that the factories of Riga
should be transferred to the interior of the country as integral
units, together with their technical staffs and workers, in order that
production might be resumed at the new places. The recommenda-
tions contained in the memorandum were vigorously upheld before
the higher military authorities by the heads of the two unions,
Prince Lvov and M. Chelnokov, who succeeded in obtaining the ap-
pointment of a special commission empowered to supervise the
speedy evacuation of Riga. This commission was vested with ex-
