THE ZEMGOR
The work of the Zemstvo Union in the matter of protection
against gas attacks has already been described. The anti-gas section
of the Zemgor likewise took an active part in this work. The scien-
tists who were enlisted by this section succeeded in making numerous
observations at the front and in collecting samples of the enemy’s
gases, which were later subjected to chemical analysis. In Moscow
and Petrograd, experimental gas attacks were made at places spe-
cially set aside for this purpose on the outskirts of the city. Many
lectures dealing with chemical warfare were delivered to the troops
and a popular pamphlet published. Lastly, the chemical section of
the Zemgor constructed batteries for the delivery of gas attacks,
and they were placed along the front.
The Zemgor also established in Moscow large depots where the
articles manufactured in its workshops and factories were for sale at
cost prices. They were supplied to the representatives of the army
units who visited the capital in search for goods they could not ob-
tain from the Army Supply Department.
285
Conclusion.
In summing up our survey of the work of the Zemgor we are un-
able to say that it succeeded in aiding the army at the moment when
it was most urgently in need of munitions. This was indeed the ob-
ject which the joint committee of the Unions of Zemstvos and of
Towns set before itself in the summer of 1915. It found it impos-
sible, however, notwithstanding its best efforts, to create within a
short time such a vast organization as was required for the supply
of munitions. The larger factories were under the control of the
government officials and of the war industries committees, and the
Zemgor was left with only the smaller factories and the peasant
cottage industries. The overwhelming majority of the establish-
ments controlled by the Zemgor not only lacked the machinery re-
quired for the manufacture of munitions, but they knew little or
nothing about the work itself. The necessary machinery had never
been manufactured in Russia, so that it was necessary either to build
up a new industry or to order machinery from abroad: in either
case a long delay was unavoidable. The Zemgor did not complete
> Izvestia (Bulletin) of the Zemgor, No. 183, pp. 64-66.
