EFFECTS OF THE WAR 297
quite satisfactory. Zemstvo taxes were still being paid regularly.
For instance, according to the figures furnished by the district zemstvo
 board of Zenkov, province of Poltava, the receipts on account
of zemstvo taxes in 1915 were even better than they had been before
the War, for these had reached 75 per cent of the total revenue in
1914 and 64 per cent in 1915, as compared with only 53 per cent
previous to the War. In 1916, however, owing to the rapid rise in
the cost of living, the financial position of the southern zemstvos
likewise deteriorated, and the estimates began to rise rapidly. During
 the few years preceding the War the average yearly increase in
the zemstvo budgets was 15 per cent. In 1915, however, there was a
slight decrease, namely 1.3 per cent. The budgets for 1916 had once
more increased, by 8 per cent over those of the preceding year,
and in 1917 the growth of the budgets is still more pronounced.
For instance in 1917 the provincial zemstvo of Samara increased
its budget by 81 per cent, and the provincial zemstvo of Mogilev, by
70 per cent over those of 1916.
The provincial zemstvo of Kursk increased its budget by 17 per
cent; the provincial zemstvos of Poltava and Kostroma, by 36 per
cent; and the provincial zemstvo of Orenburg, by more than 90 per
cent. The budget figures in the province of Kostroma reveal the
changes that occurred in the appropriations for the principal
activities for nearly the whole war period. If we take the appropriations
 made by the provincial and district zemstvos of Kostroma for
1914 as equal to 100, the appropriations for the succeeding years
will be expressed in the following figures:

Zemstvo Budgets in the Province of Kostroma.

Total budget
Including:
Schools
Public charities
Public health
Economic measures
Veterinary service

Uv
20
100
100

8
o7

J)

N16

a

73

1917
166

133
315
134
119
48

As will be seen from this table, the zemstvo appropriations for the
principal activities in 1917 considerably exceeded those made in