WORK OF THE UNION 
that no stores could be laid in. Nevertheless, the purchasing depart- 
ment of the Central Committee at once took up this work with a 
great deal of energy. In different sections of Moscow, it obtained 
spacious premises, which were often placed at its disposal free of 
charge, and very soon seven vast depots of medical supplies were 
organized. 
At first it was impossible to dispense with the services of middle- 
men in the purchasing operations, even though they were very costly 
and, moreover, the orders were not always conscientiously executed. 
Only with difficulty and very slowly was it found possible to discard 
the traditional methods of commercial business and avoid their 
abuses. Many of the larger firms were drawn into direct business re- 
lations with the Zemstvo Union. From every section of the country 
reports were now being telegraphed by the Union as to what goods 
were locally available. Agents of the purchasing department were 
sent to various business centers in Russia and enabled, with the aid 
of the local committees of the Union and the zemstvo boards, to buy 
up considerable quantities of the required goods. At the central de- 
pot in Moscow a testing laboratory was set up with the help of 
teachers and instructors of the commercial schools, to compare goods 
received with the standard samples and to test them by approved 
technical methods. To attend to the daily expanding operations con- 
nected with the receipt and dispatch of goods, an association (artel) 
which deposited a heavy bond for its members, was engaged, and it 
agreed to furnish any number of men that might be required. All 
warehouses and depots were handed over to this organization, while 
the employees and officers of the Zemstvo Union were instructed to 
exercise a general supervision and direct the work. 
Equipment. 
In the course of the first four months of the War it was possible 
to make purchases of supplies and materials amounting to nearly 
17,000,000 rubles. Since the demand from the various localities dur- 
ing the same period did not exceed the sum of 12,500,000 rubles, it 
will be seen that in this respect the Union had more than attained 
its object. The business of these depots, however, was not confined 
to purchasing, packing, and dispatching. If they had bought linen 
for patients and beds in the regular way they would have had to 
wait much too long for the orders to be executed, besides having to