76 THE ZEMSTVOS DURING THE WAR 
priations made by the zemstvos may have been influenced by the 
degree of patriotic sentiment that inspired one zemstvo or another. 
Another and more tangible influence, however, should be noted, 
namely, the extent to which the local population may have been 
burdened with zemstvo taxes. This probably explains why, of eight 
provinces whose zemstvos made maximum war appropriations as 
compared with the total of their appropriations (more than 20 per 
cent),! six provinces belonged to the group in which the zemstvo 
institutions were only recently introduced and the burden of local 
taxation was, therefore, relatively light. Conversely, all those prov- 
inces which had made the lowest appropriations for war needs (less 
than 10 per cent) belonged to the old zemstvo provinces. 
Zemstvo appropriations during the first period of the War (up 
to 1916) were distributed among the individual items as shown in 
the following table: 
Zemstvo Appropriations in 191-1915. 
Items 
Relief of sick and wounded 
Relief of families of soldiers and care of war 
orphans 
Relief of population in war zone 
Expenditure connected with mobilization of zem- 
stvo employees 
Other war expenditure 
Miscellaneous 
Total 
In rubles 
14,718,200 
Percentage 
of total 
45.9 
10,726,400 
617,700 
33.5 
1.9 
8.0 
8.1 
2.6 
82,056,100 100.0 
In 1916 and 1917 the zemstvo appropriations for the first item 
were considerably reduced. After 1914-1915, when the zemstvos ap- 
propriated nearly 15,000,000 rubles for the relief of wounded and 
sick soldiers, it was impossible to foresee what proportions the War 
would assume or how long it would last. This sum, therefore, seemed 
enormous at that time. As time went on, however, it was seen that, 
no matter what amount of money the zemstvos might appropriate, 
it would be absolutely insignificant relatively to the vast extent of 
! Kharkov, Perm, Orenburg, Astrakhan, Kiev, Podolia, Minsk, Mogilev. 
2 Olonets, Novgorod, Pskov, Vladimir, Ufa, Taurida.