REFUGEES 
17] 
Settlement of Refugees. 
We must now inquire how the organs of the Government and the 
two unions succeeded in discharging the extremely difficult task of 
settling the refugees in new homes. 
In certain localities (Tambov, Ufa, Saratov, and Ekaterinoslav) 
the provincial governors displayed some initiative in the work of re- 
lief. But in the overwhelming majority of provinces the initiative 
was taken by the provincial zemstvo boards or the local committees 
of the Zemstvo Union. At first, there seemed to be no competition or 
rivalry among different authorities in the presence of this terrible 
national calamity. Here and there local organs of the Committee of 
the Grand Duchess Tatiana were already at work. These committees 
had an official character and were usually presided over by the pro- 
vincial governors. How remote the very idea of competition was at 
this period from the minds of the authorities may be seen from the 
very first steps that were taken by the governor of Saratov. On July 
81, 1915, he requested all district zemstvo boards to organize 
branches of the Tatiana Committee and to invite representatives of 
the zemstvos and municipalities and other persons, at their discre- 
tion, to take part in the work of these branches. The result was that 
Tatiana committees were opened up in some districts and zemstvo 
committees in others. Wherever the zemstvos took the initiative they 
became the rallying centers of the work. They urged the local or- 
gans of the Tatiana Committee and of the organizations of the 
various nationalities (Polish, Lithuanian, Lettish, and Jewish) to 
unite with them, as well as the cooperative societies. Everywhere 
the need was felt to expand the already existing organization, ta 
infuse new life in it. 
At first there were two fundamental difficulties in the way. In the 
first place, there were no funds available, and then reliable informa- 
tion was lacking as to the number of refugees on the way to each 
given province. No information was forthcoming from Petrograd 
or from the front to guide local authorities. Everyone was looking 
toward the Unions of the Zemstvos and of Towns in the hope that 
the headquarters at Moscow would send money and instructions. As 
we have already seen, in the early days not only the zemstvos and 
the organs of the Union of Zemstvos, but even the government offi- 
cials, provincial governors included, were in the habit of applying to