# The Russian Review/Volume 1/March 1916/The Work of the All-Russian Zemstvo and Municipal Unions

The Work of the All-Russian Zemstvo and Municipal Unions.
There are two organizations in Russia, formed at the very beginning of the War, which are very active in carrying on the work of mercy among the sufferers of the War. Both of these organizations, while not connected with the official Red Cross, or any other institution of the Central Government, are national in their scope, and the work performed by them is very extensive and extremely important.
The first of these organizations, the All-Russian Zemstvo Union, represents the Zemstvos, or local organs of administration, throughout the country. It was organized two weeks after the War was declared, and Prince G. E. Lvov was elected its general superintendent. The choice of Prince Lvov was a very fortunate one, since he had stood at the head of a similar organization during the Russo-Japanese War, having even then shown himself to be an efficient organizer. At the beginning, it was urged upon the Union that the scope of its work must include the general organization of the resources of the country for the needs of war. However, such a plan of action met with considerable difficulty when it came to working out a practicable scheme of action. It was decided, therefore, to limit the activities of the Union to rendering aid to the wounded, since the Red Cross, organized by the War Department, did not prove to be very efficient. In this work the Union was very successful, and Prince Lvov took well-earned pride in announcing the results of the work during the first ten months of its activity.
"We have provided, and are maintaining, one hundred and seventy-five thousand beds, we are working on all battle-fronts, on the most advanced postions. . . We have merged our work with the life of the army; the soldiers and we are brethren, not alone because of blood ties, but even more so because of our common work; we have been christened relatives upon the bloody fields of battle. The Zemstvo forces upon the advanced positions of the battle-fronts, and the army, have become merged into one."
The All-Russian Municipal Union was organized soon after the Zemstvo Union came into being. Its work was also limited, at first, to rendering aid to the wounded soldiers, but beginning with last summer, it began to extend the scope of its work to such ​problems as the increased cost of living, and the distribution of the refugees from provinces occupied by the Germans.
The following statistical information, given in the "Yearbook for 1915," published by the Petrograd newspaper "Retch," gives an excellent idea of the work done by these two organizations during the past year.
The funds received by the Zemstvo Union up to December 1, 1915, amounted to one hundred and eighty-seven million rubles, of which one hundred and thirty-two millions were given by the government for the care of the sick and the wounded, seven and a half millions were given for the refugees, while thirty millions were paid by the War Department as advance payment on orders. The funds received by the Municipal Union up to August 1, 1915, amounted to thirty-five million roubles, of which thirty-two millions came from the government. The rest of the money was given by separate cities and Zemstvos, or collected as private donations.
The number of hospitals constructed by the two organizations was 3,753, of which the Zemstvo Union built 3,249, while the Municipal Union built 504. The number of beds maintained by the Zemstvo Union was 173,000, those maintained by the city of Moscow numbered 75,000, while the beds maintained by the Municipal Union numbered 76,000. It is interesting to note that the Sanitary Section of the War Department maintained only 160,000 beds, and the Red Cross, 40,000.
The Zemstvo Union operated fifty special trains which transported, up to October 1, 1915, 636,000, who received care for a total of 1,403,000 days. The Municipal Union operated thirteen trains, in which were transported 119,000 wounded, who received care for a total of 303,000 days. At the front, the Zemstvo Union maintained ninety-seven hospitals, one hundred and twenty-one ambulatories, sixty-five medical units for combating epidemics, two hundred store-houses, and over five hundred food stations, supplied with three thousand sterilizers. The barracks for infectious diseases contained, in September 1915, over ten thousand beds. Over twenty-five thousands of wounded were transported in the automobiles, carriages, and carts maintained by the Zemstvo Union. The value of the medical supplies used was two and a half million roubles. The medical personnel of the Zemstvo Union consisted of 6,100 persons, of whom 2,300 were physicians.
The Municipal Union had twenty-three medical units at the font. Its one hundred and eighteen food stations had, by ​January 1, 1915, rendered aid to 422,000 wounded. It maintains one hundred and eighteen bath-houses, in which, by August 1, 1915, lay 1,150,005 soldiers. On the south-west and the northwest fronts, the Municipal Union distributed 6,890,960 rations, and 523,000 suits of underwear. By August 1, 1915, the Municipal Union had distributed over two and a half millions suits of clothes, underwear, foot-wear, etc., valued at about seven and a half million roubles.
The Zemstvo Union produced 1,845,000 shirts, 195,000 anti-fumes masks, etc. For the south-west front alone, the Union ordered 1,650,000 pairs of shoes and over three million pairs of boots; at the present time it supplies the army with over 150,000 pairs a month.
Moreover, the united committee of the two organizations provides food for four hundred thousand laborers employed at the front. This united committee is gradually extending its work, and forms the real basis for expecting the two organizations to be soon merged into one.