The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-07-11
nv WILLIAM PHILIP sIMMs

! Petrograd, July 11.-There are TWO
mighty armies in Russia One WORKS
charges bayonets. The other works
back of the line and furnishes the
| front line what it needs.
One is an army of soldiers. The
other is an army of citizens. But both
are under orders of the general staff.
| The situation is unique in history
The main corps of this citizen army
is known as the '.All-Russian Zemstvo
Union" and no other nation in the
world boasts anything like it. If the
troops need new fur coats the general
staff tells the Zemstvo Union and the
Zemstvo Union provides them. Or
maybe the staff asks for socks and I'M
derwear, or boots, or bridges, or dag
gers, or bath-trains, or tanin. or chop
axes. Whatever in reason it asks for,
it gets.
Soldiery and citizenry are working
hand in hand. This statement is lit
eral, not merely a figure of speech.
Zemstvo Began in 1864.
The Zemstvo-pronounce 'Zem-
stervo"-came into beng in 1854, or
three years after the serfs were freed
and the land divided. 1t began very
bers being elected from three classes:
Peasants. the landed gentry and the
| urbanites owning shops, factories or
other property. Originally a Zemstvo
composed OF say on HlGInD6@S, aver
aged about 20 peasants, 20 gentry and
20 town property owners, but in 1890
the gentry were given by law what by
the very nature of things they had had
from the start-a prepOnderant voice.
| Russia is divided into 81 provinces.
| these into districts averaging about 10
districts to the province. At present
| 80 provinces and about $50 districts
| have Zemstvo organizations.
| The district institution once a year
sends delegates to a ten day provincial
| ZemStVo at which the work of the past
year is reviewed and the work for the
coming year co-ordinated. Further,
| provincial board of four men is
named, these to devote their entire
time to this work. The ordinary mem
Der of the Zemstvo receives no pay.
The four board members are on salary
as are the four members of a SIMILAR
district board who do nothing else but
supervise district work.
The Zemstvo has but slight 1egisla-
tive MISUNDERSTANDING local taxes, etc.
and until the war its activities were
confined to four spheres: Working
the roads, supervising the schools, aid
ing farmers with advice and looking
after the hospitals-the primary needs
of country districts.
Raised Serfs to Citizenship.
Restricted in scope though the
Zemstvo was it was nevertheless the
apprenticeship of the people. 1t fur
nished the peasants with their first
means of participating in public work.
Side by side with their former mas
tiers, these farmers, newly out of
serfdom, elected their Zemstvo repre-
sentetives and labored for the com
munity and for Russia
Such was the ZemStvO at the begin
ming of the war.
On August IL, 1914, less than two
weeks from the commencement of
hostilities, a general meeting of dele
I 49, IL -sa1 To-, ,e.%
vos was held in Moscow. 1t was then
and there decided to form the All
Russian Zemstvo Union "for relief
work among sick and wounded SOL
diers.' And every Zemstvo Joined in
save one, this solitary abstainer pre-
ferring to work independently.
Here we arei Use us!" said the
Zemstvo people to the government.
and the government accepted. They
were to be under the orders of the
war department and available only for
work in the interior. The limitation
was put upon them; they did not
specify the limitation.
But the restriction did not hold. The
army needed doctors, nurses, hos
pitfalls The Zemstvo had been in the
hospital business for forty years and
it went to the army's aid upon the
very field of battle and in the front
line trenches.
After this things moved rapidly.
lied. So were first-aids, distributing
centers, bases. Front Brigades'' were
formed for handling wounded, sani-
tary trains equipped. During october
and November, 1914, the union sent
| the Serbian army 215,0O0 fur and 9TH
er warm garments, paid for by the
Russian government, but bought by
the Zemstvo and handled by them.
In October, 1914, General Shuvayev,
then head of the commissary, (now
minister of war;, asked the union to
make underwear for his men. The
union replied by delivering to the
army before the end of the month
over 100000 complete suits! And
this was only a side order; the union
did this without Stacking up on any
of its other jobs.
| How was it done? 1t was very SIM
pie. The Zemstvo is a peoples organ
| ization Peasants are in it. So the
Zemstvo simply went to a lot of poor
women it had known for long time
and said:
Make us these articles We want
them for the army
| And over night, almost, the articles
were cut and sewed by Russian seam
stresses.
Another order, similarly executed,
was for wearing apparel to the tune
of seventeen million pieces. Russian
cooperative societies in a large meas
ure filled these orders. societies en-
bracing at least half the population of
Russia. And Russia numbers 49,
600, 900 soulsi So you see quite a
small crowd is working for the coun-
try.
a,