Page:The Destruction of Poland - Toynbee - 1916.djvu/22

 such notable results that special measures were necessary against them. Action was taken in September, and the Central Committee, which worked at Warsaw under official sanction, was suddenly dissolved. "It was a centre to 220 provincial Committees. It had under its care 17 hospitals, more than 200 teahouses, 300-400 schools and homes for children, and some 40 or 50 cheap restaurants. It also had at its disposal 17 wholesale stores with a working capital amounting to about £400,000. It took special care of hygiene and poor relief.

"Amid the disorganisation caused by the war, the Committee at Warsaw was the one institution which successfully organised relief for the population and to a large extent alleviated the condition of the poor. Moreover the dissolution of the Central Committee at War- . saw involved a simultaneous dissolution of the provincial committees, and that in turn caused the suspension of the district committees and of all co-operative institutions which remained under their direction. All relief action came to a stop."

Here is an exact estimate of the havoc wrought by this master-stroke of German organisation in Poland:—

"The closing of the Committee resulted in the closing of the following institutions:—

"1. About two hundred Citizens' Committees in the Government of Warsaw.

"2. About two hundred wholesale provision shops of the Committee. The turnover of the