The Press.
London, England, 1854-10-14 00:00:00

THE DEARTH OF DOCTORS.

WE cannot but accept the lamentably ineffectual pro-
visions against the horrors of our first great military
engagement as adding to the collateral evidence in
support of our reiterated assertion that the Govern.
went originally were not in earnest in their prose-
cution of the war. The insufficiency of the com-

missariat, so pathetically discussed by the corre-
spondents of certain journals, might merely raise a
smile or a shrug : whether the porter had arriNed, or
that the troops ate their bread unbuttered, that the
beef was tough, and that there was no mustard or
cayenne pepper in the camp, was not a matter of
much consequence; but that any number of the
dying and wounded should be destitute of aids or
means which might have solaced the last dread
hours of their agony, or have sustained and restored
their fainting stren3th, amounts to an official crime
deserving the severest condemnation and public

exposure.
We have been assured that it is owing entirely to
Mr. GUTHRIE that certain additions to the medical
staff attending the expedition were applied by Mr.
SIDNEY HERBERT. What the condition of the suf-
ferers would have been without Mr. GUTHRIE'S
interference it is impossible to conceive. The scene
occurring on board the Colombo, which transported
some of the wounded men from the battle of the
Alma to Constantinople, discloses a neglect which it
would be vain to attempt to excuse or palliate.
Out of 553 souls, only half of the wounded had re-
ceived surgical assistance before they were put on
board. Four medical men, one of whom was the
surgeon of the ship, who at such a place and season
has sufficient employment in looking after the crew,
alone attempted to meet the wants of this MIMS of
misery. The ship was literally covered with prostrate
forms. The officers could not get below to find their
sextants, and the run was made at hazard, and was
lengthened twelve hours by this circumstance. On
the upper deck the worst cases became in a day or
two putrid. The neglected gun-shut wounds bred
maggots, which crawled in every direction, infecting
the very food. Thirty men died during the voyage.
The surgeons worked as hard as possible, but could
do little among so many ; and many an unfortunate
fellow first came under a medical man's hand on his
arrival at Scutari, six days after the battle !
Such grave and shameful errors can only be ac-
counted for in one way. We take the very words
used by a Ministerial advocate when we say that it
was thought the Czar might take fright at the first
display of vigour on the part of England and France,
and that possibly the expedition might never pass
beyond Malta, its first stage towards Turkey.

The Royal Commission organising the Patriotic
Fund for the relief of the widows and orphans of
soldiers, sailors, and marines who may lose their
lives from casualties of war was published in last
night's Gazette. The commissioners appointed
are :—Prince Albert, the Dukes of Newcastle and
Wellington, Lord Seymour ; the Earls of Derby,
Shaftesbury, Aberdeen, Hardwicke, Chichester, Nel-
son, and Grey ; Viscounts Palmerston, Combermere,
and Hardinge ; Lords Rokeby, Colchester, Panmure,
Seaton, St. Leonard's, and Raglan; Mr. Sidney Her-
bert, Mr. J. Lindsay, Sir J. Graham ; Messrs. H. T.
L. Corry, E. Ellice, R. V. Smith, Sir J. S. Pakington,
Sir IL Throckmorton, Sir W. I'arker, Sir T. B. Mar-
tin, Sir J. F. Burgoyne, Sir H. D. Ross, the Lord
Mayor of London, Mr. Joseph Hume, Mr. T. Baring,
Mr. J. G. Hubbard, Mr. J. W. Patten, Mr. S. M.
Peto, Mr. E. B. Roche, and Mr J. Ball. They are "to
make full and diligent inquiry into the best mode of
aiding the loyalty and benevolence of our loving
subjects, and ascertaining the best means by which
the gifts, subscriptions, and contributions of our
loving subjects can be best applied, according to the
generous intentions of the donors thereof, and from
time to time to apply the same as you, our commis-
sioners, or any three or more of you, shall think fit
or direct, either for the immediate relief of such
special objects of destitution as may come within the
meaning and purpose of such benevolence, or to in-
crease, extend, or make additions to any of oar
royal or other charitable institutions already founded
for similar purposes within our United Kingdom."

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