The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-28 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 1866.

Whatever Ministry may succeed in retaining of-
fice there is no doubt that they must undertake one
important social reform. The treatment of our
sick poor has gradually been forcing itself upon
public attention, and the recent investigations have
rendered it impossible for the Legislature any longer
to neglect this obvious duty. The Lancet commis-
sion undoubtedly did good service in exposing
abuses which the regular official inspectors seemed
powerless to detect, and there can be no question
that there really are very great difficulties in the
way of their ascertaining the truth. A set visit
made at fixed hours, accompanied probably by the
heads of the establishment, or at any rate made in
presence of the nurses and keepers of each ward,
gives few opportunities for discovering'the real state
or feeling of the patients. Besides, the sufferers in
these instances hardly ever complain to the inspector.
They mistrust his willingness to assist him, and re-
gard him as part of the regular system against
which it is hopeless to struggle. They fear, too, the
consequences of their indiscretion, for in how many
ways might their petty tyrants revenge themselves
upon helpless or bed-ridden paupers if they gave
them serious grounds of offence ? With the best
intentions on the part of the inspector, it would be
a long while before any individual case of ill-treat-
ment was attended to, and in the meantime what
would not the poor creature have to dread from the
cruel or dishonest nurse? A helpless sick man or
woman, who has no other refuge but the workhouse,
miserable as it is, and no friends to interfere on his
or her behalf, may well shrink from making the
situation more intolerable than it is. Long
ago Miss TWINNING, in pleading the cause
of the sick and infirm in workhouses, dwelt
strongly upon what she called the "monster
evil" of pauper nursing, and every fresh inquiry
proves the justice of her complaints. The most ter-
rible feature in all the accounts is the ill-usage or
neglect of the bed-ridden patients who are unable to
move themselves in bed. Two or three fearful in-
stances have been mentioned without contradiction,
in which poor creatures have actually died from
bedsores, increased, if not produced, by neglect.
The Lancct commissioners came upon two such
cases, in which paralysed persons, suffering from
wounds of this kind, received but the roughest
treatment, and the case of TIMOTHY DALY is still
fresh in the recollection of the public. The neglect
is not often due to intentional cruelty, but to in-
difference and ignorance. Many persons may have
a better natural idea of the duties of a sick nurse
than others, but all must need some training and
experience before they arc qualified to deal with
such cases, and the class which supplies the able-
bodied paupers of workhouses—the thriftless, the
improvident, the drunken, the dishonest are not
exactly those in which we should expect to find
the tenderness, the cleanliness, the attention, and
the skill indispensable to an attendant on the sick.
The state of things revealed in Mr. HART'S letter
to the Times last week, describing what he and Mr.
FARNALL saw in the sick wards of Whitechapel
Workhouse, is absolutely appalling. " The very
worst horrors of pauper sick nursing and, treat-
ment," says Mr. FARNALL, " were flourishing un-
checked," and the details by which ho supports the
assertion certainly do more than confirm it. " In
one bed lay a stout middle aged man bedridden and ,
helpless. Ile was lying on a very wet, hard straw
mattress. On lifting him we found extensive bed
sores, covered only with a bit of wet rag. . . . The
suffering to which this poor creature is exposed day
and night by sheer neglect is hardly to be expressed
in words." A decent old man, in full possession of
his faculties, was found in another ward with an ex-
tensive ulcer of the leg. " It was dressed with a
dry rag (it had been wet in the morning), which
had adhered firmly to it, and was tied on with a
piece of string. This is what is called in this ward
a water dressing. We did not in any case find oil
silk or any other waterproof tissue applied to keep
the rags moist." Well may Mr. HART describe this
as " mockery of nursing the sick," and " a place of
torture called a sick ward." A raving lunatic is
in the habit of rising from his bed at night
and wandering into other wards, threatening
the other patients and making a disturbance.
Those who know the value of a few hours'
sleep to a sick man may understand the full extent
of such an annoyance. Besides this, the diet is
poor and insufficient, only one patient having milk
allowed him, and none beer. Many of the patients
bought bread, and those who were lucky enough to
receive a few halfpence from their friends were ex-
pected to share them with the nurse. Three of the
patients only had medicines, though they had been
ordered for several others. What the remedial
agents are supposed to be, seeing they are certainly
not medicine, careful nursing, cleanliness, rest, or
nourishment, is a little perplexing ; yet the country
pay dearly enough for all these horrors, and the
longer the patients remain the greater is the bur-
den on the rates.
The inquiry at Paddington brought out other
details
of thelsscar cely less frightful. The neglect and ill-
tgchildren was one principal feature, and
How long
the drunkenness and cruelty of the pauper
nurses
was also strongly shown. The question is, v
is such a system to be tolerated ? It certainly reflects
very little credit on oar humanity or our intelligence
that it should have, been endured so lor g. The misfor-
tune is that the very helplessness of the poor sufferers
has tended to perpetuate it, for they cannot plead
their own cause and few have access to them. They
die and make no s;gn, and many a tragedy of
tyranny and cruelty is enacted within workhouse
walls which the victim is powerless to make public
in this world. Wo hear constantly of disabled
labourers or some member of their families having
to go into the infirmary, hut the treatment whiehthey
receive
ytehnetre is another matter. It is those who are
disabled who are the greatest sufferers,
and who meet with the greatest ill-usage or neglect.
Mr. VILLIERS said the other evening that the official
papers on the subject were prepared, and that he
thought the subject demanded immediate attention.
So far from it being nobody's business, it is every-
since every ratepayer who pays his
rte without waking Mat effort °A WWI of theca

unfortunates, is in reality helping to perpetuate a
grievance which is a national disgrace.

At last the Austrians have woke up from their
trance, and we have to record the pleasing intelli-
gence of their success. According to the accounts
received, it would appear thatthe Prussians suffered
a complete defeat in their encounter with Marshal
BENEDEK'S army. This is the first battle between the
German Powers, and the Austrians have had the
satisfaction of coming off victorious. Thus, within a
week, the arms of the allied forces against Austria
have each suffered a signal defeat. The contest was
prolonged for a considerable time, and lasted from
ten o'clock in the morning until six in the evening.
The Prussians were repulsed from Skalitz in the
most decisive manner, and in the evening were in
full retreat, being compelled to leave their dead and
wounded on the field. The invasion of Bohemia
was a mistake from the beginning; and now, per-
haps, the Prussians themselves will admit it to be
so, over-confident and presumptions as they are.
Marshal BENEDEK'S army has been all along ex-
pected to do wonders, and its performances seem
likely to equal its promises. The most sanguine
could hardly have supposed that the Austrians
would have won two battles in so short a space of
time. In some respects the Prussians have been
foolish, for they have gone too far, and scattered
their forces too much. What advantages they ex-
pected to gain from such stratagems is not very
clear, but at any rate we are all able to appreciate
the disadvantages of such a cause. The engage-
ment of yesterday was fought near Josephtadt, and
in all respects may be considered to have been a
most important affair.
The Prussians have gained a mixed triumph near
Turnau, in which contest they took prisoners seven
officers, and 500 men of the Austrian forces. No
doubt this will be thought a great deal of at Berlin,
but it is not to be mentioned beside the great
encounter of yesterday. There can be no doubt by
this time that the Austrians are the best soldiers of
the three rival armies, and their successes already
achieved may well afford confidence to their troops.
The Minor States must also by this time entertain
more respect for the prowess of the armies of the
EMPEROR. We must remember, also, that nothing
has been done as yet by the large forces under the
command of Prince CHARLES of Bavaria, which by
this time number a considerable amount, and will
shortly comprise a hundred thousand men.
The Hanoverian army has not yet made its
escape, nor come to terms with its opponents. Ac-
cording to the last accounts it is proceeding by
forced marches in the direction of Sandelhausen,
and the Prussians feel confident that it will soon
be surrounded on all sides. We hope that some
troops of the Confederation will shortly come to
its rescue. The King has refused the terms of
the capitulation offered to him, declaring that he
will fight on the side of Austria for the re-esta-
blishment of the Confederation. It is satisfactory
that he has shown so much spirit, and it is to be
hoped that his forces will not be cut off from all
junction with their allies. Perhaps the great victory
in Bohemia may serve to reanimate the Federal
forces, and urge them on to their share of the work
of the war with zeal and ardour. At any rate, we
are glad that the Hanoverians should display their
courage and perseverance, for nothing could pos-
sibly be so mischievous to their credit, and so per-
nicious to their allies, as the exhibition of such
want of spirit. To give up tamely, without a
struggle, is the most serious event that can take
place in war. The Danes made the fatal
mistake of evacuating Holstein, and never
recovered themselves all through the war, and the
armies of the Confederates committed similar errors
towards the close of this gallant struggle, with like
disastrous consequences.
Now the war has really begun in earnest we may
expect each day to hear of some great exploit, or at
all events of preparations for some grand en-
counter. As it is at present the Austrians have
decidedly the advantage, and, notwithstanding the
successes of the Prussians in North Germany, we
see no reason why the forces of the DI-
PEROR should not carry all before them and remain
masters of the field, in so sufficient a manner as to
be able to dictate their own terms in the negotia-
tions and treaties that must be made at the end of
the war. In Prussia the elections have gone against
Herr von BISMARCK'S policy most completely, and
no doubt at the meeting of the Chambers we shall
find some demonstration made that will not prove
very agreeable or flattering to the Government.
We never thought that the device of a war would
take in the Prussian people again, and so it has
proved in the most complete manner, for it was
never supposed probable that the majority against
the Government would be so great. What with
one thing and another the position of Prussia is not
much to be envied just now either at home or
abroad ; and if the close of the war find her with a
discontented people and a despoiled territory, she
will have to thank the mischievous policy that
has too long prevailed in her Councils. The best
thing now to hope for is, that the Minor States
will combine to assist Austria as much as possible,
and that the forces of the Confederate Army will
speedily take the field and sustain themselves with
vigour and promptitude. Even as it is now, we
have cause to congratulate the Austrians for their
prowess in the two battles that they have won, and
we hope they are only the forerunners of still
greater achievements.