The true Democrat., 1855-02-28
From the London Times. War in the Crimea-AwfuI state of the Allies.
THE HOSPITALS.

IL Is distressing III the extreme to read the re- ports received from the hospitals at Soutar to see that even their disease begins to make head against medicine to hear that at Balaklava mat ters are far worse, and to know that this accu- mutation of suffering receives nceSsantlv fresh additions from our OverWorked army. In the field 1t is excessive toll and constant exposure followed by almost inevitable nvaliding; ill the hospitals 1t IS want of system, want of orgari Zaton, want of mathod-want, in short, of all that particular talent by which the business of great establishments is successfully carried on. In the sick wards themselves the services oW- ing to the untiring eXertions of Miss Nightin- gale and her nurses aided by the resources of the sick and wounded fund, appears to have con- siderably improved; but the letter of our corres- pendent which we yesterday published shows that new evil is now arising and that the very numbers of the sick are beginning to tell against them, despite the nmeliorations otherwise eff fected in their condition. "The great accumu- ation,' said our correspondent, "of dysenteric and dlarrh9a cases seems, notwithstanding eve- ry effort at ventilation, to have thoroughly i'm pregnated the entire atmosphere of the hospi- tai; wounds almost refuse to heal in it. The healthy become affected like the sick, and the heavy smell of the pestience can be perceived outside the very walls" Every surgeon-es- pecially every hospital surgeon-will recognize ill an instant the feature here portrayed, and will see that conditions are developing them selves against which medical skill may struggle in vain. It IS this very species of disease, en- gendered by the diseased themselves, which has always been the scourge of military hospi- tals. The emanations from the sick infect the atmosphere and the infected atmosphere, espe- cially where, as at Scutari wound cases are nu- merous, acts most destructively upon the chances of the invalid It is probable that the situation of the hospital has hitherto operated in its favor; and presented consequences always too likely to arise from so large an aggregation of patients under one roof; but the limit seems now to have been reached, and the only remedy lies in dis tribution of the sick among other establish ments. Malta, Gibraltar or any other places whore accommodation can be procured or pro- vided, should receive their share of patients, and no opportunity should be lost of diminish ing the accumulation at particular spots.
 THE CRISIS
 The Constitutional contains sort of review of the late events which have marked the di- plomatic conduct of the great European powers, and concludes its article with the following ob- servatons:
 "If peace is not already prepared, and it has not been decided on in the conference of Vien- na it will no longer be obtainable, except on the field of battle. Have we not reached the moment when Austria, already allied with France and England for defensive action, is about to ally herself with those two powers for offensive operations? Do not the facts which present themselves on all sides appear to hasten the hour of rencontre between the Russian and Austrian armies?
 "If it be true that the soldiers of the Czar have again crossed the Danube, and again at- tackled the Ottoman troops in the Dobrudscha, General Coronni must oppose their march, in virtue of the treaty concluded between Turkey and Austria for the defense and occupation of the Principalitles It is not alone on the banks of the Danube that events are arising, which will point out the character of the struggle and the part to be performed by Austria. K.
 Russia Is concentrating in Poland considera- ble bodies of troops who threaten the frontiers of the empire of the Hapsburghs and the banks of the ViStula may soon become the theatre of a desperate war between the Russian and Austrian armies. Then Prussia, always hesitating feeble and timid, may find in the imminence of the danger the courage to show that resolution which Europe is expecting from her.
 "The Cabinet of Berlin can no longer escape from the present dilemma; she must either be with Russia against Europe, or with Europe against Russia It is difficult to imagine that passion will so far blind her to her own inter- ests as to lead her to violate the engagements which she has entered into with Austria. When