Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-10-15

ate adoption of measures for the protection D
our troops against the discomforts of winte
campaign, aud this appeal will,w trust, awhk
en- hearty response from the people:
TO THE LOYAL WOMEN OF AMERICA 1.r
s... TREAsUaY BUILDING. !
.u WAsHlEoroS, Oct. 1 IS6I}
CousrRYwoMEs; You are called upon to hell
take care Of our sick and wounded eoldiers an(
sailors ,-
It's true that Government undertakes thei
care, but all experience, in every other country
as well as our own, shows that Government
alone cannot completely provide for the humane
treatment of those for whom the duty Of provd
ing, as we'll as possible, is acknowledged. Ever
at this period Of the war; aud with much
smaller proportion of sick and wounded than ID
to be expected, there Is much suffering, and
dear lives are daily lost because Government
cannot put the right thing in the right place at
the right time. No other Government has ever
provided 90 we'll for its soldiers 30 soon after the
breaking cut of q war of this magnitude, and
yet it remains true that there is much suffering,
and that death unnecessarily occurs from the
imperiectness Of the Government arraDg gements
This is partly owing to the ignorance, partly to
the Incidence, and partly to the inhumanity and
knavery Of various agents Of Government, az
well as to the organic defects Of the system.--
But humanity to the sick must, to certain ex.
tent, be sacrificed, under Government, to the
purpose ofsecuring the utmost possible strength
and efficiency to the military force.
Whatever aid is to be given from without
must still be administered systematically, and
10 perfect subordinatiOn to the general systsm
Of administration OF the Government. To hold
its sgents in any degree responsible for the du-
ties with which they are charged, Government
must protect them from the interference of ir-
responsible persons.
Hence, an intermediate agency becomes nee
essary, whicl, without taking any OF the duties
OF the regular agents OF the Government out OF
their hands, can, nevertheless, offer to them
means Of administering to the wants Of the
sick and wounded much beyond what could be
obtained within the arbitrary limits of supply
established by Government, and in strict accord
ance with the regulations necessary for main
taining proper accountability to it. ..
The Sanitary Commission, a volunteer and
unpaid bureau Of the War Department Of the
Government, constitutes such an agency.
Under its present organization every camp and
military hospital from the Atlantic to the
plains, is regularly ana frequently visited, it,
wants ascertaned, anticipated as far as posi-
BILE, and whenever It is right, proper, and broad
ly merciful, supplied directly by the Commits
sion to the extent OF its ability. For the means
OF maintaining this organization, and of exer-
cising through 1t direct influence upon the
officers and men favorable to prudent guard
against the dangers of disease TO which they
are subject, which is its first and principal OBJ
ject, the Commission is wholly dependent upon
volunteer contributions to it's treasury. For
the means Of administering to the need, Of the
sick and wounded, the Commission relies upon
gift offerings of their own handiwork from the
loyal women Of the land. II receives not one
dollar from Government '4 -- io'i'- i'
A large proportion Of the gifts Of the people
TO the army hitherto have been wasted, or worse
than wasted, because directed without knowl
edge or discrimination. tits only through the
Commission that such gifts can reach the army
with reasonable assurance that they. will be
received where they will do the most good and
the least harm.
The Sanitary Commission has established its
right to claim the confidence of the nation The
Secretary of War and MAJOR General Mcclellan
have both recently acknowledged, in the warm
est terms, the advantages which have already
resulted from its labors, and the discretion and
chlit WIN WuiCu tuty uhVO ucbu u.TcCL-
ed. Its advice has been freely taken, and in
several important particulars acted upon, favor
ably to the health Of the army, by the Govern.
ment. There has scarcely been company OF
volunteers in the field wherein some deiect, er
ror or negligence, endangering health, has not
been pointed out by It's agents, and its removal
or abatement effected. There has not been o
single instance in which its services or advice
offered through all its various agencies, have
been repulsed; not single complaint has beer
received Of its embarrassing any officer in hi:
duty, or Of its interfering with discipline in the
slightest degree. Its labors have been chiefly
directed to induce precautions against certain
class Of diseases which have scourged almost
every modern European army, which decimstet
our army in Mexico, and which, at one time
rendered nearly half Of one of our armies In thu
war Of 1919 unfit for service. IL is q greunC
for national gratitude that our present armies
have passed through the most trying season Of
the year wonderfully escaping this danger :
That there are grander causes for this than thu
labor of the Commission, cannot be doubted
hut that, among human agencies, large sharl
of credit for it should be given TO those labors
it is neither arrogant or unreasonable to assert
In this assurance, what contribution that ha
hitherto been made to the treasury or TO th,
store of the Commission, is not received bacl
again tenfnld in value2
More than fifty Thousand articles have beel
received by the Commission from their patri
otIc countrywomen. It not known that ON
sent to them has failed Ia reach It's des tinatlon
nor Is there one that cannot be accounted for
Il Is confidently believed that there has no
been Of late single case Of severe sicknes
in the army Of the Potomac, nor wherever the
organization of the Commission has been com
pletely extended in which some Of these arti
cles have not been administered to the relief
the suffering. !. ~. .,a n..o -sa i.''ll'.
After an intimate and confidential confer
ence with the Secretary Of War, the comman
der Of the army Of the Potomac and the Quar-
termaster-G General, there is reason TO solicit
with urgency large increase of the resources
at the command OF the Commission, especiall,
of that class Of It, resources upon which it mus
chiefly draw for the relief Of the sick anl
wounded.
The experience of the Commission has so vel
acquainted it with the earnest wish Of the wo
men of the North, to be allowed TO work In Oh
national cause, that IL is deemed unnecessar
to do more than announce that there is rea
and immediate occasion for their best exertionl
and to indicate convenient arrangements for tn
end in view. l,R ,semesUm gal t.eth'
1t Is therefore suggested that societies be a
once formed in overy neighborhood where the
are not already established, and that exlstn
societies Of suitable organization, as Dorcas Sc
cieties, Sewing Societies, l,eading Clubs, an
Sociabies, devote themselves, ,.for a time, to III
sacred service Of their country; that enefgeti
and respectable committees be appointed to cal
from house TO house, and store TO store, to oh
tain contributions in materials suitable to b
made mp, or money for the purchase Of sue
materials; that collections be madein churches
and schools, and factories. and shops, for III
same purpose; that contribution boxes be place
In postoffices, newspaper Offices, railroad An
ltelegraph offices, public houses, steamboats an
ferry boats. and in all other suissble places. J,