The national Republican., 1862-09-15


Hssting % Organise . General Relief
| Association.
An adjourned meeting Of the various relief
silos Hall, on Saturday night.
Mr.. E. J. Porter 10 the chair. The roll Of
efssse was soaiisd, and 70 swss found thstthe
following were represented, New York. Perm
ss os9 rsSs:S rcSSss.Sess NJ. ::::s
Hampshire, Maine, Illinois, and indiana. U'-.
The Chair stated that the object Of THE move
msnt was to secure the cooperation Of Az the
os ass q ss
In the service Of our common country. There
has been msmADagsment and bad treatment
with reference to sOme Of our soldiers. II Is
with the hope Of correcting these abuses, and
organize general relief association. Reforms
are nsoessary-brave soldiers are now suffer.
ing, and We should aot at opoe.
/ "A general conversational doeats then ensusd
and the hospital abuses, during which II was
sAid thai some OF the States provided we'll for
their soldiers, while those Of other States were
nesleotod. Complaints were often heard from
the soldiers themselves, and Y was bard 70 pass
his oouutrys cause, and extend no aid, merely
action was urged.
The abuses in the hospitals were portrayed in
| vivid colors and some Of the gentlemen were
very severe on certain surgeons, stewards, at.
tendants, and nurses; in which the aocusers
did not hesitate to call out the names Of the
dslinquents, and specify the particular enor.
spots os e.. Ssrv:r Tss sa
eson would allow nothing distributed except IL
passed through bis hands. Tho gentleman
told the surgeon that Il might be right to with.
could Sina nos tns: ana cs s sS NS
injured BY giving him clothing. The surgeon
was inexorsble. He subsequently, hsrd that
the sommittsss Of certain States other than
he own had no obstruction 20 a free and full
Mr.. slade, Of Ohio, said there had not
been sufdoisnt notice OF this meeting given to
the several relief associations, and urged an
.djournment 70 Monday night, that fuller un.
Mr.. Fowie, Of Massachusetts,. offered the fol-
lowing resolutions:
Resolped, l. That II 10 expedisnt to form =
"Union Soldiers Relief Association" }" in which
the various organizations Of Washington for the
benent Of sick and wounded soldiers shall be
represented.
Rssoiped, 2. That committee of two from
each reliefassoc iation be appointed to consider
Of prssmee n oon.,u,ion. GS ana bylaws. Il SUns and
To report at an adjourned meeting, to be held
on Wednesday evening next, at Temperance
Hall, on street.
Aaentlsman from Michigan said that he rep
That association would be glad to co operate
with the others to remedy the abuses, espe.
oially In the starvation diet furnished in the
hospitals to our gallant soldiers. A few Of the
hospitals are well conducted. and the men are
we'll rationed but some Of them would dis
grace any penitentiary In Chri 'tendom. Judi.
cixry Square came In for its full share Of blame
The gentleman had heard many complaints Of
s,fa~ ia
minutes after Ave O'Clock. and burly attend.
ant turned him away. He wont the next day
" during visiting hours" He told the surgeon
Of the complaints he had heard, in regard to
diet. The doctor acknowledged that 1t was
imperfect, but II was exceedingly difhcult to
make table Of diet that WIS just the thing.
The gentleman told him II he and his steward
we're conniving to make money out Of the az
fair, he could conceive how Extremely diff
be "exao,iy right" he assured the doctor
that he should examine for himself. He then
went through the hospital, and the unanimous
testimony Of the men was that they we're
starving because they could not eat the food
bill Of fare, as described by the patients:
BREAKFAsr.-Cofee that WAS horrible, and
which every man exeorated. There was no
ference OF opinion as to It's bad quality, but
contendipg that very minute particle OF su.
gar had been thrown In. while others insisted
that 1t was not sweetened at oil. Accompany.
ing pint cup Of this stuff, was q quarter Of u
pound o OF D. bread and that was all that was A.
DMNxR.-vegstable soup, made up of all
sorts Of vegetables, Of whioh cabbage was the
principal ingredient; and II Is we'll known that
cabbage is very offensive to some stomachs
WAS boiled. About three fourihs Of pint cup
Of this WAS given to each man, tn which might
be discovered a piece Of meat the atze Of two
nngers. With this WAS given small piece of
bread. II that was not enough, and man
asked for more, he WAS furnished With an ad-
ditienal crust of bread, which was left by sumo
sicker patient.
surriR.-A CUP of tea, as bad as the coffee,
and the invsrisble crust of bread. This was
the daily diet, without variation, week afte
week.
Tho Douglas Hospital was guilty of about
the same kind of diet. (Cries Of Shame !''I r.
pleasing contrast, the speaker desired to msn.
ton the new hospital on the Island. There,
the diet 10 good, and tho general treatment OF
the men better than any other hospital he
knew Of. The surgeon In charge had told him,
1.-THE speaker,) that the money allowed for ra.
tions, eighteen cents per day, WAS amply suf. |
ncient tO feed the men ,oeA. and then allow |
small surplus over for hospital fund. This |
surgeon says that II the men are not we'll fed
It 10 because somebody steals. He bore testi. |
mony to the efficiency efficiency and good conduct Of that
A gentleman from Maine asked the speaker
II he knew anything Of the conduct of the
chaplain Of that hospital. As he was from his
own State he felt some interest In the matter,
especially as he had heard that he did not at.
tend to his duty. He would like to hear from
the gentleman on that point.
The gentleman from Michigan replied, that
he had not made enquiries on that particular
point, hut be presumed that the chaplain 10
doing his duty rs we'll as army ohaplains gen.
orally. tLsughter.l
The speaker, 10 continuation Of bis remarks,
said that the surgeon general had been notified
OF some Of these abuses. He had promised to
remedy them, and he believed he would try 10
do It. He had confidence In the surgeon gen.
eral.
The speaker said that our men we're daily
subjected TO abuse by burly attendants, and
inoOT petent assistant surgeons. He mentioned
q case In illustration. One poor fellow In y
certain hospital was very low with the hospi-
tai disrrhoes, and the ignorant assistant sur.
gson was dosing him with castor oil and tur.
pentine. The patient found his complaint
growing worse and worse, Of course. He re
fused to take the medicine, and went out In
| the yard and gathered certain weed which
he stepped and dootored himself, and found
he WAS recovering fast. The Doctor learned
Of bis refusal to take the medicine, and ordered
| him confined In the guardhouse thirty hours.
["Shame!" He was then taken out. sent TO bis
| bed, and his clothes taken from him, while his
doctor addressed him In this choice language
"D-n you, I'll keep you in bed until you
| do tsks my medicine" [" Give his name."l
He had prOmiRed to eYDoae th0 man IL he did