New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1862-03-21
TEE SANITARY COmH,IssaON.


confirms some extended notices of the United
States Sanitary Commission Coming soon after
the peaceful solution of the Trent lnbroglio, they
reflect less passionate temper and moro appre'
ciatiyc criticism than TINT papers previous COM
ncnts upon American affairs. There are some
characteristic errors. however. For instance:
TIE Amcrcsusr says The Tuna have indeed gone TO
work with will upon the problems OF Military Hygiene and
never suppo'e the hyperbolc turn ofhe TTsn'an
tic mind signaly illustrated u su in the proceedings 81
the Sanitary Commission tho Potomac This Federa DID
not wait did in the Chmean War for the mischief 10
begia They actually appointed Commission to Inquire into
the health Of army before ths, army bad as'eheh aud
not minute was lost in entering upon their du'ies Uode
tn. Presidency Of Doctor Of Medicine, but Of Divinity
they have been at work months"
Here are facts, blundcrs, cayils, confessions,
concessions, aud enforced respect, neatly con
dcnsed in one paragraph.
The "hyperbolic turn" Of the American mind is
a source of much trouble to our English cousins,
who charge us with extravaganza aud selt-gratu-
la,ion. A burdened and bampcred nation work
ing slowly in the letters Of caste Prerogative and
precedent comedies itself with a sncer at the free
and salient movement of an untraumelcd people
And vet history viii acqu,t US OF the charge OF
making twenty times as much fuss over our
600, 900 volunteers going forth to war and Win
ter campnign, as England has made about her
80, 900 carpet knights soldering in Hyde Park.
Our Army lies nearer TO the heart, aud better rep
resents the mind, of The nation than any other Of
modern times; and the one would not endure as
the other would not overlook those contingencies
of war which consigned ~, 900 British soldiers to
the grave in the hrst year of the Crimean cam
paign--dicd Of preyontible disease. To pursue
this parallel little further, have in The British
Army before Soyasiopol, from October, 1874 to
April, ic15, 4 mean strength Of 1919 men, and
u loss by death from disease Of 9,2!5 men--39 per
cent, or ca per cent q month aud in the Army
before Washington a mean strength of 10000
men, from October to February. ard loss from
death of ,i5O--less than one per cent for the
four months--less than onc-fourih % one per cent
per month, and less than one-twenty-fixth Of the
mortality Of the British Army for the same period
Had our Army suffered the Crimean death-rate,
been 30, coo men in the'last four months. Dis
missing tho consideration If the abstract value Of
so many liyes, and of the worth Of so many sol
diers for suppressing Rebellion, Il We take the
gross economical view which states the price paid
for recruiting clothing, feeding and transporting
each man for three months at $500, we should
have had on this scale 50 600, 600 already totally
lost to the Government. /. was a saying OF Fred
erick the Great that fever alone had cost him
more men than seven pitched battles; and it is an
axiom TINT more campaigns are decided by sick
nrss than the sword II is equally, if not 30 pro-
verbally, true that this frightlul mortality belongs
chiefly to soldiers in their first year of service
beginning with their first rendezvous and follow
ing them until time aud sad experience have
taught them how better to administer all that per-
tains 10 life and health. To forecast this neces-
sity, TO discount these sad losses, and TO make OF
science something better than the headlights Of
the ship looking only ON the seas that have been
trayersed, was the purpose and the scheme of our
Sanitary Commission. Let The Times call is
next paragraph disposes as follows:
"in that time they have received from their subordinate
officers 400 reports each containing 80 questions and
they have favored Government with 40 repou Of their own
(which should be. they have published 10 psper relating to
their operations and 10 matters Of medical and sanitary sci
,nce FOR distribution IN the army and among the people
and they have distributed 10000 copies Of their pubcs
lions ghout the Loyal sttes When what
they proposed theeves and what objects they included
IN their inquiry csnnot be surprised their
sues Never except In French act Of sccusatiou
conplete a compilation Of facts attempted The Rev. Dr.
Bellows to have taken biz men, Bic regiments and
scesnsd ~ their sn,ecodens with the accuracy German
police sg.nL We learn everything about the oops-where
they hom how they cene how long they comm
and what hind Of men they were well how they wso
lodged fed paid, clothed entertained aud doctored ID may
we'll be supported tina, this Information g. valuable We mus,
say tina. met with exhaustive report The
Commission appears have bern Of great benefit to tho arm
and viii snsblo tho world to observe how that singular
army has been constituted"
The Times doubts tho statement that any of our
Volunteer Regiments were raised within ten DAYS.
New-YorkerS viii readily recall at least ono in
stance, in the case Of the eth or LIST German Rifles
Of Colonel, now Gen, Blenker. Ii is surprised
that native Americans were found in the majorii,
in &c per cent Of the regiments inspected. More
recent and extended observations would seem to
indicate that, throughout the Army of the Poto-
MACY at least they constitute about 75 per cent Of
tho total. and that of tbs remaining Is per cent